Summarize the following 3 case studies; one page per case study. Include strengths and weaknesses of each case.
CASE STUDY #1
Katherine Wilson, director of the Allenville Senior Center (ASC), was very much oriented toward planning. In fact, one of the first things she had done after her appointment as director was to set a planning project in motion. A committee made up of employees of the center, community leaders, consumers of the agency’s services, and representatives of the American Association of Retired Persons and the Gray Panthers had worked to develop a new strategic plan for the agency.
One of the first things the hardworking committee had done was to survey the center’s members to assess their needs and interests. At the same time, an analysis of other human service programs in the community was also completed. A series of community meetings provided a transition from needs assessment to goal setting, and, as a result of all of these procedures, a new set of agency goals had been developed.
The ASC’s mission was to bring Allenville’s older citizens into the mainstream of community life. Toward this end, the center would provide services such as the following:
A foster grandparents program involving the center’s members in helping care for young children in the community
A consultation project, through which retired members would provide consultation to young businesspeople
A placement program assisting retired people to share part-time, paying jobs
An educational program, in cooperation with the local college, providing credit courses that would allow members to work toward degrees
Many of the functions the planning committee identified could be carried out under current funding. Some, however, would work more effectively as specially funded projects. The central focus of the program was clear, and Wilson was ready to carry out her promise to the committee and her very supportive board of directors. She would try to obtain the funding needed to carry out community-based programs. In the meantime, some of the activities could begin through allocation of part of the time of currently employed staff members.
Wilson was occupied in completing a tentative budget plan based on the planned activities when she received a call from the chair of ASC’s board of directors. With excitement in his voice, Jonas Pratt exclaimed that he had just been contacted by the Rodin Foundation. They were interested in funding a project to build a country retreat for senior citizens. Funding would be very generous, and they would welcome a proposal from ASC.
“Be sure to get on this right away, Katherine,” Pratt bubbled. “He said he’d be interested in receiving our proposal, but you know we’re not the only ones he called. The write-up had better be good. And be sure you come on strong with the needs assessment.”
“But Mr. Pratt, what about the planning document we just did? That was approved by the board, and this project you’re talking about doesn’t sound as though it has any relationship to it. It sounds as if we’d be going in the opposite direction.”
“Well, I know, but this idea is so new we just didn’t think of it ourselves. The kind of funding they’re talking about could keep us out of trouble for a long time.”
P“Mr. Pratt, it would also keep us from carrying out the plans for community involvement that we all agreed made sense,” Wilson replied. “Our center members don’t want to go to the woods on a retreat. They want to be involved in their own community. How can we show a needs assessment supporting a project like this when the needs assessment we really did pointed the other way? Do you think there might be any chance at all that the Rodin Foundation might be interested in funding one of our own projects?”
“Katherine, I just don’t think so. They didn’t sound as if they were just out shopping for proposals. They had something darned specific in mind. Listen, there’s no point in our talking about whether we want this Rodin money when we don’t even have the grant. We can always decide whether we want to accept it with the strings attached or not after we’ve gotten it. In the meantime, let’s just put all our efforts into doing the proposal. If we don’t get the funding, no problem. If we do, then we can decide.”
CASE STUDY#2:
Mario Rinaldi, director of the Developmental Disabilities Training Project, called an emergency meeting of the project staff.
“You’ve all been working really hard on the training manual,” he said. “I hate to pull this on you right now, but I’ve got to tell you that I just had word. The feds are sending in their evaluator. He’s going to be here next week, and we’ve got to be ready.”
Amid the groans, Jane Carlin, a staff trainer, spoke up. “What’s the big problem?” she asked. “We’ve been providing a training session every week. We’ve had workshops on developmental disabilities for the teachers, for citizens; we’ve had the TV show, now we’ve got a manual for parents. It seems to me we’re in great shape. So what’s the problem?”
“Well, I was kind of putting this part off,” Rinaldi answered. “They sent along the new evaluation form so that we can complete the self-study before the evaluator gets here. That’s the tough part. We’re going to really have to dig to get the information ready.”
“What kind of information do we need?” Carlin asked. “Remember, we did that pretest and posttest with all the people at the workshops. We’ve got a lot of data on the learning effects from the workshop. Of course, it’s not that easy to do with the TV program.”
“That’s the least of our problems, Jane. Remember, this is a training project. What they want is information on all participants in any training workshop. They want the ages of trainees, their sex, their employment, their income—all the demographic stuff. I just didn’t think about all that because the form we used last year didn’t ask for it. You see, we’re using the same kind of evaluation form as continuing education programs are. It doesn’t make any sense, but I’ll bet we can dig up that information somehow.”
“Wait a minute!” George Steinberg called out. “I worked my tail off on that TV program, and there’s no way in the world I’ll ever be able to even guess who watched it. Does that mean the whole thing didn’t happen? Does that mean I get a grade of zero? I flunk?”
“Now, George, you know it isn’t like that. They just like to have the information so they can put it together with the data from all the other projects they funded. They’ve got to show results, just as we do.”
“That’s fine to say, John, but if they’re going to evaluate us on how many men, women, and children show up at our sessions, we should do the kind of stuff that can lend itself to what they’re looking for. I’m feeling as if my work just isn’t going to make the grade.”
“I’m starting to feel that way, too,” Carlin said. “What’s the point of doing one thing if they’re evaluating something else?”
“Wait a minute, everybody,” Rinaldi responded in frustration. “We’re getting way off the track here. These people aren’t here to tell us what we should and shouldn’t do. They’re not going to grade us on what we did. One of the things they ask us about in an open-ended question is the content of the program, the kinds of interventions we did. There’s no problem there. The problem is just in putting together the data they want, the demographic characteristics and all that. Now, I’ve got most of it somewhere. All I need is for somebody to volunteer to help me dig through the files and see what we can find that might relate to some of the questions they’re asking. We’ll be able to get the sex of participants by looking at their names on those address cards we had them fill out. The ages will be hard. That, we’ll have to guess at.”
CASE STUDY #3
At the Greenby Community Mental Health Center, the Consultation and Education Department was about to go under. Although consultation and education are required for all community mental health centers, not all centers have fully staffed and active departments. Instead, they implement consultation and education as a percentage of each professional’s work. That was what Henry McDonald, the executive director, was suggesting for Greenby.
“You have to understand my position,” he exclaimed to a distraught consultation and education director. “Our funding has been cut back. We’re more dependent than ever on fees for service and third-party payments. Consultation and education are luxuries we really can’t afford. They don’t bring in the funds we need, and we’ve got to put our resources into programs that carry their weight.”
“But you know that C and E programs are a high priority. Every center has to have one to keep up its funding,” Andy Cutler replied.
“Andy, let’s not play games here. You know we don’t have to have a C and E department with a full-time director. We only have to provide the service. The real issue is whether your program stays in operation the way it is now, and I’m saying it can’t. Now, stop worrying. Your job isn’t in jeopardy. You’ll be able to move over to the clinical program.”
“Henry, believe it or not, it’s not my own job that I’m concerned about. No matter what kind of measurement you use, you have to see that the C and E department does pull its weight. We’ve developed liaisons with every major employer in the area, we’ve got preventive programs going in the schools, and our divorce and family workshops are attracting more people every time we put them on. Word is getting around in the community.”
“Sure, the workshops attract people. At five dollars a head, why shouldn’t they? The program is self-supporting, I’ll grant you that, but it’s not pulling in enough capital to pull its weight with the center as a whole. There’s no way it can.”
“But what you’re not recognizing, Henry, is that this program is supporting the other programs. You’ve had an increase in the number of people referring themselves for alcohol and drug abuse programs. I’m telling you that this is because of the preventive programs we’ve been doing at the factory. You’ve had an increase in selfreferrals for family therapy. I think they’re coming from our workshops. The programs we offer help people recognize their problems, and when they recognize them, they start to come in for more help.”
“That’s very possible, Andy. But I’ve got a board of directors to deal with, and I don’t know whether they’re going to buy that line of reasoning. They’re not professionals, you know, and they don’t necessarily see those relationships that way. What they can see is the difference between what a person pays to participate in a workshop and what the same person would pay for one of the other programs. It’s a good thought to say that you’re feeding into the other services, but we don’t really know that. We don’t really know anything about the impact you’re having. Give me something I can tell the board. Give me something I can tell the state. Just give me something.”
