@article{52eadaa59de944fe9731a297c6641dbd,
title = "Stuck inside the federal-indian funding relationship: A tale of two evaluations",
abstract = "Two case studies are presented to compare and contrast the challenges encountered when attempting to conduct participatory evaluations (P-Es) with tribal programs that represented two extremes of collaboration between the programs and evaluators. In one case, the P-E was successful because the principals were invested in the program, whereas in the second case, the absence of a shared program vision hampered the ability to adequately evaluate the program. The authors contend that governmental funding agencies have responsibilities to ensure that their expectations are appropriate, the proposed program is feasible, and that technical assistance should be provided before the grant is written, not after it has been funded.",
keywords = "Native American, participatory evaluation, program evaluation, substance abuse",
author = "Jenny Chong and Jeanette Hassin and Young, \{Robert S.\} and Joe, \{Jennie R.\}",
note = "Funding Information: This BJA project was funded to allow both the law enforcement and the tribal court to hire extra personnel to work specifically with juveniles and youth. Because the funded program was under the jurisdiction of the tribal court, the tribal judge served as the PD, and he became the main point of contact for the evaluation team. While the funded program was carrying out some of the proposed activities funded by BJA, insufficient data, staff turnover, and political controversy in the tribal leadership all affected the usefulness of carrying out a true P-E process, despite the fact that tribe{\textquoteright}s law enforcement chief was identified as the principal investigator (PI) of the funded project. Instead, the tribal judge assumed the leadership of the local EOC. The absence of the PI during site visits or meetings was frequently attributed to excessive work load as well as staff shortage. Thus, insufficient funding and lack of staff or staff turnover not only contributed to the lack of {\textquoteleft}buy-in” of some other key stakeholders but also made the P-E process challenging for the evaluation team. Other unforeseen problems also hampered the planned evaluation, including bouts of severe winter weather and the postponing of meetings with the tribal council, which was unavailable because members were occupied with other urgent business. ",
year = "2011",
month = oct,
doi = "10.1177/0193841X11428978",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "35",
pages = "523--549",
journal = "Evaluation Review",
issn = "0193-841X",
publisher = "SAGE Publications Inc.",
number = "5",
}