The case study conducted by Giffords, Alonso, and Bell (2007) is an excellent example of the assessment of human services. The article provides a careful description of the offered service to homeless adolescents for the successful transition to adulthood. The authors also provide information about the theoretical frameworks behind the proposed services, describes the expected outcomes, and compares them to actual outcomes using coherent methodology. The purpose of the program evaluation was to determine the effectiveness of the provided services and identify the barriers to the successful implementation of the program. The authors concluded that transitional living projects for adolescents, such as the Walkabout program, are an effective method for empowering young homeless adults to make the difficult transition to self-sufficiency. However, the lack of sufficient resources can obstruct the successful implementation of such programs.
The evolution of human services is crucial since they assess if a program is worth the allocated resources. In other words, evaluation of services provides information if a practice is to be praised of dismissed. According to Barret and Sorensen (2015), the importance of the process was first recognized in 1976; however, since then, the situation has hardly changed. Thirty-five years later, the authorities still had little information about the outcomes of human services programs due to the lack of adequate assessment tools (Barret & Sorensen, 2015). However, the attitude to the matter has changed considerably since, in the 1980s, many professionals believed it was impossible to evaluate the outcomes (Barret & Sorensen, 2015). Since then, the appropriate tool has been elaborated, and the article by Giffords et al. (2007) confirms it.
References
Barret, T., & Sorensen, J. (2015). Human services program evaluation. Web.
Giffords, E., Alonso, C., & Bell, R. (2007). A transitional living program for homeless adolescents: A case study. Child & Youth Care Forum, 36(4), 141–151.