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Program Theory, Development, and External Influences: Assessing a New Permanent Housing Program for Domestic Violence Victims
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| Presenter(s):
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| Hilary Botein,
University of Connecticut,
hilary.botein@uconn.edu
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| Andrea Hetling,
University of Connecticut,
andrea.hetling@uconn.edu
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| Abstract:
Using a new housing program for domestic violence victims as a case study, this research seeks to understand how external and internal influences affect program development and administrators' abilities to realize their originally intended program theory. The study is the first to evaluate the change theory assumptions behind an untested housing program designed to serve domestic violence victims. We hypothesized that such influences, including funding, legal restrictions, and discrimination, compromise the initial conception of how the program will achieve its intended outcomes. Using Burawoy's extended case study method, we interviewed stakeholders and conducted focus groups with potential clients. Coding uncovered disconnects between program conception and current design and multiple instances where program theory was knowingly and intentionally compromised. Findings reveal how service programs are developed in complex environments with conflicting theories and viewpoints and offer guidelines for assessing program fidelity in formative evaluation settings.
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Lessons Learned and Strategies That Worked From a Study on a Unique and Sensitive Population: Study of Children of Incarcerated Persons
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| Presenter(s):
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| Mariah Storey,
University of Wyoming,
riah@uwyo.edu
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| Mark McNulty,
University of Wyoming,
mmcnulty@uwyo.edu
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| Trisha Worley,
University of Wyoming,
tworley1@uwyo.edu
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| Abstract:
Researchers at the Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center (WYSAC) conducted the Study of Children of Incarcerated Persons (SCIP) in an attempt to understand the specific health and well-being needs of Wyoming's children of the incarcerated. The project was funded by the Wyoming's Department of Health Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services Division. Children of the incarcerated are a unique, highly sensitive, highly mobile population that is extremely difficult to measure. Working with a number of state agencies and nonprofit organizations, SCIP employed a comprehensive mixed-method research design. The design included the use of mail surveys, face-to-face structured interviews, and focus groups. After determining the needs of these children, the SCIP team made concrete policy recommendations to policymakers, tailored to assist these children and the households in which they live. Researchers will present on the lessons learned and the successful strategies used in this study.
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