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From The Viewpoint Of Social Workers: An Exploratory Study Of The Indian Child Welfare Act, Kimberle Michal Hill, Sherry Ann Cortez-Farris

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to explore child welfare workers' opinions as to what the barriers are in implementing the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. The results will contribute to social work practice by addressing the fact that Native Americans represent a disproportional amount of youth and families serviced by Child Welfare and ICWA.

Predicting Juvenile Delinquency: The Nexus Of Childhood Maltreatment, Depression And Bipolar Disorder, Christopher A. Mallett, Patricia A. Stoddard Dare, Mamadou M. Seck

Social Work Faculty Publications

Background It is important to identify and provide preventative interventions for youth who are most at risk for offending behaviour, but the connection between early childhood or adolescent experiences and later delinquency adjudication is complicated. Aim To test for associations between specified mental disorders or maltreatment and later delinquency adjudication. Method Participants were a random sample of youth before the juvenile courts in two Northeast Ohio counties in the USA (n = 555) over a 4-year time frame (2003 to 2006). Results Logistic regression analysis identified a lifetime diagnosis of depression and/or bipolar disorder to be predictive of later youth …

The 2009 Portland National Youth Summit Report, Rebecca Strachan, L. Kris Gowen, Janet S. Walker

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The following report outlines the planning process, the agenda, and the outcomes of the 2009 Portland National Youth Summit. The purpose of the Youth Summit was to invite systems-experienced youth (e.g., those who have been involved with the services such as mental health, child welfare, and/or juvenile justice systems) together to create a “Call to Action” that outlines positive solutions to improve the mental health services they receive. This Summit took place in conjunction with the Research and Training Center’s (RTC) Building on Family Strengths Conference, Monday, June 22, 2009. A Youth Summit Advisory Board comprised of four young members …

Commons, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The commons is a theoretical formalism that is useful in understanding many diverse problems of civil society. A common (or commons) is an economic, political, social, and legal institution that enables joint, shared, mutual or collective natural or social action by agents using a “pool” of shared or jointly held or mutually controlled resources. A substantial body of work exists detailing natural common resource pools acted upon by physical or biological agents. Another large body of work on humanly-directed natural resource pools study the human-natural environment interface, interspecies conflict and population density. Studies of social commons have also looked at …

Barriers In Educating Homeless Children And Youth, Gloria Elaine White Adams

Dissertations

Across America, homeless students face a myriad of barriers that impede education and school access and success of homeless children. The purpose of this study was to determine the barriers to enrollment and school success for homeless students. The ultimate goal was to provide information to parents, teachers, administrators, and school districts that could serve as a vital resource tool in educating homeless students while removing barriers.

The participants consisted of 215 certified teachers, school administrators, and homeless liaisons in 23 school districts representing the populations that provide afterschool instruction to homeless students. The study was conducted in the spring …

Pathways To Prison: Impact Of Vicitimization In The Lives Of Incarcerated Women, Dana Dehart

Faculty and Staff Publications

This study examined ways in which victimization may contribute to criminal involvement among incarcerated women. We conducted interviews with 60 women in a maximum securtiy prison to gather each woman's perspective on psychological, physical, and sexual victimization in her life. Qualitative analyses indicated ways that victimization related directly to women's crimes as well as influenced health, psychosocial functioning, or systemic involvement to create difficult situations with which the women struggled. Case histories are used to illustrate pervasive impacts of victimization, and role of multiple traumas and cumulative impact are discussed.

What Motivates African-American Charitable Giving: Findings From A National Sample, Vernon B. Carter, Jerry D. Marx

Social Work

Given the growing wealth of minority families in America, including that of African-American families, the potential for charitable donations from these households is much greater. The purpose of this secondary analysis is to examine those variables that may influence African-American charitable giving patterns. This study uses the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) data to analyze the effects of multiple factors on the giving habits of African-Americans. Based on this study's findings, social workers employed as executive directors or fund-raisers in private nonprofit organizations may want to identify and cultivate individual African-American donors directly, instead of relying on United Way …

Focal Point, Volume 22 Number 02, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

This issue of Focal Point—through a consideration of personal, lived experience as well as practice and research—examines the mutual impact of caregiver and child mental health, and highlights practical strategies to promote positive outcomes for children and caregivers who experience mental health difficulties.

Attributes Of Effective Head Start Mental Health Consultants : A Mixed Method Study Of Rural And Urban Programs, Mary Dallas Allen

Dissertations and Theses

Early childhood mental health consultation (ECMHC) is the primary strategy implemented by Head Start programs to address the social and emotional needs of children and their families, but little is known about the attributes of early childhood mental health consultants (MHCs) that contribute to consultants' relationships with Head Start staff and to consultation outcomes. The present study examined how attributes of MHCs contribute to positive relationships between the MHCs and Head Start staff and to improved consultation outcomes. Seven attributes of rural and urban mental health consultants were examined: MHC training, supervision, and support; MHC understanding of consultant role; MHC …

Foster Youth And The "Aging Out" Age In Rhode Island, Kelsey Creeden

Social Work Theses

Foster care is a temporary placement of children and youth with others outside of their home due to child abuse or neglect. Since its 19th century origins, the foster care system has evolved to focus on three goals of providing safety, well-being, and permanency until the child leaves the system, either by reunification, adoption, or “aging out”. Because these youth often “age out” without a home, job, or support system, programs such as the Life Skills Program and the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative are working toward providing this population with skills that will assist them in successfully aging out …

The Lack Of Mental Health Professionals And Services For Children Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing, Kiley Morgart

Social Work Theses

Children who are deaf or hard of hearing are vulnerable to abuse and are not receiving proper care at an early age due to their parents’ negative reactions towards having a child who has a hearing impairment. The lack of proper care and their vulnerability to abuse puts these children at a high risk of not developing properly. A qualitative study was undertaken using interviews to find services/agencies that provide help to parents of children who are deaf or hard of hearing in Rhode Island. Findings indicate that there is a sufficient amount of service for parents but these parents …

The Role Of Elementary School Physical Activity In Combating Childhood Obesity, Bridget Freeman

Social Work Theses

Childhood obesity is currently on the rise because of the lack of emphasis on physical activity, overeating and malnutrition; it has especially been escalating in children of low income families. Physical education and recess in elementary and high schools are being eliminated or reduced as the requirements of the “No Child Left Behind Act”. This study compared the opportunities available to exercise in eleven low income, medium income, high income, and private elementary schools hypothesizing that low Socioeconomic status children may be at greater risk due to the cost of healthy food, neighborhood safety, and issues restricting at home physical …

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 …

Transition To Adulthood For Homeless Adolescents, William G. Tierney, Jarrett T. Gupton, Ronald E. Hallett

Benerd College Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Education plays a critical role in how adolescents mature into adults. A vulnerable, and often forgotten, sub-population of the poor is homeless youth, for whom lack of a stable or adequate residence creates a unique set of educational barriers. The Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis (CHEPA) spent 18 months documenting the experiences of homeless adolescents in Los Angeles, deriving data from 123 interviews with homeless adolescents between the ages of 14 and 19, and an additional 45 interviews with shelter staff, social workers, parents, teachers, and school district administrators. Follow-up interviews were conducted with 30 of the youth to …

Life Domain Research Report Series: Youth And Parent Health And Well Being, Michele Preyde, Karen Frensch, Gary Cameron, Lirondel Hazineh

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

The Life Domain Series describes the community adaptation of children and youth graduating from residential and intensive family service children’s mental health programs in multiple life domains (education and work, social involvements, family and health). This full length report presents evidence from the first and second phases of longitudinal research about how children who were involved with residential and intensive family service mental health programs are doing in school and at work.

Life Domain Research Report Series: School And Employment, Karen Frensch, Lirondel Hazineh, Gary Cameron, Michele Preyde

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

The Life Domain Series describes the community adaptation of children and youth graduating from residential and intensive family service children’s mental health programs in multiple life domains (education and work, social involvements, family and health). This full length report presents evidence from the first and second phases of longitudinal research about how children who were involved with residential and intensive family service mental health programs are doing in school and at work.

Life Domain Research Report Series: Social Connections And Community Conduct, Lirondel Hazineh, Karen Frensch, Michele Preyde, Gary Cameron

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

Integral to formulating a picture of youth overall well being is to understand how youth participate in social networks with peers and friends, engage in social or leisure activities, and more generally forge healthy relationships with others. Among a variety of emotional and behavioural challenges faced by children and youth involved with residential treatment or intensive family services may be their ability to negotiate relationships within social contexts (Cameron, de Boer, Frensch, & Adams, 2003).

Data was collected about youth who had been involved with children’s mental health residential treatment (RT) or intensive family service programs (IFS), designed as an …

Evidence-Based Or Biased? The Quality Of Published Reviews Of Evidence-Based Practices, Julia H. Littell

Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research Faculty Research and Scholarship

Objective

To assess methods used to identify, analyze, and synthesize results of empirical research on intervention effects, and determine whether published reviews are vulnerable to various sources and types of bias.

Methods

Study 1 examined the methods, sources, and conclusions of 37 published reviews of research on effects of a model program. Study 2 compared findings of one published trial with summaries of results of that trial that appeared in published reviews.

Results

Study 1: Published reviews varied in terms of the transparency of inclusion criteria, strategies for locating relevant published and unpublished data, standards used to evaluate evidence, and …

Life Domain Research Report Series: Family, Gary Cameron, Lirondel Hazineh, Karen Frensch, Michele Preyde

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

The Life Domain Series describes the community adaptation of children and youth graduating from residential and intensive family service children’s mental health programs in multiple life domains (education and work, social involvements, family and health). This full length report presents evidence from the first and second phases of longitudinal research about how children who were involved with residential and intensive family service mental health programs are doing in school and at work.

Social Impact, Edward F. Lawler, Tonya E. Edmonds, Enola K. Proctor, Ellen Rostand, Julie Kennedy, Jessica Martin, Toky Branding + Design, Donna Boyd, A.J. Boyd

Social Impact Publication

From the Dean: Remember the Past. Imagine the Future. Celebrate Today.;

Perspectives: Temperature Rising: Health Care Reform is Back;

Bookshelf: From Incentives to Intuition: What Faculty and Staff are Reading.;

Perspectives with Melissa Jonson-Reid & Brett Drake: Changing the Role of Child Welfare; Perspectives: SEED for Oklahoma Kids.;

Interview: Q&A with Julian Le Grand;

Connecting Individual Health with Public Health: New interdisciplinary approaches are needed to solve today's health care challenges. The solution lies at the nexus of social work, public health, and medicine.;

The Green Dream: The social work profession has been slow to engage the issue of environmental …

An American's Guide To Cultural Brokering, Jessica Anna Sauer

Honors Program Theses

The United States is the world's largest refugee host, welcoming almost 3 million people in the last 30 years, according to the January 16th, 2007 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle. In addition to refugees, the United States accepted 1,266,264 immigrants in 2006, as stated in the Office of Immigration Statistics 2006 Yearbook of Statistics. Furthermore, the Kids Count Data Center reports that one out of every five children lives in an immigrant family. Clearly, these numbers show that immigrants compose a significant part of our communities.

While the US strives to welcome newcomers, many immigrants are left in the …

Focal Point, Volume 22 Number 01, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

This issue of Focal Point explores how the increasing emphasis on using evidence–based practices and a "system of care" approach is driving changes in jobs and roles related to children's mental health. Articles in the issue describe how agencies and providers of services and supports have responded to these changes by creating new types of positions or by redefining existing roles. The articles also focus on training and other workforce development activities that are required to support these kinds of changes in the workforce.

Executive Summary: Midwest Evaluation Of The Adult Functioning Of Former Foster Youth: Outcomes At Age 21, Mark E. Courtney, Amy Lynn Dworsky, Gretchen Ruth Cusick, Judy Havlicek, Alfred Perez, Thomas E. Keller

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth (Midwest Study) is a longitudinal study that has been following a sample of young people from Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois as they transition out of foster care into adulthood. It is a collaborative effort involving Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago; the University of Wisconsin Survey Center; and the public child welfare agencies in Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. This executive summary report concentrates on the outcomes of 21 year old youth as they "age out" of the child welfare system and transition to adulthood.

How Does Michigan Fare In The Fight To Improve Outcomes For Youth Aging Out Of Foster Care? A Response From The State And One Of Its Communities, Angelique Day, Deboraha Watson

Social Work Faculty Publications

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, one-half-million children are in foster care at any given time, some of whom are over the age of 16. Every year, typically at the age of 18, approximately 20,000 of these children will age out of the foster care system. Many of these youths fi nd themselves making an abrupt transition to adulthood and independence with little or no assistance from their caregivers, biological families, or the child welfare system. Unlike their same-age peers in the general population, they have no safety net if they fail to succeed at navigating …

Focal Point, Volume 21 Number 02, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

Evidence–based programs produce positive outcomes for consumers, providers, and the greater public. However, not all evidence–based programs have been proven to work with diverse groups. This issue of Focal Point features programs that have been developed specifically to meet the needs of underserved youth such as immigrants, rural or homeless youth, and those from racial or sexual minority groups.

Relative Versus Non-Relative Foster Care: A Comparative Study, Victoria Picinich

Social Work Theses

This study explored the benefits and limitations of relative foster care versus non-relative foster care. This study hypothesized, that despite the limitations of relative placement, the emotional benefit to the child placed in a relative setting far outweighs the challenges of it. The methodology employed quantitative and qualitative measurements. An in-depth questionnaire survey was mailed to 150 relative and 150 non-relative providers; and a focus group was facilitated. The study revealed that relative foster care, when available, is superior to non-relative foster care because of the emotional and social connection present as a result of the pre-existing relationship between the …

Family Participation : Exploring The Role It Plays In Outcomes For Youth With Serious Emotional Disorders, Jodi Lee Kerbs

Dissertations and Theses

The participation of families of children with emotional or behavioral disorders is increasingly seen as an essential component of children's mental health services. Although it is frequently discussed in the literature, family participation has not been a major focus of most research surrounding youth with serious emotional disorders (SED). This gap in research is particularly evident in the literature related to those youth who are also in the juvenile justice system. This study explored the concept of family participation in the context of services for youth with SED and examined the relationship between family participation in treatment planning and child …

Social Skills Group Therapy For Children With Emotional And Behavioral Problems, Lilith Chunn

Social Work Theses

The topic of this research was the utilization of social skills group therapy with children with poor social skills and emotional and behavioral problems. The literature explains that group therapy has many benefits to clients that are not available in individual work with clients. Social skills group therapy is theorized to be helpful for children with mental health disorders, especially children who are physically aggressive. In this type of group therapy, it is effective to teach children the phases of using social skills and using discussion and role-play to understand each social skill. A social skills therapy group was conducted …

Determinants Of Substance Abuse Among Incarcerated Adolescents: Implications For Brief Treatment And Crisis Intervention, Stephen J. Tripodi, David W. Springer, Kevin Corcoran

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study assessed the determinants of substance abuse among incarcerated youth. Because substance abuse is a predictor of incarceration and conduct disorder is known to increase the chances of youth abusing substances, the purpose of this study was to determine what seminal symptoms of conduct disorder seem to be the risk factors for substance abusers among incarcerated youth. Data were collected on 83 youth in southern Oregon, 74 males and 9 females. Logistic regression found the overall model containing 6 symptoms of conduct disorder to be significantly related to substance abuse (p , .001). When looking at the 6 symptoms …

Specialized Detention And Correctional Facilities, Christopher A. Mallett, Michael J. Williams, Shawn C. Marsh

Social Work Faculty Publications

The placements covered in this chapter include child and youth residential treatment facilities, juvenile detention and correctional facilities, juvenile sexual offender treatment facilities, women's prisons, and military detention and correctional institutions. For each of these specialized placements, we present their history and current philosophy,outline basic components of design, treatment services, and programming: and review the satus of evidence-based practice.