Social Work Commons^™

Foster Youths’ Perceptions Of The Social Worker’S Role In Their Pursuit Of Higher Education, Elisa Elvira Sequeira Delgado, Anedia Suarez Arroyo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The majority of youth transitioning from foster care to adulthood aspire to achieve a higher education, yet they often face barriers and lack a support system. In the United States, only 50% of foster youth graduate from high school. About 13% of foster youth enter college and only 3% graduate. The purpose of this study is to assess foster youths’ perceptions on the social worker’s role when pursuing higher education. The literature suggests that child welfare agencies have developed a variety of programs for foster youth and for their social workers aimed at improving foster youth’s educational outcomes. Yet, the …

Social Workers' Perception On The Needs And Services For Foster Children With Special Needs, Jessica Joanna Jimenez, Winnie Wing Yang Lee

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Foster children are already at a disadvantage given that they tend to live in a home without their parents. Social workers have direct interactions working with children with special needs, and through interviews with the workers, we aimed to understand whether or not the services available are able to meet foster children’s special needs. The research on special needs children in foster care is quite limited. The purpose of the study was to identify social workers’ perceptions of the needs of special needs foster children and their access to services.

This study used qualitative interviews with open-ended questions to gather …