This profile outlines the guiding principles and core competencies needed to build the capacity of practitioners and communities to effectively implement evidence in health and human services. Implementation support practitioners (ISP) are professionals who support organizations, leaders, and staff in their implementation of evidence-informed…

The term "outcome evaluation" has become one of the most popular terms among human service providers and those whose job it is to evaluate the impact of human service programs. In the public sector alone, there are over a hundred instruments in use to evaluate the impact of state human service programs. Most states, many providers, and…

Assessment is a critical step in determining appropriate support services. This article discusses "caregiver assessment," a systematic process of gathering information to describe a caregiving situation. Caregiver assessment identifies the particular problems, needs, resources, and strengths of the family caregiver and approaches issues from the…

Quality improvement centers were created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Children's Bureau beginning in 2001 to promote knowledge development through an innovative approach to applied collaborative research in child welfare. The National Quality Improvement Center on the Privatization of Child Welfare Services was funded to…

The Optimal Treatment approach to needs assessment consists of comparing the most desirable set of services for a client with the services actually received. Discrepancies due to unavailable resources are noted and aggregated across clients. Advantages and disadvantages of this and other needs assessment procedures are considered. (Author/RL)

The Local Interagency Needs Assessment Capabilities Program (LINC) was a partnership project to develop and demonstrate a model for interagency cooperation between city government and school districts, specifically in conducting needs assessments and increasing local capabilities for planning to meet human services and educational needs. It…

Needs assessment, program design, and evaluation are presented in a series of 12 papers for trainers, educators, and practitioners interested in training for human service practice. Needs assessment is discussed in terms of direct interpersonal approaches; indirect interpersonal approaches; and social indicator approaches. Weaknesses of needs…

Based on an educational needs assessment, a project designed a community college curriculum to develop the competencies of human service workers for the changing mental health service delivery system. The curriculum prepares workers to meet future service needs such as pre-discharge preparation of patients, outreach, aftercare, community…

The document reports results of a needs assessment of the incidence and prevalence of developmental disabilities in New Mexico, in conjunction with estimates of the probable demand for residential services. An introductory section outlines the scope of the study and distinguishes among three types of demand for services: potential demand,…

Describes a culturally sensitive and relevant therapeutic framework for nonminority and minority counselors working with clients of Mexican-American heritage. Uses Lazarus's multimodal approach as the basis. Examines the current status of Mexican-American mental health service delivery and use. (Author/ABB)

Presents a model for the assessment component of the vocational rehabilitation services delivery system. Describes a systems approach to vocational assessment with guidelines for information-gathering aimed at generating a course of action. (MF)

This guide is concerned with productivity measurement and improvement in mental health centers, and focuses on the relationship between service outputs and available clinical staff, i.e., staff productivity. Staff productivity measures are described as useful in identifying existing levels of productivity, making comparisons to determine the…

The special needs of the homeless elderly are discussed, followed by the presentation of a program designed to augment the work of public shelters by coordinating medical, nutrition, and social services in a day center format that is structurally integrated within the local aging service infrastructure, utilizing existing resource patterns.…

The Project Ta-kos Outreach program is an inservice training model designed to increase the probability that children (ages birth to 8) at risk for or with special needs and their families can access and receive appropriate services in order to remain an integral part of the community in which they reside. The program reflects an ecological…

This article describes requirements for developing Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSP) under Part H of the Education of the Handicapped Act. Components of the IFSP document are reviewed and process considerations are discussed. State-level and local-level strategies for implementing family-centered IFSP processes are highlighted. (Author/PB)