TYMS Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Project (2025)
Project Lead: Annalise Myers
Since 2014, Point has had the privilege of walking alongside the Tuilaepa Youth Mentoring Service (TYMS) - an organisation supporting Pacific and Māori rangatahi in West Auckland. Over the years, we’ve collaborated on outcomes harvesting, cost-benefit analysis, and programme design. In 2025, we were invited to support TYMS again, helping to embed evaluation and reflective practice into their new initiative focused on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).
The TYMS FASD initiative is a pilot programme designed to support rangatahi who may be diagnosed or undiagnosed with FASD. It aims to provide culturally grounded, brain-based support that meets young people and their whānau where they are.
Rather than leading the evaluation externally, Point & Associates proposed a self-evaluation support model that will build TYMS’ internal capability to gather, analyse, and learn from their own data in real time
Our approach is grounded in the Equitable Evaluation Framework (EEF), which challenges dominant ideas about what counts as evidence and centres cultural validity, participant voice, and systemic equity.
Together, TYMS and Point will be co-developing:
A theory of change for the FASD initiative
An evaluation framework with clear indicators and data sources
Practical tools like feedback forms, reflective prompts, and thematic analysis templates
A cornerstone of the support will be regular mentoring sessions with TYMS staff. These sessions are designed to:
Integrate evaluation into everyday practice
Strengthen reflective practice during team debriefs and hui
Build confidence in using data to inform decisions and storytelling
The final evaluation report is due in 2026.