EvaluationReport–Community-ledDevelopment.doc

Implementation of Community-led Development Evaluation Report December 2012 Table of Contents Executive summary 1 Introduction 1 Purpose of the evaluation 1 Methodology 1 Results 2 Conclusion 3 Recommendations 3 Introduction 4 Purpose of the evaluation 4 Background 5 Methodology 6 Results 9 Question 1: How well did the Department perform in the implementation of community-led development? 9 Question 2: What lessons were learnt about the Department’s programme management, resources and personnel? 11 Question 3: What could make the initiative more effective and efficient? 14 Question 4: Does the data support the theory of change? What explains its impact? 15 Conclusion 16 Recommendations 16 Appendices 17 Appendix 1: Definition of community-led development 17 Appendix 2: Definition of action research 18 Appendix 3: Community-led development outcomes framework 19 Appendix 4: Data collection methods 20 Appendix 5: Quarterly Reflection Report questions 22 Appendix 6: Focus Group Questions 23 Appendix 7: Project governance and management 24 List of Figures Figure 1: Action research data sources for the community-led development evaluation 7 List of Tables Table 1: Funding allocation for community-led development 5 Table 2: Summary of other performance data 10 Table 3: Selection criteria for community-led development 11 Table 4: Distribution of funding across wellbeing and funding types 13 Executive summary Introduction The Department of Internal Affairs (the Department) is responsible for supporting the outcome that New Zealand’s diverse people and communities, hapū and iwi are resilient and prosperous. In 2009 a review of the Department’s Crown funded schemes identified that a community-led development approach may be more effective in supporting this outcome. In 2011 the Department transferred funding from the Community Organisation Grant Scheme (COGS) to support a trial of a community-led development approach. This approach involves communities taking the lead in i