Since the introduction of the first neoliberal budgets in the mid-1980s, Canadian social service workers have had ample reason to resist changes in their work lives. Drawing on literature as well as on themes emerging from an intentionally diverse subset of data collected as part of a multiyear study, this article explores the resistance…

Examines current trends in data collection and information use in human services organizations. Describes issues for managers who are planning information systems, including practitioner resistance to automation. Proposes that conceptual integration of agendas for human services automation, practice evaluation, and service effectiveness enables…

Social workers are turning increasingly to organized data to describe, test, and improve their programs. Computerized information systems, sharply focused field experiments, and scientifically based behavioral models of practice will be prominent in social work in the 1980s. (Author)

By keeping records of their own behavior, clients can provide useful data for research by practitioners as well as participate in an effective form of treatment. The author proposes guidelines for assuring the accuracy of clients' reports. (Author)

Discusses components of a consumer feedback system and methods for the systematic collection of information. The system used by the "Teaching-Family Model" approach to residential treatment illustrates the successful implementation of feedback. (Author)

Focuses on one of the key measures used in evaluating foster care programs, i.e., length of time in foster care. Examines several variables that affect length of time in foster care and offers suggestions for avoiding data misinterpretations on this measure. (RC)