Evaluation of the Anishinaabewin Project, a service coordination agreement between West Region Child and Family Services and Winnipeg Child and Family Services Central Area
Date
1999-08-01T00:00:00Z
Authors
Drakul, Mira
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Abstract
Coordination has been a topic of interest to practitioners for several decades, and regardless of their specific motives or interests, most administrators, clients and legislators agree that increased coordination of public service is necessary. Having recognized the need for coordinated services on behalf of the First Nation children and families from the West Region Child and Family Services and Winnipeg Child and Family Ser ices, Central Area signed a Service Coordination Agreement in November 1996. The Agreement was signed with the purpose of establishing principles and processes for coordinating the delivery of services between these two agencies to this specific target population. It was hoped that this would address some of the barriers related to the implementation of the Native Child Placement Protocols. The purpose of this practicum was to evaluate the Service Coordination Agreement, with a view to exploring coordination as a process and develop skills in the application of program evaluation. The objectives of the practicum were to investigate a model of coordination established between WRCFS and WCFS Central and to contribute to the knowledge base of the use of coordination and collaboration in the field of child welfare. The practicum involved designing an evaluation of the interagency coordination between WRCFS and WCFS Central, which included a review of the development of the Service Coordination Agreement. Particular attention was paid to the assessment of the development and maintenance of inter-organizational relationships using Van de Ven's framework. The study results provided insight into the development and the model of coordination that evolved between the two agencies.