How do you uncomplicate the subject of program evaluation for students without being too simplistic? David Royse focuses on what readers really need to understand in order to apply useful program evaluation techniques in their practice serving individual clients, couples, and families. Drawing on decades of teaching this subject, he skillfully takes an incremental approach to teaching so that students aren't overwhelmed by information that they won't necessarily use in professional settings. He develops readers' interest in each new chapter's topic by incorporating real-life scenarios, excerpts from articles on program evaluation, and his own personal experiences in assessing and evaluating programs.

Each chapter contains suggestions for additional reading and examples from current literature. These interesting-to-read segments not only show students that program evaluators and practitioners actually use these techniques, but they also gently expand readers' knowledge of the field. Helpful features such as review questions and skill assessments are found at the end of each chapter. This text is also unique in the amount of coverage it provides on cultural sensitivity-ways of understanding the concept and assessing its presence (or absence) among employees in agencies.

Highly accessible and practical in its approach, this book is designed for undergraduates or graduate students in social work, counseling, and health-related programs and available for adoption in-classroom, online, or hybrid courses.

Statistics for Social Workers: Essential Concepts provides students with a reader friendly introduction to statistics and an engaging exploration of how statistics can enrich their future social work practice. The text is practical and conceptual in nature, focusing less on mathematical computation and more on the general information and skill sets that will prove beneficial in professional work.

The text demonstrates how statistics can help students understand relevant social issues and obtain insights to their clients' problems by looking at data. Readers learn statistics can bring to light trends and needs in their communities, provide them with information they can use in funding applications, aid in their own development of client and staff reports, and enhance their overall practice.

Dedicated chapters cover ethical considerations, measures of central tendency, normal distribution, inferential statistics, hypothesis testing, correlation, selecting the appropriate statistical test, and more. Throughout the text, excerpts from real-world studies, review problems for students, and potential assignments facilitate deep learning and practical application.

Designed to demystify statistics for students and help them develop into evidence-based practitioners, Statistics for Social Workers is an ideal resource for social work students.

The robustly updated second edition of Child Welfare and Child Protection: An Introduction prepares future child welfare professionals to tackle the complex and challenging work associated with responding to child maltreatment. Developed by a former child protection professional and a social work scholar, this book draws upon current research and features cases that simulate those child welfare professionals are likely to encounter in the field.

After an historical examination of the evolution of child protection in the United States, the book focuses on understanding the causes of child maltreatment and risk assessment. Readers are presented with a compelling case and the opportunity to see how it develops over the course of three chapters that address the investigative process, the delivery of ongoing services to assist families in addressing high-risk behaviors, and helping children achieve timely permanency when returning home is not an option.

The second edition features new or enhanced information on a variety of topics including structural racism and the influence of implicit bias on child welfare decision-making, the intergenerational transmission of child abuse and neglect, trauma-informed self-care tools, and much more.

Featuring foundational and critical information for future professionals, Child Welfare and Child Protection is well-suited for introductory undergraduate and graduate courses.

PROGRAM EVALUATION, 6th Edition helps readers learn how to evaluate services and programs that they will encounter in their professional practice. In the process of learning evaluation techniques and skills, readers will become proficient at critically analyzing evaluation studies conducted by others. The authors present and simplify all the essentials needed for a critical appreciation of evaluation issues and methodology. The book's clear writing style and clear presentation of concepts, as well as the its hands-on and applied focus, will guide readers on how to gather evidence and demonstrate that their interventions and programs are effective in improving clients' lives. This edition's up-to-date coverage includes a greater number of references to current literature, emphasizing that consulting the literature is an important step in recognizing, developing, and evaluating evidence-based practice or research-informed practice.

Research Methods in Social Work helps students develop evidence-based practice by involving them in the process of research methodology. An innovative storytelling approach follows two students engaged in internships who go through the steps and tasks required to design a program and evaluate it in their practicum. Readers can see how realistic decisions arise in planning research and the activities necessary to support and conduct a research effort. Students learn the importance of comparison group designs, operationalizing variables, the use of valid and reliable measurements, and how these can affect the obtained results. Specific topics include research ethics, developing questionnaires and instruments, techniques for selecting client and community samples, and evaluating one's practice with single system designs. A strong asset is the large number of current references from professional social work journals.

The ninth edition presents enhanced pedagogical features in every chapter including new reflection questions as well as potential assignments, discussion questions, and group discussion projects. It also maps to the 2022 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).

This text prepares students to successfully consume social work research and lays the foundation for those who may want to focus on research during their academic and professional careers.

How do you uncomplicate the subject of program evaluation for students without being too simplistic? David Royse focuses on what readers really need to understand in order to apply useful program evaluation techniques in their practice serving individual clients, couples, and families. Drawing on decades of teaching this subject, he skillfully takes an incremental approach to teaching so that students aren't overwhelmed by information that they won't necessarily use in professional settings. He develops readers' interest in each new chapter's topic by incorporating real-life scenarios, excerpts from articles on program evaluation, and his own personal experiences in assessing and evaluating programs.

Each chapter contains suggestions for additional reading and examples from current literature. These interesting-to-read segments not only show students that program evaluators and practitioners actually use these techniques, but they also gently expand readers' knowledge of the field. Helpful features such as review questions and skill assessments are found at the end of each chapter. This text is also unique in the amount of coverage it provides on cultural sensitivity-ways of understanding the concept and assessing its presence (or absence) among employees in agencies.

Highly accessible and practical in its approach, this book is designed for undergraduates or graduate students in social work, counseling, and health-related programs and available for adoption in-classroom, online, or hybrid courses.

Children and Emotional Abuse is a research-informed learning resource for students in social work about the dynamics and consequences of psychological abuse--especially as it occurs in dysfunctional families and affects children and adolescents. Emotional abuse is still not widely understood or recognized. Helping professionals need to recognize emotional abuse, understand the damage it does, the theories that account for it, and be prepared to help children and families where the abuse often occurs along with physical and sexual abuse. This text will draw upon current peer-reviewed literature and evidence-based studies and summarize essential information to prepare students for careers in helping professions. Each chapter will also contain brief vignettes to illustrate some of the key points. This book is for courses in child welfare and child abuse/neglect, as well as other social work courses that focus on children.

Writing Professionally in the Social Sciences equips readers with the knowledge and skillsets they need to successfully publish scholarly articles within academic journals and beyond. Author David Royse shares accounts from his extensive publishing history as well as lessons he learned from teaching students how to write effectively. The book envisions publishing as a journey, and Royse accompanies readers on each step-from initially carving out time and identifying the journal with the best fit to finally submitting the manuscript.

Opening chapters discuss preparing for the writing process, evaluating and selecting an idea for a piece, and considering a writing partner or mentor. Readers learn about the characteristics of predatory and legitimate journals, rejection rates, what to expect when submitting to open-access journals, and more. Additional chapters answer questions about the peer-review process and writing the core components of a manuscript-the introduction, literature review, and method, results, and discussion sections. Crafting abstracts, submitting a manuscript, and processing the bad news of rejection are also addressed. The final chapter discusses what goes into and how to write a book proposal.

Developed to demystify the writing and submission processes, Writing Professionally in the Social Sciences is an exemplary resource for new Ph.D.'s, full- and part-time faculty, graduate students, college students, as well as practitioners and professionals who desire to be published.

Writing Professionally in the Social Sciences equips readers with the knowledge and skillsets they need to successfully publish scholarly articles within academic journals and beyond. Author David Royse shares accounts from his extensive publishing history as well as lessons he learned from teaching students how to write effectively. The book envisions publishing as a journey, and Royse accompanies readers on each step-from initially carving out time and identifying the journal with the best fit to finally submitting the manuscript.

Opening chapters discuss preparing for the writing process, evaluating and selecting an idea for a piece, and considering a writing partner or mentor. Readers learn about the characteristics of predatory and legitimate journals, rejection rates, what to expect when submitting to open-access journals, and more. Additional chapters answer questions about the peer-review process and writing the core components of a manuscript-the introduction, literature review, and method, results, and discussion sections. Crafting abstracts, submitting a manuscript, and processing the bad news of rejection are also addressed. The final chapter discusses what goes into and how to write a book proposal.

Developed to demystify the writing and submission processes, Writing Professionally in the Social Sciences is an exemplary resource for new Ph.D.'s, full- and part-time faculty, graduate students, college students, as well as practitioners and professionals who desire to be published.

Statistics for Social Workers: Essential Concepts provides students with a reader friendly introduction to statistics and an engaging exploration of how statistics can enrich their future social work practice. The text is practical and conceptual in nature, focusing less on mathematical computation and more on the general information and skill sets that will prove beneficial in professional work.

The text demonstrates how statistics can help students understand relevant social issues and obtain insights to their clients' problems by looking at data. Readers learn statistics can bring to light trends and needs in their communities, provide them with information they can use in funding applications, aid in their own development of client and staff reports, and enhance their overall practice.

Dedicated chapters cover ethical considerations, measures of central tendency, normal distribution, inferential statistics, hypothesis testing, correlation, selecting the appropriate statistical test, and more. Throughout the text, excerpts from real-world studies, review problems for students, and potential assignments facilitate deep learning and practical application.

Designed to demystify statistics for students and help them develop into evidence-based practitioners, Statistics for Social Workers is an ideal resource for social work students.

In today's rapidly changing world, new social and human service problems emerge constantly, and in order to make good use of resources that are often limited, social service agencies must ensure that their services are truly needed. Needs assessments provide a baseline against which later results can be compared, and may also assist policy-makers in recognizing new trends or problems on the horizon. With so much hinging on their outcome, these assessments must be conducted both accurately and efficiently, and this pocket guide will give practitioners the ability to do so.

Written by a group of social work scholars with a collective wealth of experience in conducting needs assessments at all levels, this practical guide will walk readers step by step through the process of selecting the right design to confidently conducting the assessment, meticulously analyzing data, and finally writing a cogent report. In addition, the authors explore the various approaches that can be used to assess the needs of a client or population group and the differences between large- and small-scale assessments. Later chapters in the book include discussions of emerging technologies in the field as well as abundant social work case examples.

Social work graduate students, as well as social workers in the field who need to brush up on their skills, will find this book an invaluable aid.

Who lives where in Florida, and how do they vote? This authoritative guide to the demographics of this unique state looks at each of its 120 state House districts up close, with information about who lives there, and how they've voted in recent elections and why. It's a detailed, must-have guide for anyone working in Florida politics, or just interested in the political demography of one of the nation's most dynamic states. From the conservative Navy-town of Pensacola to bastions of Democratic voting in Fort Lauderdale and Miami, and everything in between, The News Service of Florida's Political Almanac of Florida tells the story of the state's voters: who they are, where they came from, and how they're likely to cast their ballots.

Children and Emotional Abuse is a research-informed learning resource for students in social work about the dynamics and consequences of psychological abuse--especially as it occurs in dysfunctional families and affects children and adolescents. Emotional abuse is still not widely understood or recognized. Helping professionals need to recognize emotional abuse, understand the damage it does, the theories that account for it, and be prepared to help children and families where the abuse often occurs along with physical and sexual abuse. This text will draw upon current peer-reviewed literature and evidence-based studies and summarize essential information to prepare students for careers in helping professions. Each chapter will also contain brief vignettes to illustrate some of the key points. This book is for courses in child welfare and child abuse/neglect, as well as other social work courses that focus on children.

What if you died and learned you still had work to do?

In the vein of C. S. Lewis's The Great Divorce, David Royse's A Ghost's Story: Caught Between Life and Death tells the tale of a man who dies and finds himself caught in a familiar yet fanciful transitional world of ghosts and spirits.

Jake Weller goes out for a morning run and dies of a heart attack but doesn't feel dead. As he comes to terms with his new, harsh reality, he is befriended by an enigmatic spirit guide, Big Jim, who recruits Jake as his assistant. But Jake soon discovers that Big Jim is not everything he appears to be. And when Jake learns that his wife has cancer and has a chance to save her, he is faced with a series of tests that leads to a final showdown where the consequences are literally life and death.

What if the battle for your soul doesn't end at death?