Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

Family Services á la famille Ottawa is a non-profit agency that provides counselling, education and support to individuals, couples and families, serving the Ottawa region since 1914. In partnership with Pink Triangle Services, a community agency supporting the wellness of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, Two Spirit, questioning and queer (GLBTTQ) community, we are undertaking a community development initiative focusing on the social inclusion of GLBTTQ parents and their children, ages 0-6.

Children growing up in families with gay or lesbian parents (GLBTTQ families) may experience isolation, discrimination, homophobia, bullying, and exclusion from their early experiences with childcare and nursery school, experiences that may continue throughout their school careers. Community Development for Rainbow Families is developing a model of community development and popular education to help decrease the isolation and homophobia experienced by children of GLBTTQ families. Specifically, it will develop a train-the-trainer model and three toolkits to help children, their parents, and community service providers acknowledge and reduce the chronic stress that results from systemic, and often unacknowledged, homophobia. It will combine a neighbourhood-based advocacy, support and education program, using a community-based popular education project to assist both the GLBTTQ community and the larger community to recognize and understand the changing face of family.

The project is expected to generate specific and measurable results,
including:

• Decreased incidence of discrimination of GLBTTQ parents in pre-school and school settings
• Decreased experience of internal feelings of shame or secrecy among children of GLBTTQ parents
• Decreased occurrence of discrimination against GLBTTQ parents in pre-school, school, and community settings
• Increased sense of connection by children ages 0-6 from GLBTTQ families, with their peer groups, other families, and the community
• Increased availability of GLBTTQ family-friendly resources and
  approaches in pre-school and school settings
• Increased confidence and skills of GLBTTQ parents in advocating for their children in the preschool, child care, and school systems

Family Services à la famille Ottawa is seeking an evaluation consultant to design a results-based evaluation strategy to support the project. The consultant will work with the project staff:

• to identify, adapt and develop methodology and tools for evaluation;
• to direct the administration of the tools; and
• to assist with the analysis and reporting of the data.

The tools will be designed for pre-test and post-test administration:

• To develop base line data at the beginning of the project
• To assess the impact of the project in the final year

The evaluation tools to be developed or identified are expected to include:

• Environmental scan of resources and attitudes in pre-school environments
• Assessment of parent and child experience of discrimination in child-care and education settings
• Identification of barriers to services within the school and child care environments, as well as within urban and rural communities
• Assessment of community awareness of the needs and challenges faced by GLBTTQ families

Contract Scope: The project duration is from January 2006 to November 2008.

The evaluation consultant will work with the project coordinator in years 1 and 3 to develop the pre-test evaluation and the post-test evaluations. Total funds available for the evaluation contract are $15,000.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please submit, by January 31, 2006, a proposal and CV to:
Carol Proulx
Project Coordinator, Community Development for Rainbow Families
Family Services á la famille Ottawa
312 Parkdale Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario
K1Y 4X5
(613) 725-3661 ext 126
cproulx@familyservicesottawa.org
This project is funded by the Government of Canada’s Social Development Partnerships Program. http://www.familyservicesottawa.org