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San Bernardino County Social Workers' Level Of Assessment Skills And Knowledge Of Resources On Victims Of Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking, Elizabeth Marie Alvarado-Estrada, Juanita Maria Angelica. Guevara

Theses Digitization Project

There were two implications for this study. The first would be to conduct a more complex and in-depth survey and data analysis for researchers to gain a better understanding of the professionals and their needs to serve the population. The second implication would be to incorporate training on assessment skills and resource knowledge for minor victims of sex trafficking in the education of new social workers. This study was done within the San Bernardino County Children and Family Services.

A Case Study Of The Effects Of Privatization Of Child Welfare On Services For Children And Families: The Nebraska Experience, Grace S. Hubel, Alayna Schreier, David J. Hansen, Brian Wilcox

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Privatization, or contracting with non-governmental agencies for provision of state or federally funded services, is a strategy that has gained recent attention from policymakers as a potential tool for successful child welfare reform. The Child Welfare Privatization Initiatives Project was created in 2007 as a joint effort between the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The framework identified by this project produced twelve key considerations for states moving towards a privatized system. This case study considers these twelve considerations in a description of the large-scale effort to …

Social Workers' Perception Of The Effectiveness Of The Parent Partner Program Of San Bernardino County, Maisha Lashawn Albert-Alexander, Marion Estelle Wheeler

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this research is to examine social workers' perception of the effectiveness of the Parent Partner program for the San Bernardino County Children and Family Services. This study employed a quantitative study design using an online survey questionnaire. The sample size consisted of 50 Social Service Practitioners and Social Workers II's throughout San Bernardino County Children and Family Services. San Bernardino County Children and Family Services intends to examine its newly introduced program to determine how well social workers and parents are responding to the use of this early engagement strategy as an effective method for faster family …

Parents With Mental Disabilities: The Legal Landscape, Dale Margolin Cecka

Law Faculty Publications

The ADA, coupled with federal and state child welfare laws, provides broad brush strokes for advocates of parents with mental disabilities and their children. To effectuate parents’ rights, child welfare professionals must work with the parents themselves, as well as with other state departments, to form service plans that are tailored for the success of each individual family.

Advancing Trauma-Informed Systems Change In A Family Drug Treatment Court Context, Laurie Drabble, Shelby Jones, Vivian Brown

Faculty Publications

A growing body of literature documents the importance of trauma-informed and trauma-specific services and systems change in both addiction treatment and child welfare fields. The overall aim of this qualitative study was to explore barriers, benefits, and facilitating factors associated with a trauma-informed systems assessment and improvement initiative conducted in the context of a family drug treatment court (FDTC). Semistructured in-depth interviews with 12 key informants and historical analyses of project documents over a 4-year time span were conducted. Results underscore the relevance of trauma-informed systems change in collaborative contexts designed to address the complex needs of children and families.

Louisiana Department Of Children And Family Services : A Case Study Of Child Welfare Workers' Burnout, Crystal Ward

LSU Master's Theses

Social work can be an extremely gratifying profession. However, social workers who are exposed to graphic realities related to vulnerable and traumatized individuals and families may experience challenging workload demands and increased levels of burnout. To best understand and support these key human service workers, it is important to investigate variables influencing levels of burnout. In this study, the author examined whether specific individual worker characteristics contribute to burnout among child welfare workers in Louisiana. Characteristics were compared to individual variables such as job tenure, agency department, supervisor/front line worker, and educational background. The Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) was completed …

Exploring The Benefits Of A Parent Partner Mentoring Program In Child Welfare, Robin Leake, Laricia Longworth-Reed, Natalie Williams, Cathryn Potter

Journal of Family Strengths

Parent partner mentoring programs are an innovative strategy for child welfare agencies to engage families in case planning and service delivery. These programs recruit and train parents who have been involved in the system and have successfully resolved identified child abuse or neglect issues to work with families with current open cases in the child welfare system. Parent partner mentors can provide social and emotional support, advocacy, and practical advice for navigating this challenging system. Insofar as parent partners share similar experiences, and cultural and socioeconomic characteristics of families, they may be more successful in engaging families and building trusting …

The Children’S Bureau’S Role In Promoting Parent Engagement And Family Support: A Brief History And Current Efforts, Melissa Brodowski, Liliana Hernandez, Angelique Brown, Christine Lamble

Journal of Family Strengths

Over the years, federal child welfare policy has supported parent engagement and family support strategies through various Children’s Bureau funded state formula grant programs, research and demonstration discretionary grants, and technical assistance. This article highlights programs funded by two federal laws, Promoting Safe and Stable Families and the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, and Children’s Bureau’s efforts to test innovations and disseminate knowledge about promising and evidence-based practices regarding parent engagement and family support. The article begins with a brief legislative history and then describes several grant programs that are supported by the legislation. The article concludes with lessons …

Professional Social Workers In The Child Welfare Workforce: Findings From Nasw, Tracy R. Whitaker

Journal of Family Strengths

The U.S. Children’s Bureau has historically recognized the significance of the child welfare workforce in improving the lives of children, youth and families, as well as the important role of social work within that workforce. Although the public may perceive the child welfare workforce as being predominantly comprised of social workers; in fact, fewer than half of child welfare workers have a social work degree. This discrepancy has been attributed to professional shortages, workplace conditions, caseload size and complexity, and low salaries. However, studies initiated by the National Association of Social Workers have found that the profession continues to successfully …

Developing A Framework For Child Welfare Supervision, Miriam J. Landsman, Lisa D'Aunno

Journal of Family Strengths

The roles of the child welfare supervisor in guiding practice and in retaining child welfare workers are well established in the literature. In this article, we discuss a framework for child welfare supervision that was developed and implemented in the state of Iowa with support from the Children’s Bureau through a five-year grant to improve recruitment and retention in public child welfare. The framework supports family centered practice through a parallel process of supervision reflecting these guiding principles: strength-based, competency-based, culturally competent, reflective, individualized to workers’ learning styles and stages of development, and aimed at enhancing worker skill, autonomy, teamwork, …

Guidelines For Child Protection Mediation, Kelly Browe Olson Co-Editor

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Performance Based Contracting On Private Residential Treatment Facilities In Illinois, Kimberly J. Tate

Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Psychotropic Medication Use In Older Foster Youth: A Focus On Racial Differences, Sarah Carter Narendorf

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Problem: The use of psychotropic medications among foster youth has received growing national attention due to high rates of use and concerns about the appropriateness of prescribing. Understanding medication use in older foster youth is of heightened concern as these youth are preparing to transition out of the state custody and assume the management of their mental health care. While it has been established that rates of medication use are high among this population, little is known about the demographic and clinical factors associated with high rates of medication use and what patterns of use look like over time.

Methods: …

Responding To The Child Welfare Workforce Crisis Here And Now: A Constructivist Approach To Understanding Supervision, Abigail K. Wyche

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, the author argues that there is strong evidence that the child welfare workforce continues to be in crisis. While a great deal of research has indicated that supervision is closely linked to the crisis, extremely high rates of turnover have not been notably reduced through the efforts of administrators or academics to change supervisory practices. Therefore, the author makes the case that it is time to employ an alternative methodology—constructivist inquiry. Constructivist inquiry is based on paradigmatic assumptions that make it distinct from the functionalist approach that researchers most commonly use to understand the child welfare workforce …

Every Adolescent Deserves A Parent, Dale Margolin Cecka

Law Faculty Publications

This article argues that all adolescents, indeed all human beings, deserve at least one parent—one person who takes the good with the bad because that person’s life is intertwined with the child’s. The child matters to the parent in a way that a friend, nephew, or foster child may not. Child welfare professionals must never lose sight of this principle when they recruit, train, and maintain parents for adolescents. The parent can be someone who is already in the young person’s life or someone who has been unable to parent in the past, but is now ready to secure that …

The Effect Of Neglect In Infancy On The Ability To Attach To Adoptive Caregivers, Lisa Marie Christoffer

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between neglect in infancy and the child's ability to form attachments in an adoption context. Most of the current research assesses the effect of all forms of maltreatment on attachment behavior. However this study aimed to investigate one type of maltreatment, neglect, on attachment behavior.

Child Welfare Professionals On Kinship Caregivers: Attitudes And Implications, Kimberly Ann Brisebois

Wayne State University Dissertations

In 2006, new policies mandated Ontario child welfare agencies to explore potential placements with kin when children are removed from their homes. The philosophical basis driving Ontario policy is the belief that family-based care is better for children. Despite the dramatic rise in the numbers of kinship homes, controversy continues to surround the mandated exploration of kin (Geen, 2003). Kinship policies have required shifts in child placement practices and have imposed changes in the beliefs, attitudes and norms of child welfare professionals. Early practitioners tended to pathologize kinship networks and worked from the belief that children required rescuing from abusive …

Using Gis To Enhance Programs Serving Emancipated Youth Leaving Foster Care, Catherine Batsche, Steven Reader

Dean's Office Publications

This article describes a GIS prototype designed to assist with the identification and evaluation of housing that is affordable, safe, and effective in supporting the educational goals and parental status of youth transitioning from foster care following emancipation. Spatial analysis was used to identify rental properties based on three inclusion criteria (affordability, proximity to public transportation, and proximity to grocery stores), three exclusion criteria (areas of high crime, prostitution, and sexual predator residence), and three suitability criteria (proximity to health care, mental health care, and youth serving organizations). The results were applied to four different scenarios to test the utility …

Therapeutic Jurisprudence And Child Protection, Shelley M. Kierstead

Comparative Research in Law & Political Economy

An intricate weave of public/private, legal/emotional, and inter-disciplinary elements make child protection law capable of attracting rich analyses from a therapeutic jurisprudence perspective. This article considers avenues that professionals working within the child welfare system can adopt to facilitate the emotional well-being of the parties involved while respecting the legal system values that apply to the regime. It calls for a stronger understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of the array of professionals regularly involved in child protection matters, and better communication amongst these professionals so that they do not inadvertently end up working at cross purposes. Finally, the work offers …

Using Intelligence To Shape Reforms In Child Protection, Helen Buckley

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

The Ryan Report, published in 2009, was not the first review of child welfare services to raise disquiet. Nevertheless it was unique in that its recommendations went beyond the deficits exposed by the report to comment on the entire child protection system. It is generally acknowledged that the model of child welfare that was the object of the Ryan Report no longer operates, and has been replaced by community based services and a system of regulated out of home care. However, on publication of the report, the government appeared to question whether, with what we now know, we can be …

Identifying Potential Mediators And Moderators Of The Association Be-Tween Child Maltreatment And Bullying Perpetration And Victimization In School, Jun Sung Hong, Dorothy L. Espelage, Andrew Grogan-Kaylor, Paula Allen-Meares

Social Work Faculty Publications

A growing body of literature is demonstrating associations between childhood maltreatment and bullying involvement at school. In this literature review, five potential mediators (explanatory) and three potential moderators (mitigates or exacerbates) of the association between childhood maltreatment and school bullying are proposed. Mediators include emotional dysregulation, depression, anger, and social skills deficits. Moderators reviewed include quality of parent-child relationships, peer relationships, and teacher relationships. Although there might be insurmountable challenges to addressing child maltreatment in primary or universal school-based prevention programs, it is possible to intervene to improve these potentially mediating and moderating factors.

The Connection Between Permanency And Education In Child Welfare Policy, Kele Stewart

Articles

No abstract provided.

Family Meetings : Facilitators Reflect On Neutrality And Family Empowerment, Ona B. Belser

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Abstract

Child Welfare Cases Involving Mental Illness: Reflections On The Role And Responsibilities Of The Lawyer-Guardian Ad Litem, Frank E. Vandervort

Articles

Child welfare cases involving mental illness suffered either by a child or his parent can be among the most difficult and perplexing that a child’s lawyerguardian ad litem (L-GAL) will handle. They may present daunting problems of accessing necessary and appropriate services as well as questions about whether and when such mental health problems can be resolved or how best to manage them. They also require the L-GAL to carefully consider crucially important questions—rarely with all the information one would like to have and too often with information that comes late in the case, is fragmented or glaringly incomplete. This …

Building Resilience In Foster Children: The Role Of The Child's Advocate, Frank E. Vandervort, James Henry, Mark A. Sloane

Articles

This Article provides an introduction to, and brief overview of trauma, its impact upon foster children, and steps children's advocates" can take to lessen or ameliorate the impact of trauma upon their clients. This Article begins in Part 11 by defining relevant terms. Part III addresses the prevalence of trauma among children entering the child welfare system. Part IV considers the neurodevelopmental (i.e., the developing brain) impact of trauma on children and will explore how that trauma may manifest emotionally and behaviorally. With this foundation in place, Part V discusses the need for a comprehensive trauma assessment including a thorough …

Client-Provider Relationship And Treatment Outcome: A Systematic Review Of Substance Abuse, Child Welfare, And Mental Health Services Research, Christina Andrews

Faculty and Staff Publications

This systematic review reports on the association of the client-provider relationship with service outcomes across 3 service sectors: substance abuse, child welfare, and mental health. The review includes 60 research reports meeting inclusion criteria: 25 in substance abuse, 7 in child welfare, and 28 in mental health. For each social service sector, we analyze the association of the client-provider relationship to intermediate and ultimate outcomes. In addition, we examine potential moderating mechanisms of rater type (i.e., client, provider, and observer) and treatment setting (i.e., inpatient, outpatient, other). Social services research increasingly seeks to identify the active elements that affect outcomes …

Helping Government Agencies Become More Effective And Efficient: Discovering ‘Catalytic Combinations’ In Public Child Welfare Reform, Dara Menashi, Christopher Behan, Kathleen Noonan

The Foundation Review

· This article describes work of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Casey Strategic Consulting Group (CSCG), a 10-year, multistate initiative that embeds outside experts – both public-system and traditional management consulting – in child and family services systems to improve system performance and outcomes.

· The article describes five types of levers that were influenced in different combinations to promote change in different state systems. We call these “catalytic combinations.”

· In numerous states, including Maine, Louisiana, Virginia, and Indiana, the CSCG initiative produced measurable improvements in key performance areas, including shortening stays in foster care, improving rates of permanent …

Changing The Narrative Of Child Welfare, Matthew I. Fraidin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In child welfare, the difference we can make as lawyers for parents, children, and the state, and as judges, is to prevent children from entering foster care unnecessarily. And we can end a child’s stay in foster care as quickly as possible. To do that, we have to fight against a powerful narrative of child welfare and against the accepted “top-down” paradigm of legal services.

In this essay, Professor Fraidin suggests that we can achieve our goals of limiting entries to foster care and speeding exits from it by looking for the strengths of the people involved in our cases, …

Agenda And Reports, Juvenile Welfare Board, December 8, 2011, Juvenile Welfare Board Of Pinellas County

Juvenile Welfare Board Agendas, Minutes, and Historical Audits

Agenda for the December 8, 2011, meeting of the Juvenile Welfare Board. Attached as supplemental files include past meeting minutes and attachments to review before the meeting.

Early Childhood/Child Welfare Priority, Nancy Edick, Samantha K. Ammons, Melissa Cast-Brede, Ann Coyne, Karen Falconer Al-Hindi, Shari Hofschire, Lisa Kelly-Vance, Jay Killion, Sajda Qureshi, Bridget O. Ryalls, Peter Simi, Peter Wolcott

Foundational Documents

This is the executive summary of a white paper that describes the context, current capacity, areas of opportunity, and next steps for the UNO Early Childhood/Child Welfare Priority (ECCW). It responds to the need for comprehensive integrated systems of services designed to give all young children (birth through age eight) access to what they need in the early years to succeed in school and in life. In this context, UNO recognizes ECCW as critical to our metropolitan university mission. Further, we must come together with early childhood service providers, P-12 districts, parents, policy makers, other University of Nebraska campuses, community …