Evaluation of Human Services Taxonomy Project. Volume I: The State - of - the - Art

摘要

Volume I of this 2 - volume report is designed to provide a description and analysis of the state of the art in the development of human service definition and classification. Criteria for the evaluation of a taxonomy and / or common language were devised. Two data collection instruments were developed to elicit evaluative response to the established criteria, the originator / implementor evaluation instrument and the impacted user evaluation instrument. Of 299 taxonomies, 216 or 72 percent were found to be either direct applications of or modifications of the United Way of America Service Identification System (UWASIS) or indicated that UWASIS was the basic model for the conceptual scheme utilized. The scope of taxonomies focuses on social welfare, social welfare / health, social welfare / education, health, health / education, education, social welfare / health / education, and other. The stated purposes of the classification are in the areas of: accounting, resource allocation, resource budgeting, communication, evaluation, information and referral, needs assessment, planning, and reporting. A catalog of human service taxonomies is included listing 377 State, national, and international taxonomies. Four basic taxonomic schema represented by five taxonomies surveyed are outlined: the Information Center Services Identification System in Norfolk, Virginia; the Michigan Human Services NETWORK Project in Lansing; the State Wide Index of Service Headings in Concord, New Hampshire; and the Human Services Information System in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Six indepth case studies of taxonomies are presented: the UWASIS in Alexandria, Virginia; the Human Service Information System of the Human Service Coordination Alliance in Louisville, Kentucky; the Social Service Delivery System of the Utah Division of Family Services; the Taxonomy of Social Services (Title XX Definitions) of DHEW; the Community Resource Information Bank's Dictionary of Services and Programs in Los Angeles, California; and the Information and Referrals Manual of the Human Resources Administration in New York City.