Social Work Commons^™

Examining The Experiences Of Community College Students, Melanie Snyder, Bayley Saffier, Abigail Mclane, Colleen Keeler, Zsa Zsa Alston

Social Work (Graduate) Student Work

Community colleges often have low graduation and retention rates but are more accessible to individuals from low- and moderate-income backgrounds due to affordable tuition. Receiving financial aid, such as the Pell Grant, has a positive influence on ability to achieve academic goals. The aim of this study was to investigate impeding and strengthening factors that impacted academic goal attainment in community college students eligible for the Pell Grant. Data was collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews with current financially eligible Pell grant community college students (n=62). The research team conducted thematic analysis guided by empowerment and strength-based theories. Participants reported on …

Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence And Coping Among Children In The United States: A Meta-Analysis, Sarah Vengen

Social Work (Undergraduate) Student Work

Thorndike included emotional intelligence (EI) when he defined social intelligence (SI) (Sharma, 2008) due to the influence of social and cognitive functions on SI and EI (Schutte et al., 1998). Salovey and Mayer later developed a Four-Branch Model for EI including the following skills: 1) perceiving/identifying emotions, 2) integrating emotions into thought processes, 3) understanding emotions and 4) managing emotions. A meta-analysis on the construct of EI revealed many available methods for evaluating the presence and extent of EI such as the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory and the Wong and Law EI Scale. These scales and questionnaires measure qualities and …

Supporting Those With Mental Health Diagnoses: An Evidence-Based Practice Guide For Social Work Practitioners, Kimberlie Lassen-Johnson

Evidence-Based Social Work Practice Guide Series

An evidence-based practice guide that explores 5 ways for the general public to support those with mental health and mental health diagnoses. These 5 topics consist of getting to know people with mental health diagnoses, practicing wise mind, re-evaluating your values, establishing boundaries, and challenging your negative thinking.

Economic Stress Among Low Income Latino Adolescent Fathers: An Application Of The Vulnerability-Stress-Adaptation Model, Diana Cedeño, Autumn M. Bermea, Heidi Adams Rueda, Michelle L. Toews

Social Work Faculty Publications

Latino youth are more likely to live under the poverty line and to become adolescent parents. Although research exists examining adolescent mothers, less is known about adolescent fathers, particularly Latino adolescent fathers. Much of what does exist uses a deficit lens, as opposed to one of strength and resilience. Although adolescent fathers sometimes do struggle in their transition to fatherhood, it is critical to understand the positive ways in which they adapt. The present study uses in-depth interviews and applies the vulnerability-stress-adaptation (VSA) model to understand parental adaptation processes among a sample of low-income Latino adolescent fathers (N = …

Trauma-Informed Practice In K-12 Schools: An Evidence-Based Practice Guide For School Administrators, Emily A. Ross

Evidence-Based Social Work Practice Guide Series

This guide will assist K-12 school administrators in implementing better trauma-informed practices in their schools. School administrators consist of leaders and decision-makers in a school system. Specifically, this information is directed toward principals, vice principals, and any other key personnel. Of course, administrators should direct trauma-informed practices with the guidance of school counselors who have the proper training regarding trauma-informed interventions. School counselors’ efforts to promote positive mental health outcomes and social emotional learning will be significantly more impactful with the support of school administrators. The following recommendations are not all inclusive but will lay the groundwork for implementing trauma-informed …

Transforming Impossible Into Possible (Tip) For Fatherhood: An Empowerment-Based Social Work Intervention, Philip Young P. Hong, Dara Lewis, Jang H. Park, Rana Hong, Ed Davies

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

The purpose of this study is to examine the psychological self-sufficiency (PSS) process among low-income men participating in the Transforming Impossible into Possible (TIP) program and explore the implications of TIP as a fatherhood intervention. Sample from 324 men participating in a community-based fatherhood initiative and four local job training programs in a large Midwestern city was used to examine the group differences in PSS as it relates to economic self-sufficiency (ESS). Men in the fatherhood TIP program and those in the general TIP program had significantly greater relationships between PSS and ESS than those in the non-TIP comparison group. …

Breaking The Cycle: Addressing Housing And Employment Needs For Survivors And Justice-Involved Women, Ziwei Qi, Kaiti Dinges, Cristinia Jimenez, Jessica Warren, Jennifer Hecker, Viviana Lizarraga, Maricela Villa, Linda O'Neal, Dung Kimble, Morgan Hart

BRIDGE Resource Hub

The project Breaking the Cycle of Violence—Addressing Economic Independence for Survivors of Gender-based Violence in Rural Communities aims to advance sustainable, survivor-centered solutions in rural settings. Funded through a competitive award, this initiative supports a one-day virtual teach-in held in April 2021, led by four social enterprises based in Colorado and Kansas. These organizations specialize in providing safe housing, job training, and employment opportunities for women survivors of gender-based violence. The workshop showcases innovative models that integrate residential stability with economic empowerment, with particular attention to the heightened vulnerabilities experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants engage in collaborative dialogue to …

Research And Social Activism In Gender-Based Violence, Ziwei Qi, April Terry, Sonia Salari, Annie Fukushima

BRIDGE Resource Hub

This virtual roundtable, Research and Social Activism on Gender-Based Violence, brings together scholars committed to bridging academic research and grassroots advocacy in addressing gender-based violence. Held on March 16, 2021, and sponsored by the Center for Empowering Victims of Gender-Based Violence at Fort Hays State University, the event features interdisciplinary perspectives from Dr. Annie Isabel Fukushima, Dr. Sonia Salari, Dr. April N. Terry, and Dr. Ziwei Qi. Panelists discuss their respective research on human trafficking, elder abuse, rural criminology, and community-based interventions—exploring how structural inequalities, policy gaps, and geographic isolation impact the lived experiences of survivors. Highlighting innovations in …

Input To Sr On Contemporary Forms Of Slavery, Including Its Causes And Consequences Regarding The Role Of Organized Criminal Groups, Peggy Frazier, Katherine Kaufka Walts Jd

Center for the Human Rights of Children

The Center for the Human Rights of Children (CHRC), in collaboration with signatory organizations, submits this input in response to the call for submissions made by the Special Rapporteur’s Report on the Role of Organized Criminal Groups with regard to Contemporary Forms of Slavery to inform the forthcoming report to the 76th session of the General Assembly. This input will focus upon the role of organized criminal groups with regard to child labor trafficking (forced labor), and specifically, forced criminality as a form of forced labor.1 We provide input on cases both in the interior of the United States, and …

Seductive Details In Training, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are seductive details?

In a learning environment, seductive details are interesting but unimportant details that are not necessary to achieve the instructional objective (Garner et al., 1989). The information may be tangentially related to the topic but is not relevant to the main teaching goal. Such details are often included for the purpose of making the topic more interesting and engaging. There are many potential types of seductive details; they can be visual, verbal, or aural—static or dynamic images (e.g., illustrations, photos, animations), written or spoken words (e.g., text, narration), or sounds (e.g., music; Sundararajan & Adesope, 2020).

Why …

Parenting In Poor Health: Examining Associations Between Parental Health, Prescription Drug Use, And Child Maltreatment, Jennifer Price Wolf, Bridget Freisthler, Karla Shockley Mccarthy

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Rationale
Child maltreatment and problematic parenting are related to negative outcomes for children. Poor parental health could be a risk factor for problematic parenting through several mechanisms: 1) inadequate emotional regulation and coping; 2) impairment of parental capacity; and, 3) impairment of the parent-child relationship.
Objective
This study examines relationships between self-rated parental health, prescription drug use, and a broad array of negative parenting outcomes.
Methods
A sample of general population parents of children aged ten and younger was recruited from 30 mid-sized cities in California (n = 681). Weighted mixed-effects negative binomial and logistic regression models were used to …

School Social Workers And Threat Assessment Teams: Exploring Roles, Perceptions, And Outcomes, Alicia Chico

Social Work Doctoral Dissertations

The sordid history of school shootings has changed the school environment and the education system forever. While school shootings are considered a rarity, violence in schools is not. Many entities and agencies work to create safety techniques, procedures, and protocols to keep all students safe, the goal of threat assessment teams is to prevent school violence while supporting the students. In many states, school social workers operate on the fringe of school safety and threat assessment teams. The purpose of this mixed-methods, descriptive study, was to assess the roles of school social workers on threat assessment teams through a researcher-generated …

Occupational Approaches For Reducing Food Insecurity In College Students, Jessica Sabbara, Becki Cohill, Susan Macdermott, Karen Park

Spring 2021 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

Food insecurity is a prevalent problem in the United States (Feeding America, 2021). The COVID-19 pandemic has exasperated existing health disparities including access to the food resources necessary for a healthy lifestyle (Feeding America, 2021). The impact of food insecurity on health, well-being, and quality of life is well-documented Schmelzer & Leto, 2018; Seligman et al., 2010 Emerging adults and college students may experience food insecurity due to limited access to nutrition assistance programming and low food literacy (El Zein, et al., 2019; Owens, et al, 2020). Occupational therapy (OT) practitioners can serve an important role in reducing food insecurity …

The Role Of Occupational Therapy With The Homeless Population: A Scoping Review, Shelby Osborne, Steven M. Gerardi, Gina Benevente

Spring 2021 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

Homelessness is a global and national occurring pandemic. Individuals experiencing homelessness tend to lack education; health resources; stress management; social, independent, vocational, and leisure skills. These causes of homelessness create adverse impacts on occupations leading to situations described as occupational injustice and barriers to occupational engagement. Due to these adverse impacts on occupations, homelessness is of concern to the occupational therapy profession. It is necessary to identify in what behaviors occupational therapy practitioners are engaging with this population to increase occupational performance and decrease occupational injustice.

The theoretical framework of the Model of Human Occupation and the Occupational Therapy Practice …

Adolf Hitler's Religious Beliefs, Zachary Sechler, David Lindsey Snead

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

Pivoting During A Pandemic: School Social Work Practice With Families During Covid-19, Ashey-Marie H. Daftary, Erin Sugrue, Brian D. Gustman, Stephanie Lechuga-Peña

Faculty Authored Articles

The COVID-19 global pandemic led to the unprecedented shuttering of nearly all K–12 public education settings across the United States from March through June 2020. This article explores how school social workers’ roles, responsibilities, and work tasks shifted during Spring 2020 distance learning to address the continuing and changing needs of families and the larger school community. Interviews were conductedd with twenty school social workers in K–12 public schools, across three states, to understand the primary needs of children and families during the pandemic and to learn how school social workers can be most effective in responding to these needs.The …

Supporting The Child Welfare Workforce During The Coronavirus Pandemic: Provision Of Personal Protective Equipment, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Other QIC-WD Products

At the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic some child welfare jurisdictions required continued, in-person contact with children and families, and workers struggled to obtain appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), including masks, gloves, gowns, hand sanitizers, to protect themselves (and their families), as well as their clients. In March of 2020, the National Council on Juvenile Crime and Delinquency conducted a survey of juvenile justice and child welfare agencies in 20 states on agency response to COVID-19. Child welfare agency respondents reported that inadequate PPE was the most significant challenge they faced at that point in the pandemic. Survey recommendations included …

Supporting The Child Welfare Workforce During The Coronavirus Pandemic: Addressing Worker Stress And Trauma, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Other QIC-WD Products

Studies and our own assessment of secondary trauma in the eight QIC-WD study sites indicate that up to 75% of child welfare caseworkers, especially those with high caseloads and exposure to traumatized families and children, are at risk of experiencing secondary traumatic stress and PTSD. The Coronavirus pandemic exacerbated an already beleaguered workforce. Data from previous pandemics is alarming. Research from the SARS pandemic indicates that survivors often developed PTSD which could last for many years. Those most affected were health care workers who, similar to child welfare workers, were impacted by the social isolation imposed by authorities to contain …

Supporting The Child Welfare Workforce During The Coronavirus Pandemic: Technology, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Other QIC-WD Products

The child welfare workforce is responsible for ensuring children’s safety and well-being, delivering treatment, and intervention services to families. Workers must document child and family information, service plans, and visit records in secure data systems, that are often only accessible from an office. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, many states had to rapidly pivot to remote technology to conduct mandatory visits of children in foster care and engage in supervised visitation between children and their families. They also had to determine how to provide oversight of treatment and intervention services required through case plans even though many provider services had …

A Program Review Of Trauma-Informed Mindfulness: An Alternative Treatment Program For Survivors Of Intimate Partner Violence, Nicole Hale

Undergraduate Research Conference

This study was conducted as part of the student’s senior field practicum experience at the Montgomery County Women’s Center (MCWC) during the Spring 2020 semester. Current literature identifies symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (such as stress and anxiety) to be consistent with symptoms experienced by survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). As noted by Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk, a leading expert in the treatment of complex trauma, the goal in treating those who experience symptoms related to PTSD with mindfulness techniques is to help those individuals learn to live and function in the present, without being held …

How Social Work Librarians Connect Social Justice To Information Literacy., Stephen Maher, Carin Graves, Sarah C. Johnson

Publications and Research

In this paper we, as members of the ACRL EBSS Social Work Committee,1 share our experience of developing a companion document to the ACRL Framework.2 Our overarching goal of this project is to clearly demonstrate the overlap between the ACRL Framework and social work’s educational competencies professional ethics. Over the course of this two-year project, we developed a fuller understanding of how social justice—and its corresponding concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion—exist in both professions.

Building Financial Capability And Assets For Disadvantaged Entrepreneurs, Jin Huang, Baorong Guo

Center for Social Development Research

Low wages and material need motivates many to supplement income through entrepreneurship, and policymakers intervened to support such efforts in the COVID-19 economy. What lessons can these supports offer for ongoing efforts to support disadvantaged entrepreneurs? Using data from the 2018 National Financial Capability Study, this brief examines the income volatility and emergency savings of disadvantaged entrepreneurs. The findings suggest the potential of long-term policy mechanisms to improve financial security.

*Socioeconomic Status And Ethnicity: How Does It Affect Civic Engagement?, Jonathan R. Pinero

Campus Research Month

This presentation will cover the someone's civic engagement (voting, community outreach, etc.) and how it is effected by their socioeconomic status and ethnicity.

Suicide On College Campus: An Evidence-Based Practice Guide For College Professors Of Emerging Adults, Tyler Richardson

Evidence-Based Social Work Practice Guide Series

This guide is geared to educate college professors on how to recognize the signs and risks of suicide in their students, and to know specific steps that they can take to help students who may be at risk. There are five suggestions in the guide, that are taken from current research on protective measures that help prevent suicide in at risk populations.

Combating Loneliness In Assisted Living Facilities: An Evidence-Based Practice Guide For Social Work Practitioners Working With Older Adults, Annie Alexis Romano

Evidence-Based Social Work Practice Guide Series

It has been well documented that social needs do not change with aging (Teater, Chonody, & Davis, 2021), but often, older adults are left out of the conversation when it comes to loneliness and the feelings that come with social isolation. In the same way that researchers are de-stigmatizing the mental health conversation for youth and middle-aged adults, we need to bring to light the issues that come with those who live in assisted living facilities or nursing homes and the social issues presented in that population.

An Evidence Based Practice Guide For Parents And Schools: Supporting Kids And Adolescents' Mental Health During And After Covid-19 Pandemic, Ivanna M. Fuentes Javier

Evidence-Based Social Work Practice Guide Series

Adolescent mental health is important to consider by parents and schools. Parents need to build a strengthened mentality in their children and with the school support, the results would be greater. The active participation of schools is needed in order to support kids' and adolescents' mental health and create parent awareness about mental health. Also, when parents are able to identify early signs of mental health problems, they can prevent it from becoming greater and the school can help parents learn about these early signs. In addition, parents play a fundamental role in identifying symptoms of mental health problems in …

Workforce Scorecards, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Workforce Analytics Resources

What Is a Child Welfare Workforce Scorecard?

A Workforce Scorecard is a tool that can be used to track key performance indicators (KPIs) related to workforce outcomes of interest. This approach is derived from the balanced scorecard (Kaplan & Norton, 1992) and HR scorecard (Becker, Huselid, & Ulrich, 2001) strategic planning tools. The process involves linking key strategic goals to workforce-related initiatives and KPIs to demonstrate the alignment between the outcomes being measured and overarching child welfare strategic goals. The scorecard allows agency leaders to monitor progress towards key HR and workforce objectives. The scope of the scorecard can be …

System Archetypes, Mikayla Branz, Allie Farrell, Min Hu, William Liem, Ellis Ballard

Social System Design Lab

K-12 education presents an incredibly complex system that makes solving problems challenging.

Often, we implement changes with the best of intentions, only to see problems get worse rather than better. Many of the structures that cause these patterns can be found all around us - in schools, in businesses, in non-profit organizations, in health systems, and in communities. By learning about these common structures or system archetypes, we can start to identify and anticipate them.

The purpose of this brief is to describe how education stakeholders can use system archetypes as a tool for recognizing, anticipating, and addressing the system …

Framing Dynamic Problems, Ebuwa I. Evbuoma, Allie Farrell, Min Hu, William Liem, Ellis Ballard

Social System Design Lab

No abstract provided.

Mental Models, Lucy Chin, Allie Farrell, Min Hu, William Liem, Ellis Ballard

Social System Design Lab

A central principle of the systems thinking perspective is that system structures are supported and held in place by our underlying beliefs, mindsets, and goals (See Brief 1.01 - Systems Thinking Iceberg). Therefore, in order to transform and redesign systems we must also transform our mindsets. The purpose of this brief is to introduce the concept of mental models, and to discuss how system dynamics tools can be used to elicit, negotiate, and transform them.