CFRE provided consultancy support to a program that delivers parenting groups and playgroups with culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Melbourne.
In 2015-2016, CFRE designed and provided two tailored half-day workshops covering an introduction to evidence-based program planning and implementation, and defining program outcomes. Program staff were guided through the key elements of a community needs analysis, evidence-based programming, program logics and outcomes measurement. Staff reported that the tailored on-site workshops were useful in grappling with new information quickly and the follow-up support enabled them to quickly apply learnings to their program. They reported that the workbook developed and provided by CFRE has been an invaluable reference tool to have on hand.
CFRE provided follow-up support to help the team develop their own program logic and begin to move towards the use of standardised outcome measures. Program staff report that they have since utilised the program logic in their program planning and decision-making. When making some difficult decisions about whether to continue to implement a program that was not receiving the intended results, they used their program logic outcomes to inform their decision. The team faced ongoing challenges to outcome measurement, given the context of providing soft-entry and drop-in style programs. However, this support afforded them new-found enthusiasm to working towards incorporating outcome measurement into their reporting frameworks and systems.