FASD and TRC Call to Action 34.4: A Consideration of Evaluation Methods

Culturally-specific

Culturally-specific court practices should be assessed with culturally-specific evaluations, which hasn’t necessarily been the case to date. It is important to evaluate the programs, but the evaluation needs to be culturally-sensitive and also must be location-specific. Indigenous cultures differ from community to community and therefore the most appropriate evaluation would be one that is done by the community or co-designed with the community. Co-design (cooperative design) indicates a participatory format where stakeholders are actively involved in the design process so that the results are appropriate and usable. As stated in the beginning of this section, such an approach would begin to address the colonial impacts underlying the criminal justice system. To move toward appropriate and culturally attentive evaluations, knowing this history is integral.

To implement appropriate evaluation mechanisms, it must be remembered at all times that one size does not fit all. An evaluation scheme that works well in one location might not be the best fit in the next. Not only does this apply to geographical locations (those in the Northwest Territories are going to face very different challenges than those in the Greater Toronto Area), but also from organization to organization, where one agency may be offering diagnostic support, and another is offering advice and support in housing. As such, programs and evaluations should be community driven and community supported. Those most directly impacted should be invited to be at the forefront of evaluation plans. Any available guides should be consulted in implementing programs and evaluation. Moreover, while evaluations should be unique to each location and organization, there are opportunities to compare thematic findings and data between specific sites. Such evaluations would be beneficial to individual organizations, but also to policy sectors, and funding agencies.