Should I Hire a Local Evaluator?

Evaluation is crucial to the ultimate success of service provision and is vital to determining whether your program is achieving its goals. During the planning stage, you should assess the evaluation capabilities of your initiative to determine if you need to hire a local evaluator. Exhibit 1 suggests questions to consider when making this determination.

Exhibit 1 Assessing Victim Service Providers and Allied Professionals’ Capabilities for Evaluation
Question	Circle Answer
Does the lead agency have a staff person who knows how to conduct a needs assessment or an evaluation of a comprehensive initiative?	Yes No
Do any of the key partners in the initiative have a staff person who knows how to conduct a needs assessment or a program evaluation to suit your needs?	Yes No
Does either a staff person from the lead agency or a key partner know enough about evaluation to conduct a needs assessment or an evaluation with the support of resources (e.g., manuals, toolkits, textbooks, guides, informal partners) that are available in the field?	Yes No
Do staff have enough time to devote to conducting a meaningful needs assessment or evaluation?	Yes No

If the majority of your answers to these questions is “no,” then you may need to hire a local evaluator to assist with planning and implementing the needs assessment or evaluation. If the majority of your answers to these questions is “yes,” you may still want to review the sections regarding the competencies, roles, and responsibilities of the evaluator to better determine the level of expertise available within your team.