Trends in Evaluation and Youth Development
Federal funds related to youth prevention and intervention for such issues are
often the first to be earmarked for elimination during times of fiscal crisis. Given
the current political and economic climate, program evaluation – especially that
related to issues of children, youth and families – has perhaps never been more
important than it is today. In some cases, evaluation can be the determining factor
in decisions related to whether a program is continued, altered or dissolved
(Small, 1990). In other cases, as Adelman (1996) suggests, the impact of an evaluation
is sometimes determined by the degree to which it is ‘politically expedient’.
Consistent with views adopted by other fields of inquiry, a current trend in the
arena of youth development is an increased focus on methods which include community
or stakeholder input from the beginning of program definition and design.
Such methods are sometimes referred to as ‘empowerment evaluation’ because
they help program participants to evaluate themselves and/or their communities
with the goal of improving programs and fostering self-determination (Fetterman,
1996). Such empowerment strategies are gaining popularity in the field of
youth development in part because funders are beginning to incorporate
empowerment as a funding strategy. The following statement from the W. K.
Kellogg Foundation is illustrative:
. . . individuals and groups of people must be empowered to become change-makers
and solve their own problems, through the organizations and institutions they
devise... . Through our community-based programming, we are helping to empower
various individuals, agencies, institutions, and organizations to work together to help
identify problems and to find quality, cost-effective solutions. (Transitions, 1992: 6, in
Fetterman, 1996)