Quality-Directed Activities and Barriers to Quality in Social Service Organizations

Abstract

This study presents the development of an instrument to measure activities social service agencies conduct to insure quality service delivery and the barriers to quality that these organizations face. Self-administered anonymous questionnaires were completed by 277 Masters-level social service professionals. Exploratory factor analysis suggested a four-factor solution for an 18-item measure of quality-directed activities and a two-factor solution for a seven-item measure of agency barriers. Results of a multivariate regression model indicated that respondent's role, agency's sector of care, strength of perceived public reputation, and accreditation status were associated with overall endorsement of quality-directed activities. Recommendations for further instrument refinement are included.

Implementation of Evidence-Based Practice in Community Behavioral Health: Agency Director Perspectives

“…So...you know, to me that's evidence-based practice.'' This meaning is consistent with quality improvement literature (Lee et al 2007). The agency leaders had little difficulty telling us their meaning of the term or in giving examples of evidence-based practices they were working to implement.…”

Nonprofits and Accreditation: Exploring the Implications for Accountability

“…In the United States, health and human service nonprofit organizations have been using accreditation as a mechanism to help them respond to accountability demands (Lee, McMillen, Knudsen & Woods, 2007). For some, accreditation has come to symbolize or even serve as a proxy measure for "quality services" (Grantham, 2011;Knight, Broome, Simpson & Flynn, 2008).…”

Measuring quality for human service improvement: How nonprofits meet the quality requirements of public authorities

“…To fill this gap, we test whether an organization's responsiveness to quality requirements is contingent on the resources available to it for the attainment of such demands. Human service organizations often face severe resource constraints (Carnochan et al, 2014; B. R. Lee et al, 2007), which makes it difficult for them to invest extra resources for sustained data collection and, by doing so, ensuring compliance with the external mandate. This leads us to hypothesize:H1b The relationship between external quality requirements and measurement system adoption is moderated by the availability of resources , such that the effect of quality requirements will be stronger in organizations with greater resources than in those with fewer resources .…”

“…Assessing and improving the quality of human services is an urgent policy, practice, and research concern (Bunger & Lengnick‐Hall, 2019). Nonprofit human service organizations are increasingly being held accountable for the quality of their services and, consequently, are facing growing pressure to undertake more systematic efforts to assess the internal capacities of the organization, enhance outcomes, and report their achievements to supervisory authorities (B. Lee & Clerkin, 2017; B. R. Lee, McMillen, Knudsen, & Woods, 2007). Changing client needs and fiscal austerity also require appropriate actions to prevent service failures or a decline in service quality.…”