This document is a report to the Maryland State Planning Council on Developmental Disabilities which provides an assessment of the status and problems of older developmentally disabled and retarded citizens of Maryland. The executive summary describes the project background, basic needs identified by the project, developmental disabilities system…

Program evaluation methodology as an investigatory strategy has been developed to generate information as to the capabilities of human service programs to produce maximal desired effects in client populations with minimal resource use. Experience with the procedures, however, has disclosed multiple difficulties attendant upon their use, doubt as…

Since 1979 collaborative activities in continuing education for human services workers in Montana have shown that combining training efforts among agencies and higher education units provides better instruction at a considerable savings in cost and particularly suits rural agencies with small training budgets and small, widely dispersed staffs.…

All states have systems for mental health, public health, substance abuse, and child and adult welfare that have been in existence for many years. Treating clients across these areas is often prevented by the fact that each agency acts independently. As a result of the compartmentalization of community services, many clients fail to get the help…

The normalization philosophy originated in Scandinavia. Described as a complex ideology, highly compatible with basic social work principles, it has much to offer social education, especially in areas of social policy and services, planning and program development, and appreciation of the importance of the social environment. (Author/MLW)

Mental health professionals and the general public have generally held differing attitudes toward mental illness. As part of a needs assessment survey, 102 persons (20 service providers, 20 referral persons, and 62 potential consumers) were interviewed concerning their views of mental health problems and services. Respondents first listed examples…

A project to design a model curriculum development guide for a broadly transferable Associate Degree program in Human Services for drug abuse workers was initiated at Miami-Dade Community College (Florida). The curriculum was intended for implementation through a national consortium of community colleges. Central to the program, which would…

Providing comprehensive services for the elderly in local communities presents planners and potential users with a complex set of problems. The development of new or expanded service to the elderly was examined within an ecologically informed resource dependency model to assess the effect on service expansion of organizational maintenance factors…

To assist persons with developmental disabilities in South Dakota to become more independent, productive, and integrated into the community, the South Dakota Advocacy Project, Inc. implemented the Volunteer Skills Data System (VSDS). As South Dakota is primarily rural, accessibility to services and programs is a particular concern. Community…

Evaluation research, if appropriately matched to a human service program's stage of development, can help inform the decision making at each step. The developmental stages of a program, questions to be answered at each stage, and kinds of research activities pertinent to such questions are discussed. (TJH)

Research into the decisionmaking process of families faced with investigating alternatives to institutionalizing frail aged members could yield valuable information for service planners and providers. To analyze the extent to which its original service plan remained responsive to the changing needs of the frail elderly service population,…

This paper discusses the need for continuity of services for preschool children. The paper focuses on three topics relevant to this concept: the preschool child, the necessary services, and the need for continuity. For the purposes of this paper, continuity refers to both the continuity of development and the continuity of services. The first…

Schools, colleges, and departments of education (SCDE's) can respond to changes in enrollment patterns by reassessing their goals, and by focusing on the needs of educators to function in new and diverse situations. Many SCDE's provide courses or services that are helpful to nonschool educators, who have been described as educational services…

This Child and Adolescent Service System Program (CASSP) project implemented by the Division of Children and Youth Services of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health aimed to develop a community-level program to increase knowledge about the effectiveness of different community strategies for the development of improved systems of care for…

The employed woman often finds herself struggling to maintain multiple roles as wife, mother, and worker. Programs serving employed women's needs are a limited commodity in the United States, particularly in rural areas with a relative absence of human services. One approach to program planning in this area is through the examination of the…