The COVID-19 pandemic largely forced human services programs to shift from in-person to virtual service delivery, making this a growing and emerging field. Assessing and understanding which human services appear to be effectively delivered remotely, to whom, and under what circumstances is important, especially for under-served populations, which can include racial/ethnic minorities and participants with barriers to service access. These briefs provide an early step to begin to capture preliminary lessons and considerations for tailoring virtual services approaches to best meet the needs of a variety of program participants and contexts. As programs and communities get more experience, collect more data, and conduct more rigorous evaluations, learnings and practices will evolve.
- Equity Considerations for Delivering Human Services Virtually: This brief provides equity considerations for programs administering virtual human services at each step of the service delivery process, highlighting the experiences of four human services fields and identifying next steps for the researchers, practitioners, and policymakers.
- Technology Considerations for Virtual Human Services Delivery: This brief highlights key considerations for programs to better incorporate technology in delivering virtual services. It emphasizes the importance of technology access and capacity, support and training, and confidentiality and privacy in virtual settings.
- Perspectives of Program Participants on Virtual Human Services During COVID-19: This brief highlights the experiences and perspectives of program participants receiving virtual services.
- Measuring the Implementation and Effectiveness of Virtual Human Services: These products help programs analyze the effects of virtual human services and better understand opportunities and challenges in virtual service delivery.
- Virtual Human Services for Different Populations: This brief highlights populations for whom virtual services more easily (or less easily) met their needs. It emphasizes the importance of individualized service planning—considering a participant’s characteristics, experiences, resources, preferences, and service needs.
- Choosing Platforms for Virtual Human Services Delivery: This resource provides considerations for weighing tradeoffs and choosing a platform or platforms to administer virtual services, especially for promoting equitable access and effective services.
- Easy or Hard? Delivering Different Types of Human Services Virtually: This brief explores key trade-offs in delivering different types of services virtually.
- Lessons Learned from Virtual Human Services during COVID-19: This brief summarizes the lessons interviewed administrators and frontline staff highlighted when administering virtual services, including tips for best meeting participant needs and supporting staff.