Response

Respond to at least two colleagues from the perspective of an interested stakeholder for the program by doing the following:

Please use references in your response.

· Provide a brief description of the role that you

· are taking. 

· Provide an evaluation of the group research design that they have chosen, and criteria that your colleagues have generated (choice of outcome and method of evaluation) from the perspective of the stakeholder whom you have chosen.

· Provide support based on your evaluation

· Ask questions about the plan for research design and the questions that the evaluation plan will address from your chosen perspective.

Please respond #1

Use of Group Designs in Program Evaluation

Social work research: Planning a program evaluation 

            Joan, a social work Ph.D. student is planning to conduct her dissertation research project with a large nonprofit child welfare organization. (Plummer et al., 2014).  The organization will be implementing a new training program for incoming foster parents with primary goals of reducing foster placement disruptions, improving the quality of services, and increasing child well-being. (Plummer et al., 2014).  Three of the seven sites will start the program immediately, while the other four will start in 12 months. (Plummer et al., 2014).  

Group research design

            Pretest-posttest design with a comparison group would be a good fit because Joan will have the opportunity to compare the three sites using the new training program to the four sites using the current program.  Pretest-posttest design with a comparison group collects client outcome data as a pretest and as a posttest, while another group does not receive the intervention. (Dudley, 2014).  Dudley (2014) explained that the comparison group should be as similar as possible to the intervention group.  Choosing the comparison group should be an easy task as all sites serve the same population.  Joan will also have a larger pool of clients to choose from as the comparison group will have four sites.

Criteria to be measured

            Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) assessment evaluates the strengths, concerns, and service needs of children with emotional and behavioral needs, family issues, as well as those entering the child welfare system. (Cordell et al., 2016).  The criteria will focus on living situation problems, school behavior issues, recreation and leisure time challenges, caregiver’s supervision problems, and stress management problems.  The direct care staff will complete the CANS at baseline and after 12 months for both intervention and comparison groups.  Joan and program directors will also complete documentation review to monitor the progress throughout the 12-month period.  Documentation review often takes up much time but can get comprehensive and historical information. (McNamara, 2006).  Documentation review also does not interrupt the program and has minimal biases about information. (McNamara, 2006).  

Resources

Cordell, K. D., Snowden, L. R., & Hosier, L. (2016). Patterns and priorities of service need identified through the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) assessment. Children and Youth Services Review, 60, 129-135.

Dudley, J. R. (2014). Social work evaluation: Enhancing what we do. (2nd ed.) Chicago, IL: Lyceum Books.

McNamara, C. (2006). Contents of an evaluation plan. In Basic guide to program evaluation (including outcomes evaluation). Retrieved from http://managementhelp.org/evaluation/program-evaluation-guide.htm#anchor1586742

Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen S. (Eds.). (2014). Social work case studies: Concentration year. Baltimore, MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader]. “Social Work Research: Planning a Program Evaluation”

Please Respond #2

Use of Group Designs in Program Evaluation

Planning a Program Evaluation: Case Study

Post. Joan is a PhD social work student, planning to conduct her dissertation research project with a nonprofit child welfare organization (Plummer et al., 2014). The agency is implementing a new training program for foster parents (Plummer et al., 2014). The program’s goals include reducing foster placement disruptions, improving the quality of services delivered, and increasing child well-being through better trained and skilled foster families (Plummer et al., 2014). This new program will be implemented across the agency’s seven centers; three of the centers will start immediately and four will start in 12-months (Plummer et al., 2014). Joan discovered no evidence supporting the new program but found that many agencies have implemented it (Plummer et al., 2014).

Group Research Design

            I would suggest conducting a pretest/posttest with a comparison group, quasi-experimental design (Dudley, 2014). One group will consist of the three centers implementing the new program immediately and the comparison group will include the four centers waiting for 12-months. This is important for this type of design because the comparison group must not be receiving the intervention and the population must be the same as the intervention group (Dudley, 2014). To collect data, each group will receive a pretest and a posttest using a Likert-scale (Dudley, 2014).

Outcomes and Measurements

            The treatment outcomes include a decrease of foster placement disruptions, an increase in quality of services delivered, and an increase in child well-being (Plummer et al., 2014). To measure these outcomes the social worker facilitating the group would hand out questionnaires to the parents asking them specific questions regarding the outcomes. Questionnaires are an easy way to allow parents to feel comfortable and safe sharing information (McNamara, 2006). I would also want to conduct interviews with the children to gather data regarding their well-being and opinions on how services have impacted their life at home. Interviews help to develop a relationship with the client, allowing the researcher to gather a full range and depth of information (McNamara, 2006).

            

             

 

References

Dudley, J. R. (2014). Social work evaluation: Enhancing what we do. (2nd ed.) Chicago, IL:

Lyceum Books.

McNamara, C. (2006a). Contents of an evaluation plan. In Basic guide to program evaluation 

(including outcomes evaluation). Retrieved from

http://managementhelp.org/evaluation/program-evaluation-guide.htm#anchor1586742

Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen S. (Eds.). (2014b). Social work case studies: 

Concentration year. Baltimore, MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader]. “Social Work Research: Planning a Program Evaluation”