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This study is about the need to generate a method for the structuring of designdialogue for participatory design in a face-to-face design discussion. In participatory design, design concepts are generated collectively through disc...
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This study is about the need to generate a method for the structuring of designdialogue for participatory design in a face-to-face design discussion. In participatory design, design concepts are generated collectively through discussion in which the interchange of normative and factual descriptions builds a collective design discourse. The goal of this study is to develop a method to support this collective, face-to-face design problem-solving in order to increase the acceptability of design product. In the current practice of participatory design, a common problem is that of the structuring of design dialogue. In general, no effective methods have been developed to systematically analyze and to construct design dialogue into such formal structures that all parties involved in the discussion can understand and use the structured design dialogue as a tool to future improve the cooperative work.
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The findings of a study to assess the value of periodic case review for foster children are presented. Case review is defined as a management control device for monitoring the plans and progress of entire populations of children i...
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The findings of a study to assess the value of periodic case review for foster children are presented. Case review is defined as a management control device for monitoring the plans and progress of entire populations of children in foster care on a case - by - case basis. General characteristics of case review are described. Two goals of case review are identified: to enhance the security of foster children, whether such security involves restoration homes, adoption, or planned permanent foster care; and to increase the accountability of case workers and / or child welfare agencies. A review of the literature on foster care is presented. In New Jersey, the innovative review of children in placement (RCP) system was implemented. To determine if RCP had any impact on case planning and case outcomes for client children, a retrospective longitudinal analysis of individual narrative case records was conducted. A cohort of children entering foster care in 1971 before the existence of RCP was compared with a cohort entering foster care in 1974 during the period of RCP. Key issues examined were the intake characteristics of children and their families, the type and extent of case planning, and outcomes of agency interventions. Staff participation in the RCP program and case review procedures and their effectiveness were evaluated. The financial costs of reviewing children in foster care were analyzed. There appeared to be irreconcilable disparities among purposes of case review process. Recommendations are offered to improve worker and agency accountability and case outcomes. Supporting data on the study findings are tabulated.
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National welfare reform legislation in 1996 created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program, which imposed time limits on cash assistance receipt and broadened and strengthened mandates for clients to work or en...
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National welfare reform legislation in 1996 created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program, which imposed time limits on cash assistance receipt and broadened and strengthened mandates for clients to work or engage in work-related activities. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) rationalized and consolidated multiple employment-related public programs into a unified system through which comprehensive labor market information, job training, and job-finding assistance could be provided in 'one-stop' service centers. WIA legislation mandated that public assistance recipients and other low-income citizens were to have priority for employment-related services. The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, initiated a study to help understand and assess the degree to which TANF and WIA programs work together to further their mutual policy goals at a time when both programs were undergoing congressional reauthorization. This report presents major findings from that study, Serving TANF and Low-Income Populations through WIA One-Stop Centers. The study gathered information about how WIA participation and services for individuals receiving TANF and other low-income populations may be affected by TANF and WIA program context, management structures, policies, and administrative arrangements. Findings are based largely on in-depth interviews with local informants and available program data for seven purposively selected one-stop centers, including: Anoka County (MN), Dakota County (MN), San Angelo (TX), Round Rock (TX), Bridgeport (CT), West Oxnard (CA), and Edgecombe/Nash Counties (NC).
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The paper presents a theory of the process of top-down, management-led type oforganizational change, whose central postulate maintains that an induction of any such change programs is likely to bring about a temporary impairment o...
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The paper presents a theory of the process of top-down, management-led type oforganizational change, whose central postulate maintains that an induction of any such change programs is likely to bring about a temporary impairment of organizational performance, until a new equilibrium is attained. Some key variables, involved in the process as either facilitators or impediments of change are identified, quantified and integrated into a System Dynamics model. Sensitivity tests made by computer simulation showed that the model behaves over time as predicted. For illustrative purposes, a published case study of directed organizational change was reproduced by the present simulation model. The results of the simulation demonstrate that the model is internally consistent and that, at least in this case, it is theoretically adequate. Further tests with additional data sets are required to validate the theory. The system dynamics model makes it possible to conduct such empirical tests under identical and controlled research conditions.
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This report addresses two questions fundamental to understanding public opinion about the courts. First, do African-Americans, Latinos, and Whites view the state courts differently. Second, what impact does recent direct court exp...
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This report addresses two questions fundamental to understanding public opinion about the courts. First, do African-Americans, Latinos, and Whites view the state courts differently. Second, what impact does recent direct court experience have on people's opinions about the state courts. The relevant differences are found in the perceived quality with which courts handle cases, the fairness of court procedures and court outcomes, and the willingness of individuals with recent court experience to return to court on a similar matter in the future. The distinctive contribution of this report is the exploration of where race and ethnicity intersect with court experience: Does court experience influence the views of racial and ethnic groups in a similar or a different manner.
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The potential influence of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) case decision errors on worker, supervisory, and agency performance is assessed. Public assistance programs in Wisconsin were studied to evaluate worker, cl...
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The potential influence of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) case decision errors on worker, supervisory, and agency performance is assessed. Public assistance programs in Wisconsin were studied to evaluate worker, client, and agency factors associated with errors in AFDC budgetary and eligibility decisions; to identify worker, client, and agency factors related to delays in AFDC intake and budgetary decisions; to ascertain the interdependence of delays in budget decisions and errors; and to assess conditions leading to and consequences of the failure of AFDC applicants to follow through on their applications. Both intake and postintake decisions and decisions to deny or provide assistance were examined. Measures of error used in the analysis were overpayments and underpayments. A conceptual model was devised to explain welfare case decision errors. Over 1,500 items of information concerning case, agency, and public official attributes were collected to make linkages between potential error sources. The case sample consisted of 5,014 AFDC cases reviewed by Wisconsin quality control personnel during calendar years 1975 - 1976. It appeared that case payment decisions of public welfare personnel were not independent of their attitudes and values. Personnel with generally liberal views were more likely to make overpayments or less likely to make underpayments. There was a positive relationship between various management options and error reduction, such options including the use of monitoring and control mechanisms, increased specialization of case aide workloads, provision of support services to case aides, establishment of work conditions conducive to increased job satisfaction, and appointment of supervisors expressly committed to error control. Organizational structure and process characteristics had relatively little influence on payment errors, with structure and process referring to phenomena like centralization, formalization, work group cohesion, and peer interaction. Supporting data are tabulated. Variables in the conceptual model to explain case decision errors are noted in an appendix. Notes and references are included.
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This report provides key findings from case studies developed on 14 Assets for Independence (AFI)-funded individual development account (IDA) projects. IDAs are personal savings accounts targeted to low-income persons that encoura...
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This report provides key findings from case studies developed on 14 Assets for Independence (AFI)-funded individual development account (IDA) projects. IDAs are personal savings accounts targeted to low-income persons that encourage participants to save for specific types of assets by providing matching funds when the accountholder makes withdrawals for an allowable asset purchase. The rationale for IDAs lies in the proposition that income transfers have eased the hardship of the poor but have been less effective in enabling low-income families to become economically self-sufficient. An alternative view that emerged in the early 1990s was that to promote economic advancement and self-sufficiency--as well as to encourage socially positive behaviors--policies should focus on asset accumulation, in combination with income support. The AFI Act calls for an evaluation of AFI projects to be carried out by an independent research organization under contract to HHS.
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A case study is presented of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee's (BRAC)highly successful Nonformal Primary Education (NFPE) program, which provides
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A listing of codes is provided that was developed to assist in the conduct of a needs assessment survey for elderly citizens of Colorado. The code book was prepared under a grant awarded through the Division of Services for the Ag...
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A listing of codes is provided that was developed to assist in the conduct of a needs assessment survey for elderly citizens of Colorado. The code book was prepared under a grant awarded through the Division of Services for the Aging within Colorado's Department of Social Services. Codes are included in an interview schedule or questionnaire which can be used to assess the needs of elderly persons. On the face sheet of this schedule, codes are provided for recording information on the schedule number, interviewer number, county where survey is being conducted, type of county (urban or rural), economic base of county, date of interview, length of interview, and whether the interview was completed. Other codes are provided which relate to the following: activity data; demographic data; housing; transportation; employment; income and expenditures; health and medical care; food and nutrition; social activities and relationships; and voting, selected services familiarity and usage, and needs statement. A space is provided at the end of the schedule for coding the interviewer's evaluation comments.
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Interviews were conducted with 100 persons in 5 large cities to develop background information needed in an assessment of the number of adoptive parents for black children. Of the total 100 interviewed, 78 were black. Respondents ...
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Interviews were conducted with 100 persons in 5 large cities to develop background information needed in an assessment of the number of adoptive parents for black children. Of the total 100 interviewed, 78 were black. Respondents included social workers, leaders in the black community, and adoptive parents. Chief reasons for adoption were said to be a love of children, a desire for self - fulfillment, and social consciousness or acceptability. The reported deterrents among potential families for black children were real or perceived biases of social services agencies, biases against poorer parents, the time and 'redtape involved,' psychological probing by agencies, overemphasis by agencies on housing and income, economic problems, lack of public information about the urgent need, and miscellaneous other concerns. The most urgent recommendation was to broaden the target group to include single parent families, foster parents, older parents, and the less affluent. Subsidies for adoptive parents are recommended. Transracial adoptions evoke rather even division for and against, with disapproval more intense than approval. Recommended recruitment methods included mass media campaigns, contacts through groups and organizations, the use of full - time recruiters familiar with the neighborhood to which they are assigned, and personal contacts. Two dominant themes were that successful recruitment must be carefully planned and sustained over a considerable period and that a variety of approaches must be integrated. A description of the study methodology and references are appended.
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