Evaluation of the ESF Peer Mentoring Project

Descriptions

The research is an evaluation of a project designed to get substance misusers into employment, through the use of peer mentors, (who may be paid or volunteers). Any other positive effects will also be measured, including involvement in learning, education, and volunteering, and soft outcomes. A subsidiary theme is to record any positive impacts on the peer mentors themselves. The project started on 1 October 2009, and wil continue until 31 September, 2013. Contractors will need knowledge of the issues faced by substance misusers, including disengagement form the world of work, of service provision by community based drug and alcohol agencies, and of other interventions which currently take place for this target group, of the Welsh Assembly Government approach to substance misuse, and of European structural funding, specifically the European Social Fund (ESF) in Wales. They will also need to have experience in collecting qualitative and quantitative data, and of analysing it robustly.The aim of the research is to conduct both a process and an outcome evaluation-how is the intervention being carried out, and what is being achieved?The indicative budget of £80,000 is intended to give an idea of the amount of effort that is required.