PROGRAM POINTS OF FAILURE

On Friday I attended the inaugural meeting of the New Zealand government’s (Oranga Tamariki – Ministry for Children) Transitions Services Evaluation Advisory Group, as one of three external members. It is planned that the group will meet regularly over the next three years.

 With new comprehensive legislation coming into force last year, Oranga Tamariki supports young people to transition from care to adult life through a range of services, including the provision of a Transition Support worker, the right to remain with or return to a caregiver and supported accommodation provision. A comprehensive evaluation program has been set up alongside the service to examine, initially predominantly the effectiveness of the processes and services involved, and in the longer term the outcomes for young people.

 In my experience, internationally such a comprehensive system-wide approach to the evaluation of a new service in this sector is remarkably rare. However, while I am a strong advocate for independent evaluation research and particularly for new initiatives, most managers should know whether or not a brand new program or service is ‘bedding down’ well or struggling to ‘find its feet’. For programs and services that have been in place longer and are still not meeting their goals, managers may need to decide whether to ‘kill or feed’ or ‘fast fail’. Below as a starting point, is my checklist of 22 possible new program or service points of failure.

I’d love to hear your thoughts! You can email me at: iain@betteroutcomes.co.nz

Kia kaha (Stay Strong).

Iain