Once a human services organization receives funding to support its programs, the work is just getting started. As social work administrators move from planning to implementation, they have to evaluate the effectiveness of their programs. In other words, they must determine whether the programs are achieving their designated outcomes. Administrators can use such evaluations to demonstrate that the financial resources allocated to the organization are being used appropriately. Evaluation is also used to identify parts of programs that may need to be changed in order to improve service delivery. 

Discussion: Assessing Outcomes

How do you determine the “success” of a human services program? Part of your role as an administrator is to collaborate with your staff to determine how a particular program’s effectiveness will be measured. The outcomes must be clear, realistic, and feasible, and how the outcomes will be assessed must be clear also.

For this Discussion, you will address the “Social Work Research: Program Evaluation” case study in Social Work Case Studies: Foundation Year. Assume the role of an administrator in the case study to evaluate what has occurred in the program and how you might improve it.

Post an evaluation of the success of the CALWORKS program based on the information presented in the case study. Be sure to define what success would be for the program and how you, as an administrator of the program, might evaluate whether success has been achieved. Finally, make one recommendation for improving the program’s effectiveness.

Support your post with specific references to the resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.