Process Evaluation

The first step in my evaluation process would be to conduct formative research. In a formative evaluation, programs or projects are typically assessed during their development or early implementation to provide information about how best to revise and modify for improvement. This type of evaluation often is helpful for pilot projects and new programs, but can be used for progress monitoring of ongoing programs. A formative evaluation could be useful in further identifying the scale of foster youth that require services beyond the age of 18 and what services would be most beneficial. This information may be gathered through the use of literature reviews ethnographic investigations and preliminary assessments (Loue, Lloyd, & O'Shea, 2007, p.141).
A formative evaluation is especially important in studies that require community engagement and behavior change. Forgoing a formative evaluation may prevent capturing important feedback that may improve the implementation of a project, which may significantly impact achieving the desired outcome. A Formative evaluation allows you to develop a better understanding of the process of change, and finding out what works, what doesn’t, and why.
My next step would be to conduct a process evaluation. A Process evaluation involves the collection of information to describe what a program includes and how it functions over time. Process evaluations can occur just once, periodically throughout the duration of a program, or continuously. The type of information gathered, and its frequency, will depend on the kinds of questions that you seek to answer (Loue, Lloyd, & O'Shea, 2007, p.141). A Process evaluation can be used to answer the following questions.
• What specific interventions were put into place by the program in order to fight the problem being