Results at a glance: Evaluation of the Justice Partnership and Innovation Program
About the JPIP
The JPIP is a grants and contributions program that supports Justice Canada’s policy directions on family violence, access to justice, and other emerging justice-related issues. The Program provides funding in support to stimulate knowledge development and dissemination, foster partnership building and collaboration, and build community capacity. The JPIP is based on the premise that although many significant advances have been made over the last twenty-five years in services, legislation, policies and programs to facilitate access to justice, there are still many outstanding and emerging issues facing Canadians.
About the Evaluation
The Evaluation of the JPIP was conducted by the Department of Justice Evaluation Branch and covered fiscal years 2017-18 to 2021-22. Its main objectives were to examine the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of the Program, and to provide a forward-looking analysis focusing on Program strengths, challenges, best practices from other similar federal programs, and opportunities.
What was found
- The JPIP is aligned with federal and departmental roles and priorities, such as increasing access to justice, increasing awareness of Public Legal Education Information, and revitalization of Indigenous laws.
- The JPIP is aligned with the needs of Canadians, including the needs of marginalized and vulnerable groups. The JPIP is responsive to urgent and emerging issues, particularly through its capacity to stay informed of such issues, and the increased flexibility offered by its General component to react quickly.
- The JPIP’s funding has contributed to an increased capacity to build knowledge, awareness and understanding of justice issues by recipient organizations,particularly in terms of innovation, emerging and urgent issues. JPIP-funded projects have contributed to an increased awareness and knowledge of the justice system for Canadians.
- While not all JPIP-funded projects have a direct impact on the Canadian justice system, various activities, including training activities and partnerships built as part of funded projects have contributed to a strengthened legal framework.
- The JPIP has supported an increased access to the justice system for Canadians, including marginalized and vulnerable groups, in areas such as pandemic-related issues, culturally responsive services, victims of crime, and official languages minorities.
- The JPIP is efficiently managed due to flexible and multi-year funding, good Call for Proposals (CFPs) and application processes, and reasonable reporting. The Program is also financially well-managed. Some constraints were identified regarding parts of CFPs and application processes, data management and GBA Plus requirements at both the application and reporting stages.
Looking Forward
The evaluation looked at JPIP’s strengths and challenges, and array of opportunities with the objective of highlighting factors that should be taken into consideration by the JPIP moving forward. Although the level of influence that the Program has on these elements may vary, particularly for opportunities, the evaluation found that these are key elements to consider in the future.
Program Strengths
- Outreach and communication with funding recipients (including ad hoc recipient meetings)
- Responsiveness to urgent issues (such as the COVID-19 pandemic) and current issues
- Appropriateness of administrative requirements for recipients
- Support and guidance from Program staff
Challenges
At the recipient level:
- High cost of raising awareness about their organization and services
- Application of GBA Plus analysis
At the Program level:
- Incorporation of GBA Plus analysis beyond projects’ assessment
- Development of a performance story (more specifically related to the JPIP General component)
- Clarity and appropriateness of project assessment criteria
Opportunities
Increased communication and information-sharing with and between recipients could support the achievement of outcomes, and promote additional networking and information sharing between funded organizations. By involving subject-matter experts and representatives from vulnerable and marginalized groups, the Program could also support the incorporation of GBA Plus principles beyond project assessment.
Increased internal collaboration could support the Program’s monitoring and responsiveness to emerging and urgent issues. Working in collaboration with other groups within the Department, such as the Communications Branch, could also represent an opportunity to support funded organizations in disseminating information regarding activities and materials produced through JPIP’s funding.
Recommendation
Building on its strengths, the JPIP should explore opportunities to increase communication and information-sharing with and between funding recipients (as an example, through the recipients’ meetings), as well as opportunities to leverage the expertise of other groups within the Department.
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