Monitoring and evaluation practice standards in South African Social Work and Criminology

Abstract

Employee Assistance Programmes are considered to have grown immensely since an EAP was first introduced in 1986 and formally structured (EAPA-SA, 2010). The first EAPA-SA standards document was developed in 1999 and revised in 2005 and 2010 to ensure it reflects local and international best practices. The goal of the study was to explore the EAP practices of EAPA-SA members benchmarked against EAPA-SA standards. A survey was conducted by a group of students with EAP professionals, specifically registered as EAPA-SA members in 2014, under the supervision of Prof. L. S. Terblanche. The researcher identified the need to benchmark existing EAP practices against the EAPA-SA Standards document to assess whether these practices fulfil their purpose. The research focused on assessing the Monitoring and Evaluation standards of EAPs as applied in SA practices, benchmarked against EAPA-SA standards. The findings reveal less than half of respondents confirmed the existence of a monitoring and evaluation strategy in their practices. Less than half confirmed that monitoring is performed by their EAPs. Evaluation responses were alarming, as few confirmed evaluation of their EAPs. EAP core technologies are also covered by but a few respondents. Internal EAP practitioners were identified as the main persons responsible for monitoring and evaluation. Low percentages of respondents confirmed carrying out EAP evaluations. Avoidance of monitoring and evaluation may be due to anxieties and embarrassment that could arise from any negative findings of the EAP. It is crucial to engage outside, trained evaluators for programme monitoring and evaluation for the purpose of objective programme evaluation.