FEATURED STORIES

Case Studies & Initiative Journeys

 

Case Studies described here are real examples of how an organisation has used an approach in Aotearoa New Zealand. Contact the featured organisation if you want to find out more. Please contact us to find out if there is a case study you think might be good to profile on this site.

 

Dad & Me: Strengthening
the Bond between Father and child

 

Evaluative Approach
Results Based Accountability™

Organisation
FamilyWorks Tairāwhiti

Location
Tairāwhiti – Gisborne

Contact Information

FamilyWorks Tairawhiti

 

 

Overview

Presbyterian Support East Coast (PSEC) has used Results Based Accountability throughout its organisation, including FamilyWorks, for many years. Family Works supports Tauawhi Men’s Centre (Tauawhi) to which it provides counselling, social work and courses for men.

Shona Munro, service manager for FamilyWorks Tairāwhiti, says Tauawhi recognises that it needs to evaluate its organisational activities on social and behaviour changes for its clients.

Shona and Tauawhi manager, Tim Marshall, developed a results-based evaluation framework and intervention logic model. They set up a way to evaluate the results of the Dad & Me programme, offered for the first time in mid-2014. Shona and Tim used an RBA framework to ensure that they were measuring results that could be attributed to programme activities.

They’ve used the results to refine the programme, prioritise other activities and win support for related services.

Programme Purpose

The Dad & Me programme was developed to support and motivate men to help raise and care for their tamariki and whānau. It aimed to lessen the risk of parents/caregivers and whānau harming their tamariki, reducing the number of tamariki requiring intensive intervention by statutory agencies.

Advice for using RBA

“It is important, preferably before the programme starts, to be very clear about what you are measuring, how you are going to measure it, and what evidence you will be collecting”, says Shona.

Tauawhi found the RBA framework to be helpful and effective. “It is important to remember that this is NOT a tool for setting outcomes,” says Shona.

There are other processes and tools for that. This tool is good for measuring the outcomes once they have been determined, and you have decided what to measure – it’s simply not realistic to measure all the outcomes all the time.”

FamilyWorks have used RBA in a wide range of services and programmes, from supported accommodation for physically disabled young people to family violence programmes.

RBA adapts to most situations provided the outcomes have been clearly determined.”

One thing Shona would tell others about RBA is that it is important to make sure you collect the evidence as you go so you don’t have to scramble around and gather data later on.