The Harvard Family Research Project separated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education to become the Global Family Research Project as of January 1, 2017. It is no longer affiliated with Harvard University.
Volume IX, Number 3, Fall 2003
Issue Topic: Evaluating Community-Based Initiatives
Spotlight
Community Youth as Evaluators
When evaluating community-wide programs or initiatives, it can be extraordinarily helpful to seek out and incorporate the diverse perspectives of that community initiative’s target population. The Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families (DCYF) in San Francisco certainly takes this lesson to heart through their Youth IMPACT project, one of the largest youth-led evaluation efforts in the nation.¹ Begun in 2000, DCYF’s Youth IMPACT is a group of between 10–15 youth from diverse backgrounds who were assembled to research 40 community-based organizations (CBO) funded by DCYF. The group conducted focus groups and administered questionnaires with youth participants and performed site observations of youth programming in order to answer two primary research questions: (1) How well are CBOs in San Francisco serving children and youth? and (2) What makes a CBO feel trustworthy to youth? By using youth as the evaluators of community youth programming, DCYF was able to incorporate youths’ voices into the development and improvement of their programs, something the organization viewed as crucial. The evaluators also found that the target youth were more comfortable opening up to people their own age. At the same time, the youth evaluators learned valuable new skills, such as writing and presentation skills and the ability to work with a diverse group of people. As Khalillah Hill, a Youth IMPACT team member, notes: “By us being youth ourselves we know what youth want and need, and through that we’ll be able to work towards providing better services for youth.”
¹ Youth IMPACT. (2001). Youth IMPACT: Youth-led evaluation 2001. San Francisco, CA: Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families.
Christopher Wimer, Research Assistant, HFRP
Email: wimer@fas.harvard.edu