Week 4 Discussion

Week 4 discussion. 

TO PREPARE

Review the Learning Resources on focusing an evaluation and on needs assessments. 

Consider your field agency, practice, or community setting, and any common client problems, issues, or service gaps you have observed. If you are not currently in a practice setting, you may draw on your past work or practicum experience.

Research and/or brainstorm ideas for programs or services that could address the problems, issues, or gaps. 

     BY DAY 3    

• Describe at least one common client problem, issue, or gap in services or programs at your field agency, practice, or community setting. (If you are not currently in a practice setting, you may draw on your past work or practicum experience.)
• Specifically, highlight what you see that tells you clients need something more than what the agency, practice, or community setting is offering.
• Identify a program that you think is necessary to address the problem, issue, or gap and explain why.

Generate a question that you might ask about your identified need and to whom.

Definitions for this discussion  (From the instructor)

• Use these definitions when responding to the questions for this discussion
• Mission: the primary purpose, goal, or mandate of your field placement setting, department, organization, community agency, or practice
• Recipients: the types of clients that your organization serves if you are providing services to individuals; or the type of community that your department, organization, or practice is established to serve
• Problems: the term problem defines and describes conditions, situations, gaps in resources or services, or attitudes that are harmful to the well-being of the people who are affected by them. For example, homelessness, a disability that poses obstacles for the individual, food insecurity, depression, too many guns on the street, and systematic racism are examples of problems. 

Needs: needs are conditions, events, situations, resources, actions, or attitudes that indicate what clients or individuals in the community require to mitigate or resolve the problem, and which are not available from the organization or community that should be providing them.  

A need is a bridge between the problem and the solution to the problem.  Once the problem is understood, we study the needs to find the most effective means to solve or mitigate the problem . 

The first and most immediate need when developing a program involves setting specific, transparent, measurable,  feasible, and ethical goals. 

Programs: a set of projects involving planning and preparation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation, designed to meet a need that mitigates or resolves a problem

• YOUR TASK

Apply these questions to your field placement organization, community agency, school, health facility, or practice setting. If you are not currently providing human services, apply these questions to your past work or practicum. If you do not work directly with clients but work in a public health, policy, or legislative organization, apply these questions to the community that you and your colleagues attempt to serve.

Setting (1 phrase or sentence): Identify your current or past type of work setting (do not provide the specific name). 

Mission (Usually 1-3 sentences): Report the function or goal of your practice, agency, department, or organization. If it has a website or brochure, you can usually find the mission on the main page.

Recipients (1-2 sentences): Describe the types of clients or community that your organization serves.

• Problem (2-3 sentences): Identify an issue in your organization that prevents recipients from getting the benefits that they should be obtaining, according to the agency mission. The problem may be an issue or concern that you have observed or complaints that have been brought to your attention from colleagues or recipients.

Need (1-2 sentences each):

Suggest a service, action, or resource that would mitigate or resolve the problem.

• Identify a person in your agency (by role only) who might provide information about the unmet need. Suggest a question you might ask this person about the clients’ needs for assistance from your organization.

Program (5-6 sentences): Describe a program that you think is necessary to address the problem, issue, or gap. Provide your rationale.

My previous field placement which we will talk about was at The Counseling Clinic in Benton, Arkansas. My population Department of youth services kids. All these kids were court involved for drugs, sex offenses, truancy etc. Some of the kids I worked with got incarcerated and some didn’t. The issue was there was only the services given that were offered by the counseling clinic. The services which are listed on their website included individual and family counseling, drug classes and parenting classes. I had one client who was a level 3 sex offender which posed problems finding him housing and other services he needed. He couldn’t read as he was low level IQ too. 

References which needed to be utilized and cited. 

• Dudley, J. R. (2020). Social work evaluation: Enhancing what we do (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Chapter 4, “Common Types of Evaluations”

Read “Common Program Evaluations” (pp. 78–89).

Chapter 5, “Focusing an Evaluation” (pp. 96–111)

Chapter 6, “Needs Assessments” (pp. 115–147)