Formative Evaluation of a Medical-Legal Partnership on the Westside of Chicago

Domestic Violence (DV) and community violence have dire consequences for families, children, and community well-being. Both forms of violence are associated with long-term stress, fear, poor quality of life, severe physical injury, and even death. While there is support for research activities, there is a significant gap in the existing research on the effectiveness and reliability of programs for victims of crime, particularly in urban neighborhoods. This project targets children and families in two Chicago communities that experience similar rates of violence, but have drastically different demographics: North Lawndale, a predominantly Black community; South Lawndale, a predominantly Hispanic community. Research activities include assessing an innovative medical-legal partnership (MLP) that has existed in Chicago since 2016. This partnership, between Legal Council for Health Justice and Under the Rainbow (UTR), focuses on kids who have experienced crime and are subsequently in therapy to cope with the emotional ramifications of victimization. The long-term goals for the partnership is to: (1) legally remove any threat to the child, (2) ensure the child and family continue to access mental health services and (3) break the cycle of violence where oftentimes a victim becomes the perpetrator. Using a mixed-methods approach, the team will conduct a formative evaluation (phase 1) of this MLP. Data collection and analysis will come from: (1) interviews with both the Legal Council and UTR staff, (2) field notes from observations, (3) review of program documents such as online sources, measurement tools, intake/discharge forms, and resolution of issue documents, (4) primary data analysis, and (5) secondary data analysis. The analysis for this project will attempt to determine the type of evaluation for MLP as currently implemented and the elements of the program and/or its implementation that may need modification in order to conduct a comprehensive and rigorous evaluation. Final products include a precise program description and structure, programmatic logic model, evaluability assessment, implementation guide, primary qualitative dataset, de-identified secondary data set, pilot report, and fidelity checklist.
"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