PART VII

Centre:   Centre de ressources pour parents Restigouche, NB Artist:   Amy Lynn, Age 5 Description:   Moi, pendant le temps du bricolage à la halte-garderie. (Me during craft time at the Drop-In)

14.0 IMPLEMENTATION AND PROCESS

• There is a need to explore more carefully the ideal of a participant-driven delivery model and the realities within which participants live their lives.

• Additional research should also be conducted to determine how parents’ comfort level with board participation can be increased.

• This evaluation did not do a comparison between "open door" centres and those who serve a particular population of interest. Such an exercise may be useful in future evaluations to either support or refute the need for targeted recruitment.

• The positive environment had an obvious impact on centres' ability to attract and maintain parental involvement. It would be useful to explore more fully how such environments are actually created. For example, what makes CAPC centres different from other services available?

• It would be useful to study more carefully the barriers to participation experienced by groups of parents with special needs who could benefit from participation in CAPC projects.

• A comparison of results using the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth and the CAPC National Evaluation Form E interviews, as well as comparison of Form C (progress reports) through the various cycles, should be done to further validate the findings of this evaluation.

14.1 INDIVIDUAL IMPACTS AND EFFECTS

• There is some evidence that the positive experiences of parents extend well beyond their ability to parent more effectively. For future support of the program, it would be useful to document the long-term impacts on parents to determine changes in other aspects of life, such as work, school, and community involvement.

• It would be useful to focus more specifically on the effectiveness of CAPC within the context of the different determinants of health.

• It will be important to document more precisely, perhaps through a longitudinal study, the impact of CAPC on school readiness and future school success.

• Future studies should use the concept of "non-participant" as a basis for comparison with participants. The concept of "former participant" did not work very well given that parents move in and out of CAPC programs as circumstances and life stages permit. Dissatisfaction with CAPC did not appear to be a reason for lack of participation and, hence, a more useful focus of study would be the non-participant.

14.2 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT APPROACH TO PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

• The effect of CAPC on community development is worthy of additional consideration and research. In particular, it would be useful to establish indicators for demonstrated effectiveness at the broader community level.

• It would be useful to explore more fully the dynamics of mutual support and its role in the production of individual and collective change.

• In future evaluations, it would be useful to explore more fully the factors/circumstances that contribute to the integration of parents in the decision-making process. Likewise, it would be beneficial to explore more fully the practicalities of user-directed projects - their potential, what does and does not work and useful strategies for effecting the transition.

14.3 REGIONAL EVALUATION PROCESS

Consideration should be given to replicating this evaluation model in other provinces / regions in Canada. This would further validate the findings of this evaluation and further the knowledge base on participatory evaluations.

A lot was learned about the PAR process during the design, implementation, and evaluation of the CAPC evaluation. Further work in this area by building on what was learned, especially methodologically, would benefit the PAR and community development fields.

Centre:   Family Support Centre Bridgewater, NS Artist:   Celsey, Age 3 Description:   She likes to draw and play with play dough.

 

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