Evaluation of the call “A Braccia Aperte” for systemic multidisciplinary intervention to support special orphans

Title A Braccia Aperte

Location Italy

Duration 48 months

Partners The partnership is composed of 82 partners divided into 4 networks lead by IRENE ’95 Cooperativa Sociale,  IL GIARDINO SEGRETO Associazione, ISIDE Cooperativa Sociale, Centri Antiviolenza E.M.M.A. Onlus

Funding Impresa Sociale Con I Bambini

 

Context

The reality of so-called special orphans, children of victims of domestic violence and crimes, is as complex as it is still hidden: there are no official estimates of the actual number of cases. The psychological consequences of domestic crimes create a real syndrome, called child traumatic grief: boys and girls, overwhelmed by the suffering and the reaction to the trauma, become unable to grieve, finding themselves trapped in a state of chronic grief.

This situation is even more difficult because caregivers, who are often family members of the victims, may also be unable to cope with their own grief or may even adopt overprotective behaviours that, paradoxically, amplifies the suffering of the children. Added to this complex situation are legal issues, including the withdrawal of parental responsibility, custody of the child and the appointment of a legal guardian.

The call  “A Braccia Aperte” aims to develop a flexible and customised model of systemic multidisciplinary intervention to support special orphans.

The projects financed by the call focus on:

  • promoting the construction of a solid affective and relational network to support orphans in their growth (micro level);
  • fostering the construction of a network to support foster families together with associations, the third sector and civil society actors throughout the national territory (meso level);
  • activating systems for the early detection of the risk of domestic violence, carrying out advocacy, lobbying and communication actions (macro level).

These actions are carried out by four territorial networks in the South, the Centre, the North East and the North West, sharing the same specific and general objectives:

  • Southern Network: project ‘Respiro, Support Network for Inclusion and Resilience Paths with Special Orphans’, lead organisation IRENE ’95 social cooperative,
  • Central Network: project “Airone”, lead organisation Il Giardino Segreto,
  • North-Eastern Network: project ‘Orphan of Femicide Invisible Victim’, lead organisation ISIDE Cooperativa Sociale,
  • North-Western Network: ‘SOS, Sostegno Orfani Speciali’, lead organisation E.M.M.A. Anti-Violence Centres.

 

General Objective

The M&E and Impact Evaluation Unit was involved in conducting the impact evaluation of projects funded by the A Braccia Aperte call. The evaluation is divided into four stages

  • T1 – in itinere evaluation, after 18 months from the start of the projects;
  • T2 – in itinere evaluation, after 36 months from the start of the projects;
  • T3 – final evaluation, after 48 months from the start of the projects;
  • T4 – impact evaluation, within 2 years from the conclusion of the intervention.

 

Our contribution

In order to carry out the evaluation of the projects promoted by the four networks (South, Centre, North-East and North-West), the M&E and Impact Evaluation Unit focused on the operational objectives identified by the networks. The evaluation involved both the direct beneficiary level (minors and caregivers), the meso level (of the partnership, networks and professionals) and the macro level (impact of advocacy, lobbying, communication activities).

The impact evaluation returns an analysis in terms of the contribution that the actions of the A Bracci Aperte call have in generating structural changes in terms of policies, enriched by a qualitative analysis of the contribution to the changes of the actions implemented.

A special emphasis was also placed on the assessment of multidimensional well-being, a concept that refers to the degree to which a child succeeds in meeting his or her physical, emotional, social and cognitive needs, as well as his or her development, the ability to realise his or her potential, to have opportunities consistent with his or her level of maturity and to develop agency. In addition, the use of non-experimental methodologies in the definition of a virtual counterfactual for project impact evaluation, through the application of the Evaluating Human Development (EHD) methodology.

The evaluation was guided by the criteria of intervention effectiveness and impact, borrowed from the criteria defined by the OECD DAC (2019) to guide the assessment of complex projects and programmes. The evaluation aims to understand the main outcomes and results activated by the initiative on the main beneficiaries and stakeholders in the medium and long term (effectiveness and impact), as well as to highlight lessons learnt and good practices, and provide a learning opportunity for the members of the different partnerships, as well as for Impresa Sociale Con I Bambini itself.

 

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