Model for Setting Up Alternative Care System: M&E

Part 6 of the explanation with the ToC: Setting up Monitoring and Evaluation Systems for various parts of the project.

There is not an exact moment when you need to start to develop monitoring and evaluation systems, essentially it is something that needs to be put in place for all parts of the transition process where it is possible to check whether the outcomes of what is being done are what they were supposed to be. Monitoring this allows for a course adjustment in a case where the outcomes turn out not to be as hoped.

I have placed this here, because the first stage that this is really applicable to, is the next one: awareness-raising and advocacy. To know if the message that is being spread is coming across, it is helpful to have some idea of what people’s mindset or opinion regarding the topic was before the campaign was started, and then to see after some time whether there is any change. It is also useful to find out what part of the campaign had the greatest impact on people’s opinion since this information allows for possibly redirecting resources to where they have the biggest effect.

Having a monitoring and evaluation system in place is also relevant to the stages of capacity building and training of carers. After all, providing training is not useful, unless you can be sure that people have learned and understood what you tried to teach them. And of course, child placements need to be monitored and evaluated as well, however, this I have provided with a stage by itself, later on in the process.