Evaluations

In striving to continually improving the System of Care in Southeastern Indiana and therefore outcomes for children and family, OCOF is committed to evaluation. Evaluation helps us know what needs to be improved, what is working, and how do we make sure it keeps working.

The Center for Collaborative Systems Change:

The Center for Collaborative Systems Change, located at Indiana University’s Institute on Disability and Community (IIDC), is focused on empowering communities to maximize their strengths and improve environments so that all individuals, children and families are safe and supported. Creating opportunities for communication and integration of all perspectives is central to their work. They study how agencies and groups work together to solve social problems by forging lasting, mutually beneficial relationships, enhancing the capacity of their partners, and facilitating collaborative data practices. The Center Director is Allison Howland, Ph.D.

Current evaluation projects:

The Evaluation Advisory Board (EAB) meets monthly to discuss challenges related to the evaluation data collection and to develop or review local evaluation studies. The purpose of this board is to ensure that the evaluation is participatory and collect information that is relevant to the needs and strengths of the community. During the monthly EAB meetings, the committee will discuss any topic that the evaluation team is in need of direction, explore recent data, and distribute data results to the general public.

The board consists of the external evaluations from Indiana University, OCOF Executive Director, representatives from mental health, child welfare, justice system, people in recovery, and other partner agencies.