CSC has adopted an action research approach that allows stakeholders to have the information they need for effective decision-making.

Within the Research and Evaluation Department, three levels of evaluations are conducted: 

1. Program Level Evaluation:
    
2. Strategy Level Evaluation:
    
3. Longitudinal Evaluation:
    
Formal evaluations are conducted to demonstrate the impact of a program’s unique service by assessing client level changes. Results are shared with individual programs for continuous improvement.

 

A strategy level evaluation collapses the common elements of individual programs within a strategy area into common aggregate questions. The results of the strategy level evaluation inform various strategy areas (Healthy Beginnings, Early Care and Education, and Family and Community Services) and their stakeholders on their performance. Moreover, strategy level evaluations support policy-making decisions.

 

Comprehensive evaluation, which spans through time and strategy areas, is done to assess the impact of the major strategies and systems on the lives of children and their families.

 

Available CSC evaluations:

1. Strategy Level
   • Family & Community Partnership
2. Longitudinal Evaluation
   • An eight-year commissioned study of children who entered the Healthy Beginning System at birth. The study examines the effects of the infrastructure of services on the lives of children and families. The study is conducted by the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago.
3. Special Focus Evaluation
   • Privatization