Daniels, R. S. (1973). Governance and Administration of Human Services in Urban Low-Income Communities. American Journal of Public Health, 63(8), 715–720. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.odu.edu/10.2105/AJPH.63.8.715

This article discusses how mental health is not the primary focus of low-income communities. The evaluation was conducted by the University of Chicago School of Medicine.  In the mid- 1900s human service professionals did not feel like their work was effective enough for the consumers. Due to the lack of effectiveness, stakeholders began to take on more responsibility for their organizations. The study is to evaluate how effective the boards are for mental health. The study found that low-income African Americans were less likely to seek help for mental illnesses.

It was found that the advisory board was used to gain community participation. They researched the programs used if employees were qualified and set administrative guidelines. The board of directors were used to seek funding and popularity with the community. The board consists of people from the community that aim to gain the trust of others in their own community. Overall, the study found that organizations should reach out to the community to help with planning.  In the future researchers should conduct surveys to keep track of the individuals that seek help. This article would be useful for stakeholders, so they can put more focus on the mental health of their participants. They may be able to find underlying conditions that the participant nor their family knew of.

Hirsch, Dierkhising, & Herz. (2018). Educational risk, recidivism, and service access among youth involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Children and Youth Services Review, 85, 72-80.

Hirsch et al (2018) studied youth in Los Angeles and the risk factors for recidivism. The study started from the time the youth received the referral to 6 months after they received services. They found that children who are dually involved had more of high risk because they needed more services. The dually involved youth were children that received welfare and were apart of the juvenile justice system. Youth that were in foster care and later released were more likely to be a part of the court system. Youth that lacked education and had behavioral problems in school were more to go back to the court system.

In order to find the results, the evaluators looked at records of recidivism and conducted interviews. They also found that black youth, especially males would not receive the correct mental health help. The results showed that black males living away from their parents and ones that laced an education were more likely to go back to jail. Conducting in-person interviews with the affected group may have helped the researchers get a better result when it came to their backgrounds. The article could help when evaluating TAP and its male participants. With TAPs ex-offender program, this article could help cut down the recidivism rate.

Hoefer, Richard. (1994). A Good Story Well Told: Rules for Evaluating Human Services Programs. Social Work, 39(2), 233-36.

This article was meant to give the reader a better understanding of evaluations in the human service field. The article gives a background on the purpose of evaluations and who they are beneficial for. Hoefer (1994), believes a good evaluation not only shows the strengths of a program but also its weakness. The article goes over a few simple rule’s professional must follow in order to conduct the proper evaluation. The first rule is that evaluations involve real questions, with the questions there is no purpose to conduct an evaluation. The more money that’s invested means the more in-depth questions need to be asked.

One other thing to consider is that evaluations are not perfect. Another rule of thumb is to evaluate programs that are certified. This article gives great recommendations for first- time evaluators. The author gave his input from previous evaluations, and which rules he followed. By providing more examples of previous evaluations, the reader will gain more knowledge on evaluations by having the examples. It could also help with future evaluations by reassuring stakeholders evaluations aren’t expected to show perfection.

Johnson, A., Finch, J., & Phillips, D. (2018). Associations Between Publicly Funded Preschool and Low-Income Children’s Kindergarten Readiness: The Moderating Role of Child Temperament. Developmental Psychology, Developmental Psychology, 2018.

This article is to compare the readiness of low-income children for Kindergarten. For the study, they used birth certificates and then narrowed it down to a handful of participants. They conducted the evaluations at different points of the child’s life. When they were infants, toddlers, pre-school, and kindergarten. The evaluators conducted interviews with the mothers of the children. The program directors were given questionnaires about their specific program. From the interviews and questionnaires, they found that the publicly funded preschool consisted of low-income children.

They also found that children who stayed home with their parents or had prenatal care were better off financially. While children who attended pre-k were either single, uneducated and unemployed women. The limitations of the study are that it was conducted a few years ago and times have changed. They were not able to evaluate the classroom setting, they could only do phone interviews and questionnaires. If evaluators could step inside of a classroom the results may have varied. Looking at the family structure could help programs target what is missing.

Jones Harden, Denmark, & Saul. (2010). Understanding the needs of staff in Head Start programs: The characteristics, perceptions, and experiences of home visitors. Children and Youth Services Review, 32(3), 371-379.

This study was to describe the characteristics of professionals that conduct home visits. Home visitors are mainly used for Head Start programs, which mainly consist of low-income families. Many home visitors have a college degree and rarely have anything less than a high school degree. The researchers conducted surveys to find the common characteristics that home visitors possess. During the survey, they found that there was a high burn-out rate for home visitors.  The study consisted of 4 research questions that were very specific to home visitors.

For the study, they only had 7 participants, who were all females which all but two had a 4-year degree. The other participants had a master’s degree, and they ranged from early 20s to late 50s. The study evaluated their attitude, what challenges they faced with the organization and much more. This study could help programs find home evaluators that fit a certain mold. This study analyzes the characteristics of a successful home visitor. The main concern would be to keep the employees’ caseloads balanced and burn out rate low.

Love, J. M., Kisker, E. E., Ross, C., Raikes, H., Constantine, J., Boller, K., . . . Vogel, C. (2005). The Effectiveness of Early Head Start for 3-Year-Old Children and Their Parents: Lessons for Policy and Programs. Developmental Psychology, 41(6), 885-901. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.41.6.885

The study is to evaluate Head Start programs and how effective they are. Programs are evaluated every 3 years to make sure they are following the basic adherence and performance standards. The researchers are looking to see the outcome of the parents at the end of the 3 years. The goal of Head Start is to incorporate early intervention to provide direct care to families. For the initial study researchers conducted evaluations by visiting the actual site the first time the families were enrolled.

For the follow-up evaluation, the parent’s interaction with their child was recorded. The evaluators had not been provided any information on the family’s current situation. The evaluators also conducted interviews in the homes of the participants. The researchers found that the children’s language functioning had increased and the relationship with their parent had grown. In the future, instead of conducting interviews with participants every 3 years. Evaluators should conduct their evaluations every 1.5 years. This would result in more accurate results of the family structure.

Maravilla, Betts, Couto E Cruz, & Alati. (2017). Factors influencing repeated teenage pregnancy: A review and meta-analysis. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 217(5), 527-545.e31.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the risk factors for teenage pregnancy. For the study, the evaluators searched items on the internet to find their data. During the research, they found that young women who used birth control and were highly educated were less likely to become pregnant. Although, teens who were not educated, suffered from depression, and had a history of abortion were more likely to become pregnant. In the study, they used a graph to show the multiple factors for teenage pregnancies and the results of those factors.

The conclusion was that teens who were less educated and low- income were most likely to become pregnant. Young women who were never educated on sexual intercourse and contraceptives were more likely to become pregnant as well. Surprisingly, teens that suffered from depression are more likely to become pregnant multiple times. Lastly, teens that had a history of abortions or miscarriages would have multiple pregnancies. Providing more sexual education programs for teens would help lower the rate tremendously. More parental guidance would also benefit young women.

Murry, V., Brody, G., Brown, A., Wisenbaker, J., Cutrona, C., & Simons, R. (2002). Linking Employment Status, Maternal Psychological Well-Being, Parenting, and Children’s Attributions about Poverty in Families Receiving Government Assistance. Family Relations, 51(2), 112-120. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.proxy.lib.odu.edu/stable/3700196

The purpose of this article is to understand the characteristics of families that receive government assistance. Since the late 1990s, there has been an increase in the number of people that receive public assistance. Welfare has been connected to single-parent homes, especially in the African American community. Even though some individuals try to better themselves, they are only able to find low earning positions. Women and children that live in poverty are less likely to get medical treatment. Sometimes the women’s mental health levels are poor.

To gain information on family’s that do receive assistance students conducted interviews with recipients. The students used a questionnaire and monitored the participants reactions to each question. The study found that women who were employed were in better physical and mental health. Having assistance is a good stepping stone. Programs like TAP help families better themselves by providing educational programs. As a result, mothers are able to find better employment and healthcare for their families.

Park, & Zhan. (2017). The impact of after-school childcare arrangements on the developmental outcomes of low-income children. Children and Youth Services Review, 73, 230-241.

The study was conducted to see how different after-school programs affected low-income children. There were multiple sources of care: after-school programs, relatives, parents, self-care and a combination of the different sources of care. Participants were given a survey to asses the different childcare methods and if the children ultimately learned better. The study found that low-income children that attended after school care had a better academic outcome.

Children that where in the care of their parents had less behavioral problems when it came to school. There has not been a lot of research when it comes to children that are in the care of a relative. The only finding is that older relatives are more likely to let the child watch TV then participate in learning activities. To narrow the study the researcher should’ve conducted a study with just 1 participant for each category over a certain timeframe. TAP would have to find different programs that appealed to different groups of parents.

Wrobel, S. (2012). From threat to opportunity: A Head Start program’s response to state-funded pre-K. Journal of Health and Human Services Administration, 35(1), 74-105.

The study was conducted to show the negative effect state-funded programs had on non-profit organizations. There has been an enormous decrease in the funding for Head Start programs. The state-funded programs have jumped in the number of students that are enrolled each year. Researchers believe that Head Start programs cannot meet the needs of lower-income families. The children that are involved in the program tend to be behind. With Head start programs the family’s needs are not being met due to the schedule. The argument is that the quality of the program is not up to par. In order to obtain accurate results, the author conducted a questionnaire, so participants stayed anonymous.

In the questionnaires, they were asked to give their opinion on what could be improved with the state-funded programs and Head Start. The questionnaire was more tailored to the questions of stakeholders. Surprisingly, both divisions agreed that merging the two programs wouldn’t be a good move. The only downfall is that the research should’ve had more parental participation. The focus was mainly on the employees of each program when it should’ve been focused on the children.