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Values in the Evaluation of Homelessness in the United States and European Union
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| Presenter(s):
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| Verner Denvall, Linnaeus University, Sweden, verner.denvall@lnu.se
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| Abstract:
Homelessness is a wicked social problem exhibiting great resistance to current solutions while engaging various public sectors, organizations, agencies and levels simultaneously. How does this affect the evaluation of programs and projects aspiring to combat homelessness? Variations occur depending on held values of stakeholders and evaluators.
Knowledge about the interaction between problems, evaluation methods and regimes of the welfare state is limited. Dissimilar pictures and different solutions regarding homelessness in the U.S. and in E.U. countries will likely effect recommendations given as a result of performed evaluations.
This session will provide an analysis of such evaluations, focusing criteria, values in practice, recommendations and relationships with stakeholders. The empirical base is a sample of the most cited evaluations of homelessness programs published in professional journals during the period 2005 - 2010.
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Put Your Money Where the Parents Are: An Applied Cost Analysis of a Parenting Education Program to Prevent Repeat Maltreatment
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| Presenter(s):
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| Erin Maher, Casey Family Programs, emaher@casey.org
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| Abstract:
This paper presents an applied cost analysis of a parenting education program (The Nurturing Parenting Program for Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers) in Louisiana for child welfare-involved parents. It builds on existing evaluation results, which showed a significant reduction in repeat maltreatment for those parents with greater participation in the program. Taking the perspective of the child welfare agency with a focus on direct outcomes over a short time frame, we demonstrate a cost analysis approach that is conservative, useful to policymakers and advocates in the public child welfare field, and that can readily be applied in similar settings. Our results suggest that participation in a parenting education class is almost cost neutral relative to savings associated with reduced likelihood of a repeat maltreatment report. We include a discussion of the how this cost approach differs from other types of economic analyses of social programs and its strengths and limitations.
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Ensuring Parent Voice in a Statewide Capacity Assessment of Home Visiting Services
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| Presenter(s):
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| Rebecca Gillam, University of Kansas, rgillam@ku.edu
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| Karin Chang-Rios, University of Kansas, kcr@ku.edu
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| Annie McKay, University of Kansas, amckay@ku.edu
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| Abstract:
Parent perspectives are increasingly important in planning, implementing and evaluating programs and services in the early childhood field. Through funding requirements, federal agencies have demanded an increased focus on parent leadership. Ensuring that parent voice is included can be challenging. This poster presentation addresses these issues by documenting the process for ensuring parent voice in a Statewide capacity assessment of home visiting services in Kansas. The capacity assessment used a qualitative methodology, resulting in over 45 hours of feedback. Process elements that will be presented include community partnerships, parent recruitment, focus group protocol, and follow up. Implications will be presented, suggesting that effective planning, implementation and evaluation of services requires recognizing and responding to parent needs and perspectives.
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