Introduction
To address the critical need for support for Native American (i.e., American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and/or Pacific Islander) people who have experienced human trafficking, the Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) established the Demonstration Grants to Strengthen the Response to Victims of Human Trafficking in Native Communities (VHT-NC) Program. The program aims to build, expand, and sustain organizational and community capacity to deliver services to Native American people who have experienced human trafficking. In September 2020, six VHT-NC projects received 3-year awards to provide culturally responsive and trauma-informed participant outreach and identification, comprehensive case management and service provision, and training to respond to human trafficking in their communities.
The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), in consultation with OTIP, oversaw a formative evaluation of these VHT-NC projects. RTI International and American Indian Development Associates (AIDA) conducted the formative evaluation to understand their design and implementation, including challenges, strengths, and lessons learned.
Purpose
The VHT-NC formative evaluation involved participatory and culturally responsive approaches and was informed by and incorporated the knowledge, values, and traditions of the VHT-NC projects and communities. This brief discusses the guiding principles, methods, and approaches the VHT-NC evaluation team used, including our strategies for Tribal study approval and community engagement.
Key Findings and Highlights
As Native communities develop and implement programs responsive to community issues of victimization and violence, evaluation of these programs is critical to demonstrate their effectiveness, uplift cultural healing practices and strengths, and support continual quality improvements. Evaluation of Tribal programs and with Native communities requires intentional design strategies to ensure the approaches respect Indigenous data sovereignty and incorporate their traditional and contemporary knowledge, beliefs, and values through participatory and culturally responsive approaches.
The following are important considerations when planning for evaluation that involves Native communities:
For non-Native organizations, partnering with Native or Indigenous organizations or consultants is a culturally responsive practice and is strongly encouraged. Non-Native evaluation team members are still responsible for knowing and understanding Indigenous and culturally responsive evaluation principles.
Even if program evaluation is a required component of an award, Tribal engagement and approval (as directed by Tribal regulations) is still required before evaluation begins.
Evaluation teams must be aware of other approval processes (e.g., federal agency, OMB), including timing and length, and intentionally build in opportunities for project and community engagement to continually inform the evaluation.
Giving back to the projects and communities participating in the evaluation and sharing their knowledge, strengths, and gifts is critical. Doing so honors their sovereignty, time, and efforts and hopefully will help build trust and begin to right the many wrongs that have harmed Native communities in the name of research.
Methods
This brief is based on the VHT-NC formative evaluation team’s experience incorporating culturally responsive and participatory approaches into the evaluation design.
Appendix
Appendix
Conducting Culturally Responsive Evaluation Engagement with Tribal and Native Communities—Appendix
Citation
Pecos Melton, A., Martinez, R., Melander, C., Tibaduiza, E., & Pfeffer, R. (2024). Conducting culturally responsive evaluation engagement with Tribal and Native communities. OPRE Report No. 2024-250, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Glossary
- CEG:
- Community Expert Group.
- VHT-NC Program:
- Demonstration Grants to Strengthen the Response to Victims of Human Trafficking in Native Communities.