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TERMS OF REFERENCE  

EXTERNAL EVALUATION

Legal Socialization in Moldovan Schools Program

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

In August 2019, Project Harmony Inc. (PH International), a U.S. based non-profit organization with an office in the Republic of Moldova was awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) to support legal socialization and juvenile crime prevention in the Republic of Moldova.  The grant has enabled the implementation of a two-year pilot initiative which is expected to expand into a multi-year program. Legal socialization (LS) is the process of developing understanding, attitudes, ideas, and behaviors about the law and the model builds success at a personal and community level while engaging key stakeholders who have the power to affect essential policies and commit required resources for sustainability.

The Legal Socialization in Moldovan Schools Program (MLSP) aims to strengthen the rule of law, support Moldovan communities in preventing juvenile delinquency, and develop a positive relationship between juveniles and law enforcement authorities by using youth-oriented approaches. It promotes an integrated approach that educates youth on the rule of law in classroom activities, raises awareness on community/school safety problems through supplemental and afterschool activities, and develops cooperative partnerships among youth, educators, law enforcement authorities, and the larger community.

PH International uses a multi-dimensional approach that has gained the support and commitment of stakeholders from the highest ministerial levels extending to local communities for the prevention of delinquencies by and against young people.

This initiative is implementing pilot activities (delivery of legal socialization curriculum for 8 graders and supplemental activities) in 22 pilot schools from 6 regions and testing activities (delivery of legal socialization curriculum for 11 graders) in 16 pilot schools from 7 regions.

An innovative approach of the LS program implementation brings teaching teams of teachers and police officers together to work in schools to reach and impact youth. Youth benefit from close, one-on-one interaction with police officers in a non-confrontational, positive learning environment and work closely with police and teachers on afterschool projects that benefit their communities. Students now see law enforcement officers as mentors, rather than simply enforcers.

Program strategic objectives/outcomes are as follows:

1. Youth gain a greater understanding and respect for the rule of law, legal issues, and law enforcement authorities and better appreciate their role as citizens thus reducing the likelihood of involvement in criminal or delinquent behavior.

2. Youth and public confidence in law enforcement is increased as skills and knowledge about the rule of law are applied in community settings in partnership with law enforcement authorities.

3. Partnerships among ministries and institutions working with youth on rule of law issues are reinforced and new relationships among these bodies, youth, and communities are established.

Key stakeholders for the MLSP are:

• Ministry of Education, Culture, and Research (MECR) and Educational Departments from 10 regions;
• General Police Inspectorate and National Inspectorate for Public Safety;
• Local Police Inspectorates from 10 regions;
• Selected pilot primary and secondary schools from 10 regions.

Program activities:

• Signing Memorandums of Understanding with key partners: Ministry of Education, Culture and Research and General Police Inspectorate;
• Professional development visit for the legal socialization curriculum development team/program advisory committee (CDT/PAC) to the Republic of Georgia;
• Development of the legal socialization curriculum, teachers’ and students’ manual for primary (8 graders) and secondary schools (11 graders);
• Training workshops for joint teaching teams (teachers & police officers) who teach the legal socialization curriculum for the 8 graders in 22 pilot schools from 6 selected regions;
• Delivery of the “Education for Legal Socialization” optional course for 8 graders (1 class per school) in 22 selected pilot schools from 6 regions (September 1^st, 2020 – May 31^st, 2021);
• Online training workshop for joint teaching teams (teachers & police officers) who test the legal socialization curriculum for the 11 graders in 16 selected schools from 7 selected regions (3 pilot regions and 4 new selected regions);
• Test the legal socialization curriculum for 11 graders (1 class per school) (April - May 2021);
• Action planning trainings for teachers, police officers, and students to acquire skills for development and implementation of small community projects;
• Provision of mini-grants for implementing small community and school projects;
• Enrichment activities for students: implementation of forensic mock sessions in “STEM & Forensic” afterschool clubs; organization of exposure and familiarization visits of students to Women Professionals in the Legal-Judicial Sector;
• Summer camp – Police Youth Academy (expected June 2021);
• Organization of final/evaluation conference after two pilot years (expected June/July 2021).

OBJECTIVE OF THE EXTERNAL PROGRAM EVALUATION

Overall Objective

The evaluation will provide an independent assessment of the overall MLSP implementation and achieved results.

The evaluation shall assess the activities, outputs, and outcomes of the MLSP initiative in 10 regions with regard to relevance, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability. 

Specific Objectives

More specifically, the evaluation criteria need to objectively measure and reflect on the following dimensions of the MLSP program:

• Relevance of the MLSP concept for decreasing incident reports for students engaged in behavior of significant concern in schools (Were the right things done to achieve desired outcomes?)

• Satisfaction of key stakeholders and of the ultimate beneficiaries: school principals, teachers, students, police officers, and parents with a view on the implementation process and quality of technical support provided by the MLSP (What were the expectations? Have they been met?) 

• Effectiveness in terms of achieving planned results (Have the planned results been achieved?)

• To what extent is it possible to measure the impact of end effects in terms of behavioral change among juveniles that participated in the program activities (Is there increased knowledge and understanding of legal issues and greater respect for the rule of law and law enforcement? Are cases that prove the positive impact of the behavior change?)

• Evaluate what factors are likely to hinder or support the sustainability of MLSP in ten regions (What, who, how to do for ensuring sustainability?)

• To identify possible next steps and recommendations for future opportunities (What else could be done, what anticipated outcome the MLSP produced?).

EVALUATION METHODS AND PROCESS

The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the overall Program relevance, quality performance, and well as the effectiveness of the Program’s endeavors toward the achievement of objectives, and to provide recommendations for possible future continuation of the intervention. In this regard, the evaluation will be both summative and formative in its nature. 

The selected consultant (refers to both individual or institutional consultancy) will develop and propose the evaluation methodology that will be reviewed, discussed, and approved by PH International. When developing the evaluation methodology and detailed timeframe, the consultant will need to keep in mind that the first program year (August 2019 – August 2020) focused on the development of the legal socialization curriculum for 8^th graders and training of teaching teams from pilot schools and the second program year (August 2020 – August 2021) focused on the delivery of the legal socialization curriculum and supplemental activities for 8 graders and on development and testing of the legal socialization curriculum for 11 graders.

The evaluation methodology may include but not be limited to the following phases and steps:

Preparatory phase:

• Desk review of program-related documents (technical application, program reports, Monitoring and Evaluation Plan, Memorandums of Understanding, Legal socialization delivery monitoring reports, workshop agendas, Legal Socialization Curriculum, LS Teachers’ and Students’ Manual, STEM and Forensics Manual for Afterschool Clubs, participants’ lists, etc.);
• Briefings with PH International (in person with Chisinau Office and via Skype with Vermont Office);
• Draft and approve the evaluation methodology.

 Field phase:

• Structured interviews (face-to-face and online) with the MLSP stakeholders in education, law enforcement, community policing, CDT/PAC members;  
• Focus group discussions with target groups and beneficiaries (primary school students, secondary school students, teachers, police, and parents).

Finalization phase: 

• Data analysis and drafting preliminary evaluation report;
• Draft evaluation report reviewed and commented on by the MLSP staff;
• Validation workshop with program partners – CDT/PAC members;
• Finalize the evaluation report;
• Present the findings of the evaluation report at the Final/Evaluation Conference.
  
  

ORGANIZATIONAL & MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE

PH has overall program management and accountability to INL, including implementation plans, financial and program reporting, monitoring, and evaluation. PH has established a Curriculum Development Team (CDT) composed of nominated representatives from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, and General Police Inspectorate. The CDT also serves as the Program Advisory Council (PAC) for the MLSP and principal liaison to their institutions and other key stakeholders.

The MLSP Program Director, Program Coordinator, and Financial Manager are PH staff who provide technical and logistical support to the curriculum development, training, project implementation, and local partnership processes.

DURATION AND TIMEFRAME

The expected duration of this contract is April 10 to August 15, 2021.    

A tentative timeframe for each activity is presented below.

STRUCTURE OF THE EVALUATION REPORT

The Final Report shall consist of a maximum of 30 pages and include the following chapters:

• Table of Contents;
• Acronyms and Abbreviations;
• Executive Summary;
• Introduction (purpose and objectives, methodology, sampling, description of the field phase);
• Evaluation Findings;
• Recommendations and Lessons Learned;
• Annexes (list of interviewed stakeholders, list of meetings, list of focus group participants, interview guidelines and questionnaires, photos, etc.).  

LANGUAGE AND FORMAT

All written materials including collected data and findings, as well as the final report, shall be in the English language.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

PH International will contract with the selected consultant for an agreed-upon all-inclusive lump sum (consultant fee). PH will cover additionally the travel and accommodation costs for field visits.

Details on payment conditions shall be defined in a contract to be signed between the selected consultant and the PH Office in Moldova.

The evaluator should have the following professional background:

• University degree in Social Sciences, Humanities, Law or others.
• Knowledge and understanding of juvenile delinquency phenomena;
• Experience, knowledge, and expertise in conducting evaluations and surveys preferably related to juveniles;
• Experience in managing and/or evaluating government-funded programs;
• Demonstrated experience in qualitative and quantitative research methods;
• Excellent analytical and report writing skills;
• Be fluent in both English and Romanian languages.

HOW TO APPLY

The consultant will include in the proposed methodology the evaluation tools/sources of verification for each evaluation criterion.

The financial offer will include the costs per activity/evaluation phase, days allocated, cost per day, and the total budget in USD dollars. Please provide the net amount.

Application with proposed evaluation methodology, English writing sample of an evaluation you’ve conducted, CV, and the financial requirements for the terms of reference outlined above to be sent via email to the following address:  ph-moldova@ph-int.org

The deadline for applications is April 7, 2021.

For requests for clarifications please contact us by email: ph-moldova@ph-int.org or by phone: Maria Stratan, Program Coordinator, mob: 069924194; phone: 0 22 234 777.