Social Work Commons^™

Expanded Child Tax Credit Payments Supported Families Raising Children With Disabilities, Allyson Baughman, Laura Brugger, Meg Comeau, Leah Hamilton, Candace Jarzombek, Caroline Parker, Stephen Roll

Social Policy Institute Research

The 2021 expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) provided temporary enhancements to the existing CTC for the tax years 2021 and 2022. Under the expanded credit, families with children under the age of 18 were eligible to receive a credit of up to $3,000 per child ($3,600 for children under the age of 6).

In addition, half the credit was paid out on a monthly basis rather than as a one-time payment at tax time. This provision was designed to provide more immediate financial support to families with children during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it also supported families who were at …

“It Helped Us More Than I Could Have Imagined”: How The 2021 Expanded Child Tax Credit Supported Families Raising Children With Disabilities, Laura Brugger, Stephen Roll, Leah Hamilton, Allyson Baughman, Meg Comeau, Candace Jarzombeck, Caroline Parker

Social Policy Institute Research

The 2021 expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) provided temporary enhancements to the existing CTC for the tax years 2021 and 2022. Under the expanded credit, families with children under the age of 18 were eligible to receive a credit of up to $3,000 per child ($3,600 for children under the age of 6). In addition, half the credit was paid out on a monthly basis rather than as a one-time payment at tax time. This provision was designed to provide more immediate financial support to families with children during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it also supported families who were at …

Collaborating With Parents With Disabilities To Create Accountability In The Special Education System, Brooke Crosby, Julia Lutz-Lawlor, Kelsy Farley, Khadra Geelle

Master of Social Work Student Policy Advocacy Briefs

Minnesota is a state that prides itself on prioritizing education. As such, all school personnel must fulfill their obligation to ensure meaningful access for parents with a disability. As part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), the development of an Individualized Education Program (IEP) is required under both federal and state special education law. In the special education IEP process, parental involvement is mandated to ensure the child's best interest. Research shows parents’ involvement in their children’s education can lead to an improvement in grades, performance, literacy, attendance, and homework completion. Disabled parents must be engaged as …

Developing A Measure Of Blind Patients' Interactions With Their Healthcare Providers, Nazanin M. Heydarian, Osvaldo F. Morera, Scott Frankowski

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: People who are blind (PWB) are often perceived as being incompetent with common tasks and functions. When patients detect that their healthcare providers (HCPs) have negative perceptions of them, they often report less satisfaction with their healthcare and disengage in their own healthcare.

Objective: A scale assessing the experiences of PWB interacting with HCPs was developed and validated across two studies.

Methods: In Study 1, 144 participants completed the scale and provided feedback. In Study 2, 214 participants completed the scale and 4 additional scales to assess construct validity.

Results: An exploratory factor analysis in Study 1 revealed a …

Building An Evidence-Based, Holistic Approach For Moving Integrated Employment Forward, John Butterworth, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Jason Billehus, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

ThinkWork! Publications

No abstract provided.

Using Human-Centered Design Leadership To Improve The Care Of Older Adults With Disabilities, Daniel Eadens, Danielle Eadens

EGS Content

As the population of individuals with disabilities is rapidly aging, organizations face new challenges inperson-centered care, especially in residential facilities where their caregivers are not family members butindividuals with diverse cultural backgrounds and limited understanding of American culture. There aremany organizations which offer a range of services to individuals with disabilities, including communitybasedresidential settings where caregivers work with adults to increase independence in daily living skilldevelopment, behavior management, personal care, medication administration, and other services andactivities. Complications arise when caregivers lack the knowledge, training, cultural understanding, andcommunication skills necessary to provide quality care. Much more skill acquisition is needed than …

Policy Brief: Lifespan Respite Care Reauthorization Act, The 2015-2016 Cohort Of New Hampshire Leadership Education In Neurodevelopmental And Related Disabilities (Nh Lend) Program Trainees.

Policy Analysis

The Lifespan Respite Care Act (PL 109-442) provides critical support for families caring for loved ones at home. Family caregivers in the United States provide an estimated $470 billion worth of uncompensated care—a figure that exceeds the total Medicaid budget for 2013 (NAC Task Force, 2016). According to the National Respite Coalition, access to respite care helps protect caregiver health, strengthens families, keeps marriages intact, and prevents the need for expensive institutional long-term care. Reauthorization of the Lifespan Respite Care Act is essential to the well-being of individuals in need of long-term care and their families affected by long-term health …

Experiences With Pregnancy Of Adolescents With Disabilities From The Perspectives Of The School Social Workers Who Serve Them, Kristen Faye Linton, Heidi Adams Rueda

Social Work Faculty Publications

Adolescents with disabilities are more likely than adolescents without disabilities to become pregnant, although very little is known about the lived contexts of their sexual and pregnancy experiences. Such youths are often deprived of sexual health information across a range of potential sources, although school social workers are in a unique position to provide them services. Thirteen school social workers working primarily with adolescents with disabilities were interviewed using a phenomenological study design to offer their perspectives concerning the sexual and pregnancy experiences of such youths. Inductive content analysis revealed that school social workers provided services for pregnant and parenting …

Combating Autism Reauthorization Act Of 2014, Kassandra Mores

Policy Analysis

On May 9, 2014, Representative Smith (R-NJ) and Representative Doyle (D-PA) introduced a bill to reauthorize the Combating Autism Act (H.R. 4631) for five years. Senator Menendez (D-NJ) and Senator Enzi (R-WY) are planning to introduce a Senate bill of the Combating Autism Reauthorization Act. The Combating Autism Act of 2011, due to sunset September 30, 2014, provides federal funding for autism research, public education, and early detection and intervention in Maine. We are hoping that you will consider voting in support of the Combating Autism Reauthorization Act.

Gender, Difference And Urban Change: Implications For Promotion Of Well-Being?, Julian Walker, Alexandre A. Frediani, Jean-Francois Trani

Brown School Faculty Publications

This article examines the impacts of urban change on the well-being of women and men, and girls and boys, living in cities, and explores how gender intersects with other social relations to differentiate these impacts. It then considers the implications of intersectionality for organisations aiming to promote the interests of specific social groups (such as women, or people with disabilities) vis-a-vis urban change by looking at the experience of Leonard Cheshire’s Asha project, working with girls and boys with disabilities in Mumbai. It concludes that organisations working to promote the interest of identity based constituents should (a) base their strategies …

'Delivering' Education; Maintaining Inequality. The Case Of Children With Disabilities In Afghanistan, Jean-Francois Trani, Parul Bakhshi, Anand Nandipati

Brown School Faculty Publications

Education for children with disabilities in Afghanistan, particularly disabled girls, continues to lag behind despite laudable efforts of the Ministry of Education to promote universal access for all. The opportunity for education constitutes not just a means of achieving learning outcomes but also a space for social interaction, individual development and psychosocial support, which are paramount in Conflict Affected Fragile States (CAFS). However, many persisting barriers still need to be overcome in Afghanistan to allow education for all and change negative attitudes towards education of children with disabilities. In this paper we argue that viewing education as a basic commodity, …

Disparate Juvenile Court Outcomes For Disabled Delinquent Youth: A Social Work Call To Action, Christopher A. Mallett

Social Work Faculty Publications

Current service delivery for at-risk youth is through four separate systems: special education; mental health and substance abuse; juvenile justice; and child welfare. Many youth (and their families) are involved with more than one of these systems, making early disability identification and subsequent systems coordination paramount in leading to more successful juvenile court outcomes. This coordination is an important and prioritized public policy concern because a majority of youth (disproportionately minority) within juvenile justice populations has been identified with mental health disorders, special education disabilities, or maltreatment histories. This study of a unique sample of probation-supervised delinquent youths ( n …

Alternatives For Youth’S Advocacy Program:Reducing Minority Youth Incarceration Placements In Cleveland, Ohio, Christopher A. Mallett, Linda Julian

Social Work Faculty Publications

Detaining and incarcerating juvenile delinquents is ineffective and costly juvenile justice policy. These placements, indicative of the “tough on crime” approach, become problematic for many of these youths who do not have the advantage of legal counsel because they waive this right. In addition, a majority of these youths have a mental health or special education disability that does not get addressed in correctional facilities. Alternatives for Youth's Advocacy Program (AFY) in Cleveland, Ohio (Cuyahoga County) is addressing these issues using a holistic approach that includes the provision of civil legal representation to assist youths in accessing disability services and …

Intimate Partner Violence And Disabilities Among Women Attending Family Practice Clinics, Ann L. Coker, Paige H. Smith, Mary Kay Fadden

CRVAW Faculty Journal Articles

Purpose: To estimate the frequency and type of disabilities preventing work among those experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) compared with those never experiencing IPV.

Methods: We used a large cross-sectional survey of women, ages 18–65, attending family practice clinics from 1997 through 1998. Participation included a 5–10-minute in-clinic survey assessing IPV experience and a longer telephone survey assessing health status and chronic disabilities that prevented work outside the home or housework.

Results: Of 1,152 eligible women surveyed, 54% experienced some type of IPV, and 24% were currently in a violent relationship. Women who had ever experienced IPV …