Actions for Discussion #6 – Evaluation
Organizational and specific program evaluation can really stir things up if not approached correctly. Staff, supervisors, licensing agents, administrators and even the clients are not always happy about having to participate and undergo an extensive evaluation process. That is why, as pointed out in the textbook, the best time to plan for program evaluation is during the very creation of the program. Additionally, sometimes evaluations ask wrong or meaningless questions. For example, each of the quizzes in this course is taken directly from the text book. Think about how frustrating it would be if the quizzes were taken from a different text book. The results of that “evaluation” would then be meaningless to me in the context of this course. So it is, sometimes, that personnel and/or program evaluations are not properly dovetailed with the job description or stated goals. Furthermore, there are times when it is more important to “count” what didn’t happen, as opposed to what did. Sometimes, we just need to learn to ask different questions, instead of always allowing other peripheral parties to make up the questions we are then forcibly judged by.
All that being said, discuss the importance of evidence-based practice and of having meaningful program and agency evaluations.
To whom is it important, and why?
Do you think it results in more work being accomplished, or that program evaluations result in a net loss for the clients?
Do you view those in charge of the evaluation (it whatever form it might be) as adversarial or as an advocate in some sense; someone who cares about the cause, so to speak?
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Week 7 — Chapter 11 – Ethical Dilemmas
Actions for Week 7 — Chapter 11 – Ethical Dilemmas
One definition for an ethical dilemma is as follows: “An ethical dilemma is a situation that will often involve an apparent conflict between moral [or value] imperatives, in which to obey one would result in transgressing another.” Your textbook states an ethical dilemma is when “we are faced with a situation in which a decision must be made under circumstances that set two or more ethical principles in conflict.”
Ethical dilemmas are basically unavoidable. They are all around us, in practically every area of life. As much as one might like for life’s tough questions to be black and white, the fact is that many things really are different shades of gray. If one always wants 2+2=4, then stick with mathematics. People are not formulas, and the answers they often seek are formulaic. People, you and I, are very complex individuals, and as such can often present some very complex situations. When these situations involve competing values, both of which are good, but only one of which can be followed, you have found yourself face-to-face with an ethical dilemma. Welcome to reality.
Chapter 12 of your text does an excellent job of discussing ethical dilemmas. The student should be sure to read every word of it, and apply the teachings and concepts to your response to one of the following ethical dilemmas.
Ethical Dilemmas for Discussion Question 13.
Ethical Dilemma #1
A clinical social worker is helping a female client work through residual problems related to sexual abuse by her father many years earlier. The client had been removed from the home for a period, and her father had gone into treatment. The father completed his treatment according to plan.
The client’s father is now a third-grade teacher, and the client strongly suspects that he may be molesting children in his class. However, the client is unwilling to contact the child protective services (CPS) agency or to confront her father. The social worker shares his client’s concern about the father’s access to children but is uncertain about the client’s clear preference to not report her concerns or evidence to CPS and whether he has any responsibility to report.
Ethical Dilemma #2
A child protective services worker arranged emergency placement for her Native Alaskan client with a white couple. Aware that the Indian Child Welfare Act includes a preference for placement of Native American children in Native American homes, she sought out Native American family members with whom the child could be placed. The only foster home she could locate was that of the child’s aunt, who was an active alcoholic and addict and now has a neurological disorder that prevents her from driving or being physically active. The child’s aunt would like for the child to live with her. On the other hand, the client and her temporary foster parents have developed a close relationship in the few months she has been with them. The foster parents enjoy learning about and locating the youngster’s favorite food, and are involved with the *potlatches, and ensure that she attends relevant religious celebrations. They want to continue being the girl’s foster parents and are hopeful that they can adopt her. The human services worker fears that, if placed with her aunt, the client might not get adequate supervision and could, in fact, be at risk.
* Potlatch: among Native American peoples of the northwest coast of North America, a ceremony of feasting in which the host gains prestige by giving gifts or, sometimes, destroying wealth.
Ethical Dilemma #3
A child protective services worker must present recommendations to the court regarding placement for the 10- and 12-year-old daughters of a recently deceased lesbian mother. Since their separation five years ago, the mother’s former lesbian partner has paid monthly child support and all medical and dental costs for the girls. She has also maintained positive relationships with the girls and their mother, visiting regularly and taking the children on vacations. She and the mother had an unwritten understanding that the former partner would become the guardian for the children should something happen to the mother. The biological father maintains occasional contact with the girls and has arranged for a few visits to his mother and sisters. The father and mother were never married. The human services worker favors placing the girls with their father because of her religious convictions in which homosexuality is considered immoral.
Ethical Dilemma #4
A school human services worker finds it very difficult to develop a relationship of trust with some of the youths she works with. She knows that they do not believe that what they say to her will not be made known to anyone else. Many of the students have learned and discussed the implications of laws that ensure parent access to student records. One of her students recently confided in her that she is pregnant and needs to decide what to do about it. The girl has stated that she feels old enough to make her decisions and does not want her parents to know until she had developed a plan. She has asked for the human service worker’s help in sorting out her options but has asked that the human services worker not write any notes of their discussions.
Ethical Dilemma #5
A human services worker employed in a nonprofit agency serving child victims of sexual abuse learned during a session with a seven-year-old client the identity of the man who the client accused of sexually abusing her. The man has not been prosecuted. Two years later the human services worker sees the alleged abuser working as a janitor in a local grade school. She wants to warn the principal but knows that such a warning would require conveying information gained through a confidential session with her client, and would open up a firestorm involving a man who is well liked by the school system. She also knows the man was never convicted of the alleged sexual abuse. However, she feels torn because the alleged abuser is employed in a setting where he has regular access to potential victims, and she believes the man really did abuse her client.
Ethical Dilemma #6
A human services worker employed at a juvenile correctional center has strong reason to suspect that two of the clients in the center have become sexually involved. She is aware that one of these youths is HIV positive. She knows that if she advises the non-HIV-postive youth of her partner’s HIV status, the girl may likely tell others in the center. The boy is noncommittal on whether they are sexually active and, if so, whether they use appropriate protection. The human services worker seeks supervision regarding the conflict between a duty to protect the girl and the client’s right to confidentiality.
Ethical Dilemma #7
A substance abuse treatment counselor who works with a client who has lost her license to drive after a recent arrest for driving while intoxicated sees the client drive to the agency for her session. During the counseling session, the human services worker comes to believe that the client is under the influence of alcohol. The client shares with her human services worker her frustration over her need to drive to work and other essential places as justification for her decision to occasionally drive without her license.
Ethical Dilemma #8
A school human services worker receives a memorandum from the school superintendent describing a new policy for reports of suspected child abuse. In the memo, the superintendent explains that he must be informed of suspected abuse and review the student’s case file before a report is made to the child protective services agency. The memo explains that the reason for this new policy is to allow the superintendent time to review the human services worker’s record of the student before the abuse is reported.
Discussion #8 — Online Fundraising Actions for Discussion #8 — Online Fundraising
Online fundraising is growing exponentially. Any organization, cause, or political candidate serious about raising funds will have a very definite and professional presence on the internet. It simply isn’t an option or a luxury anymore; it is absolutely required.
Fortunately, it has become very easy to establish an internet presence in recent years, no longer requiring the small agency or organization to be able to afford the expensive services of professional designers and developers. There are many services out there and freely accessible, ready and willing to help you raise money for your cause.
For example, YouTube is one that is literally asking to help, for free. Watch this short video. And here is another one that does a good job of communicating how YouTube can help fund your nonprofit or favorite social cause.
Google offers organizations a lot of assistance in many different ways. For example, many organizations use Google as the backend for their web domain, email, document sharing, staff calendars and all the other services they offer.
Accordingly, there are many other companies offering an extensive range of services to nonprofits that are meant to help the agency or organization reach its goals and raise the needed funds to effectively reach the people they serve.
For your last Discussion question, tell us about your online giving habits, assuming you have any, so that the rest of us will be able to know more about reaching people such as yourself in the future. Most of us, at one time or another, will find ourselves raising money for a worthy cause, and using the power of the internet is very effective. Help us to better understand how we might reach you, using the internet. Following are some of the things you might talk about in your post.
Do you currently give money to charity over the internet?
Do you visit any websites of charities?
Do you get emails from charities asking for donations?
If you haven’t used the internet to make contributions to charities, what would it take to convince you to do so? Most of us have made purchases over the internet … what would it take to get you to make a contribution?
Does the use of video help convince you to support the cause?
Have you ever been a part of a grass-roots internet fundraising effort? Tell us about it.
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