Program Evaluation Toolkit for Harm Reduction Organizations
Have you ever wondered what goes into evaluating your program?
Are you curious about ways to strengthen your existing harm reduction program evaluation process?
Have you been searching for evaluation tools and resources that you can adapt to meet your needs?
For decades, harm reductionists have provided essential services that have saved lives, strengthened communities, restored hope, and promoted the visibility of people who use drugs. Unlike alternate toolkits, this toolkit has been designed and tailored in collaboration with harm reduction programs like yours with the aim of meeting programs where they are in their evaluation process and supporting the growth and evolution of their evaluation efforts over time.
WHAT IS HARM REDUCTION?
“Harm reduction is a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with drug use. Harm Reduction is also a movement for social justice built on a belief in, and respect for, the rights of people who use drugs.” —National Harm Reduction Coalition
The purpose of this resource is simple: to provide a broad introduction to harm reduction program evaluation and offer practical guidance and tools for staff and volunteers that can be tailored to align with the needs, capacities, and goals of community-facing harm reduction programs.
Whether you are a seasoned evaluator or are simply interested in learning more about program evaluation, this toolkit will help you:
Keep in mind, there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to program evaluation. As someone on the frontline of your organization's harm reduction work, your understanding of what will and won’t work for your program is invaluable, and this toolkit will not be able to match or replace that (nor will it try)! Instead, consider this toolkit an additional resource that can be used to help you process, brainstorm, and map out an evaluation that meet your needs.
