Social Work Commons^™

A Mixed Methods Multiple Case Study Of Implementation As Usual In Children's Social Service Organizations, Byron James Powell

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Increasing the adoption and sustainment of evidence-based treatments (EBTs) in children's mental health and social service systems will require the development of evidence-based implementation strategies. In order to ensure that these strategies are feasible, acceptable, sustainable, and scalable, efforts to identify and develop implementation strategies will need to be grounded by a thorough understanding of real world service systems as well as organizational stakeholders' preferences for particular strategies. In other words, there is a need for a better understanding of usual care settings, and in particular, what constitutes "implementation as usual."

This study employed a mixed methods, multiple-case study of …

The Relationship Between Household Economic Resources And Youth Academic Performance In Ghana: A Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling, David Ansong

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

The Government of Ghana recognizes the importance of education for improving the socioeconomic well-being of young Ghanaians and the development of the nation. Education currently accounts for the largest share: 31%) of Ghana's national budget: GNA, 2012). Educational reforms and investments have had remarkable success in improving access to education up to the Junior High School: JHS) level, but progression beyond JHS remains a challenge. More than half of JHS graduates do not gain admission into Senior High School: SHS) because of poor academic performance and the inability of those who qualify to afford the drastic increase in educational costs. …

Adolescent Male Perpetrators Of Rape In The General Population And Their Young Adult Outcomes, Karen Matta Oshima

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

The Centers for Disease Control: CDC) estimated that 10.6 % of adult women and 2.1% of adult men were sexually assaulted in their lifetimes: Basile, Chen, Black, & Saltzman, 2007). Approximately 16% of single offender sexual assaults and rapes and nearly 32% of multiple offender sexual assault and rapes were perpetrated by adolescents and young adults in 2007: Maston & Klaus, 2010). Researchers estimated sexually violent behavior among adolescent males in the general population at rates of 2.2 to 10%: Ageton, 1983; Banyard, Cross, & Modecki, 2006; Borowsky, Hogan, & Ireland, 1997).

Despite the scope of the problem, there is …

The Long-Term Costs Of Caring: How Caring For An Aging Parent Impacts Wealth Trajectories Of Caregivers, Jennifer Crane Greenfield

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Long-term care in the U.S. is a growing concern as our aging population exerts pressure on formal and informal care systems. Public expenditures on formal care are increasing rapidly, even as reliance on informal caregivers expands. Recent policy innovations are shifting Medicaid and Medicare funding toward home- and community-based services: HCBS) as an alternative to nursing home care. This may help reduce overall LTC care costs to states and the federal government, but it also shifts more responsibility to families and informal care networks. Not only can caregiving have negative impacts on the physical and mental health of caregivers, but …

Mental Health Service Utilization Among African American Emerging Adults, Sha-Lai Williams

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Mental illness affects 25-30% of US adults ages 18 years and older in a given year. Of those individuals, about 41% fail to utilize mental health services. Research indicates that being African American and between the ages of 18 and 29 are associated with decreased rates of service utilization. Yet, less is known about the factors related to mental health service utilization among a specific subset of these groups, namely, African American emerging adults. Using empirically-tested theoretical frameworks as its foundation, this dissertation study aimed to address this gap in literature by examining specific predisposing, enabling, and need factors: e.g., …

Who Uses Community-Based Youth Shelters? An Inter-Group And Intra-Group Analysis, Jennifer Mcclendon

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Community-based youth shelters are the primary method of intervention designed to meet the complex needs of at-risk youth who leave home before they have developed the skills to live independently. This research examines shelter users' patterns of cross-sector service use to better understand the needs and resources of shelter residents. The aims of this study are 1) to perform an inter-group analysis, comparing sheltered youth with status offense runaways and foster care runaways, and 2) to explore the population of emergency shelter residents using an intra-group analysis, determining whether distinct profiles of sheltered youth exist, based on individual characteristics and …