Measuring the effectiveness of 'whole of system' response to prevent family violence

Details

The purpose of the Families Commission/Social Policy Evaluation and Research Unit (SuPERU) is to increase the use of evidence by people working across the social sector so that they can make better decisions to improve the lives of New Zealanders, New Zealand’s communities, families and whānau.

SuPERU wishes to understand how to best to assess the effectiveness of multiple interventions at a system level to prevent family violence. While much research and evaluation has focused on the effectiveness of individual interventions and programmes, relatively little is known about the best mix and spread of interventions that may be necessary across the system, and in particular how to measure the effectiveness of the overall response.

We require a review and critical analysis of the evidence to identify approaches to measuring effectiveness at the system level for preventing family violence, although it may be appropriate to consider methodologies that have been used to assess the effectiveness of system-level responses to other complex social issues.

The focus in this review is only on government-contracted programmes and services.