My Evaluations For A Human Service Program Essays Example

Introduction

The practice setting for which this evaluation will be conducted is the Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau. In collaboration with the Adoption Exchange Association, this federal organization runs numerous programs in various locations countrywide. More specifically, this evaluation will be performed on the Maryland Public Agency Adoption Program. This program is designed to serve the children who deserve a stable and loving family in which to belong. This program serves the many children in Maryland who are in need of a family unit.

Program Objective

The main objective of the Maryland Public Agency Adoption Program is to find loving homes for children who are in need. This objective needs to important human needs. These children need a loving family. On the other hand, there are adults who want to build their family and want to adopt children. Through the AdoptUSKids database service, the Maryland Public Agency Adoption Program matches prospective adoptive families in Maryland with children in Maryland who needs a permanent adoption plan. The objectives of the Maryland Public Agency Adoption Program are being met at assessment level four. At this level of assessment, the focus is on the contribution of the program design to the achievement of the planned outcomes. There is also the element of the resonance between the design of the Maryland Public Agency Adoption Program and the expected outcomes. At the assessment level four, the expected outcomes and rationale of the program resonate with the design of the program (Miller & Leskes, 2005). The objectives are god because they do not just seek to attach the children to families. Through the AdoptUSKids database service, the program matches prospective adoptive families to the children. The marching exercise enhances the compatibility of the adoptive family and the child.

Innovative Changes to the Program

The one innovative change that I would make in order to improve the success rate of the Maryland Public Agency Adoption Program is incorporating the post-adoption follow up. The rationale for this innovative change is to ensure that the children who move into the adoptive families are well adapted to their new families and social environment. In implementing this innovative change, it is imperative to consider the periodicity for which the follow up is conducted. My recommendation is between two and three years, after which the child and the new family should be left to enjoy their privacy and lead normal lives.

Research Design to Evaluate Effectiveness

Evaluating the effectiveness of the Maryland Public Agency Adoption Program, on needs to build up on the post-adoption follow up. As highlighted above, it is best to allow the adoptive families to enjoy their privacy. The best research design to use when evaluating the effectiveness of the Maryland Public Agency Adoption Program is the survey design. The survey research design allows one to collect information from the study population through their responses. The appropriateness of this design is based on its versatility in the collection of information, efficiency, and generalizability. A well designed survey can determine the adaptability of adopted children to the new families and social environments. The Maryland Public Agency Adoption Program uses the AdoptUSKids database service in order to match the children with prospective adoptive families. In order to ensure that the children adapt well to their new environments, it is important to sample a large number of children. The survey research design enables the collection of information on a large sample size. Besides this, the research design is cost effective. In this respect, the research design is both efficient for the purpose and also relatively inexpensive.

Study Sample

In order to effectively use the survey research design to measure the effectiveness of the program, the sample size is vital. The study sample for the evaluation of the effectiveness of the program will be determined based on the number of children adopted within a given year. For the purposes of this evaluation, the study sample taken from the entire study population will be ten percent. This study sample will allow the evaluation process to avoid the errors of observation and non-observation errors, thereby acquiring reliable findings.

Ethical Implications

In any study, it is imperative to protect the respondent and guarantee confidentiality of the information collected. For this evaluation, the respondent will only participate after informed consent is attained from the adoptive parents. In this respect, they will be informed of the purposes of the evaluation. The confidentiality of the information acquired will also be guaranteed. Furthermore, any identifiers such as the name and location will not be used unless it is inevitable. Such identifying information will not be availed to anyone outside the program evaluation team.

Measuring Client Progress

Measuring the progress of the adopted child requires the use of a measuring scale. The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale is the most appropriate scale for use in evaluating the effectiveness of the program. The scale focuses on cohesion and adaptability as the major dimensions in the adoptive family. This scale incorporates many other concepts in order to measure the cohesion and adaptability accurately in the adoptive family (Gibbs, Siebenaler & Barth, 2002). The concepts integrated with this scale include closeness, boundaries, family power, role relationships, coalitions, negotiation style and decision-making. The degree of adaptability in a family is based on the flexibility of the family in power and role relationships. The degree of cohesion in the adoptive family is defined through the emotional bonding of the family members. The scale comprises of thirty items. The items are answered by the respondents on a scale of one to five. The scores on adaptability and cohesiveness are obtained for the family and compared with norm groups (Gibbs, Siebenaler & Barth, 2002).

Threats to Validity

One of the threats to validity of the evaluation exercise is the bias in selecting the respondents. This might result from the different characteristics by which the program participants are chosen. Another threat to validity is attrition. In accordance to the ethical guidelines, the participation of the respondents is voluntary. Some of the respondents might opt to drop out of the survey. The effects of the surveyor might also influence the validity of the research design. Another threat to the validity of this study is the Hawthorne effect. The behavior of the participants as influenced by their reaction to the knowledge that they are being studied might alter the results (Martella, 2013).

Significance of the Evaluation Finding

The data gathered from the evaluation exercise is important in making improvements to the design and the objectives of the program. The data will be used to identify the deficiencies in the design of the program in order to inform any improvements in the program. The data will also be used to identify the strengths of the program in order to amplify them.

Conclusion

This assignment has been very informative on the evaluation of programs. It is not just enough to design a program. Even programs that are grounded on good premises need to be evaluated in order to determine the effectiveness of the program. Program evaluation allows the program manager vital information that can be used to improve the design of the program in order to better achieve the intended results.

References

Gibbs, D., Siebenaler, K and Barth, R. (2002). Assessing the Field of Post-Adoption Services: Family Needs, Program Models, and Evaluation Issues. Retrieved from http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/post-adoption01/eval-issues/#2.1.4
Martella, R. C. (2013). Understanding and interpreting educational research. New York. Guilford Press.
Miller, R. and Leskes, A. (2005). Levels of assessment. Washington. Association of American Colleges and Universities