Demonstrating the effectiveness of social services is a challenge. As a result, funders of such services increasingly seek quantitative measurements of program effectiveness as proof that social interventions “work.” In the United States, this has led to a rapid rise in the use of randomized controlled trials (RCTs)--a type of impact evaluation heralded for its rigor--in nonprofit settings and in social work generally. Our recently published book explores how impact evaluation came to be seen as the most legitimate form of evidence, how RCTs are really carried out inside nonprofits and  social work practices, and where we find a mismatch between the RCT method and meaningful improvement of community based social services. We go beyond existing critiques about RCTs to address unintended consequences for equity, sustainability, and organizational responsiveness and innovation. Our findings are based on a field analysis as well as interviews with professional evaluators, foundation program officers, and nonprofit managers. We identify five specific problems with high-stakes assessments of human service programming and also present specific recommendations for how social work evaluation can be reformed so as to encourage greater innovation and responsiveness in the nonprofit sector. https://www.sup.org/books/business/mismeasuring-impact

Jennifer E. Mosley, PhD, is a Professor at the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago. She serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Social Service Review and is the Faculty Director of the UChicago Obama Foundation Scholars Program. Her research focuses on the role of nonprofit organizations and social workers —particularly human service organizations, community-based nonprofits, and philanthropic foundations—as political actors advocating for policy change that benefits underrepresented populations. In her recent book, Mismeasuring Impact (2025), co-authored with Nicole Marwell, she critiques the overreliance on randomized controlled trials  and standardized evaluation tools in evaluation and its unintended consequences for innovation and responsiveness towards vulnerable target groups. She teaches courses on policy formulation, organizational theory, nonprofit management, and social change, and has a practice background in child welfare, homeless services, and social justice philanthropy. Mosley holds a BA in psychology from Reed College and both an MSW and PhD in social welfare from UCLA.

Date: Friday November 21, 2025, 4 PM - 6.30 PM

Location: Stadscampus, building M, de Meerminne, aula M.005 (St-Jacobsstraat 2, 2000 Antwerp)

Participation is free, but online registration is mandatory.