What is “Success”? Defining Outcomes in Services for Trafficking Survivors

• In Event: Evaluation Challenges and Strategies in Services for Victims of Human Trafficking

Abstract

Evaluation of services for victims of human trafficking are frequently limited to describing participant characteristics, service needs and services delivered, rather than program outcomes. This presentation describes an effort to build the evidence base for effective services by refining and validating an instrument designed to assess changes in outcomes germane to program participants. The instrument, adapted from a practice-based case management tool developed by the Coalition to Address Slavery and Trafficking (CAST), is currently used in a three-site evaluation of services to domestic trafficking victims. It defines participant status in multiple dimensions across four domains: safety, well-being, social connectedness, and self-sufficiency. In this presentation, we first describe the conceptual model underlying the instrument’s dimensions and the instrument itself. We present findings from the assessment of content validity (based on an environmental scan and expert panels of service providers and survivors), and preliminary findings on instrument scoring (based on a participatory web-based exercise by service providers). We then describe the study design for measuring instrument reliability and concurrent validity.

Authors

• Cutbush Stacey, RTI International

• Kate Krieger, RTI International

• Samantha Charm, RTI International

• Deborah A. Gibbs, RTI International