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Articles 1 - 11 of 11
Full-Text Articles in Social Work
Professional Discretion Of Child Protective Services Investigators In Foster Care Placements, Leonard Fikes
Professional Discretion Of Child Protective Services Investigators In Foster Care Placements, Leonard Fikes
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
Families of color in North Carolina have been disproportionately affected in the child welfare system, particularly in the foster care system. The purpose of this qualitative research study examined the discretionary powers of Child Protective Services (CPS) investigators and how they interpreted and applied child welfare policies that disproportionally impacted African American families from marginalized, underrepresented communities. Guided by Wallander and Molander’s professional discretion as the framework, this research expanded the current literature and increased awareness of racial disproportionality and the continued disproportionality of African American children in the child welfare system, especially foster care placements. The central research question …
The Perceptions And Practices Of Child Welfare Caseworkers And Decision-Making Related To Reunification, Sonja D. Ulrich
The Perceptions And Practices Of Child Welfare Caseworkers And Decision-Making Related To Reunification, Sonja D. Ulrich
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
The child welfare system exists to support safe and healthy families. When children cannot remain safely with family, they are removed and often placed with nonrelatives. Only half of all of the children removed from their homes achieve reunification. In the current study, research questions examined the perceptions of caseworkers in determining whether or when a child could reunify with their family of removal, and how the perceptions of the caseworker affected their practice regarding reunification. Using social learning theory as a framework, a caseworker’s decisions were viewed as a balance between their work environment and their personal perceptions. Following …
Child Welfare Workers’ Development Of Cultural Competency For Clients In Poverty, Rachel Armstead
Child Welfare Workers’ Development Of Cultural Competency For Clients In Poverty, Rachel Armstead
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
Children of families living in poverty are at a higher risk of being victims of child maltreatment than children of families not living in poverty. Many families involved in the child welfare system live in poverty and have low socioeconomic status. The National Association of Social Workers requires all social workers to have a level of cultural awareness, knowledge, and skill to engage clients from diverse cultures. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore child welfare workers’ understanding of cultural competence and their implementation of culturally sensitive practices as they engage clients living in poverty. Bacote’s cultural competence …
The Perceptions And Practices Of Child Welfare Caseworkers And Decision-Making Related To Reunification, Sonja D. Ulrich
The Perceptions And Practices Of Child Welfare Caseworkers And Decision-Making Related To Reunification, Sonja D. Ulrich
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
The child welfare system exists to support safe and healthy families. When children cannot remain safely with family, they are removed and often placed with nonrelatives. Only half of all of the children removed from their homes achieve reunification. In the current study, research questions examined the perceptions of caseworkers in determining whether or when a child could reunify with their family of removal, and how the perceptions of the caseworker affected their practice regarding reunification. Using social learning theory as a framework, a caseworker’s decisions were viewed as a balance between their work environment and their personal perceptions. Following …
Adult Attachment Functioning Of Former Foster Youth Initially Placed In Early Adolescence, Adrienne Miller
Adult Attachment Functioning Of Former Foster Youth Initially Placed In Early Adolescence, Adrienne Miller
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
Child attachment has been an area of study among scholars for several decades; however, early adolescent attachment is a specific age period that few scholars have examined, especially pertaining to child welfare where placement is a necessary but forced attachment disruption. The purpose of this nonexperimental study was to examine the likelihood of early adolescent attachment during initial placement and to explore the frequencies of this population securely attaching postplacement based on the added variables of placement setting (foster home/kinship home/group home/institution) and sibling accessibility. Attachment theory was the lens through which to analyze the 83 results received via anonymous …
Understanding E-Learning As Professional Development For Rural Child Welfare Professionals, Linda S. Kingery
Understanding E-Learning As Professional Development For Rural Child Welfare Professionals, Linda S. Kingery
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
Ongoing professional development is an integral part of a child welfare agency's strategy toward the provision of services to children and families involved with a child welfare intervention. Electronic learning (E-Learning) is popular as a fiscally responsible and flexible way to deliver such trainings. There is a gap in the research addressing the problem of how child welfare professionals are motivated to engage in the E-learning process. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions of child welfare professionals regarding their motivation to use an agency provided E-learning program. Eight child welfare professionals employed by a …
Long-Term Retention Among Child Welfare Workers In Michigan: A Phenomenological Study, Andrea Vajdic-Pena
Long-Term Retention Among Child Welfare Workers In Michigan: A Phenomenological Study, Andrea Vajdic-Pena
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
High turnover of child welfare workers is a problem to the children and families that receive services and the child welfare organizations that lose their staff. For children and their families, turnover of their assigned worker may interrupt their ability to achieve their permanency goals. Child welfare organizations encounter high costs for hiring staff due to the turnover and the staff that remain suffer with higher caseloads and not being able to provide the quality of services that they should be able to offer. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of child welfare workers …
Effectiveness Of Practice Change From Risk Model To Safety Model At Dhs, Shirlana Norene Dash
Effectiveness Of Practice Change From Risk Model To Safety Model At Dhs, Shirlana Norene Dash
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
In 2012, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported an estimated 686,000 victims of child abuse and neglect. Forty-nine states reported a total of 1,593 fatalities. This quantitative research study examined the relationship between the variables: age of child, gender of child, age of parent/caregiver, prior substantiated reports of abuse, and incidents of abuse in Philadelphia at the Department of Human Services using risk practice model (RPM) and safety practice model (SPM). Although child welfare practitioners have examined the relationship between family and societal factors that affect child abuse; few researchers have examined the correlation between service delivery …
Evidence-Based Child Welfare Screening And Assessment Practices, Melissa Hardin
Evidence-Based Child Welfare Screening And Assessment Practices, Melissa Hardin
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
The purpose of this action research project was to examine the screening and assessment behaviors of child welfare workers in the southwestern region of the United States. The study addressed whether social workers' knowledge of evidence-based practice influenced their implementation of evidence-based practice in child welfare screening and assessment, and whether the agency environment affects evidence-based practice implementation and use. The family systems theory was used to evaluate child welfare practitioner work and systems theory was used to evaluate the child welfare system in the region of the study. A focus group comprised of seven social workers practicing in the …
Examining Trauma Exposure, Organizational Climate, And Job Outcomes In Child Welfare, Shano Rodgers
Examining Trauma Exposure, Organizational Climate, And Job Outcomes In Child Welfare, Shano Rodgers
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
Exposure to traumatic situations is routine for child welfare workers in California, and the attrition rate for newly hired social workers in some states is estimated to be nearly 50% in the 1st year of employment. Prior research has indicated that reasons for dissatisfaction included dysfunctional organizational climate and culture. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which trauma exposure contributed to secondary traumatic stress and intent to quit and to examine the degree to which organizational climate moderated the exposure among direct service child welfare employees. Kurt Lewin's field theory, Figley's theory of secondary traumatic …
Factors Influencing Job Satisfaction Among Child Welfare Staff, Meresa L. Stacy
Factors Influencing Job Satisfaction Among Child Welfare Staff, Meresa L. Stacy
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
Child welfare has been part of American society since the early 1900s and continues to play a pivotal role in response to troubled families. Although there is a need for qualified child welfare staff, the process of maintaining staff is a constant struggle for many child welfare agencies. Many states are experiencing high turnover rates within the child welfare system, and Florida has been acutely impacted. Researchers have demonstrated that the nature of the work, supervision, and other organizational factors continue to contribute to job satisfaction among child welfare professionals. Guided by the social exchange theory as the theoretical framework, …