Program Evaluation Toolkit for Harm Reduction Organizations
Whether we know it or not, deep down we are all natural evaluators. We can’t help it! It is written in our DNA as humans to be curious about why things are the way they are, and why they happen the way that they do. Even something as simple as leaving a review of a new restaurant on Google or looking up reviews of a newly released movie before purchasing the tickets are examples of just how routine evaluation is in our everyday lives.
But, for many of us, something shifts when we are tasked with having to evaluate the programs we work on. Making the case for evaluation starts with us. It is about being mindful of how we feel about evaluation and how those feelings inform our willingness to engage, or not engage, in the process. Below are a couple of assessment questions to help you think through your current relationship to evaluation.
Table (1.1). What's your current relationship to evaluation?
| YES | NO | QUESTION |
|---|---|---|
| Does the idea of evaluating your harm reduction program feel overwhelming? | ||
| Do you feel forced by your funder to demonstrate an evaluation process? | ||
| Do you believe that implementing a program evaluation is a waste of time and resources? | ||
| Have previous experiences with evaluation felt like a waste of time? | ||
| Are you nervous about having to ask your clients to participate in an evaluation? | ||
| Do you feel that your organization does not possess the necessary tools (i.e. data collection software) to effectively evaluate your harm reduction program. |
If you answered "yes" to any of the questions above, it is possible you might be feeling some hesitancy, negativity, or anxiety around program evaluation. The good news is, these feelings are perfectly normal. Unless you have a special affinity for implementing program evaluation efforts, just figuring out how and where to start can feel overwhelming. That is where this toolkit comes in!
In this module, we are going to make the case for program evaluation by naming and addressing individual and organizational reluctance toward the process, and explore how program evaluations can be used to honor the capacity, history, and cultural norms of your harm reduction program.
