Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Disentangling The Dynamics Of Family Poverty And Child Disability: Does Disability Come First?, Shirley L. Porterfield, Colleen Tracey

Center for Social Development Research

Disentangling the Dynamics of Family Poverty and Child Disability: Does Disability Come First?

State Policy Trends For Individual Development Accounts In The United States: 1993–2003, Karen Edwards, Lisa Marie Mason

Center for Social Development Research

State Policy Trends for Individual Development Accounts in the United States: 1993–2003

A Comparative Analysis Of Rural And Urban Saving Performance In Individual Development Accounts, Jami Curley, Michal Grinstein-Weiss

Center for Social Development Research

The purpose of this study was to examine the predictors of savings outcomes for rural and urban participants in IDA programs. Multivariate analyses by residency were used to explore the experiences of rural and urban participants. a short survey among rural IDA administrators in ADD was used to identify the challenges associated with managing IDAs in these regions. Finally, conclusions and policy implications are presented.

Linking Tax Refunds And Low-Cost Bank Accounts: A Social Development Strategy For Low-Income Families?, Sondra G. Beverly, Jennifer L. Romich, Jennifer Tescher

Center for Social Development Research

This article describes a pilot program encouraging low-income workers to have their tax refunds directly deposited into low-cost bank accounts. The program did not lead to substantial saving and asset accumulation in the short-term. However, surveys and interviews suggest that the program helped some participants spend money more slowly and more thoughtfully, introduced some to account ownership or direct deposit, and encouraged some to obtain other mainstream financial products. Thus, the program may have helped low-income families “get on track” for future saving and asset accumulation.

A Historical And Policy Analysis Of The Family Medical Leave Act Of 1993 (P.L. 103-3), James C. Towns

Theses and Graduate Projects

This historical and policy analysis as a qualitative method of research will examine the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-3), which was passed by Congress and signed into law. This law requires that private employers with 50 or more employees provide for its eligible employees the benefit of unpaid leave for up to 12 weeks. This research and its findings will attempt to provide the social work profession with an understanding of the historical process of this law and those it was intended to benefit.

Stories Of Mothers And Child Welfare (Summary Report), Gary Cameron, S. Hoy

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

The voices we hear describing the lives of mothers who come into contact with child welfare agencies are usually those of service providers and researchers. How do mothers make sense of their own lives and what happened to their families when they became involved with child welfare? This report provides an opportunity to listen to what 16 of these mothers had to say over conversations averaging 5 - 6 hours with each woman. Aspects of these stories will be familiar to some readers. Nonetheless, these stories challenge both popular and professional perceptions of who these mothers are and how they …

A Workplace Study Of Four Southern-Ontario Children’S Aid Societies (Full Report), C. Harvey, Deena Mandell, Carol Stalker, Karen Frensch

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

Rationale Children’s Aid Societies have experienced extensive change since the implementation of recent child welfare reforms in Ontario. Agencies are facing a number of challenges including recruiting and retaining staff, high workloads, extensive requirements for documentation and administration, and less time to serve families and children. The purpose of this study was to understand employee experiences as workers in child welfare.

Research Design A survey was distributed to employees of four children’s aid societies. Completion of the survey was voluntary and all individual responses were kept confidential. Completed surveys were returned directly to researchers. Six to eight months after the …

A Workplace Study Of Three Children’S Mental Health Centres In Southern Ontario, Carol Stalker, Deena Mandell, Karen Frensch, C. Harvey

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

Rationale Recent cuts to resources for children and families requiring children’s mental health services coupled with an increase in the number of children needing these services have left staff in many agencies feeling extremely challenged in providing positive service environments for children and families. In this context, agencies are faced with the challenge of providing working environments that attract and retain staff, particularly in children’s residential mental health services. The purpose of this study was to explore sources of job satisfaction and stress, and why employees stay with and leave these organizations, in an effort to understand what contributes to …

Siege And Response: Families’ Everyday Lives And Experiences With Children’S Residential Mental Health Services (Full Report), Gary Cameron, Catherine De Boer, Karen Frensch, Gerald R. Adams

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

Purpose
Our purpose in interviewing parents with a child placed in residential mental health treatment was threefold: (1) to understand the functioning of children requiring residential mental health treatment before, during, and after treatment; (2) to characterize parents’ perceptions of their families’ involvement with residential treatment; and, (3) to address the popular notion that children requiring residential treatment come from highly dysfunctional and potentially harmful families by describing prevalent family functioning patterns.

Methodology
|This report is based on information obtained by interviewing 29 primary caregivers who had a child placed in residential care at one of two Ontario children’s mental …

Why Special Populations Are Not The Target Of Family Preservation Services: A Case For Program Reform, Ramona W. Denby, Carla M. Curtis

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The number of children who have been placed outside their homes of origin as a result of abuse, neglect, delinquency, emotional problems, or developmental disabilities, is astronomical and steadily increasing. Of this number, "special populations" like children of color continue to be disproportionately represented. Intensive family preservation, a program that attempts to reduce out-of-home placement rates, has not demonstrated empirically, a sustained record of success in the reduction of placement rates among special populations. The purpose of the current study was to understand the manner in which special populations are targeted for services by examining the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors …

Review Of Creating Fear: News And The Construction Of A Crisis. David L. Altheide. Reviewed By Allan Brawley., Allan Brawley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of David L. Altheide, Creating Fear: News and the Construction of a Crisis. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter, 2002. $26.95 papercover.

Review Of Ageism: Stereotyping And Prejudice Against Older Persons. Todd Nelson (Ed.). Reviewed By Nancy R. Hooyman., Nancy R. Hooyman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Todd Nelson (Ed). Ageism: Stereotyping and Prejudice Against Older Persons. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2002. $45.95 hardcover.

The Funding Of Scientific Racism: Wickliffe Draper And The Pioneer Fund. William H. Tucker.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for William H. Tucker, The Funding of Scientific Racism: Wickliffe Draper and the Pioneer Fund. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2002. $34.95 hardcover.

The Settlement House Tradition: Current Trends And Future Concerns, Beverly Koerin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The settlement tradition represents a comprehensive approach that "strengthens individual and neighborhood assets, and builds collective capacity to address community problems" (Hirota, Brown, & Martin, 1996, p. i). While there is a rich literature on the history of the settlement movement, there is little information about contemporary settlement houses. This paper reports findings of a national survey of settlement houses/neighborhood centers that provide information about programs and services offered, populations served, unmet community needs, and policies or trends that contribute to or respond to these needs.

What's Need Got To Do With It? Barriers To Use Of Nonprofit Social Services, Rebecca Joyce Kissane

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In recent years, legislators have called upon private nonprofit and proprietary organizations to assume a larger role in provision of public benefits to poor persons. Little research, however, has examined poor people's willingness to use nonprofit agencies in lieu of public welfare. This analysis draws data from over 2 years of fieldwork and in-depth interviews with twenty poor women in Philadelphia. I demonstrate that decisions to use nonprofits are contingent upon stigma, information, practical predicaments (e.g., agency hours), and perceived need. I explore the implications of these impediments in a post-welfare reform landscape, while focusing on how decisions to use …

Review Of Drug War Heresies: Learning From Other Vices, Times & Places. Robert J. Maccoun And Peter Reuter. Reviewed By Lorraine T. Midanik., Lorraine T. Midanik

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Robert J. MacCoun and Peter Reuter, Drug War Heresies: Learning from Other Vices, Times & Places. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. $75.00 hardcover, $25.00 papercover.

The Mommy Track: The Consequences Of Gender Ideology And Aspirations On Age At First Motherhood, Jennifer Stewart

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

While there is extensive and compelling evidence that growing up in an impoverished background leads to early fertility, few studies explain why early socioeconomic disadvantage leads to early childbearing. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, I test whether gender ideology, as well as educational and occupational aspirations, mediates the connection between poverty and teen fertility patterns. Traditional gender ideology depresses age at first motherhood. Adolescent aspirations appear to act as protective factors in the production of early pregnancy.

Changing Women: An Ethnographic Study Of Homeless Mothers And Popular Education, Lorna Rivera

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article discusses ethnographic research conducted between 1995 and 1998 that studied the impact of popular education on the lives of fifty homeless and formerly homeless mothers. Data collection involved indepth interviews and participant observation in a family shelter located in one of Boston's poorest neighborhoods. The article argues that popular education increased the women's self-esteem, they were inspired to help other low-income women, they learned to advocate for their rights and they became more involved in their children's education. The findings suggest that popular education can best address the academic, personal, and community goals of very poor women.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 30, No. 2 (June 2003)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• THE MOMMY TRACK: THE CONSEQUENCES OF GENDER IDEOLOGY AND ASPIRATIONS ON AGE AT FIRST MOTHERHOOD - Jennifer Stewart
• CHANGING WOMEN: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF HOMELESS MOTHERS AND POPULAR EDUCATION - Lorna Rivera
• THE SETTLEMENT HOUSE TRADITION: CURRENT TRENDS AND FUTURE CONCERNS - Beverly Koerin
• THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS IN A NEW FOSTER PLACEMENT: PSYCHOSOCIAL ADJUSTMENT,
• PARENTAL CONTACT AND PLACEMENT DISRUPTION - James G. Barber & Paul H. Delfabbro
• LINKING WELFARE CLIENTS TO JOBS: DISCRETIONARY USE OF WORKER SOCIAL CAPITAL - Michelle Livermore & Alison Neustrom
• HEAD START, OTHER PRESCHOOL PROGRAMS, & LIFE SUCCESS IN A YOUTH COHORT …

The First Four Months In A New Foster Placement: Psychosocial Adjustment, Parental Contact And Placement Disruption, James G. Barber, Paul H. Delfabbro

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Intake and four-month follow-up measures were obtained for 235 children referred into a new foster care placement over a 12-month period in the Australian State of South Australia. Twenty-five percent of the sample returned home within 4-months, and for those who remained in care throughout, there had been modest gains in behavior, psychological adjustment and adjustment at school. On the other hand, there were considerable levels of placement disruption, a high degree of non-compliance with parental visiting plans, and a high proportion of children fell outside ninety-five percent confidence intervals for the general adolescent population on most well-being measures, particularly …

Linking Welfare Clients To Jobs: Discretionary Use Of Worker Social Capital, Michelle Livermore, Alison Neustrom

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The overarching theme of the 1996 welfare reform law was to move clients from dependency to self-sufficiency by facilitating their entry into the labor market. While numerous mechanisms were used to do this, this study explores discretionary actions taken by workers to help clients find jobs, namely, tapping into their own social capital. Respondents in one urban and one rural county in a southern state reported using their own social capital to get information regarding job openings and to exert influence to get clients hired. Notably, respondents at all levels of the bureaucracy expected this behavior to occur. Both the …

Head Start, Other Preschool Programs, & Life Success In A Youth Cohort, Richard K. Caputo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study assesses the effects of Head Start and other preschool programs on five life success measures in a U.S. cohort of youth (N = 5,621). The life success indices are average annual income-to-poverty ratios, economic mobility, and number of years the youth lived in families whose incomes fell below official poverty thresholds, received Food Stamps, and received TANF/AFDC. Controlling for a variety of background and other factors in separate regression models for each life success measure, results show that youth who participated in preschool programs other than Head Start had higher average annual income-to-poverty ratios than nonpreschoolers. Bivariate findings …

Review Of Diminishing Welfare: A Cross National Study Of Social Provision. Gertrude Schaffner Goldberg And Marguerite Rosenthal (Eds.). Reviewed By Charles Guzzetta., Charles Guzzetta

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Gertrude Schaffner Goldberg and Marguerite Rosenthal (Eds.), Diminishing Welfare: A Cross National Study of Social Provision. Westport, CT: Auburn House, 2002. $28.00 paperback.

Review Of The Environment: Its Role In Psychosocial Functioning And Psychotherapy. Carolyn Saari. Reviewed By Timothy Page., Timothy Page

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Carolyn Saari, The Environment: Its Role in Psychosocial Functioning and Psychotherapy. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002. $49.50 hardcover, $22.00 papercover.

Review Of Care Work: The Quest For Security. Mary Daly (Ed.). Reviewed By Katherine Van Wormer., Katherine Van Wormer

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Mary Daly (Ed.) Care Work: The Quest for Security. Paperback. Geneva: International Labour Office, 2002. $20 papercover.

Children As Pawns: The Politics Of Educational Reform. Timothy A. Hacsi.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Timothy A. Hacsi, Children as Pawns: The Politics of Educational Reform. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002. $39.95 hardcover.

Council On Social Work Education: Its Antecendents And First Twenty Years. Katherine Kendall.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Katherine Kendall, Council on Social Work Education: Its Antecendents and First Twenty Years. Alexandria, VA: Council on Social Work Education. $23.95 papercover.

Beyond The New Paternalism: Basic Security As Equality. Guy Standing.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Guy Standing, Beyond the New Paternalism: Basic Security as Equality. New York: Verso, 2002. $70.00 hardcover, $22.00 papercover.

The Invisible Caring Hand: American Congregations And The Provision Of Welfare. Ram A. Cnaan With Stephanie C. Boddie, Femida Handy, Gaynor Yancey And Richard Schneider.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Ram A. Cnaan with Stephanie C. Boddie, Femida Handy, Gaynor Yancey and Richard Schneider, The Invisible Caring Hand: American Congregations and the Provision of Welfare. New York: New York University Press, 2002. $60.00 hardcover, $19.50 papercover.

The New World Of Welfare. Rebecca Blank And Ron Haskins (Eds.).

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Rebecca Blank and Ron Haskins (Eds.), The New World of Welfare. Brookings Institution Press, 2001. $22.95 papercover.