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Evaluation of Youth Services Programs - Problems and Prospects From a Case Study

NCJ Number
88532
Journal
Youth and Society Volume: 14 Issue: 3 Dated: (March 1983) Pages: 335-362
Author(s)
C E Frazier
Date Published
1983
Length
28 pages
Annotation
An analysis of an evaluation of a juvenile diversion program showed the evaluation to be unreliable due to the imprecise, misguided, and deceptive recording of data by the staff, suggesting that reliable evaluation is possible only if evaluation is a clear and integral part of program administration.
Abstract
Data for the evaluation came from a juvenile diversion program serving seven counties in Florida. Essentially, diversion was to a battery of services, with the primary service being the assignment of an adult volunteer to each client. Over a 4-year period, the project handled 1,050 cases. Entrance and exit forms were completed on each case. Projects records contained information on clients' sociodemographic characteristics, delinquency histories, current situation, program processes, staff and volunteer perceptions of clients' attitudes and performance, and client recidivism while in the program. Evaluation findings based on these data showed that the program services contributed to recidivism, with the lone exception of individual counseling. Following the analysis based on the data given, interviews and observations examined the procedures and perceptions behind the recording of data. It was determined that staff used subjective perceptions service received rather than objective standards, rendering in classifying service records useless as measures of what was actually done for the clients. The findings from this case study suggest that reliable evaluations must derive from programs that incorporate evaluation concerns into the management of their systems. This means that what is measured must be relevant to evaluation concerns and that those recording the data operate from a standardized definition of each item of information. The groundwork for any evaluation must be laid by project directors who are conscientious about generating appropriate and accurate data that will not only help determine whether the project is effective but will increase the chances of its being effective by providing bases for informed management decisions. Tabular data and 15 references are provided.