Summary

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) represent an “urgent call for action” in 17 areas of critical importance for humanity and the planet (United Nations, 2016). The massive scale of any one of these goals necessitates cooperation and coordinated effort across all levels of society, from transnational bodies and governments to universities, third sector actors, and local communities. While a traditional development lens views research universities as “providers of knowledge, innovations and solutions” for the SDGs (SDSN Australia/Pacific, 2017), communities in low and middle-income countries where the SDGs are most critical are often viewed as passive recipients or sites for externally designed interventions (Dighe & Strode, 2019). Yet, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other community-based organizations (CBOs) have long been considered a force for alleviating social problems such as poverty in the Global South (Despard et al., 2018; St. Leger, 2008). Because the innovative interventions created by such local organizations in response to community needs are rarely evaluated (Hawk, 2015; Mason et al., 2014; Miller & Shinn, 2005), however, their impact on the SDGs and potential to be scaled-up for use in other settings remains largely unknown. Bottom-up evaluation (BUE; Chen, 2010) offers one strategy for addressing this problem. Bottom-up evaluation involves researchers (a) identifying promising interventions already thriving in a community, (b) collaborating with community partners to evaluate intervention viability and effectiveness, and (c) disseminating findings to build scientific knowledge of what works (or doesn’t) in the local context. This presentation will describe the BUE process using evaluation of an NGO-created intervention in Kenya as a case example. The presenter will explore the consistency of BUE with social work values (e.g., participatory inquiry; centering lived experiences of vulnerable groups) and, ultimately, its utility for advancing the SDGs in the Global South by drawing innovative community-driven interventions into the scientific knowledge base. 

Keywords (separate with commas)

Sustainable Development Goals, bottom-up evaluation, community-engaged research, Global South, non-governmental organizations

Summary

Program evaluation is a crucial set of activities that assesses the effectiveness of social intervention programs, meets diverse stakeholder needs, and fosters service improvements. Enhancing the capacity of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to conduct program evaluations is vital for promoting their sustainability, particularly as they face increasing pressure to be accountable to funding agencies and improve their service quality. Despite its importance, the capacity of NGOs to undertake program evaluation has not kept pace with the growing emphasis on this strategy in the literature. Scholars have called for additional research to comprehensively describe the process of program evaluation capacity building (PECB) and its impacts. In response, this study evaluates a PECB initiative in Hong Kong called the Jockey Club MEL Institute Project, using a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design to compare changes between the training (N = 226) and comparison groups (N = 213). Additionally, focus groups were conducted with training participants, mentors, and trainers. The results indicate that the training group showed greater improvements in all three core aspects of program evaluation capacity—evaluation mindset, evaluation implementation, and evaluation communication—than the comparison group. Qualitative findings further illustrate how NGO practitioners benefited from the project. These findings support the positive impacts of PECB on NGO practitioners, and the study discusses implications for researchers and evaluators in effectively conducting PECB activities.

Keywords (separate with commas)

program evaluation capacity building, nongovernmental organization, Hong Kong

Summary

China's rapid social transformation poses significant challenges for social workers in mainland China, who face emerging social problems and increasing complexity in social service demands. While social workers receive recognition for their crucial role in delivering social services, the expansion of the social work workforce is hindered by disparities in professional development, administrative influences on its growth, and the prevalent issue of social worker burnout. This study explores the relationship between personal vision, professional identity, and professional burnout levels among social workers in China. Understanding this relationship is essential for developing effective interventions and creating a supportive and sustainable professional environment. It also enhances teaching and learning models, supervision approaches, and social policies that are relevant to Chinese social workers and social work students. The study collected 499 online questionnaires through snowball sampling in various mainland Chinese regions, including Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Qingyuan, Shenzhen, Xi'an, and Inner Mongolia. Participants' professional vision, professional identity, burnout levels, and potential mitigating factors were assessed using three scales: Social Worker Professional Identity Scale (Zhou, 2012), Vision Scale (Chui, 1996), and Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (Revised Version) (CBI) (Wu et al., 2020).The findings highlight a significant relationship between social workers' professional vision, increased professional identity, and reduced burnout levels. Social workers with a strong professional vision are more inclined to pursue the value of social work services, aiming to contribute to society, make meaningful contributions, and effectively lead their colleagues towards improved work outcomes. The research also revealed a negative correlation between professional identity and burnout levels. Those who received supervision from Hong Kong social work supervisors demonstrated higher levels of professional aspiration and professional ethics. Based on the research outcomes, this paper provides relevant recommendations in social work education and supervision to address challenges and support social workers in China.

Keywords (separate with commas)

social worker, professional identity, vision, burnout, social work training,\\ China

Summary

Maternal incarceration often results in kinship care arrangements of their children. Family life is profoundly altered for everyone involved as they must adapt to new roles, routines, communication patterns and relationships, and potentially live in a new environment. Trauma from being separated from their mother can contribute to internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems among these children. For caregivers, the strain of caring for children in difficult circumstances can drain the caregiver’s internal and external resources. In the Singaporean social work context, what we know of the challenges of these caregivers comes from anecdotal experience, practice wisdom, and existing literature. In addition, limited studies exist in our local context. This study sought to understand caregivers’ experiences in caring for a young child of an incarcerated mother. Specifically, we wanted to understand the challenges caregivers encountered their resource networks and their support needs. The goal was to provide space and opportunity to hear the voices, feelings, opinions and experiences of this often overlooked group, especially when their and the children’s lives are greatly affected by policies and procedures that may not be designed with their needs in mind.The study employed a qualitative methodology using semi-structured interviews to gain an in depth understanding of their unique experiences as caregivers. Thirteen face-to-faceinterviews were conducted with five fathers, seven grandmothers and one family friend. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and Template Analysis approach was used for data analysis. Findings reveal that caregivers struggle with unresolved grief with regards to mother’s pre-prison behaviors and experience relationship strains which compound during the incarceration period. Caregivers also struggled to talk to the children about their mother’s whereabouts due to uncertainty over age-appropriateness of disclosure and fear of stigmatization. Further results and the implications for practice will be presented at the conference.

Keywords (separate with commas)

caregivers, young children, maternal incarceration, qualitative research, needs assessment