Evaluation of Services for Victims of Crime

The purpose of the proposed project is to conduct an evaluability assessment of the service delivery models for children and youth who have been commercially sexually exploited (CSE) in Los Angeles County in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. The service delivery models to be evaluated will include the work of the Los Angeles County Probation Department's Child Trafficking Unit (CTU) and the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) of Los Angeles County’s Bureau of Specialized Response Services for Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. These service delivery models, although considered innovative and comprehensive, are not at the stage to have an outcome evaluation conducted because there has been no specification of their design, program components, or intended outcomes. The goal of this project is to assess these models so they can be further defined and operationalized to prepare them for further evaluation, and allow them to be replicated in other jurisdictions.

The approach includes a multidisciplinary team of researchers, practitioners, and advocates. The project will be managed by Cal State LA in collaboration with the University of Southern California and the National Center for Youth Law. The objectives of the project include:
1. Specify and describe the service delivery models for children and youth who have been CSE in child welfare and juvenile justice settings.
2. Develop logic models that include the program components, mechanisms of change, and hypothesized outcomes of the two service delivery models.
3. Identify and/or develop measurement tools and measurement plans to assess program fidelity and, when applicable, program outcomes of the service delivery models.
4. Evaluate the research capacity of the service delivery models including the agency burden associated with the measurement plans.
5. Develop a comprehensive implementation guide that includes logic models, outlines of the service delivery models, and strategies for evaluating implementation fidelity and program outcomes.

In addition to the development of a final technical research report, this project will produce a systematic scoping review and an implementation guide. "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