At STARTTS, we believe in evidence-based practice and we are committed to continually learning and improving. This process includes reflecting on what we’re doing and how we can better meet the needs of the communities we work with.
Evaluation is an important part of our work. Measuring the effectiveness of our projects allows us to document and share important lessons and best practice guidelines, tailor our programs to better meet the needs of refugee communities and individuals, and involve our clients actively in the process of feedback and reflection.
Examples of clinical and community development evaluations
- Sri Lankan New Year Celebration Evaluation report 2023
- Families in Cultural Transition (FICT) Program Report 2022
- FICT Purple Heart Domestic and Family Violence Project Report 2022
- Yoga Group Evaluation Report 2022
- STARTTS in Schools Evaluation Report 2021
- STARTTS NSW COVID-Outreach Support Program Evaluation 2021
- More Than Five Minutes of Fame: An evaluation of STARTTS Community Cultural Development Program
- Body-Focused Therapies Evaluation
- Capoeira Angola Evaluation
- Community Cultural Development Evaluation
- Early Childhood Program Evaluation
- Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Literacy Programs
- Neurofeedback Program Evaluation
- Reflect, Review, Renew Consultation Service Evaluation
- Refugee Yoga Project
- Sporting Linx Evaluation
- STARTTS in Schools Evaluation
- Providing psychosocial support to people from refugee background who identify as LGBTIQA+ in Western Sydney
- Keeping In Contact
- Mental Health Conversations
- South Sudanese Youth Ambassador Program
- Communities in Cultural Transition (CiCT)
- All One Under the Sun
Training and resources
STARTTS offers community development evaluation training. Make a request here.
Community development evaluation manual
As part of our unique approach to evaluating community development programs, STARTTS has developed a Community Development Evaluation Manual as a reference guide for our staff and other refugee settlement service providers.
The full manual is available here as a free download.
Measuring social capital
In partnership with the Centre for Refugee Research at the University of New South Wales, STARTTS has developed a new methodology for measuring the social capital impact of our community development programs. This exciting project involved people from refugee backgrounds in the design of an evaluation tool developed specifically for the Australian refugee settlement context. STARTTS also offers training on designing and evaluating projects to increase social capital in refugee communities upon request.
Research
In addition to evaluation, STARTTS is conducting a number of research projects. Further information about our research can be found here.