1 International and 1 National Foster Care Project Evaluation Consultant

Position title: 1 International and 1 National Foster Care Project Evaluation Consultant
Location: Ha Noi, Viet Nam
Reporting to: Viet Nam Program Director
Time Commitment:May to June 2011                   
International Consultant – 10 working days
National Consultant – 15 working days

Background Information
As the HIV epidemic progresses in Viet Nam, there are increasing numbers of orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV (OVC) who are in need of alternative care and support.   It is widely recognized that keeping vulnerable children in a family environment is conducive to child development.   Hence, there is an urgent need to prioritize family-type models of alternative care such as adoption or foster care.   Vietnam however, currently has no publically regulated system of foster care.

Since March 2008, HealthRight International has been operating the Promoting Community-Based Care for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (PCC-OVC) project in Ha Noi.  This project has been adapted for the Vietnam context from HeathRight’s successful interdisciplinary case management model for HIV-positive women and their infants in Russia and Ukraine.  The program works in four peri-urban districts of Ha Noi (Gia Lam, Soc Son, Dong Anh, and Long Bien) and provides holistic, long-term care and support to more than 600 OVC, as well as their caregivers.  

As part of the PCC-OVC project, HealthRight launched a first-of-its-kind foster care pilot in partnership with the Ha Noi Women’s Union and Bright Futures Network in 2009.  The pilot aims to provide foster care in a family setting for children at risk of institutionalization.  To date, 17 children have been successfully placed in foster care.   Children are from a variety of backgrounds and placements have been made with both non-kinship and kinship caregivers.  The pilot has been designed to inform the development of a formal and well-regulated foster care system in Vietnam.  Accordingly, HealthRight is seeking an international and national consultant to conduct an external evaluation of the pilot foster care program operating in four districts of Ha Noi.

Outline of Role
The Project Evaluation Consultants will complete an evaluation of HealthRight’s foster care pilot project in Hanoi.  
The evaluation will be in English and in Vietnamese.  Thus, the national consultant is expected to review translation and make the necessary edits to ensure the Vietnamese version is of equivalent good standard to that of the English version.
Objectives of the Evaluation
The objectives of the foster care pilot evaluation are as follows:
Assess the current framework and processes of HealthRight’s foster care pilot in order to identify strengths, gaps, and limitations of the project and its implementation.
Based on analysis of the project objectives and expected outcomes, evaluate the extent to which the program results have been achieved.
Provide specific recommendations for future project scale-up in the context of policy developments in alternative care in Viet Nam. 
Draw on the experience and lessons learned of HealthRight’s foster care model to make recommendations for the development of standardized guidelines on an appropriate foster care model for Viet Nam.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities
Prepare a detailed evaluation work plan with clear time lines and related deliverables.
Review project documents.
Develop project evaluation design including proposed methodology, data sources, sampling frame, and tools, to be reviewed and approved by HealthRight staff and partners.  It is expected that, at a minimum, the evaluation will include interviews with key stakeholders, project staff, partners, beneficiaries as well as analysis of project and background documentation.
Carry out project evaluation as delineated in the agreed upon work plan.
Analyze and synthesize data collected.
Produce a written evaluation report which presents findings and recommendations.  
   
Outputs
Evaluation report in English and Vietnamese, including the following sections:
Executive summary
Overview of the project
Evaluation methodology
Progress and achievements
Barriers and challenges
Recommendations for sustainability
Conclusions and overall recommendations
Presentation of evaluation report at a dissemination workshop TBD

Qualifications and Experience of Consultant
Relevant university-level qualifications.
Strong writing and presentation skills
Experience in project evaluation
Familiarity with models of alternative care and/or context of alternative care of children in Viet Nam 
Detail oriented
Strong organizational skills
Self-motivated              
Proficient in Microsoft Office

Interested candidates should send the following documents electronically to [email protected] by 5:30PM, Friday, 20th May 2011:
-CV (3 pages maximum) with contact names and details of referees
-Cover letter detailing relevant experience and/or samples of project evaluation work