Program Evaluation

The Bare Minimum

If you receive DSHS funding, you are required to collect and report information about your services. Here's what you need to know:

• The two questions that you must ask
• Tips on preparing staff
• Ideas for encouraging clients to participate
• Basic instructions about who you need to ask, and how often
• You don't have to ask every person every time, you can do sampling.

Sympathy for Busy Advocates

Advocates are monumentally busy. Dealing with outside pressure demanding that you "prove the worth" of what you are doing can seem overwhelming. Take heart! This short paper, written by an ally, will tell you how to make program evaluation work for you.

The Gold Standard for Program Evaluation

If you want to explore more in-depth ideas about program evaluation, then there are great resources to help. Some years ago, the best thinkers, activists and researchers in the domestic violence movement came together to think critically about program evaluation. Here is the manual they created: FVPSA Outcomes Manual

Help Bring Your Data to Light and Life

The final chapter, Making Your Findings Work For You, in the FVPSA Outcomes Manual is a must-read for anyone anxious to make sure that all the effort you put into evaluation is not wasted. Amplify the voices of survivors by bringing your hard earned data to life. It is one of the truly gratifying parts of our work to inspire the people in our neighborhoods and communities to understand and to act.

Examples of how data tells a compelling story:

• The National Census of Domestic Violence Services, Washington Summary Reports data about services provided by Washington programs in one single day in 2008.

• National Domestic Violence Shelter Study: Washington Overview Washington took part in a national study, a survey of survivors in shelter between October 2007 and March 2008. Go here for findings from the nationwide study.