Social Work Practitioners and Practice Evaluation: How Are We Doing?

Abstract

Practice evaluation is an important component of evidence-based social work practice. Previous research in this area has concluded that even though social workers receive evaluation training, it remains under-utilized in practice. This study discusses the results of a survey of 134 social workers across different social work settings, positions, and level of preparation, examining incidence and type of evaluation activity, training received, and barriers related to implementing practice evaluation in the practice setting. Results report that the majority of social workers are not involved in evaluation activities beyond collecting basic statistics.

KEYWORDS:

• Evidence-based
• practice evaluation
• practitioner