1. An Introduction to Human Services: Policy and Practice
Evaluation
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Evaluation Measures
Evaluating human service work is difficult but necessary in order to give the best possible service.
We need to devise evaluation measures for all modes of practice — one-on-one encounters, group interactions, program planning, community change, administration, and policy development.
Human service workers must be prepared to carry out a small-scale survey or a library search for up-to-date information on a particular disability or medication.
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Feedback Techniques
Because the problem-solving process is dynamic and always changing, the worker is always asking questions about his or her work.
In order to answer these questions, the worker needs to learn how to use a variety of evaluative feedback techniques.
The client is the primary source of feedback.
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Appraisals
Knowing when to ask for assistance or for an honest appraisal of her work is the mark of a self-confident human service worker.
The less secure worker needs to bluff, pretending false expertise.
Sometimes a less than positive evaluation is momentarily painful, but if the person learns from it, then it is a gift.
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Research
Even though a worker does not have full responsibility for conducting formal research projects, he needs to understand the language of research.
Research in the human services is particularly complex, controversial, and problematic.
It is always hard to identify the causality of any social problem or its solution.
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Client Input
Clients are rarely asked to evaluate our services, make suggestions for improvement, serve on boards, or attend case conferences.
Some workers may not understand why their clients’ opinions about what they need should be valued.
This is especially true when their clients are poor, incarcerated, or mentally unstable.
Nevertheless, the client has the right to decide which problems are the most pressing and which treatment methods are most acceptable.
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Feedback Mechanisms
Every group needs a feedback mechanism so it can keep correcting its course.
An informal grapevine rarely includes everyone, so complaints are never aired fully enough to be acted on in a rational manner.
Group workers try to elicit useful feedback on how each member views group interactions and activities.
Open-ended questions do not constrict or channel the members’ reactions.
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8. Process and Product Techniques
In evaluating a program, we need to evaluate both the process and the product.
Sometimes the two can be different.
The outcome of an event might be successful but the planning process may be flawed.
The technique used to evaluate a program depends on the nature of the program.
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