Social Workers Can Apply Knowledge And Skills Learned From C

Social Workers Can Apply Knowledge And Skills Learned From Conducting

Social workers can apply knowledge and skills learned from conducting one type of evaluation to others. Moreover, evaluations themselves can inform and complement each other throughout the life of a program. This week, you apply all that you have learned about program evaluation throughout this course to aid you in program evaluation. To prepare for this Assignment, review “Basic Guide to Program Evaluation (Including Outcomes Evaluation)” from this week's resources, Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen S. (Eds.). (2014b). Social work case studies: Concentration year. Then, select a program that you would like to evaluate. You should build on work that you have done in previous assignments, but be sure to self-cite any written work that you have already submitted. Complete as many areas of the “Contents of an Evaluation Plan” as possible, leaving out items that assume you have already collected and analyzed the data. Submit a 4-page paper that outlines a plan for a program evaluation focused on outcomes. Be specific and elaborate.

Include the following information:

· The purpose of the evaluation, including specific questions to be answered

· The outcomes to be evaluated

· The indicators or instruments to be used to measure those outcomes, including the strengths and limitations of those measures to be used to evaluate the outcomes

· A rationale for selecting among the six group research designs

· The methods for collecting, organizing and analyzing data

Paper For Above instruction

Program Evaluation of Foster Care Training Initiative: An Outcomes-Based Approach

Introduction

Evaluating social programs is essential to ensure they meet their objectives and to inform ongoing improvements. The primary purpose of this evaluation is to assess the effectiveness of a new foster parent training program implemented across multiple regional centers within a child welfare organization. Specific questions guiding this evaluation include: Does the new training reduce placement disruptions? Does it improve foster parent competencies? And, ultimately, does it enhance child well-being? Addressing these questions will provide vital insights into the program's impact and inform decisions regarding its future adoption and possible scaling.

Outcomes to be Evaluated

The evaluation will focus on several key outcomes, including:

• Reduction in foster placement disruptions
• Enhancement of foster parent knowledge and skills
• Improvement in child well-being indicators

Indicators and Instruments

To measure these outcomes, the evaluation will utilize a combination of standardized instruments and self-developed Likert-scale questionnaires. For assessing placement stability, agency records documenting the number of disruptions pre- and post-intervention will be used. Foster parent knowledge and skills will be measured through a structured questionnaire developed specifically for this study, which will include Likert-type items assessing confidence and perceived competence.

The strengths of using agency records lie in their objectivity and ease of data collection. However, limitations include potential inconsistencies in record-keeping and the inability to capture nuanced understandings of foster parent behaviors. The standardized instruments for child well-being, such as the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), offer validated measures but may have cultural or contextual limitations in this setting. The self-developed questionnaires allow tailored assessment but require validation to ensure reliability and validity (Dudley, 2014; McNamara, 2006).

Selection of Research Design

Given the staggered implementation of the training across seven regional centers, a quasi-experimental, nonequivalent control group design is most appropriate. This design permits comparison between centers that have implemented the training and those that have not yet received it, controlling for temporal effects. It also allows for practical application without random assignment, which could be ethically or logistically challenging in this context. The use of multiple sites strengthens the feasibility and generalizability of findings (Dudley, 2014; Plummer et al., 2014).

Data Collection, Organization, and Analysis Methods

Data collection will involve baseline assessments prior to the training, followed by follow-up assessments at 6 and 12 months post-training. Data will be organized systematically in a database, with each foster family assigned identifiers to track changes over time while maintaining confidentiality. Quantitative data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, and ANOVA to compare outcomes across groups and over time. Regression analyses will be employed to control for confounding variables such as foster family demographics. Qualitative feedback from foster parents will also be gathered through open-ended survey items and analyzed thematically to enrich quantitative findings (McNamara, 2006; Dudley, 2014).

Conclusion

This evaluation plan aims to comprehensively assess the impact of the new foster care training program on critical outcomes related to placement stability, foster parent competence, and child well-being. By utilizing a quasi-experimental design and a mixed-methods approach, the evaluation will generate evidence to inform program improvement and policy decisions. The integration of standardized measures with tailored instruments ensures both validity and relevance, ultimately contributing to the enhancement of foster care practices and outcomes.

References

• Dudley, J. R. (2014). Social work evaluation: Enhancing what we do. Chicago, IL: Lyceum Books.
• McNamara, C. (2006a). Contents of an evaluation plan. In Basic guide to program evaluation (including outcomes evaluation). Retrieved from [URL]
• McNamara, C. (2006b). Reasons for priority on implementing outcomes-based evaluation. In Basic guide to outcomes-based evaluation for nonprofit organizations with very limited resources. Retrieved from [URL]
• Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen S. (Eds.). (2014b). Social work case studies: Concentration year. Baltimore, MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing.
• Additional scholarly references supporting standardized assessment tools and research design rationale.