24 - Lessons on power sharing: Integrating lived experience in evaluation

Abstract Information: “Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others.” ― Voltaire. Driven by a collective desire to promote equity and enhance rigor, evaluators are increasingly elevating the importance of integrating individuals with lived experience into their study designs and frameworks. Participatory, culturally responsive, and equitable study designs especially lend themselves to showcasing the value of having individuals who are closest to an issue shape how evaluations are conducted, how meaning is made, and how findings are interpreted. These evaluation designs recognize that individuals with lived experience are best suited to shape evaluation designs and the interpretation of the results to ensure it is consistent and well-informed based upon the expertise accrued working or growing up in systems requiring fundamental change. This session will facilitate an exchange of ideas related to engaging individuals with lived experience and/or lived expertise in evaluations that occur within different contexts including federal, state, and local child welfare and educational contexts.

Relevance Statement: Driven by a collective desire to promote equity and enhance authenticity, evaluators are increasingly elevating the importance of integrating individuals with lived experience into their study designs and frameworks. Participatory, culturally responsive, and equitable study designs especially lend themselves to showcasing the value of having individuals who are closest to an issue shape how evaluations are conducted, how meaning is made, and how findings are interpreted. These evaluation designs recognize that individuals with lived experience are best suited to shape evaluation designs and the interpretation of the results to ensure it is consistent and well-informed based upon the expertise accrued working or growing up in systems requiring fundamental change and reform. Individuals with lived experience often have their own personal definitions or frameworks of what their experience means to them. For the purposes of this presentation, presenters have conceptualized lived experience as “providing insights into patterns, common behaviors, challenges, and barriers among individuals who share similar experiences" (Given, 2008). This presentation will highlight four evaluation projects that have infused lived experience in meaningful ways by having individuals assume roles along a continuum of engagement from informing and sharing knowledge, to consulting and sharing expertise, to collaborating in partnerships, and being empowered to lead and inform decisions. This session will facilitate an exchange of ideas related to engaging individuals with lived experience in evaluations that occur within different contexts including federal, state, and local child welfare and educational contexts. The presenters, including some individuals with lived expertise in child welfare, will showcase methodological approaches, lessons, and reflections on infusing lived experience as a mechanism for storytelling in evaluation. These presenters will share their reflections co-creating and implementing all phases of a mixed methods evaluations with select findings from surveys, interviews, and focus groups with Federal, state, and local staff. The presentation will highlight critical elements for infusing lived experience into evaluation designs such as building ample time into planning to facilitate evaluation capacity building, bidirectional learning, and relationship building to promote authentic engagement throughout the lifespan of an evaluation, from instrument design to data collection, analysis, and reporting. Presenters will highlight the importance of authenticity, vulnerability, trust building, and applying a trauma informed lens to avoid tokenism, promote shared power, and ensure authentic partnerships. Given, L. M. (Ed.). (2008). The SAGE encyclopedia of qualitative research methods (Vol. 2). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412963909