Compare methods

	Task-Centered Practice	Single-System Design
Field	Social Work	Social Work
Family	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Year of origin	1972	2009
Originator	William J. Reid & Laura Epstein	Martin Bloom, Joel Fischer & John G. Orme (codification in social work)
Type	Short-term, structured, problem-solving practice model organized around client tasks	Time-series design for evaluating intervention with a single client system
Seminal source	Reid, W. J., & Epstein, L. (1972). Task-Centered Casework. Columbia University Press. ISBN: 9780231034661	Bloom, M., Fischer, J., & Orme, J. G. (2009). Evaluating Practice: Guidelines for the Accountable Professional (6th ed.). Pearson/Allyn & Bacon. ISBN: 9780205458066
Aliases	Task-Centered Casework, Task-Centered Model, Task-Centered Social Work, Reid-Epstein Task-Centered Approach	Single-Subject Design, Single-Case Design, N-of-1 Design, Single-System Evaluation
Related	4	4
Summary	Task-centered practice is a short-term, structured, problem-solving model of social-work intervention in which the worker and client identify a small number of specific target problems the client wants to address, agree on a time-limited contract, and then collaboratively develop and carry out concrete tasks to reduce those problems. Created by William Reid and Laura Epstein in 1972, it was one of the first social-work practice models built deliberately for empirical evaluation, and its emphasis on client-chosen problems, explicit tasks, and bounded time made it a foundation for evidence-based, accountable practice.	A single-system design is a time-series approach to evaluating practice in which a single client system — an individual, family, group, or organization — is measured repeatedly on a clearly defined target before and during (and sometimes after) an intervention. By tracking the same system over time rather than comparing a treatment group to a control group, it lets a practitioner judge whether their own intervention is associated with change in the people they actually serve. It is the methodological backbone of the 'accountable professional' tradition codified by Bloom, Fischer, and Orme.