This three-volume report from the evaluation of the Philadelphia Defender Child Advocacy Unit (CAU) covers the context evaluation, the process evaluation, and the impact evaluation.
When it was established in 1976, the CAU was intended to provide counsel solely for child-abuse victims, but the CAU has increasingly been appointed to growing numbers and types of cases involving children. The contextual evaluation of the CAU identified three components in the context of the CAU: the legal and ideological supports for child advocacy work, the historical development of the CAU, and the CAU's relations with its local peers. In exploring these components, the contextual evaluation describes what should be the role of a child advocate and what rights and needs of children should be pursued; traces the history of the CAU from the beginnings of an advocacy movement in Philadelphia in the early 1970's; and reports on a study of the relationships between the CAU and other Philadelphia agencies and individuals with whom it interacts. The first section of the process evaluation describes the organization and its structure, with observations about the interpersonal climate. The second section discusses the unit's operations, including the information system and the client flow along with courtroom operations and field operations. Recommendations focus on policy issues, organization, operations, and recordkeeping. The impact of the CAU on its clients and on the justice and social service systems was assessed using two primary methodologies. First, the impact of the CAU's establishment was evaluated statistically using data from family court and CAU case records in a time series design. Second, the impact of the CAU on client-children and their families was evaluated by studying a small number of cases in great depth. Specific impacts examined were the behavior of youth in terms of school performance and delinquency, family stability, and impacts on the experiences of youth in the justice and social service systems. Forms used in the evaluation are provided along with bibliographies for various aspects of the CAU work.