| The primary problem addressed by this study was: to provide persons involved in the design, management and delivery of human services with an understanding of the structure of human service systems. Understanding the structure aids in the more effective design and delivery of human services; identified as lacking in the present add-on, incremental approaches.;The following discussion reviews how each of the tasks, identified by each of the three subproblems, was resolved.;Subproblem 1: In subproblem one, a structure was developed which identified the components of human service design and delivery.;Resolution of the tasks identified in subproblem one were accomplished through reviewing the literature and by employing a systems philosophy.;In order to address the problem, the investigator reponded to the tasks identified by each of three subproblems: (1) In subproblem one, a structure was developed which identified the components of human service design and delivery. (2) In subproblem two, a simulation model of the above structure was presented. (3) In subproblem three, the model was used to demonstrate the behavior of selected leverage points within the model structure.;The literature provided the foundation for the development of four subsystems within the human service structure. The subsystems identified included the Demand, Need Evaluation, Service Design and Client Flow. These subsystems enabled the principle concerns related to designing and delivering human services to be assessed eg...to whom, how much and how should services be provided.;The literature was also used to support the relationships posited between variables within each of the subsystems and between each of the subsystems. Causal diagrams were constructed illustrating these relationships.;Subproblem 2: In subproblem two, a simulation model of the above structure was presented.;Resolution of the tasks identified in subproblem two were accomplished by synthesizing the parts identified by the theory and forming a replica (or model) exhibiting behavior similar to the reference system under study.;Dynamo II, a computer simulation language, was used to model the structure of the human service system and its associated subsystems. The model was then used to demonstrate the behavior of each of the subsystems.;Subproblem 3: In subproblem three, the model was used to demonstrate the behavior of selected leverage points within the model structure.;Resolution of the tasks identified by the final subproblem were accomplished by identifying selected leverage points within the structure where services and/or resources could be used by policy makers to alter the behavior of the structure. The simulation was used to demonstrate the behavior of the leverage points under alternative policy conditions.;Finally, the investigator provided evidence for the conclusion that the theoretical structure presented in this study has the potential for resolving the major problems associated with the add-on, incremental approaches. Suggestions were then made for its possible application to a variety of human service design and delivery efforts. |
