Field Of Human Services Research Articles

Social science applications: A caveat for the operations research analyst

There is a growing sense of general discontent with the uncertainty, lack of understanding and absence of agreement in human services programs. Although operations research should have an impact on this situation by structuring the system for evaluation and decision-making, there has been limited application in these programs. This paper attempts to define and describe the gap in progress between the application of computers and operations research to the social sciences and the state of social programs, and attempts to define the limitations, trends and potentials for computer applications and operations research to reduce these gaps. The operations research analyst is cautioned in the judicious use of sophisticated methodology in social programs. Three social programs—child welfare services, vocational rehabilitation services and learning to read—illustrate problems and questions not characteristic of the physical sciences, but which the operations research analyst will confront in the human service fields. Suggestions are made to guide him in adapting to them successfully. These include: adopting a broader, less methodological analysis style; refocusing university training to incorporate a social science orientation in operations research curricula and a better subject matter understanding; and developing an instructional unit on the pathology of failure—that is, the clinical study of failures in the application of computers and operations research to the social sciences—in order to learn from them and to avoid similar future applications.

Family Investments in Human Capital: Earnings of Women

It has long been recognized that consumption behavior represents mainly joint household or family decisions rather than separate decisions of family members. Accordingly, the observational units in consumption surveys are "consumer units," that is, households in which income is largely pooled and consumption largely shared. More recent is the recognition that an individual's use of time, and particularly the allocation of time between market and nonmarket activities, is also best understood within the context of the family as a matter of interdependence with needs, activities, and characteristics of other family members. More generally, the family is viewed as an economic unit which shares consumption and allocates production at home and in the market as well as the investments in physical and human capital of its members. In this view, the behavior of the family unit implies a division of labor within it. Broadly speaking, this division of labor or "differentiation of roles" emerges because the attempts to promote family life are necessarily constrained by complementarity and substitution relations in the household production process and by comparative

Home Service Health Aide Careers for the Handicapped

In the past decade, many manpower programs have been designed and implemented in response to the needs and aspirations of the poor and minority groups in our society. One of the most innovative programs has been the New Careers Program. As articulated by A. Pearl and F. Riessman (1965), the New Careers Program was designed to respond to the critical manpower shortage in the field of human services, and, also, to enable disenfranchised groups to gain occupational and social mobility through simultaneous education and training programs.The New Careers Program had its fair share of labor pains, and, subsequently, its successes and failures. While New Careers was designed to serve the poor and minority group members, it tended to bypass the handicapped, who are, for the most part, both poor and members of a minority group—the handicapped. The 1968 Vocational Rehabilitation Act corrected that problem through Section 4(a) (2) (C), New Careers in Rehabilitation, and through Section 4(a) (2) (D), New Careers for the Handicapped. Only in June, 1970, however, was the New Careers Program in Vocational Rehabilitation begun. The purpose of this paper is to describe one such rehabilitation program.

Program Planning and Evaluation

The program development process for substance abusers is very challenging. Planning and evaluation in substance abuse prevention and treatment is continuously affected by change. It requires extraordinary flexibility, adaptability, and creativity to insure that programs are designed to effectively meet the multiple needs of the clientele. Counselors must not only be Jommied to staying abreast of tnc current best practi.:.e;:, in the broad field of human services, but they must also critically examine and evaluate those practices in an ongoing quest to find more effective approaches to critical problems. This is especially true in the area of substance abuse where treatment outcomes have been consistently poor. This chapter presents a six step approach to planning and evaluation. To facilitate the recall of the six steps, the RAPPER Model is offered. It requires the use of each letter to recall the key first words which describe the steps in the process: review the literature; assess the need; plan goals, objectives, and strategies to achieve them; practice those strategies which best address the needs; evaluate the effectiveness of the chosen strategies; and repeat effective strategies. As a model that emphasizes a commitment to continuous improvement based upon ongoing program planning and evaluation, it should be viewed dynamically, like a wheel that is in constant motion. Also included is a facilitator's manual which is a practical guide for teaching content through guided experiential projects. Objectives are listed for each lesson. Eleven student activities are provided. (MKA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Program Planning and Evaluation

Policy Paper: A New Look at Public Planning for Human Services

Divergent planning trends in human service fields are described and analyzed. Highlighted are simultaneous emphases on local high impact and state planning, domain issues in comprehensive planning, and the impact of technology and participation. Each trend is posed as an opportunity for attacking a delimited aspect of human service problems-and as a potential danger if it were given undue emphasis. The authors point to longer run dangers of bypassing state delivery systems, problems of domain encroachment and the need for strengthened executive authority in the public sector which can balance the influence of the technocrat-planner with that of greater citizen participation.

The mental health technician: Maryland's design for a new health career.

Alternative pathways to traditional graduate education and the national emergence of community college curricula leading to associate of arts degrees in a variety of human service fields are discussed in relation to Maryland's mental health technician program. Emphasizing the need, initially, for "generalist" skills, the author proposes an open-ended system for the technicians' continued educational and professional growth through subspecialty in-service courses, opportunities for advanced collegiate education, and administrative channels for lateral and vertical mobility.

Training for new careers

This paper is concerned with the training requirements for the development of new professional roles in human service fields which socially deprived youth can be expected to perform. The preparation of agencies to receive aides, the reorganization of job roles, the selection of aides, and a training method are outlined. The New Careers concept holds much promise for the reinvolvement of alienated youth, and the present three-part training appears to have considerable effect in holding the interest of the youth and teaching them how to work effectively. However, it cannot be too strongly emphasized that training, while essential, is valueless unless jobs are created and funded, and the ultimate success of this approach will be judged by the number of youth employed and the channels for advancement which are created.