Formative Evaluation and Evaluability Assessment of a Family Justice Center

This application proposes a 2-year mixed-methods formative evaluation and evaluability assessment of the Montgomery County (Maryland) Family Justice Center (FJC) (MCFJC). MCFJC is a public-private partnership, operated through the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, that offers all intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors who live or work in the county free, coordinated services from a multidisciplinary team of professionals. The project will explore the operations of MCFJC; examine survivors’ service experiences and potential outcomes; and identify the challenges and solutions associated with designing a rigorous evaluation of MCFJC that examines outcomes, processes, and cost.

The proposal involves a review of internal documentation from MCFJC, including service use data, program manuals, and sample intake and client forms; collaborative planning meeting guided by a structured observation protocol to collect knowledge of the MCFJC program across dimensions of program operation; semi structured staff and stakeholder interviews (n=15); and MCFJC service user interviews (n=12-15) and surveys (n=425). A matrix analysis to triangulate the findings from the document review, planning meeting, and stakeholder interviews will be used. Thematic analysis will be used to analyze transcripts from interviews. Data from MCJFC service user surveys will be analyzed by using descriptive summaries and inferential statistics. In addition, the cost related data will be used to develop an FJC cost estimate. The Evaluation Decision Support Tool will be used to assess the evaluability of MCFJC by determining the degree of plausibility, feasibility, and utility. Analyses will be used to develop a program logic model; an evaluability report; a preliminary evaluation plan that includes an outcome evaluation, process evaluation, and cost analysis; and a monitoring and evaluation framework that will provide guidance to FJCs across the country.

The goals of this project include determining the extent to which the MCFJC can be evaluated and what steps can be taken to make it more evaluable and establishing a blueprint for conducting the rigorous evaluation of the center.

The results will contribute to knowledge regarding the design, implementation, and effectiveness of FJCs. CA/NCF
Note: This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law," and complies with Part 200 Uniform Requirements - 2 CFR 200.210(a)(14). CA/NCF