Running Head Week Three Discussion 1 Week Three Discussion Summary BSHS 471 How is the delivery of services evaluated for effectiveness by an agency What should an agency do when it finds out that it is not effective That is how does the agency ascertain whether the chosen approach is working This is an expansion from last weeks DQ Week Three Discussion Summary Week Three Discussion 2 As a team each member agreed that the delivery of services can be determined by the clients The reasoning behind this agreement is that the clients utilize the services and programs and are best to receive feedback and opinions from When clients are being assisted and set up for success or recovery the program is successful Eunice states the delivery of services is evaluated for effectiveness by an agency through program planning program implementation and program monitoring Program planning is the amount of assessments specifically designed for the intervention program and the success outcome it has on its clients Program implementation and monitoring involves input on how it can help the client become successful in the program such as being able to find a job and evaluating whether or not the program was beneficial to the client and his or her needs of seeking employment through the program Zoila adds to the discussion that one way to evaluate the effectiveness is by setting short term goals to see if they can be reached if these goal are unsuccessful then the method or strategy should be evaluated An agency is there to aid clients in need for current situations as well as to establish stability for their future Becky agrees that the agency should set short and long term goals to reach If they are not able to reach these goals than the agency should reevaluate the delivery of service Becky expresses that another important point is to assist the clients not just to improve the present but also the future and be successful Charletta believes that the delivery of services is evaluated for effectiveness by an agency by the success The agency is able to assess their success by evaluating the clients they have assisted in reaching his or her goals If the agency is able to look over all cases and a large Week Three Discussion 3 percent of them are improving the agency will know that the methods that they are performing are valued Brittany utilizes a human service agency for her son Brittany s son utilizes the Infant Child Development Services in Henrico County Virginia The department evaluates him every 6 months to document how effective the program is If the client returns for all sessions and makes progress Tracking and monitoring clients in each division can be helpful Having referrals by other clients can also be a sign that programs are effective Brittany believes that the clients explain all of the effectiveness when progress can be tracked and reviews are done by each department to see how many clients utilize the services and how frequently the clients return Tanya also believes that the delivery of service may be evaluated for effectiveness by whether or not the client returns after he or she has been helped or referred somewhere else Tanya adds that another way to evaluate effectiveness is to see if the agency is receiving referrals from past clients A question such as Who referred you would suffice to find out that answer If a client keeps returning the agency they may want to evaluate their effectiveness The agency may want to survey their clients to see if the clients feel as those they are receiving the services answers or referrals he or she need An agency that cares about their clients should take to the time to find out if they are helping the population or community they are supposed to be helping In conclusion the agency should make changes when the programs and services are not successful Eunice believes a program should use a fiscal evaluation It could evaluate all the client files and see who benefited from the program and who did not it could also evaluate how long clients remained in the program and what was he or she treated for An agency could also Week Three Discussion 4 use quality assurance with this CQI is allowing staff to be able to point out the good and the bad about the program and may be able to change some areas within the program for flaws and possibly help create new techniques and or approaches to help everyone benefit from the program Zoila states when an agency finds out its services are not effective they should pin point the problem and attempt to find a solution Every client is different and therefore the treatment and assistance is also different Evaluating every client and case individually on a scheduled basis can help catch a problem earlier rather than later This will allow the agency to see what is not working and change the method of treatment Zoila and Becky agree that everyone has different needs and finding a solution for all those in need is important Evaluating each case on a regular basis can be a good way to make sure the proper care is given to the clients If the agency finds that techniques are not working they should start from the beginning and figure out how to make it work or find something techniques Charletta adds that once an agency looks back on their progress over the estimated period of evaluation they may notice that the methods are not working for their clients In this case they will need to figure out what is wrong and figure out another process What works for one client may not work for another they will need to make sure that each individual client is evaluated and address the proper care to give them Week Three Discussion 5 Reference Scileppi J A Teed E L Torres R D 2000 Community psychology A common sense approach to mental health Upper Saddle River NJ Pearson Prentice Hall