Purpose: Family support programs commonly use self-sufficiency matrices (SSMs) to measure family outcomes, however, validation research on SSMs is sparse. This study examined the reliability of the Colorado Family Support Assessment 2.0 (CFSA 2.0) to measure family self-reliance across 14 domains (e.g., employment). Methods: Ten written case…

Although the need for evaluation of prevention programs is clear, the implementation of evaluation, particularly for large, complex projects with multiple investigators, poses numerous challenges. Program evaluators in these circumstances do not have the same degree of control as, say, experimental psychologists and must find ways to obtain data…

This article presents propensity score matching as a method to implement randomized conditions to analyze service effects using nonexperimental data. Most social work research is challenged to implement randomized clinical trials, whereas administrative and survey data are often available and can provide valuable information about services…

Objective: This study evaluated the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now's (ACORN) efforts to increase the uptake of families claiming the earned income tax credit through door-to-door canvassing and managing free tax preparation clinics in three pilot cities. Method: The mixed-method program evaluation included administrative…

Cultural competence has become a central social work tenet enshrined in the profession's ethical and educational standards. Few measures of cultural competence exist, however, in spite of an increasing array of religious, ethnic, and racial groups in U.S. society. This article develops a new measure to assess cultural competence among one family…