| CODE | FSD5003 | ||||||||||||||||
| TITLE | Assessment and Evaluation of Family Policy and Practice | ||||||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 10 | ||||||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Child and Family Studies | ||||||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit will introduce students to the importance of evidence-based policy and the regular auditing of services. Explanation of why research is needed, what kind of research is useful and how to go about formulating good quality research will be provided. References will be made to examples of good practice in this area in the Anglo-American literature. Students will be encouraged to provide examples from the Maltese context of policies and services that could be monitored and audited. Students will be helped by their tutors to brainstorm on how monitoring of these policies could be carried out. Different examples of auditing of services will also be explored. Study-unit Aims: The aim of the study-unit is twofold: - To train students to formulate research designs that would enable them to carry out reviews of new policies in the area of family policy including social policy and social welfare such that our policies would be evidence-based. - To train students to audit a range of services offered to families including psychological and social work on offer, services by agencies such as Appoġġ and sedqa together with other psychosocial services within schools. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will: - know from best practice in other countries how evidence-based policy is formulated and monitored; - be au courant of a whole range of measurement instruments that would help to measure client satisfaction and professional performance; and - be able to formulate research designs that monitor policies pre-post and/or over time depending on the aims and objectives of the monitoring exercise. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - pilot new policy initiatives and services through randomized trials; - carry out impact assessments of policy initiatives intended to help and support families; - audit services assessing their benefit for the users of the service as well as the shortcomings and suggest ways how they could be improved. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: Greve, B. (Ed.). (2017). Handbook of social policy evaluation. Cheltenham, England: Edward Elgar Publishing. Linfield, K. J., & Posavac, E. J. (2019). Program evaluation: Methods and case studies (9th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. Supplementary Readings: Abela, A., Abdilla, N., Abela, C., Camilleri, J., Mercieca, D., & Mercieca, G. (2012). Children in out-of-home care in Malta: Key findings from a series of three studies commissioned by the Office of the Commissioner for Children. Malta: Office of the Commissioner for Children. Abela, A., Abdilla, N., Abela, C., Camilleri, J., Mercieca, D., & Mercieca, G. (2012). Study 1: Considering the effects of institutional placements on children under 5. Malta: Office of the Commissioner for Children. Abela, A., Abdilla, N., Abela, C., Camilleri, J., Mercieca, D., & Mercieca, G. (2012). Study 2: The psychological, behavioural and academic profile of children in out-of-home care in Malta. Malta: Office of the Child Commissioner for Children. Abela, A., Abdilla, N., Abela, C., Camilleri, J., Mercieca, D., & Mercieca, G. (2012). Study 3: Exploring the long-term outcomes of children in residential out-of-home care. Malta: Office of the Commissioner for Children. Abela, A., & Walker, J. (Eds.). (2014). Contemporary issues in family studies: Global perspectives on partnerships, parenting and support in a changing world. Chichester, England: Wiley-Blackwell. Bogenschneider, K. (2014). Family policy matters: How policymaking affects families and what professionals can do (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. Dunn, W. N. (2013). Public Policy Analysis (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Gilbert, N., & Terrell, P. (2014). Dimensions of Social Welfare Policy (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Gupta, D.K. (2011). Analyzing public policy: Concepts, tools and techniques (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: CQ Press. Lindsey, D., & Shlonsky, A. (2008). Child welfare research: Advances for practice and policy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Olds, D .L., Kitzman, H., Cole, R., Robinson, J., Sidora, K., Luckey, D. W., Henderson, C. R. Jr., Hanks, C., Bondy, J., & Holmberg, J. (2004). Effects of nurse home-visiting on maternal life course and child development: Age 6 follow-up results of a randomized trial. Pediatrics, 114(6), 1550-1559. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1542%2Fpeds.2006-2111. Saliba, A., & Camilleri, N. (2018). User satisfaction of children and young people’s services. Malta Medical School Gazette, 2(1), 55-62. Retrieved from http://www.mmsjournals.org/ Welch, D. D. (2014). A guide to ethics and public policy: Finding our way. New York, NY: Routledge. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Eligible to enter Master's course in Family Studies. Co-Requisite Study-unit: Contemporary Issues in Family Studies and Research Methods in Family Studies. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Seminar | ||||||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Nigel Camilleri Claire Casha (Co-ord.) Ashley Cumbo Paul Montgomery William Edward Peplow Claire Sammut |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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