Formative evaluation of the James House Life Centre programme for young people

Abstract

This dissertation is an evaluation of a youth development initiative focused on young people from the ImiZamo Yethu community in Hout Bay. The programme is delivered through the Life Centre of James House, a non-governmental organisation based in Hout Bay, Cape Town. The evaluation is intended to be formative in nature and aims to provide information on the programmes implementation processes and outcome information on the extent to which the programme has been able to meet its short-term and medium-term goals. In order to guide the evaluation, an articulated programme theory underlying the operations of the Life Centre was required. This theory was not available. The evaluation therefore began by assessing what the programme"s theory was. The theory was determined through personal communication with programme staff and programme managers the plausibility of which was then assessed through a review of literature pertaining to similar programmes. The programme‟s theory revealed the components assumed important to the achievement of its outcomes and highlighted those elements of programme implementation that required evaluating. In addition, the assessment of the Life Centres theory showed that it falls in the category of programmes that aim to promote Positive Youth Development (PYD).