AEA365 Curator note: Please enjoy this article, part of a 5-part miniseries on VOPEs – Voluntary Organization for Professional Evaluation.

Hello everyone. I am Jennifer Bisgard, an evaluator based in South Africa.  Over the last 25 years as an evaluator, I have been very involved in VOPEs (link to Jim’s definition).  This includes my role as the founding chair of SAMEA, board member of AfrEA and of the International Organization for Cooperation in Evaluation and an active member of the EvalPartners Management Group.  I’m also an international member of AEA.

As the final VOPE related post this week, I’m going to speak about the The Global Evaluation Agenda (EvalAgenda) which provides a road map towards the vision for the future of evaluation profession.

The EvalAgenda was jointly developed by thousands of evaluators from different countries and organizations and endorsed by the delegates of the EvalPartners Global Evaluation Forum held at the Parliament of Nepal in November 2015.  It was the culmination of the 2015 UN International Year of Evaluation (EvalYear).

Rad Resource: The EvalAgenda points us to the rad resource Eval2020 Agenda, and set up several forums https://www.evalpartners.org/evalsdgs/about which include:

1. EvalSDGs — a network of policy makers, institutions and practitioners who advocate for the evaluability of the performance indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and support processes to integrate evaluation into national and global review systems.
2. EvalGender – a global partnership to promote the demand, supply and use of Equity Focused and Gender Responsive Evaluations
3. EvalYouth — a network to support new and emergent evaluators
4. EvalIndigenous — multi-stakeholder partnership which, through the recognition of the different world views and valuing the strengths of Indigenous evaluation practices will advance the contribution of Indigenous evaluation to global evaluation practice
5. Global Parliamentarian Forum – a network of legislators who support and demand evaluation results across the globe.

The GEA documents the four essential dimensions of the evaluation system make up: (1) the enabling environment for evaluation, (2) institutional capacities, (3) individual capacities for evaluation, and (4) inter-linkages among these first three dimensions.

The Global Evaluation Agenda is a particatory process and VOPEs (and organizations, governments or any interested party) can make their declaration of what they will achieve by 2020.  The declarations are then loaded on to the EvalPartners website. https://www.evalpartners.org/global-evaluation-agenda/declarations

Rad Resource: Here is the declaration made by AEA Declaration – English (Word)

Learn more about EvalYear: https://evaluationvigie.fr/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/International-Year-of-Evaluation-Announcement1.pdf

The Bishkek Forum report includes an account of the work done to 2017 and Network plans for the near future: https://www.evalpartners.org/sites/default/files/documents/gef/EvalPartners%20-%20Forum%20Report%20-%202017.pdf

Think about making your own declaration by your AEA affiliate or VOPE!

Cool Tip: Use this template to write your own declarationhttps://www.evalpartners.org/sites/default/files/documents/Global%20Evaluation%20Agenda%202016-2020%20Declaration%20English.pdf

No tags

AEA365 Curator note: Please enjoy this article, part of a 5-part miniseries on VOPEs – Voluntary Organization for Professional Evaluation.

Good day, evaluation colleagues. I am Benoît Gauthier, credentialed evaluator. I am based in Quebec, Canada, where I have practiced evaluation for three decades. I have been and remain involved in the associative life of the evaluation world through the Canadian Evaluation Society, the International Organization for Cooperation in Evaluation, EvalPartners, and the Réseau francophone de l’évaluation (RFE – Francophone Evaluation Network). French is my mother tongue and I learned English in school and at work. Therefore, you will understand that evaluation conducted in French is of particular importance to me. I also think that it should be important to you, members of AEA: some of you are international members who practice in French; others evaluate programs in contexts where French is the working language; and French is the fifth most spoken and the second most learned language in the world.

Rad Resource: The RFE was created in 2013. Its mission includes the development of the supply of francophone evaluation, the bolstering of the theoretical and technical evaluation resources available in French, the development of a stronger cooperation among French-speaking national evaluation associations, and the promotion of evaluation use in francophone jurisdictions. The RFE was founded on the premise that it is important to support multicultural and multipolar voices in evaluation to contribute to the multiplicity of approaches to evaluation, the diversity of perspectives, and to the multiprone defence of human rights.

Hot Tip: As of now, 24 national evaluation associations (Voluntary Organizations for Professional Evaluation or VOPEs in English terminology) are included in the RFE membership: 14 from Africa, 3 from the the Middle East and Northern Africa, 5 from Europe, and 2 from North America. RFE’s key accomplishments include the organization of two international fora on francophone evaluation (Dakar in 2014, Marrakesh in 2016) that attracted hundreds of key players in governments, parliaments, control institutions, universities, and private firms. The RFE also supports an active network of young and emerging evaluators; it is developing close-encounter projects with parliamentarians; and it actively supports the development of national evaluation associations.

Cool Trick: Support to national evaluation associations takes several forms. An important one has been the translation and adaptation of the Toolkit created to empower VOPEs and to help them rise from the ground and grow into important local players in the national evaluation systems. All five sections of the Toolkit have been translated into French and French resources have been identified and made available for all VOPEs to use. The five sections deal with: setting up a VOPE, institutionalizing a VOPE, carrying out VOPE work, EvalPartners Network Resources, and the professionalization of evaluation.

The Toolkit includes a mechanism for users to upload relevant resources. Feel free to let the Toolkit team know of documents, web pages, tools, etc. that you know about and that you think would be of interest to VOPEs around the world – especially in French!

No tags

AEA365 Curator note: Please enjoy this article, part of a 5-part miniseries on VOPEs – Voluntary Organization for Professional Evaluation.

Dagsê, Sanibonani, Mhoroi! My name is Benita Williams and I work as an evaluation consultant in Southern Africa. I mostly evaluate education, leadership development and ICT4D interventions. I’m a former AfrEA board member and a founding SAMEA board member.

I am very interested in building the capacity of VOPEs because I believe they have great potential to promote an enabling environment for evaluation. VOPEs rely heavily on volunteer efforts of a group of individuals interested in promoting evaluation.

Hot Tip: Volunteering in a VOPE is an excellent way to build your evaluation networks. For young and emerging evaluators, it is an excellent opportunity for leadership development.  Read on if this sounds interesting.

VOPEs that develop their institutional capacities, formalize and diversity the activities they conduct typically are the ones that grow and become more effective.  Volunteers can make significant contributions to any or all of these facets

1. Formalization: Once a VOPE is founded they typically articulate their vision and operating structures in founding documents and a constitution. A membership policy usually sets out who is eligible to be a member of the VOPE and it spells out what the rights, benefits and responsibilities are.

Rad Resource –The AEA Starter Kit for Local Affiliates is a useful resource created by AEA members that could benefit those who are interested in founding or strengthening a VOPE in any country.  Remember, you can search for existing VOPEs on the IOCE website.

2. Institutionalization: For a VOPE to actively serve its members, it needs to pay attention to running the “business side”. Communication, coordinating volunteers’ efforts, managing the finances, and administering membership and voting processes can make or break a VOPE.

Rad Resource – Here are some ideas for how you can support the institutionalization of your VOPE.

3. Diversification of Activities: VOPEs typically host conferences and workshops, do advocacy, produce publications, develop guidelines and standards, confer evaluation awards, build international linkages, and participate in important evaluation debates.

Rad Resource: Globally the professionalization of evaluation is receiving attention. The VOPE Toolkit contains a page that introduces the main approaches and considerations in the professionalization of evaluation.

The VOPE Toolkit is a growing repository of resources for VOPEs. If you have found it useful, consider sharing your story.

Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org . aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

No tags

AEA365 Curator note: Please enjoy this article, part of a 5-part miniseries on VOPEs – Voluntary Organization for Professional Evaluation.

Greetings, fellow evaluators.  I’m Jim Rugh, member of AEA since the merger in 1986; now retired after an active career involved in evaluation at international levels.  That included being the AEA Representative to the IOCE (International Organization for Cooperation in Evaluation); subsequently a Co-Coordinator of EvalPartners, the even larger collaborative partnership with the UN and many other international agencies. In my “retirement mode” I still enjoy keeping up with the VOPEs of the world.  I guess that’s why I’ve been asked to write this introductory piece about VOPEs, IOCE and EvalPartners.

But let’s begin with that funny acronym:  VOPE.  The definition is Voluntary Organization for Professional Evaluation.  Why not just call them associations?  That’s the term we use in America, i.e. the American Evaluation Association.  But in other parts of the world they’re called societies.  And in many countries there are less formal organizations that are networks or communities of practice.  So IOCE and EvalPartners introduced the name VOPE, to try to be more inclusive.

IOCE (which I refer to as the United Nations of VOPEs) represents all the VOPEs of the world within the EvalPartners coalition.  The Board members of IOCE represent regional networks of VOPEs.  These include the African Evaluation Association (AfrEA), Red de Seguimiento, Evaluación y Sistematización en America Latina y el Caribe (ReLAC), the Community of Evaluators South Asia (CoE-SA), The Eurasian Alliance of National Evaluation Associations (EvalEurasia), the Evaluators Network of the Middle East and North Africa (EvalMENA), the Asia-Pacific Evaluation Association (APEA), and the European Evaluation Society (EES); an international network of francophone VOPEs called Réseau francophone d’évaluation (RFE); as well as the Big VOPEs: the Canadian Evaluation Society (CES), the Australasian Evaluation Society (AES), and, of course AEA.

Rad Resource: There are currently 130 VOPEs in 94 countries registered on IOCE’s Directory of VOPEs. These include not only national VOPEs, but also sub-national VOPEs (like AEA’s Local Affiliates).  As mentioned above, there are also regional and, indeed, international VOPEs.  Though they have not all registered on IOCE’s database, we have heard of 168 national VOPEs and 53 sub-national VOPEs in 129 countries, with total memberships of over 41,500 persons who identify as evaluators, academics who study evaluation, as well as clients of evaluation, including persons in governments with evaluation-related responsibilities.  (The strongest VOPEs include a good mix of all of these within their active memberships.)  Typical goals of VOPEs include supporting the professionalization of individual evaluators; contributing to the capacity of organizations to design, request, appreciate, and use evaluations; actively promoting evaluation as a decision-making, sense-making, and learning tool within national public policy and programming systems.

Rad Resource: In addition to identifying VOPEs, a major purpose of IOCE is to promote capacity development of VOPEs.  For that purpose, it has collected an incredible set of resources by and for VOPEs.

You’ll be hearing more about the VOPE Capacity Development Toolkit, as well as some of the Regional VOPEs during the next few days.

Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on theaea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by theAmerican Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

IOCE · VOPEs

Jayne Corso

Hi my name is Jayne Corso and I am the Community Manager for AEA. As we approach Evaluation 2018, I have a few tips for improving your LinkedIn page so you can create lasting connections in Cleveland. LinkedIn is a great way to follow up with your peers and colleagues form the conference.

Hot Tip: Build out Your LinkedIn Page so you are Easy to Find

Make your LinkedIn profile easy to find. First, make sure you have a recent photo of yourself. Next fill out your profile using searchable keywords such as evaluation, data visualization, research, internal evaluation, or health evaluation. You can also include your TIG involvement. Add the TIG you work with to the “Volunteer” section on your profile. Taking these steps will allow your profile to be easily searched by other evaluation practitioners.

Hot Tip: Follow the Evaluation 2018 Exhibitors on LinkedIn

Make connection with the exhibitors who will be coming to Evaluation 2018. Like the company pages of organizations such as Abt Associates, IntegReview IRB, and Mathematica Policy Research. You can also find individuals who work at these organizations on their company page.

Hot Tip: Find Attendees You Meet in Cleveland

Remember jot down the names of the people you meet in Cleveland. The you will meet a lot of people during our four days together and you can be surprised how quickly you can forget a name. Take note of the people you are meeting; this will help you connect with them on LinkedIn after the conference.

Hot Tip: Accept Your Digital Badge and Add it to Your Page

And one more thing…accept your digital badge from Evaluation 2018 and add it to your LinkedIn page! Use the badge to show your involvement with AEA and dedication to professional development.

Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

#Eval18 · LinkediIn · social media

Greetings! I am María Fernanda Rodrigo and I am a Senior Associate evaluator at the Office of Evaluation and Oversight at the Inter-American Development Bank, where my research focuses on productive sectors.

Have you ever found zero effects in your impact evaluation? After incorporating many specifications, the data is clear: your program has no effect whatsoever. You start thinking: what went wrong in the surveys? Should I try to work other ideas? Maybe I can find lessons learned from this failure…

This is the case from a recent evaluation of an agricultural program in Paraguay that promoted environmentally sustainable practices and technologies in the most common crops of the region. The analysis was done five years after the program was implemented, and preliminary analysis suggested that, although practices were still being implemented, there was no impact on productivity nor income. How disappointing is this in a time when the world is trying to be more sustainable?

However, “why were these farmers still using the technologies from the program if we were not detecting any -tangible- benefit out of it?”

What were we overlooking, perhaps spillover effects? Since the technologies were not expensive, it was likely that non-direct beneficiaries also adopted these practices after realizing the benefits from direct beneficiaries. But we couldn´t estimate them with no information from individual’s networks, and those surveys are expensive. Back to our data, finally some good luck: our surveys had included geospatial information of each farmer.

So, we assumed that control farmers at a certain distance or more from a direct beneficiary were clean controls. Then we estimated the effect of the program by comparing productivity outcomes from clean controls and direct beneficiaries. Our findings indicate now that the program increased productivity by at least 45%, this effect being higher for those with more time in the program.

The technologies promoted by the program are compatible with the environment and natural resources. No forested lands were dismantled, nor natural forests replaced with intensive crops during its implementation. This paper (forthcoming) points out how the promotion of environmental technologies can be successful among small producers when incentives are aligned. Not only they must be economically viable, but also the producer needs to be involved in the technology choice, and the government aware of the adequacy of inputs and technical assistance.

Lesson Learned:

One shouldn´t wait to have a zero-impact program to analyze possible spillover effects. Many programs end up affecting individuals that are not direct beneficiaries (whether this effect is intended or not). Hence, the design of an evaluation should understand the mechanisms in which these effects are possible not only to include controls that are “pure” (not affected indirectly by the program) in the survey design, but also to measure the transmission effect also relevant for policymaking.

The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Latina/o Responsive Evaluation Discourse TIG Week. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from LA RED Topical Interest Group members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

impact evaluation · spillover effects

I’m Rasec Niembro, an evaluator with over 6 years’ experience in Latin America, currently working as a consultant at the Inter-American Development Bank’s Office of Evaluation and Oversight.

In evaluation, we know that what cannot be measured cannot be improved. As practitioners, we share the responsibility not only in terms of producing objective information but also promoting the generation of useful and reliable data. This kind of concern is even more relevant in Latin America given highly unequal socioeconomic conditions.

Lesson Learned:

Recently, I worked in the Evaluation of the IDB’s Support for Gender and Diversity and was able to identify that regionally comparable statistics on women and indigenous outcomes remain scarce in crucial areas, impeding efforts to close gender and ethnic inequalities as well as monitor and evaluate numerous indicators and results. For example, Mexico is considered by the World Bank an upper middle-income country, however, using disaggregated data it’s possible to identify massive differences among populations, this variance implies that the Human Development Index in a municipality in Mexico City equals more than double than an indigenous municipality in Oaxaca. This distance is the same between the Netherlands and South Sudan, located in 4th and 181 of the world and shows that in some areas a poverty gap prevails ten times more among indigenous women compared to non-indigenous men. Without this information it would be impossible to design, implement and evaluate an efficient program targeted to reduce poverty.

Some challenges with disaggregated data that persist in Latin America are: lack of awareness of the value or importance of sex and ethnic disaggregated data, limited collection due to systems not set up to capture data at the individual level and, probably most noteworthy is that even if some data was available, it lacked quality or was simply erroneous. Despite numerous challenges, the evaluation also generated a variety of solutions and alternative research methods.

Cool Trick:

The specific data disaggregation needs at the country level must be taken into account at project planning and design stages. Where standard sample design fails to produce sufficient representation of specific populations of interest, alternate sampling and data collection approaches should be considered. These methodologies may include oversampling (increasing the number of units within an established sample design to increase the likelihood of populations of interest being included), targeted sampling (using existing information in census data or administrative records about the geographic distribution of the population of interest) or comparative surveys of target population groups with other population groups living in the same areas.

Implications for Evaluators

Collecting disaggregated data may imply more time and costs, even other complications because it can include aspects of biology, identity, and culture, among other factors. However, evaluators can be a vital force to promote the use and generation of reliable and updated disaggregated data. We must remember that using disaggregated data to evaluate interventions is essential to identify more accurate results and to make visible vulnerable populations because if they are seen and understood, they are more likely to be located at the center of policymaking and therefore evaluation.

The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Latina/o Responsive Evaluation Discourse TIG Week. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from LA RED Topical Interest Group members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

No tags

My name is Susana Morales and I am the Co-Founder of Communities in Collaboration | Comunidades en Colaboración. I am also a member of La Red TIG, YFE TIG, and the IC TIG and locally support the San Francisco Bay Area Evaluators and Applied Researchers group. During this short piece, I want to discuss working with culturally-driven organizations that are doing evaluations for the first time.

Recently, we started working with two organizations that serve Latino populations around issues of mental health. The organizations are full of well-intended mental health providers and whole-hearted community health care workers. They provide therapy, connect clients to other community providers, support them in navigating other pressing issues such as immigration, housing, and economic instability. Additionally, they are part of state evaluation working towards understanding how cultura es salud, how culture is health. They have to balance between being in the front lines of life and death concerns and having to ask their clients to complete consent forms and surveys.

Lesson Learned: How do you work with organizations that are not ready for an evaluation and have to do it? Earn their trust. They need to trust that you will take care of them and walk next to them as they figure things out. I have learned that earning trust allows me to be a better evaluator, a better critic when needed, even a better data enforcer even when I must.

Hot Tips: Here are some tips on how to develop a positive trusting relationship.

1. Cree en tu corazoncito. Evaluate with your heart. Many organizations do work of the heart and care deeply about the communities they serve. When you show up as the evaluator, also let your heart show up. Listen with empathy.
2. No nomas vallas a las fiestas. Show up. The communities which we serve face many challenges and the organizations for which we work are always short-staffed. We not only show up when for data collection, we show up when they have community events, need extra volunteers, even for parties.
3. Celebra. Celebrate the small wins. Embarking on an evaluation for the first time can be daunting and confusing. The small wins matter.
4. Yes, food. My mamá taught me to always bring something to share when I am invited to someone’s house. Pan dulce for a morning meeting if appropriate, fruit for an afternoon meeting.
5. Siempre Always greet. No matter how often you see your clients, always greet them as if you haven’t seen them in years. I’m a hugger, and, yes, I do ask for permission but I always greet people with authentic enthusiasm.

And remember las palabras se las lleva el viento make your actions count.

The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Latina/o Responsive Evaluation Discourse TIG Week. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from LA RED Topical Interest Group members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

No tags

This is Asma Ali, of AA & Associates, and Grisel Robles-Schrader, of Northwestern University, from Chicago. Along with many colleagues, we are core members of the Latinx Responsive Evaluation Discourse (LaRED) Topical Interest Group. As members of LaRED, we are often asked whether the group is only for Latinx evaluators. By design, LaRED is inclusive of both Latinx evaluators and those who are interested in being “allies” for Latinx communities. We have been thinking about what this means as our TIG has evolved.

The Community Toolbox defines an ally as “a person who supports, empowers, or stands up for another person or a group.”  Although we each bring different perspectives and experiences to our work as a 1st generation Latina and a first generation Indian-American women, our evaluation work has called us to be “allies” alongside diverse communities through our AEA efforts.

AEA TIGs offer unique opportunities for evaluators to develop alliances across various intersectional dimensions, such as communities of shared characteristics or evaluation approaches. Many people feel that the word “ally” has lost its meaning because it is overused.  For us, being an evaluation ally is entwined with our everyday professional and personal roles. Being an ally requires careful consideration of our own role(s) in relationship to the goals and advancement of diverse community groups. As we reflect on our ally role, we have compiled some tips for active engagement as an evaluation ally:

Hot Tips: Approaches & Reflections in Your Allyship Journey 

Seek Out Opportunities to Learn. Take time to learn about different cultures, communities and histories. Evaluators often have the opportunity to connect with people that have different experiences from their own. Embracing learning from others, examining our own biases, and reflecting on the privileges we bring to different spaces is often part of an evaluator’s role. Learn more here.

Engage Diverse Perspectives. Engage diverse stakeholders in all phases of evaluation. Stakeholders provide valuable insights that can inform the process and results. They can champion evaluation efforts and provide feedback on the feasibility and relevance of evaluation recommendations. Learn more here.

Use Your Expertise. As an ally, you may be called to actively advocate for issues that are important to the community.  This may done through your evaluation work or other roles with stakeholders. Learn more here.

Handle Missteps. Inevitably when working with diverse groups, missteps and misunderstandings are likely to occur. Staying engaged, being open to feedback, asking questions, and learning together are critical in evaluation ally work. For more resources click here.

Are there evaluation experiences where you have served as an ally to another group? What was your role? What did you learn?

The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Latina/o Responsive Evaluation Discourse TIG Week. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from LA RED Topical Interest Group members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

allyship

Hello, we are evaluators, researchers and practitioners who work alongside Latinx communities in Austin, TX. Josephine V. Serrata, Ph.D. is an independent evaluation consultant and licensed psychologist, Gabriela Hurtado Alvarado, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist and research program manager at the University of Texas at Austin, and Laurie Cook Heffron, Ph.D. is a licensed social worker and professor at St. Edward’s University. This post focuses on a recent project involving immigrant Latina women who experienced family detention while seeking asylum at the US border.

As promoters of culturally relevant research and evaluation, we strongly feel that evaluators who are working within Latinx communities must develop an understanding of the multiple ways that systemic trauma (e.g., environments and organizations that give rise to trauma and sustain it) impacts Latinx communities collectively. We would like to share some lessons learned from our recent project as an example of the intersecting traumas that Latinx communities may face.

Lesson Learned #1: Asylum Seekers Are Often Fleeing Severe Violence and Trauma. For example, violence in the Northern Triangle and Mexico has increased significantly in the past few years. These areas have often been dominated by criminal groups causing increases in the rates of gender-based violence, extortion, gang violence, and human trafficking.  These perilous circumstances push people to flee their countries of origin to pursue safety. Evaluators should consider what having this experience may mean when working with these populations.

Lesson Learned #2: Our Systems are Replicating Violence and Trauma. Individuals that have been detained describe that immigration detention centers in the U.S. are restrictive environments where they struggle to get their needs met. Previously detained women noted that physical and mental health services are inadequate. Asylum seekers also have to describe their experiences of trauma during a credible fear interview, which can exacerbate stress and be retraumatizing.

Lesson Learned #3: The Impact of Systemic Trauma is Far Reaching. The current political climate has created stressful and unsafe circumstances for Latinos living in the U.S. In fact, hate crimes against Latinos have increased significantly since 2014. This does not only include immigrants, but also permanent residents and U.S. citizens. Although researchers have found that Latinos are now experiencing more anxiety, PTSD, as well as other emotional and behavioral health symptoms, it is also important to remember the resiliency and strength of the Latinx community as they actively resist systemic oppression.

Rad Resources:

This document shares more information about understanding trauma and trauma-informed care through a Latinx lens.

This measure is a good starting point for evaluators who are evaluating trauma-informed practice.

The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Latina/o Responsive Evaluation Discourse TIG Week. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from LA RED Topical Interest Group members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

trauma