Fall 2025 SOWK 486w Week 15 - Evaluation and Termination

title: Fall 2025 SOWK 486w Week 15 - Evaluation and Termination date: 2025-12-03 11:25:49 location: Heritage University tags:

  • Heritage University
  • BASW Program
  • SOWK 486w presentation_video: > “” description: >

You have made it to the end of this class, as week 15 is our final session. Evaluation and the ending of the helping relationship is a an essential aspect of social work and direct practice with clients. Students will read Hepworth et al. (2023) which reviews methods for evaluating case progress, describes various factors that affect the termination process, identifies relevant tasks for both social workers and clients, and discusses skills essential to effectively managing termination. I’ve shared a podcast episode about engaging in Feedback Informed Treatment, which uses evaluation throughout the helping process. During class will also be reflecting on professional resilience. The agenda for the class session includes:

  • Evaluation
  • The evaluation process
  • Termination
  • Professional resilience

Learning objectives this week include

  • Explain the importance of evaluation in social work and identify the key barriers and facilitators of effective evaluation practices.
  • Discuss the process and tasks involved in the termination phase of the helping process and strategies for sustaining client progress.
  • Reflect on their personal and professional growth through self-evaluation activities.
  • Identify strategies for building professional resilience and integrating self-care into ongoing social work practice.

Week 15 Plan

Agenda

  • Evaluation
  • The evaluation process
  • Termination
  • Professional resilience

Learning Objectives

  • Explain the importance of evaluation in social work and identify the key barriers and facilitators of effective evaluation practices.
  • Discuss the process and tasks involved in the termination phase of the helping process and strategies for sustaining client progress.
  • Reflect on their personal and professional growth through self-evaluation activities.
  • Identify strategies for building professional resilience and integrating self-care into ongoing social work practice.

Why is evaluation in social work so critical?

We conduct evaluations because we must continually improve our professional skills and knowledge.

  • To increase your own effectiveness as a worker requires feedback from others.
  • We want to know how client systems experienced their work with us which gives them a chance to be heard (empowerment).
  • Helps build the knowledge base of the profession.

(Hepworth et al., 2017)

External Factors and Obstacles in Evaluation

During the last 25 years the funding for social programs have become scarce and the demands for evaluation has increased. This increases accountability from social programs. Accountability in social work involves being responsible for and answerable to others for the quality and effectiveness of one’s efforts.

There are different things that could get in the way of evaluation:

  • Time consuming
  • Clinician vulnerability (judgments)
  • Lack of a routine system (not something done frequently)
  • Insufficient effort focused on evaluation from agencies
  • Deficient skills and training regarding use of evaluation approaches

(Hepworth et al., 2017)

External Factors and Obstacles in Evaluation

When a social worker is completing an evaluation there are some major thrusts and important terminology… We can think of it as the Four “E’s” of Evaluation

  1. Effort (Monitor ongoing operation)
  2. Effects (Assess the outcomes)
  3. Effectiveness (Succeeding at what you set out to accomplish)
  4. Efficiency (Doing it at a reasonable cost)

(Hepworth et al., 2017)

The Evaluation Process

Evaluation of practice follows the same planned change approach used in social work practice itself.

  • Engagement: Define the problem to be evaluated
  • Planning: Consider the type of research approach that might be appropriate
  • Planning: Choose the best approach
  • Implementation: Carried out
  • Evaluation: Examine and evaluate the results of the research effort.

(Hepworth et al., 2017)

Types of Evaluations

There are a number of types of evaluations…

  • Formative Evaluations: assess the adequacy or amount of effort directed at solving a client systems problem and gathering data during the actual intervention (i.e. teacher evaluations).
  • Summarative Evaluations: an evaluation that takes place after completing the planned change process (i.e. end of semester examinations).
  • Baseline: is a measure of the frequency, intensity, or duration of a behavior.

(Hepworth et al., 2017)

Terms Associated with Evaluations

There are a number of terms that are associated with evaluation.

  • Validity the extent to which you are measuring what you think you are measuring.
  • Reliability is the extent to which an instrument measures the same phenomenon in the same way each time the measure is used. Reliable instruments produce consistent results over time.

(Hepworth et al., 2017)

Terms Associated with Evaluations

There are a number of terms that are associated with evaluation.

  • Validity
  • Face validity is professional judgment about whether the measure actually measure what it is supposed to.
  • Concurrent validity exists when scores on one instrument correlate well with scores on another instrument that is already considered valid.
  • Predictive validity is when it can be used to predict future events.

(Hepworth et al., 2017)

Terms Associated with Evaluations

There are a number of terms that are associated with evaluation.

  • Independent Variable: is the factor we think is responsible for causing certain behaviors, reactions or events.
  • Dependent Variable: is the outcome or end product of the helping process.
  • Generalizability: is the ability of a set of results in one situation to fit another circumstance or instance.
  • Data: Gathering Methods-commonly used methods include surveys, scores of instruments, interviews with significant others, collected data, surveys or interviews, self reports, products which is achievement of a specific task or change in behavior, or observational measures these rely on others to observe a change in the clients behavior.

(Hepworth et al., 2017)

Single Subject Design

Single-Subject Designs are research methods aimed at determining whether or not an intervention was successful.

  • Often used with a single case or client.
  • Is a method used when achievement of the goal is sufficiently important to be used as the primary outcome criterion. This focus on the desired state and not the problem.
  • A / B data points
  • Prior to intervention and after intervention

(Hepworth et al., 2023)

Other Single System Designs

There are other forms of single system design studies that we can do.

  • Goal Attainment Scaling is a method used when achievement of the goal is sufficiently important to be used as the primary outcome criterion. This focus on the desired state and not the problem.
  • Task achievement scaling is a method of evaluating the degree to which an identified set of tasks has been accomplished.
  • Client satisfaction questionnaires are a series of questions designed to learn the reactions of the customer to various aspects of the products.
  • Target problem scaling is a process where a problem is identified, a plan is implemented, and changes in target problems are measured to determine if the problem has changed in severity.

(Hepworth et al., 2017)

Semester Self-Evaluation: Small Group Discussion

[Small Group Activity] Working in small groups, spend time talking about your work this semester at Heritage University. Not just in Theories of Practice, but in all of your classes. The idea is to practice self-evaluating your practice. Take turns going around answering the following questions:

  • What are some of the things that you have learned this semester?
  • How has it changed your way of thinking about the work that you will do in the future?
  • How do you feel you performed this semester, and why?
  • What would you do differently if you had a chance to do this all over again?

Time to Complete Course Evaluations

Take your course evaluations

Evaluation Designs for Programs

Program evaluation can help determine whether or not one program is more effective or efficient than another. Includes periodic as well as ongoing evaluation of the process and the outcomes.

Program evaluation tools include:

  • Needs Assessment
  • Evaluability Assessment
  • Process Analysis
  • Program Outcome Analysis
  • Continuous Quality Assurance Evaluations
  • Program Monitoring

(Hepworth et al., 2017)

Example of a Program Evaluation

PEER-EBD Participatory Evaluation and Expert Review for Classrooms Serving Students with EBD

The PEER-EBD is a program evaluation that our school district participates in. It is an interesting means for evaluating a program.

It is researched based, reviewing 18 different areas which are indicators of evidence-based practices in four categories (Systems & Philosophy,Structure, Individual Programming: Builds Academic and Behavioral Competence, Climate & Group Process). The questionnaire is quite lengthy to complete.

There are three parts:

  1. Expert review (completed through observation, interviews, reviewing artifacts)
  2. Individual surveys
  3. Facilitated team assessment

(Tsai et al., 2013)

Reference

Tsai, S.-F., Cheney, D., & Walker, B. (2013). Preliminary psychometrics of the participatory evaluation and expert review for classrooms serving students with emotional/behavioral disabilities (PEER-EBD). Behavioral Disorders, 38(3), p137-153. 17p. 1 Diagram, 5 Charts. https://doi.org/10.1177/019874291303800303

Task of Termination

There are a few tasks that me must complete in the termination phase.

  1. Decide when to terminate the professional worker-client relationship.
  2. Evaluate achievement of the objectives.
  3. Maintain and continuing progress.
  4. Resolving emotional reactions of the worker and client.
  5. Make appropriate referrals.
  • Ultimately the goal at termination is to empower the client system
  • Think about AMA, early termination… etc

(Hepworth et al., 2017)

Termination

Whenever possible the worker should plan for termination and involve the client in the process.

  • There may be different reactions and feelings when it comes time for termination on behalf the client and the worker.
  • A way to help a client at termination is planning for it, address feelings about it, and summarize progress.
  • Stabilization of change examples

There are factors that will change the intensity of reactions.

Factor More Intense Less Intense
Time Open ended relationships Time-limited relationships
Contact Frequent contact Infrequent
Problem focus personal problem focus Environmental problem focus
Outside supports Limited supports strong supports
Level of intervention Individual or family system Organizational or community
Emotional content High level of emotional content Low level of emotional content
Type of group treatment group task group

(Hepworth et al., 2017)

Stabilization of change

There is sufficient evidence that changes that occur in the context of therapeutic relationships do not necessarily carry over into other areas of client examples… we need to look for ways to make it more generalizable.

  • Helping clients select relevant and appropriate situations to work on (client driven, addressing reason for coming in…)
  • Helping clients build confidence in their own abilities (Strengths perspective, reviewing progress)
  • Using multiple situations and settings when helping members learn new behaviors (addressing at home, work, school, practice examples)
  • Using naturally occurring consequences rather than artificial ones (going out and doing it in real life vs. just with clinician)
  • Extending treatment through use of follow up (Looking past the end of the services to monitor and follow up)
  • Reducing setbacks in other environments (Getting outside supports involved, making environmental changes)
  • Helping members confront future problems by teaching problem solving process (teach a man to fish… etc)

(Hepworth et al., 2017)

Professional Resilience Paradigm (1 of 4)

  1. Value verses devalue your professional self (don’t undersell yourself)
  2. Have positive contacts with colleagues and peers (work with people who motivate you)
  3. Take that break (vacations, lunch… etc)
  4. Pace yourself (Working faster does not always yield increased output)

  5. Achieve validation

    • Identify goals
    • Engage with positive contacts
    • Get a mentor
  6. Use the power of professional networking (Engage with professional associations & networking sites to - Keep up with new trends and expand horizons & opportunities)

(Fink-Samnick, 2009)

The Professional Resilience Paradigm (2 of 4)

  1. Present with a presence

    • How do others see you?
    • How do you dress?
    • How on edge do you feel?
  2. Laugh at least once a day
  3. Stop to take that long deep breath
  4. Develop a grounding list (favorite song, picture, aroma… etc)

  5. Stop and take 10

    • 10 seconds: process, breathe
    • 10 minutes: unsure what to say or do?
    • 10 hours: time for a day off?
    • 10 days: time for vacation?
    • 10 months: time for a new job?)
  6. Take control & shift activities (walk away and shift gears)

(Fink-Samnick, 2009)

The Professional Resilience Paradigm (3 of 4)

  1. Use creative visualization
  2. De-connect to Re-connect (Give distance to work get closer to life)
  3. Release frustration with a silent meow (They tense their body, open their mouth & let loose!)
  4. Exercise

  5. turn off your professional switch

    • Make it a ritual
    • Have peers who are NOT in the biz
    • Set limits for yourself plus others

  6. Think of teflon

    • Stay attuned to boundaries
    • Don’t let the tough stuff stick!
    • Anticipate & let things roll off!

(Fink-Samnick, 2009)

The Professional Resilience Paradigm (4 of 4)

  1. Revision honestly and regularly

    • Revise previously defined life goals
    • Define an individualized schedule
    • Identify realistic obstacles to the schedule’s implementation
    • Progress with a plan to reflect your current perspective.

  2. Share professional resilience with health and human services professionals everywhere

(Fink-Samnick, 2009)

Reference

Fink-Samnick, E. (2009). The Professional Resilience Paradigm: Defining the Next Dimension of Professional Self-Care. Professional Case Management, 14(6), 330-332. https://doi.org/10.1097/NCM.0b013e3181c3d483