The authors present a set of guiding principles and strategies to facilitate the collaborative efforts of social work researchers and practitioners as they initiate, design, and implement outcome evaluations of human service interventions and programs. Beginning with an exploration of the interpersonal barriers to practice-research collaborations,…

The author addresses the risks and benefits of incorporating therapeutic e-mail communication into clinical social work practice. Consumer demand for online clinical services is growing faster than the professional response. E-mail, when used as an adjunct to traditional meetings with clients, offers distinct advantages and risks. Benefits include…

Direct practice social workers today are challenged to address the requirements of the complex array of professional, organizational, institutional, and regulatory demands placed on them in the broader socioeconomic context of fewer resources and diminished public support for social welfare services in the United States. The common factors model…

Throughout the social work profession, there is ongoing interest in building a social science agenda that can address the complex practice-based questions faced by social work professionals today. Methodological innovations and unique funding opportunities have already significantly advanced research on social work practice. Still, there is…

This study was designed to establish a caseload standard for child welfare workers. Understanding reasonable workload expectations for child welfare workers is a cornerstone of quality service provision and the recruitment and retention of qualified workers. Because of the analytic complexity of this question, qualitative and quantitative methods…

This article describes the experiences and perspectives of child welfare workers and maltreated children living in Japanese state care. Japanese adults emphasize supporting children's emotional well-being and empowerment through developmentally and ecologically focused socialization strategies. One developmental goal articulated by caregivers of…

Social workers in generic practice are often uncertain about which social work method is most appropriate for a given case. This article suggests that evaluating role discrepancies can help practitioners determine whether to work toward personal or situational changes with clients. (Author)

This article presents a study of a key indicator of the validity of the adoptive screening process--the level of agreement among caseworkers in their decision to accept or reject applicants. Ti was found that worker agreement is not as high as desirable. (Author/BW)

Describes four systematic techniques of future forecasting which could be useful in social planning extrapolation, Delphi forecasting, simulation, scenario-speculation. (Author/NJ)

Multiple funding creates special management problems for the administrator of a human service agency. This article presents a useful analytic technique adapted from business practice that can help the administrator draw up and balance a unified budget. Such a budget also affords reliable overview of the agency's financial status. (Author)

The fragmented state of social work practice today suggests that conceptual reorientation is necessary if the profession is to remain adaptive to changing demands. The author proposes the use of an ecosystems framework embracing multiple practice approaches and the use of an epidemiological orientation focusing on arenas in which practitioners…

The issue of short-term versus long-term treatment has been the focus of much controversy. After examining the arguments on both sides, the author concludes that certain short-term treatment strategies can be used effectively in situations usually seen as requiring long-term treatment. (Author)