Evaluation of the Stine Sofie Centre

The Stine Sofie Center was established in 2016 as a course and competence center for children and adolescents aged 0-18 who are victims of violence and abuse, as well as their caregivers and siblings. The center offers a six-day course stay.

The aim of the service is for participants to experience joy and gain new knowledge in a safe environment, for the children to experience mastery, for the relationships between children and caregivers to be strengthened, and for the children to have positive encounters with other children with similar experiences.

Since 2016, the center has had a dedicated grant in the state budget. This has increased from 15 million in 2016 to more than double in 2023. The grant is intended to fund the operation of the center to ensure achievement of objectives.

On behalf of the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir), Fafo will conduct an evaluation of the government grant to the Stine Sofie Center.

The goals of the evaluation task are twofold:

1. to examine whether the purpose of the grant to the Stine Sofie Center is achieved, and whether the grant is managed resource-efficiently.
2. to examine whether the measure meets the needs of the target group.

Data collection will be organized into three different work packages:

• The first work package examines what we know about the needs of abused children and adolescents, what needs understandings underlie the center and the grant scheme, as well as how the measure fits into a comprehensive offer to children who are victims of violence and abuse. Data for work package 1 consists of research literature and document analysis of foundational documents and political decision-making documents, interviews with leaders and employees, and a survey of how an important referring entity, Norwegian municipalities, understand and possibly utilize the center.
• The second work package explores who uses the center and what experiences users have with the course stay, as well as how employees evaluate the experiences with the work they do. Data consists of individual interviews, focus groups, and document review.
• The third work package explores grant management to see how it satisfies the requirements of being transparent, verifiable, and efficient. Data is existing documents (budget proposals, applications, grant letters, reports, accounts, etc.)