Parenting Evaluation Decision Framework:
Writing Goals

Long-term goals are statements of purpose that generally take one to five years to complete and explicitly spell out WHO will DO WHAT for WHAT PURPOSE? They frequently begin with verbs like "provide, change, promote, offer, increase, decrease, train, or enable." An example of a long-term goal would be: Reported child abuse cases in Anywhere County, will decrease 15% by 1999 as a result of the Parent Training and Abuse Awareness Program conducted by the Cooperative Extension Service.

Goals can be written on several levels. The micro level goals include individual behaviors, family behaviors and interactions. Macro level goals include school/peers and neighborhood/community. The program planners will need to evaluate how comprehensive, lengthy, and intensive a program they are developing. Are they planning on the macro level (school/peers, neighborhood/community), the micro level (individual, family), or both levels? What results are they hoping to accomplish?

Change is easier to stimulate at the micro level, but less likely to last; harder to stimulate at the macro level but more likely to last. Generally, the more comprehensive and intensive a program, the greater the likelihood of lasting changes. Ideally a comprehensive and intensive program will seek change at both the micro and macro levels.

For example, a Youth Violence Prevention Program might have the following goals:

Individual: Youth will learn to recognize and control their anger and to use conflict resolution strategies to reduce youth violence.

Family: Parents will learn to recognize and control their anger and use conflict resolution strategies to reduce conflict with their youth.

School/Peers: Evergreen School will develop a peer mediation program to reduce conflict among students.

Neighborhood/Community: West central neighborhood will develop norms in support of anger control and conflict resolution.

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