A different vision
by Simon Faivel, Consultant, SVA Consulting
Simon Faivel
Mid 2009: I was about to have two life changing experiences – personally and professionally. Vision Australia engaged SVA Consulting to measure the social value of four of their core services and I was to become a dad for the first time.
I had heard of Vision Australia, but I was not aware of the extent of their services. Vision Australia is the largest provider of services nationally to Australians who are vision impaired. SVA Consulting was engaged to assist Vision Australia to understand the social value created by a number of their core services. These services included Low Vision Clinics, Independence in the Home and Community Services, and Employment Services. At the time this was the largest evaluation project we had undertaken.
Throughout the project we learnt a great deal about the work that Vision Australia does and the value of that work, however given my impending parental status, there was one service that left a deep impression on my life: Children and Family Services.
There are a number of different methods that can be used to evaluate a service. The methodology we used to understand the social value created by Vision Australia’s core services was Social Return on Investment (SROI). Through engaging with a range of stakeholders, such as clients and investors, SROI assists in identifying the social, environmental and economic benefits generated by the service and places a value on this impact. This value is then compared to the investment required to generate the benefits. An SROI report includes a story about the change that occurs for each stakeholder because of the service, and an overall SROI ratio. So, for example, an SROI ratio of 2:1 means that for every $1 invested in the service, $2 of social value is generated.
However, there is more to SROI than just analysing numbers or data. A key component of an SROI analysis is talking to those involved in contributing to or benefitting from the program to understand what has changed for them. For the Children and Family Services SROI analysis, this involved speaking to teenagers who were blind or had low vision who had accessed these services and asking them what had changed in their lives as a result of the service. A measure of the impact of Vision Australia’s support was that one vision impaired teenager I spoke to had no more to grapple with than any other kid his age – what should he to do once he left school? Would it be TAFE, uni, or straight to work? I was inspired by stories of young people overcoming barriers and living full and rich lives, with Vision Australia’s assistance.
The SROI process also permitted the opportunity for conversations with the parents of young children who had used Vision Australia’s Children and Family Services to understand what had changed for them. The parents shared how Vision Australia had helped them to learn practical skills to support their child reach developmental milestones.
Parents of one child embraced Vision Australia’s suggestion of describing the food on their young child‘s plate to them in a clockwise manner, which had made such a positive change to mealtimes. Vision Australia’s support also came to the fore in helping a child transition from kindergarten to primary school. Working both with the parents and school Vision Australia ensured the child’s physical environment was most conducive to their learning – one simple piece of know-how like flicking the classroom blinds up rather than down reduced glare from the child’s schoolroom window and made their day more comfortable.
Another parent spoke, quite emotionally, of how the continuing support from Vision Australia had helped them move from the shock and distress of learning of their baby’s vision impairment to being wholly optimistic about their child’s future. A critical component of the support Vision Australia had provided was to help them move towards having a positive attitude for what their child could achieve.
The conversations I had with these parents reinforced how an ongoing high quality service like Vision Australia’s Children and Family Service can provide inspiration and practical skills to deal with what many would consider a challenging situation. Working with Vision Australia made me appreciate that SROI is not a just a methodology to create a ratio: it is permission to deeply understand what changes people. And it is an avenue to tell and hear powerful stories of the people that are affected and supported by Vision Australia.
Click on the links below to jump to the story