Social Work Commons^™

Do Haphazard Reviews Provide Sound Directions For Dissemination Efforts?, Eileen Gambrill, Julia H. Littell

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

No abstract provided.

Toward Evidence-Informed Policy And Practice In Child Welfare, Julia H. Littell, Aron Shlonsky

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

Drawing on the authors’ experience in the international Campbell Collaboration, this essay presents a principled and pragmatic approach to evidence-informed decisions about child welfare. This approach takes into account the growing body of empirical evidence on the reliability and validity of various methods of research synthesis. It also considers wide variations in the cultural, economic, and political contexts in which policy and practice decisions are made—and the contexts in which children live and die. This essay illustrates the use of Campbell and Cochrane systematic reviews to inform child welfare decisions in the diverse contexts that exist around the globe.

Study Quality Assessment In Systematic Reviews Of Research On Intervention Effects, Kathleen Wells, Julia H. Littell

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

Objective

The goal of this study is to advance an approach to the assessment of the quality of studies considered for inclusion in systematic reviews of the effects of social-care interventions.

Method

To achieve this objective, quality is defined in relation to the widely accepted validity typology; prominent approaches to study quality assessment are evaluated as to their adequacy.

Results

Problems with these approaches are identified.

Conclusion

A formal, yet explicit, multidimensional approach to assessment grounded in substantive issues relevant to the intervention and the broader context in which it is embedded is promoted. Uncritical and exclusive use of indicators …

Recruiting Urban Latina Adolescents And Their Families: Challenges And Lessons Learned In Suicide Attempts Research, Luis H. Zayas, Carolina Hausmann-Stabile, Allyson M. Pilat

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

Recruiting samples with unique characteristics dispersed across services and geography is hard to identify because of legal status and stigma create research challenges. Public health, however, requires sustained recruitment efforts. We describe challenges and solutions in recruiting urban adolescent Latinas who had attempted suicide. Procedures for recruitment and human subject protections were established, yet logistic obstacles emerged. Program directors failed to support the research; therapists were slow to identify subjects and to meet inclusionary criteria; numbers of prospective participants were lower than originally calculated; girls and parents were hard to reach; and interview appointments were missed. From challenges came solutions: …

Review Of The Battle For Welfare Rights: Politics And Poverty In Modern America, By Felicia Kornbluh, Sanford F. Schram

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

No abstract provided.

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 …

Devolution, Discretion, And The Effect Of Local Political Values On Tanf Sanctioning, Richard C. Fording, Joe Soss, Sanford F. Schram

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

One of welfare reform's most significant consequences is the devolution of policy-making authority from the federal government and states to local governments and frontline workers. What is perhaps less often appreciated is that devolution of authority to state governments has been accompanied by a significant decentralization of policy-making authority within states. As a result, prior research has not given sufficient attention to local political context as a factor shaping program implementation. This article examines the effect of local political values on the use of sanctions to penalize welfare recipients. Analyzing administrative data from the Florida Department of Children and Families …

Review Of Culture Troubles: Politics And The Interpretation Of Meaning, By Patrick Chabal And Jean-Pascal Daloz, Sanford F. Schram

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

No abstract provided.

Review Of The Poorhouse: America's Forgotten Institution, By David Wagner, Jim Baumohl

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

No abstract provided.

Review Of Backlash Against Welfare Mothers: Past And Present, By Ellen Reese, Sanford F. Schram

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

No abstract provided.

The Case For Multisystemic Therapy: Evidence Or Orthodoxy?, Julia H. Littell

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

In this paper, I respond to comments by Henggeler, Schoenwald, Borduin, and Swenson [Henngeler, S. W., Schoenwald, S. K., Borduin, C. M., & Swenson, C. C. (this issue). The Littell paper: Methodological critique and meta-analysis as Trojan horse. Children and Youth Services Review, doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2005.07.001] on my recent article, “Lessons from a systematic review of Multisystemic Therapy”. I identify factual and logical errors in their response, show how relevant research has been misinterpreted and misrepresented, and suggest constructive new directions for Multisystemic Therapy and the evidence-based practice movement.

Review Of Systematic Reviews In The Social Sciences, By Mark Petticrew And Helen Roberts, Julia H. Littell

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

No abstract provided.

Correlates Of Problem Recognition And Intentions To Change Among Caregivers Of Abused And Neglected Children, Julia H. Littell, Heather Girvin

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

Objective

To identify individual, family, and caseworker characteristics associated with problem recognition (PR) and intentions to change (ITC) in a sample of caregivers who received in-home child welfare services following substantiated reports of child abuse or neglect.

Methods

Caregivers were interviewed at 4 weeks, 16 weeks, and 1 year after referral for in-home services. In these interviews, the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment scale assessed PR and ITC in relation to caregiving practices. Additional data were obtained from administrative records and surveys of in-home services caseworkers. We used growth models to identify caregiver, family, and caseworker characteristics associated with …

Childhood And Adolescent Neighborhood Effects On Adult Income: Using Siblings To Examine Differences In Ordinary Least Squares And Fixed-Effect Models, Thomas P. Vartanian, P. W. Buck

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

Using sibling data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this article examines the effects of child and adolescent neighborhood conditions on adult income. Estimates from fixed-effect models and ordinary least squares regression (OLS) models are compared at four stages of childhood development, with three important findings. First, OLS models that include extensive control variables do not necessarily overstate the effects of neighborhoods. Second, neighborhoods have both linear and nonlinear relationships with adult economic well-being. Third, neighborhoods exert effects on even the youngest children.

Caregivers' Readiness For Change: Predictive Validity In A Child Welfare Sample, Julia H. Littell, Heather Girvin

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

Objective:

To assess the predictive validity of continuous measures of problem recognition (PR), intentions to change (ITC), and overall readiness for change (RFC) among primary caregivers who received in-home services following substantiated reports of child abuse or neglect.

Method:

A modified version of the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment scale was included in interviews with a sample of 353 primary caregivers at 4 weeks, 16 weeks, and 1 year after referral for in-home services. Additional data were obtained from administrative records and caseworker surveys. Hierarchical linear and nonlinear models were used to assess relationships between PR, ITC, RFC and …

Review Of Welfare: A Documentary History Of U.S. Policy And Politics, Edited By Gwendolyn Mink And Rickie Solinger, Sanford F. Schram

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

No abstract provided.

Termination Of Supplemental Security Income Benefits For Drug Addiction And Alcoholism: Results Of A Longitudinal Study Of The Effects On Former Beneficiaries, James A. Swartz, Jim Baumohl, Arthur J. Lurigio

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

This article reviews the results of a multisite cohort study on effects of terminating Supplemental Security Income benefits for drug addiction and alcoholism. Within 2 years of the program's termination, 35 - 43 percent of participants requalified for disability benefits for another impairment. Regardless of requalification status, substance abuse treatment participation declined sharply and illegal drug use was prevalent. Although many of those who did not requalify lost income, medical benefits, and housing, these losses lessened over time and were not associated with increased psychological or medical problems or with declines in other aspects of participants' lives.

Review Of Social Work Practice: Toward A Child, Family, School, Community Perspective, By Edith M. Freeman And Marianne Pennekamp, Cynthia D. Bisman

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

No abstract provided.

Review Of State Work: Public Administration And Mass Intellectuality, By Stefano Harney, Sanford F. Schram

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

No abstract provided.

Illusions Of Change: Rethinking The Current Welfare Retrenchment, Sanford F. Schram

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

No abstract provided.

The Methodology Of The Multi-Site Study Of The Termination Of Supplemental Security Income Benefits For Drug Addicts And Alcoholics, James A. Swartz, Peggy Tonkin, Jim Baumohl

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

This paper describes the quantitative and qualitative methodologies used in a nine-site, two-year study of the effects of terminating Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for drug addiction and alcoholism (DA&A). The quantitative component of the study involved a longitudinal survey that collected data on 1,744 former DA&A recipients, representing about one-fourth of the national population, and achieved an aggregate follow-up rate of 82%. Despite limitations in questionnaire design and implementation, the survey provided reasonably valid data in the following areas: demographics, employment/income, medical/psychiatric status, drug and alcohol use, legal involvement, family/social functioning, food and hunger, housing, and victimization. The qualitative component …

The Bottom Line: Employment And Barriers To Work Among Former Ssi Da&A Beneficiaries, Kevin Campbell, Jim Baumohl, Sharon R. Hunt

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

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program for drug addicts and alcoholists (DA&A beneficiaries) ended in January 1997 without any special effort to create employment for those who lost benefits. Relying on data from a nine-site, two-year panel study of 1,764 former DA&A recipients and detailed semistructured interviews with subsamples in four sites, this paper examines employment outcomes and barriers to employment among 611 respondents who lost SSI and did not replace it with another form of publicly funded income assistance. Despite the tight labor market of the late 1990s, this group was plagued by widespread unemployment and sub-employment. At the …

Drink, Drugs And Disability: An Introduction To The Controversy, Sharon R. Hunt, Jim Baumohl

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

This paper reviews the history of the drug addiction and alcoholism (DA&A) program within Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and the controversies that dogged the years before its termination in 1996. The DA&A program began in 1972, and for reasons understood early on, it was susceptible to rapid growth and discrediting scandal. Through the mid-1980s, the program remained very small, mainly because of a conservative judicial climate that limited the ground for claiming substance abuse as a disabling impairment. Once the legal barriers were breached, SSI became an attractive welfare alternative for impoverished substance abusers and for local governments seeking to …

Now Invited To Testify: Former Beneficiaries Appraise The Ssi Drug Addiction And Alcoholism Program, Sharon R. Hunt, Jim Baumohl

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

As part of the larger SSI Study, we conducted detailed semistructured interviews with 156 respondents in four sites. They spoke at length about matters of legislative concern during the reform and subsequent abolition of the drug addiction and alcoholism (DA&A) program. Respondents were quite aware of the problems considered by Congress. Some acknowledged using SSI payments to buy alcohol and other drugs, and a few claimed to have squandered large retroactive payments. Most insisted that they spent their checks wisely, however, and discussed how they did so. With a remarkable degree of consensus, respondents favored the DA&A program's paternalistic features …

Decisions To Appeal, Decisions To Approve: Requalification For Ssi By Former Da&A Beneficiaries, Richard Scott, Jim Baumohl

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

Recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Drug Addiction and Alcoholism (DA&A) benefits had the opportunity to appeal their termination during the six months prior to the end of the DA&A program in January 1997. In this study, we examined factors that affected transition from the DA&A program to continuing SSI benefits based on other qualifying impairments. We treated requalification for SSI as the outcome of two processes: a beneficiary's submission of a request for reconsideration and the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Disability Determination Services' efforts to document a qualifying impairment, culminating in a decision to approve or to deny the …

Drug Treatment Participation And Retention Rates Among Former Recipients Of Supplemental Security Income For Drug Addiction And Alcoholism, James A. Swartz, Kevin Campbell, Jim Baumohl, Peggy Tonkin

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

This study examined drug treatment participation and retention rates for a multisite sample of 1,586 former recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for drug addiction and alcoholism (DA&A). Fewer than half of the sample were complying with the DA&A program treatment mandate at the time the program was terminated by federal legislation in January 1997. For all forms of treatment, both participation and retention rates declined steadily thereafter until fewer than 10% of the total sample reported being in a formal treatment two years after termination of the mandate. Survival analyses comparing treatment retention rates for DA&A beneficiaries with non-DA&A …

Substance Abuse And Welfare Policy At The New Century, Jim Baumohl, Richard Speiglman, James A. Swartz, Roland Stahl

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

Drawing on findings from the SSI Study and other research, this paper takes up various policy questions fundamental to any welfare program for substance abusers. The paper considers the place of disability benefits in the U.S. system of categorical aid and the problems raised by substance abuse for the disability category. It discusses the desirable objectives of a welfare program for substance abusers and the various mechanisms by which they might be achieved. And finally, it considers how any new program might be positioned in the context of categorical aid and American federalism.

Review Of What Government Can Do: Dealing With Poverty And Inequality, By Benjamin I. Page And James R. Simmons, Sanford F. Schram

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

No abstract provided.

Client Participation: Central And Underinvestigated Elements Of Intervention, Julia H. Littell, Leslie B. Alexander, William W. Reynolds

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

Although client participation is central to psychosocial interventions, most investigations conceptualize and measure participation in rather crude ways. This review suggests that essential elements of treatment participation are largely unknown, links between participation and outcomes are not clear, and most investigations of influences on within-treatment variations in participation are based on outdated causal models. Drawing on literature on health and mental health care, this article develops a comprehensive conceptual model of treatment participation. It proposes an agenda for future research aimed at understanding participation phenomena in various contexts.

A Multilevel Model Of Client Participation In Intensive Family Preservation Services, Julia H. Littell, E. A. Tajima

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

We identify two distinct components of parent participation in intensive family preservation services: collaboration in treatment planning and compliance with program expectations. Using hierarchical linear models, we explore influences on collaboration and compliance at the case, worker, and program levels. Effects of cross-level interactions are also examined. Parental substance abuse, mental health problems, minority status, and lack of extended family support predict lower levels of participation. Workers' perceptions of their clients and of their own working conditions appear to influence client participation. Program factors matter as well, although some operate in tandem with case characteristics and worker perceptions.