Evaluating Family-Based Services

Family-based service (FBS) programs have been developing rapidly across the country at a time of increasingly scarce human resources and in a politically volatile climate. Such a context has made evaluation of such programs imperative. The present volume reviews basic elements of evaluation in the light of current knowledge and then highlights the most useful research instruments for measuring changes in child and family functioning. Chapters focus on evaluation methods that can be employed to determine the success of existing policy and to influence the development of new policy. The authors assume that their readers will have a basic familiarity with research methods and program evaluation. They discuss the challenges they have encountered in conducting extensive research on family preservation, family support. and other related programs and pose practical solutions for administrators, practitioners, and evaluators confronted with similar difficult issues. Each chapter presents a brief conceptual framework for understanding issues related to assessment. Essential elements are reviewed, while research design, measurement variables, and qualitative and quantitative analyses are discussed in turn. The book concludes with a review of the limitations of evaluations.

Introduction 1 Evaluating Family-Based Services: Challenges And Tasks Evaluating Changes In Systems 2 Designing Family-Based Service Program Evaluations 3 Sampling Children And Families 4 Assessing Services And Interventions 5 Assessing Family Functioning 6 Assessing Child Functioning 7 Assessing Parent Functioning And Social Support 8 Placement Prevention 9 Measuring Program Efficiency 10 Constructivist Research: A Qualitative Approach 11 The Management And Impact Of Family-Based Services Evaluations: Doing Research In The Real World

Peter J. Pecora is senior director of Research Services for Casey Family Programs and professor at the School of Social Work, University of Washington. Mark W. Fraser is John A. Tate Professor for Children in Need, School of Social Work. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Kristine E. Nelson is associate dean and professor, Graduate School of Social Work, Portland State University. Jacquelyn McCroskey is the John Milner Associate Professor of Child Welfare, School of Social Work, University of Southern California. William Meezan is the Marion Elizabeth Blue Professor of Children and Families, School of Social Work, University of Michigan.