Choices for Youth (CFY) is soliciting proposals to create a developmental evaluation plan to evaluate the effectiveness and progress of the social enterprise, training, and employment pilot programming under the Newfoundland and Labrador Innovation Centre (NLWIC) grant. 2.1 Contract Term The contract will commence August 2020 and must be completed by no later than August 30, 2021 (12 months). The organization reserves the right to extend the Contract for a period of up to 2 months under the same terms and conditions, including pricing.
2.2 Evaluation Services – Project Purpose
The purpose of this project is to develop a comprehensive developmental evaluation plan for the pilot programming associated with the NLWIC project.
Through evaluation, we seek to complete programmatic implementation and outcome evaluation of CFY’s employment-based initiatives to investigate, inform and validate the Employment First model. These will inform subsequent implications and recommendations for current educational and economic development policies and priorities that affect the social complexities faced by vulnerable youth and emerging adults.
In this project we will test the fidelity of the Employment First model outside of the St. John’s area. In partnership with local partners, we will also aim to unlock further learning to inform the development of a Community Toolkit for best and promising practices for youth in education and employment across the province.
Once implemented, the evaluation will provide solid evidence relating to program impacts and outcomes. This evaluation will be used to:
Inform decisions to improve program design
Identify ways to ensure program meets its objectives
Demonstrate accountability for program funding (i.e., summative evaluation) by determining the extent to which each of the initiatives are meeting expected outcomes
2.3 Scope of Work
Evaluation support to initiatives through Developmental Evaluation frameworks, designing theories of change, data collection and analysis.
Developing connections between evaluators, and growing a culture of evaluation and learning to strengthen the field of practice.
Developmental Evaluator, the position now called “Evaluator”. This will provide coaching, expert supervision, and 3rd party reliability in data.
Developmental evaluation framework as it fits our HCD approach.
Evaluate How we do the work to encourage replication and promote scalability – a main objective in our NLWIC proposal.
The proponent will:
Help identify an evaluator to fill the role
Creating an evaluation plan (involving CFY staff)
Implementing the evaluation plan/achieving deliverables
Providing real-time feedback to CFY/project committee
Collecting, analyzing, interpreting, writing/presenting evaluation findings
Ensuring the evaluation meets The Program Evaluation Standards adopted by the Canadian Evaluation Society
Provide coaching in developmental evaluation to on-the-ground evaluator
Recruit, hire, and manage the contract of an embedded developmental evaluator with project
Host regular check-ins to monitor the progress of the evaluation
2.4 Contract Deliverables The successful Proponent will be selected based on the clarity and responses to the RFP. CFY seeks to have a developmental evaluation (DE) plan that provides the following key deliverables: Deliverable 1: Develop a comprehensive evaluation plan and data collection strategies to track and measure impact. Deliverable 2: A written report outlining the data sources and analytical methods for the developmental evaluation plan. The report should make clear how each source informs progress towards CFY NLWIC goals, and how taken together the evaluation approach provides a picture of the project’s performance. The report should be written so a non-technical user can understand it.
Deliverable 3: Implement and manage the evaluation plan and create a third-party report on findings.
Proposals
Proposals should not exceed 5 pages and must include:
A summary of the proposed process for project developmental evaluation
A detailed work plan outlining the evaluation activities to be completed and a schedule for reports and deliverables according to timelines
A complete and detailed budget summary
One work sample
A statement of how the consultant(s) understands issues of confidentiality as applied to this project and disclosure concerning any real or perceived or potential conflicts of interest
Budget
Applicant must set a budget in accordance to the deliverables.
Qualifications Required
Proven track record of conducting projects of a similar scope
Extensive experience related to applied research with community-based initiatives and/or government-funded projects
Proven experience in community-based evaluation projects that incorporate both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies
Excellent written and verbal communication, including strong report writing and presentation skills
Demonstrated experience in social justice work/social innovation
Please submit your applications by July 15, 2020 at 5:00 p.m.
Choices for Youth
261 Duckworth St.
St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador A1C 1G9
Questions can be directed to Chelsey MacNeil, Director of Education, Employment, and Social Enterprise.
E-mail: cmacneil@choicesforyouth.ca
Thank you to all applicants however only short-listed individuals/organizations will be contacted.