Make Our Rights Reality Programme Evaluation: Final report from the process evaluation

Findings 

1. Who engages with the programme and how? Whilst the majority of young people recruited to take part in the programme were recruited from community settings, issues with uptake resulted in the hubs proactively recruiting individuals from and conducting the training in educational settings. Overall, there was a 65% completion rate of the core course. The evaluators found that young people were more likely to complete the course if they had higher levels of well-being or self-efficacy at the start of the course. Young people were less likely to engage in the course, and more likely to exit early, if they did not perceive it as relevant to their daily life (i.e., they had no prior or current experience of legal rights issues), if they had chaotic life circumstances and if they were concerned about being able to comprehend the course. As such, adaptations may need to be made to the programme to ensure that it engages those young people who are in greatest need of it.
2. What did the core rights training look like? The core training programme involved 9 hours of 18 modules delivered in 2-5 sessions in a group format of 4- 12 young people. Facilitators adhered to the core training manual according to observations and interviews in general but adapted the material in three ways: 1) handouts were condensed or restructured, 2) the order or activities was changed and 3) the pace of activities was altered. Facilitators reported that these adaptations were essential to meet the needs of young people in the groups, and young people reported that the flexible format of the course was very important to ensure it was comprehended by all participants (e.g., by repeating content that was not initially understood).
3. What did the social action projects look like? In the timescale of the evaluation, social action projects were fully underway in two hubs, related to LGBT and mental health. Twenty young people described in interviews and focus groups more informal social action pathways, ranging from providing advice and support to friends and family about rights-based issues to informing ongoing social action activity they were involved in.