Social Work Commons^™

Who Am I? Who Do You Think I Am? Stability Of Racial/Ethnic Self-Identification Among Youth In Foster Care And Concordance With Agency Categorization, Jessica Schmidt, Shanti Dubey, Larry Dalton, May Nelson, Junghee Lee, Molly Oberweiser Kennedy, Connie Kim-Gervey, Laurie E. Powers, Sarah Geenen, The Research Consortium To Increase The Success Of Youth In Foster Care

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

While it has been well documented that racial and ethnic disparities exist for children of color in child welfare, the accuracy of the race and ethnicity information collected by agencies has not been examined, nor has the concordance of this information with youth self-report. This article addresses a major gap in the literature by examining 1) the racial and ethnic self-identification of youth in foster care, and the rate of agreement with child welfare and school categorizations; 2) the level of concordance between different agencies (school and child welfare); and 3) the stability of racial and ethnic self-identification among youth …

The Grand Challenge Of Ending Homelessness, Benjamin Henwood, Suzanne L. Wenzel, Philip F. Mangano, Maryellen Hombs, Deborah K. Padgett, Thomas Byrne, Eric Rice, Sarah Butts, Mathew C, Uretsky

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The notion that homelessness in the United States can be ended, rather than managed, represents a fundamental shift in expectations that has occurred over the past three decades. Many U.S. cities now have plans to end homelessness. Yet homelessness and housing instability are substantial problems that afflict a diverse group of subpopulations such as families, youth, veterans, and chronically homeless single adults. Ending homelessness for each of these populations may require tailored interventions that are responsive to specific individualized needs. These factors make tackling homelessness a difficult task. Although evidencebased solutions exist for some subpopulations, such as housing first for …

Measuring The Support Networks Of Transition-Age Foster Youth: Preliminary Validation Of A Social Network Assessment For Research And Practice, Jennifer E. Blakeslee

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Multi-dimensional social support is an important factor in any positive transition into young adulthood, and youth who are exiting foster care ideally receive comprehensive social support from a range of informal and formal sources. Yet the social networks of transition-age foster youth are likely influenced over time by child welfare involvement, which can weaken or disrupt natural support relationships, while introducing service-oriented relationships that are not intended to last into adulthood. To better understand the social support context of youth aging out of care, we can apply social network theory and methods to systematically identify their networks of supportive relationships …

Behavioral Health Services Needs And Availability For Young Children Involved In The Child Welfare System, Jill Hoffman, Alicia Bunger, Hillary Robertson, Scottye Cash

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purposes of this presentation are to:

• Identify key characteristics of young children (0-5 years old) involved in child welfare
• Learn about the prevalence of behavioral health service needs and use among children 0-5 years old involved in child welfare
• Learn about the availability of behavioral health services targeted toward children aged 0-5 years old
• Have the opportunity to engage in a discussion on this study’s findings and trends they have seen in the populations they serve