Justice Partnership and Innovation Program Evaluation, Final Report
Appendix E: Case Study Instructions
Evaluation of the Justice Partnership and Innovation Program
Note to Project Representatives
Dear <name>:
Thank you for agreeing to help us organize a case study of your project(s) entitled <project name(s)> funded under the Department of Justice Canada’s Justice Partnership and Innovation Program (JPIP). This case study is one component of our evaluation of JPIP, which will assist in assessing the need, efficiency and effectiveness of this Program.
As promised in our recent telephone call, I am attaching a note that explains the planned process for the case study to be carried out by one of our consultants, and the kind of assistance we hope you will be able to provide.
Please call me if you have any questions. I will follow up with you in a few days to make sure that the information I have sent is clear. In particular, we can determine if you are able to identify the people for interviews.
Thank you again for your assistance.
Background
The Department of Justice Canada is conducting an evaluation of the JPIP to assess the need for JPIP, and its effectiveness and efficiency. The evaluation will cover the program over the past four years: 2007-08 to 2010-11. They have contracted with our firm, Goss Gilroy Inc. to assist in conducting this evaluation. The evaluation includes project case studies which will gather information and views on JPIP relevance, as well as the efficiency and effectiveness of Justice Partnership and Innovation Programming.
Help We Need From You
As discussed, we will be visiting your organization for a two-day period to discuss the <name(s) of project(s)>. We need to find out from you the best time to visit.
We are planning the following activities during our visit:
- Interviews with 1-2 representatives of your organization;
- Interview with 1-2 project partners;
- Interview with 1-2 project beneficiaries; and
- Review of documents related to your project.
(Note: We will also be speaking with a Department of Justice representative who has been overseeing the project, to gain an understanding of the need for JPIP, and its efficiency and effectiveness vis-à-vis your project(s). We are able to identify this representative ourselves, through contact with our client, i.e. the Department of Justice, and to arrange that interview ourselves.)
Interviews
We will need your help identifying whom we should interview for each interviewee type.
Depending on what is most convenient for you, either you can arrange the times for interviews, or we can contact these individuals to schedule the times. In either case, we will need your suggestions for whom would be best to interview and their telephone numbers and email addresses. We will need you to contact these individuals initially and obtain their verbal consent to participate in an interview before you share their name and telephone number with us.
Organization Representatives
We would like to interview two organization representatives. This could include the project lead, a member of the board of directors, and/or a project volunteer. We anticipate that each interview would take about 45-60 minutes.
Partner/Stakeholders
We would like to interview 1-2 partners who would be familiar with your JPIP-funded project(s). This could include, for example, partner organizations that helped fund or deliver your project, or other organizations involved in justice projects or a community group who shares a similar target group and who had some involvement with your project. We anticipate that the interview with the project partner would take about 45 minutes.
We would like to interview 1-2 project beneficiaries. We anticipate that the interview with each project beneficiary would take about 30-45 minutes. If is convenient for the beneficiary to be interviewed at your organization’s office, that would be convenient. Otherwise, we could arrange to meet at a location near your office that is suitable for the beneficiary. Alternatively, we could conduct the interview by telephone.
If you are agreeable to participating in the case study, we would ask you to please fill in the following table.
| Name of project | Pre-filled |
|---|---|
| Address and Community | Pre-filled |
| Name of Person Providing Information | |
| Contact Telephone Number |
| Activities During the Visit |
We Need Your Help With | Response |
|---|---|---|
| Date of the visit | What are the best two days to visit?What would be a suitable alternate two-day period for this visit? | |
| Interview with organization representatives | Person’s name and title |
#1 |
| Telephone number and email address (once verbal consent is given) | ||
| Person’s name and title | #2 | |
| Telephone number and email address (once verbal consent is given) | ||
| Interview with partner(s) | Partner’s name, title and organization’s name | #1 |
| Telephone number and email address (once verbal consent is given) | ||
| Partner’s name, title and organization’s name | #2 | |
| Telephone number and email address (once verbal consent is given) | ||
| Interview with beneficiary(ies) | Beneficiary’s name |
#1 |
| Telephone number and email address (once verbal consent is given) | ||
| Beneficiary’s name |
#2 | |
| Telephone number and email address (once verbal consent is given) | ||
| Space | Would there be a room at your organization’s office that I could use to conduct these interviews? | |
| Could you please book this room for me? | ||
| If no space is available at your organization, where might you suggest I could book a room for this? |
Information to use when contacting the project partners for interviews
The following is the information I would like you to give to those you invite for interviews.
Hello, this is <name> from <organization>. Department of Justice Canada is conducting a summative evaluation of the JPIP. They have hired a consulting firm, Goss Gilroy, to interview project partners. The purpose of interviewing you would be to gain an understanding of the need, effectiveness and efficiency of the Program vis-à-vis the <name of project(s)>. This interview will be approximately 45 minutes.
Would you be interested in being interviewed? If so, can I share your name and telephone number with the consulting firm so they can contact you to arrange the interview?
Information to use when contacting the project beneficiaries for interviews
The following is the information I would like you to give to those you invite for interviews.
Hello, this is <name> from <organization>. Department of Justice Canada is conducting a summative evaluation of the JPIP. They have hired a consulting firm, Goss Gilroy, to interview project beneficiaries. The purpose of interviewing you would be to gain an understanding of the benefits of the <name of project(s)>. This interview will be approximately 30-45 minutes.
Would you be interested in being interviewed? If so, can I share your name and telephone number with the consulting firm so they can contact you to arrange the interview?
Document Review
We would kindly request your assistance in obtaining copies of any documents related to your project(s) that would be useful for this evaluation. This might include, for example, copies of any tools or resources that have produced with JPIP funding, media coverage or annual reports.
List of project documents you will provide related to your project:
| Document Name | Electronic (source) or Hard Copy |
|---|---|
| 1. | |
| 2. | |
| 3. | |
| 4. | |
| 5. | |
| 6. |
Sample Interview Guide for Project Partners (Case Studies)
Goss Gilroy Inc. has been mandated to conduct an evaluation of the JPIP on behalf of the Department of Justice Canada (JUS). The objective of the evaluation is to measure and report on the Program’s relevance and performance.
This evaluation will be based on case studies (such as this one), key informant interviews surveys, a document review and a file review.
You have been identified as an individual who may be able to assist in the evaluation because of your involvement in the Program. We want to stress that participation in this interview is voluntary and that your acceptance or refusal to participate will not affect your relationship with the Department of Justice or any other Government of Canada department. The information you provide is for evaluation purposes only and will be administered in accordance with the applicable privacy laws. No administrative decisions will be made about any individual or organization as a result of this evaluation. Your specific interview responses will not be shared with the Department of Justice, nor will they be attributed to you as an individual in any evaluation report resulting from this study.
We anticipate that the interview will be about 45 minutes in length.
Your input will contribute to the success of this evaluation process and we thank you for your participation.
Questions
Introduction
[Interviewer provides partner organization with a brief description of the JPIP-funded project(s) which is/are the subject matter for the case study.]
- 1. What is your role with respect to JPIP and the [contributions for Justice-related activities, 2007-08 through 2010-11] project?
Relevance
2. Is there any overlap between JPIP and any programs or services of the provincial government or other federal government departments? If yes, please describe.
- What mechanisms are in place to avoid overlap/duplication?
Performance (Effectiveness, Efficiency and Economy)
3. Did project’s activities contribute to the identification of emerging trends, issues and/or gaps in the justice system? If yes, what emerging trends, issues or gaps were identified (number and nature)?
- Did the project’s(s’) activities generate associated best practices/responses to these emerging trends, issues and/or gaps (number and nature)? If yes, what were these?
4. One of the objectives of JPIP is “to build knowledge, awareness, understanding, confidence and trust and informed dialogue among justice stakeholders and the public on justice issues, including access to justice, racism, official languages, anti-terrorism, sentencing and other emerging justice issues, including justice-related issues in the international fora”.
- To your knowledge, how many dialogue activities were held under this/these project? What was nature and size of each?
- To your knowledge, did project participants increase their knowledge of, and confidence with, justice issues as a result of this/these project(s)?
- To your knowledge, how many dialogue activities were held under this/these project? What was nature and size of each?
5. To what extent were JPIP-funded activities, and their associated outputs – in particular, best practices/responses to emerging justice issues – communicated to Justice and used in the development of policy?
6. To what extent did the activities under this/these JPIP-funded project(s) promote innovations in the justice system to ensure greater access to the justice system?
7. [LSAP project only:] To what extent did JPIP-funded activities (i.e., the LSAP Program) promote equitable representation in the legal system of Métis and non-status Indians by encouraging them to pursue their studies in law?
In Closing
- 8 Is there anything else you would like to add that would assist us in this evaluation?
Thank you
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