Challenging the ‘new accountability’? Users’ perspectives on evaluation in family support
Natasha Cortis
PhD student, Political Economy, University of Sydney, and Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW
Contact Email:   n.cortisunsw.edu.au

Over the last decade, changes in the organisation and funding of community services have compelled most non-government providers to enhance their evaluation capacity. Research has subsequently focused on the technical problems of this ‘new accountability’, including how to define outputs and outcomes and choose the ‘right’ performance indicators. Less well-explored issues include the impact on service users of emerging evaluation practices, and how users themselves experience and perceive ‘service performance’ and its measurement.

In response, this paper contributes qualitative data collected from sixty-six family support service users in four disadvantaged areas of NSW. In the study, participants defined service quality and effectiveness, and discussed their preferred data sources and evaluation methods. The paper will show how these service users’ perspectives challenge the performance indicators with which governments usually monitor and fund community services. The presentation will be relevant to those seeking to capture and report relevant performance data in community services, and to constructively engage disadvantaged people in evaluation.

Paper Download Information (if available):

Paper102.ppt

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