The Future of Human Services

Research in human services and related fields has the government looking to change the focus on the outcomes rather on the processes and structure of the research . This means that social workers must be prepared to try new ideas and evaluate them to improve service delivery Working on the front lines will focus on the immediate needs of their clients and sometimes their experience and knowledge will get lost as they move from case to case . In one article by Rosen , Proctor Staudt (1999 ) they believe that social workers need to look at the

aims in research not as an explanation but as a tool to use as a function of control knowledge and the need for research to use it in this function

Social work research has been focused recently on welfare reform Outcomes of this legislature have prompted major changes in how Americans attend to the needs of the poor in each community . The consequences of welfare reform are many and it involves many different systems . It 's outcomes needs evaluation over time . In the article by Dennis Long (2000 ) he believes that social workers need to challenge current thoughts and the use of social workers expertise is needed for the research and the analysis of the information gained from research and to evaluate both achievements and misfortunes to clients as a direct result of welfare reform

The most important challenges of the social worker in the 21st century are their ability to understand and evaluate research in human services Educating the future workers to become more of participants in evaluating , researching and applying the knowledge learned will greatly improve outcomes of human service programs . Too often I see social workers as pushers and not of their own choice but because of astringent guidelines that will not allow expertise or research knowledge to be applied . Educating these workers to apply knowledge obtained through their education and personal experience will make programs in this field , I believe , more effective

Reference

Howes , M (2005 , Aug ) Introducing a research project into social work practice . Social Work Education 24 (5 , 585-592

Krueger , R Casey , M (2000 ) Focus Groups : A Practical Guide for Applied Research , London : Sage Publications

Long , D .D (2000 , Dec ) Welfare reform : A social work perspective for assessing success . Journal of Sociology Social Welfare 27 (4 , 61

Rosen , A , Proctor , E .K Staudt , M .M (1999 , March ) Social work research and the quest for effective practice . Social Work Research 23 (1 , 4-14

Sales , E , Lichtenwalter , S Fevola , A (2006 , Fall ) Secondary analysis in social work research education : Past , present and future promise . Journal of Social Work Education 42 (3 , 543-558

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