Riki Savaya

Sustainability of Social Programs A Comparative Case Study Analysis

The article reports on the findings of a comparative case study of six projects that operated in Israel between 1980 and 2000. The study findings identify characteristics of the programs, the host organizations, and the social and political environment, which differentiated programs that are sustained from those that are not. The findings reaffirm the importance of the human factor, namely, the commitment of the leadership of the host organization. In addition, the findings of these case studies point to factors that until now have not gained sufficient attention, such as the type of host organization or public attitudes toward different target populations.

Predictors of Sustainability of Social Programs

This article presents the findings of a large scale study that tested a comprehensive model of predictors of three manifestations of sustainability: continuation, institutionalization, and duration. Based on the literature the predictors were arrayed in four groups: variables pertaining to the project, the auspice organization, the community, and the main funder. The total sample consisted of 197 projects. Informants were asked to fill out a detailed questionnaire, pertaining to the predictor and outcome variables. The findings show both a different model of predictors for each manifestation of sustainability and commonalities among them. Both financial and human factors were involved in all the manifestations of sustainability. Of the financial factors, diversity of funding sources was the most prominent. Of the human factors, the findings highlight the strong role played by the auspice organization’s management and by the main initial funder.

Mixed Method Evaluation: A Case Study

While there is growing interest in employing mixed methods in evaluation research, there are few documented examples describing how to implement this in practice. This article describes the use of a mixed method approach to evaluate a nonprofit agency that provides organizational consultation and other support services to nonprofit organizations in Israel. It uses conceptualizations proposed by Greene, Caracelli, and Graham (1989) and by Rossman and Wilson (1994) to discuss the unique benefits of such methodology and also addresses the limitations and disadvantages of mixed method evaluation.

Projected Sustainability of Innovative Social Programs

This study is an exploratory examination of the projected sustainability of more than 100 projects funded by the Australian government. Using data collected by the body that evaluated the projects and data from a government database, it examines the predictors of various forms of sustainability. Findings show that some two thirds of the project leaders who expected their programs to continue after the expiration of the initial funding expected them to continue with the same activities and target population; almost half envisioned them diversifying to new activities, target groups, or locations. Auspice organization involvement increased the expectation that the project would be continued, project effectiveness decreased that expectation, and diversity of initial funding became less important as other sources of support and sustainability were taken into consideration.

Congruence of classroom and field instruction in social work: An empirical study

This study examines the degree of congruence between the aims and missions emphasized in the classroom and those conveyed to the students in their fieldwork in the three years of an undergraduate program in Social Work at the Bob Shapell School of Social Work in Israel. Analysis of the responses of 28 classroom instructors and 142 field supervisors on a 40-item questionnaire revealed a synergetic and complementary pattern of classroom and field instruction, reflecting the Schools investment of time, energy, and thought in coordinating the two. Some problems of coordination were found, however, and recommendations were made to rectify them.

An assessment of the utilization of a computerized decision support system for youth probation officers

ABSTRACT This article presents an assessment of a decision support system (DSS) to assist youth probation officers in selecting their recommendations to the courts. The evaluation employed mixed methods in a sequence of four stages: (1) Qualitative assessment of the impact of the DSS via interviews with senior administrators and analysis of documents; (2) Qualitative assessment of staff responses to the DSS, via focus groups and personal interviews; (3) Quantitative assessment of system utilization, via statistical analysis of data bases; and (4) Quantitative assessment of DSS utilization and its predictors, via administration of a battery of questionnaires to all youth probation officers throughout the country. Quantitative findings showed a low rate of utilization of the DSS by the youth probation officers and this is discussed and interpreted in light of the qualitative information stemming from the interviews.

Innovation in schools of social work: An international exploration

An exploratory study was carried out on innovations introduced in schools of social work from 11 countries, based on a content analysis of semi-structured questionnaires. The innovations that emerged from these responses reflect, in part, the emerging requirements of coping with the global changes that affect social work practice today.

Religious Coping Strategies and Mental Health Among Religious Jewish Gay and Bisexual Men

The present study examined the effects of positive and negative religious coping strategies on the mental health of 113 Israeli gay and bisexual Jewish males with high levels of religiosity, and how sexual identity formation (internalized homophobia and coming out) and societal variables (family and friends’ acceptance of sexual orientation and social connections within the LGBT community) mitigated the effects of religious coping strategies on mental health. Findings showed that when dealing with the stress arising from the conflict between religious and sexual identities, individuals used both positive and negative religious coping strategies, but only negative religious coping was associated with poorer mental health. In addition, only in the presence of social resources (social connections with the LGBT community and the acceptance of sexual orientation by friends), did the use of positive religious coping result in better mental health outcomes. These findings underlined the importance of these resilience social factors in the lives of religious Jewish gay and bisexual men.

Targeting implementation efforts for maximum satisfaction with new computer systems: Results from four human service agencies

Human service management needs to pinpoint the areas in which to concentrate computer implementation efforts in order to achieve maximum satisfaction with new systems. This study sought to identify the most salient factors affecting user satisfaction in management and client oriented computer systems in human services. Along with commonly used factors to assess user computer satisfaction (UCS), congruence with human service norms was added. UCS was evaluated in newly implemented computer systems in four human services. Two had introduced management oriented systems and two had introduced client oriented systems (N=517). Hierarchical regression was conducted to assess the relative effects of four classes of variable (user, environmental, process, and system), on UCS. Contrary to expectations, results show that the two types of system were analogous with respect to contributing variables to UCS. Preparedness, importance to management, integration, usefulness, and technical support best predict UCS. Moreover, the systems did not differ with respect to congruence with human service norms, and this variable did not load on the regression. A discussion of the implications of these findings for implementation theory and human service management concludes the paper.

Binary phenomenon of Hope: Perceptions of Traumatized Veterans

This is the second article in a phenomenological study of hope among 10 Israeli reserve soldiers with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder. The aim of the second analysis was to learn about the veterans’ conceptualization of hope. The picture of hope that emerges from the analysis of their interviews is of a binary phenomenon in which hope develops but may also be arrested, is conscious but also unconscious, and strengthens the individual but may also weaken one. These findings show the binary phenomenon of hope and how it contributes to coping with traumatic events and therefore can assist professional workers who treat individuals suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder.