Destitute Asylum Seeker Service Evaluation
Summative evaluation of Glasgow’s Destitute Asylum Seeker’s Service (DASS), a partnership programme, led by Refugee Survival Trust, and funded by the Oak Foundation (2014-2022)
The Task
Through this evaluation, Refugee Survival Trust and their partners wanted to assess progress towards the project’s aims and objectives (2014-2022), to reflect on the partnership experience and identify any legacies from the project.
The Process
For this summative evaluation, we used an evaluation framework and thematic analysis to draw together the main findings and a validation and reflection process to develop actionable recommendations.
We discussed with Refugee Survival Trust the scope, target audiences and use of the evaluation as well as refining the evaluation questions.
We carried out a desk-based review of year-end reports, previous evaluations, case studies and quarterly data collected throughout the six years of the project.
Interviews were conducted with service users (8), all programme partners (6), and a small sample of external stakeholders (3). We transcribed the interviews and coded the data using MAXQDA.
Facilitated a validation and reflection session with partners to review the findings and reflect together on recommendations for the future.
The Result
All programme partners (Refugee Survival Trust, British Red Cross, Scottish Refugee Council, Safe in Scotland, Strathclyde Immigration Law Clinic and Castlemilk Community Church) provided feedback that the evaluation report was a comprehensive and useful report to document the story of the DASS partnership programme that will be an important resource for learning and reflection on partnership working and providing services for destitute people seeking asylum.
Evaluation Lead: Joanna Knight
Themes: Evaluate; Equality and rights for people forced to move
“It has been great working with merl. We had a tight deadline to produce the final report. MERL did a tremendous job of pulling together our statistical data, service user feedback and partner input to produce an informative, well-balanced evaluation that we could share with funders and stakeholders.” Cath McGee, Development and Operations Manager, Refugee Survival Trust