A Program Evaluation Strategy in a Community-Based Behavioral Health and Education Services Agency for Children and Families

Evaluation research and outcomes measurement in the arena of behavioral health services for children must be adapted for the community agency setting. Through evaluation research, it is possible to address service goals as well as more traditional academic research goals. This article examines a var...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of applied behavioral science 2002-06, Vol.38 (2), p.191-215
Main Authors: Huffman, Lynne, Koopman, Cheryl, Blasey, Christine, Botcheva, Luba, Hill, Kirsten E., Marks, Amy S. K., Mcnee, Irene, Nichols, Mary, Dyer-Friedman, Jennifer
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior
Behavioural sciences
California
Children
Children & youth
Community
Corporate culture
Education
Evaluation Research
Families & family life
Family
Health Care Services
Health services
Human behaviour
Knowledge
Mental health
Nonprofit Organizations
Organizational learning
Parents & parenting
Program Evaluation
Psychotherapy
Social Agencies
Social services
Studies
U.S.A
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Summary:Evaluation research and outcomes measurement in the arena of behavioral health services for children must be adapted for the community agency setting. Through evaluation research, it is possible to address service goals as well as more traditional academic research goals. This article examines a variety of activities that have been implemented to evaluate children’s behavioral and educational services in a Northern California non-profit community agency. It is noted that there are multiple formats for collecting information from and providing comments to children’s parents, their clinicians, and program administration staff, all of which can be used to effectively address service-focused evaluation research goals. Challenges to doing scientifically rigorous research in a community setting require additional considerations regarding organizational culture and structure. Based on the experiences of the authors and the experiences of others, the article describes general principles that can guide evaluation research and outcomes measurement with children and their families in the community health agency setting.
ISSN:0021-8863
1552-6879
DOI:10.1177/00286302038002004