Social Work Commons^™

Native American Young People In The Transition To Adulthood: Perceptions Of Challenges And Supports, Terry L. Cross, Pauline Jivanjee, Abby Bandurraga, Barbara J. Friesen, L. Kris Gowen, Cori Matthew

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This presentation focuses on native American youth and how work with this population can be improved by following the Relational World View as a theoretical framework. Discusses practice-based evidence findings and development of the NAYA Assessment Tool, and the Finding Our Way study methods. Findings of the study explore young people's perceptions of challenges, needs and supports. Finally, the presenters discuss expansion of the assessment tool to address transition domains.

Social Workers' Perspectives On Placement Stability, Joseph Charles Van Campen, Susan May Copple

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to obtain opinions of social workers on placement stability. Specifically the study examined social workers' opinions of present placement tools, their thoughts on alternative placement tools, and other factors that would promote placement stability for foster youth.

Social Workers' Awareness Of Permanency Readiness Services In San Bernardino Children And Family Services, Maria Vanessa GáLvez, Cynthia Morales Guerra

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to explore social workers' awareness of permanency readiness in the county of San Bernardino Children and Family Services within the foster care system. The intent was to update social workers on how to develop with youth, caregivers and other partners, successful strategies to improve transition practice and outcomes in their daily comprehensive assessments, planning, and practice (Family 2 Family, 2012).

Youth Advocate To Advocate For Youth: The Next Transition, Lacy Kendrick Burk, Johanna Bergan

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

A growing youth movement across the country has developed a vast number of youth and young adult leaders who are passionate and experienced in sharing their stories to create positive systems change. Many strong youth groups and organizations, authentic youth/adult partnerships, federal grant programs, and research and training centers across the country support this movement. Even more importantly, the movement is sustained by the energy and passion of the young leaders and those who support youth voice.

This guide is intended for young people who have chosen to utilize their lived experience as a mechanism to advocate for positive change. …

Pathways To Positive Futures: State-Of-The-Science Conference Proceedings, Janet Walker, Kris Gowen, Pauline Jivanjee, Celeste Laurana Moser, Claudia Sellmaier, Nancy Koroloff, Eileen Brennan

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Over the last decade, evidence has mounted showing that young people with serious mental health conditions experience a variety of challenges as they mature into adulthood. On average, their educational, economic and vocational outcomes are distinctly worse than their peers’, and they are more likely to experience homelessness, to struggle with substance use, and to be involved with corrections systems. In 2009, researchers at the Regional Research Institute at Portland State University applied for and received a grant from the National Institute for Disability Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR, US Department of Education) and the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS, US …

Implementing The Peer Support Specialist Role: Providing Direct, Individualized Support In A Local Program, Research And Training Center For Pathways To Positive Futures, Youth Empowerment Support Program

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This information brief provides an example of how one locally-initiated program has implemented the Peer Support Specialist role for youth and young adults with serious mental health conditions. The brief covers aspects of training, coaching, supervision, role definition and financing; and describes challenges and solutions.

Implementing The Peer Support Specialist Role: Youth Peer Support In Wraparound, Research And Training Center For Pathways To Positive Futures, Youth And Family Training Institute

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This information brief provides an example of how one state has implemented and supported the Peer Support Specialist role for youth with serious mental health conditions. The brief covers aspects of training, coaching, supervision, role definition and financing; and describes a series of challenges and solutions.

“I Bloomed Here”: A Guide For Conducting Photovoice With Youth Receiving Culturally- And Community-Based Services, Abby Bandurraga, L. Kris Gowen, Finding Our Way Team

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Photovoice (PV) is a way to get young people engaged in their communities and be featured as “experts on their own lives” (Wang, et al., 2004). The process involves giving youth cameras they can use to document the realities of their day-to-day experiences and highlight the strengths and challenges within their communities. The photographs they take and the stories that emerge from small group discussions around the pictures are used to engage in important discussions with policymakers, community leaders, and power brokers within the community in order to promote positive change.

In this guide we have provided helpful strategies based …

Strengthening Family Support For Young People With Mental Health Needs In The Transition To Adulthood: A Tip Sheet For Service Providers, Pauline Jivanjee, Eileen Brennan, Claudia Sellmaier, Pathways Transition Training Collaborative

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This document instructs service providers in strategies for engaging families supporting young people with the transition to adulthood.

Tips On Core Competencies For Transition Service Providers, Pauline Jivanjee, Eileen Brennan, Claudia Sellmaier, Pathways Transition Training Collaborative

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This document describes ten competencies that transition service providers working with young people with mental health difficulties should develop in order to be effective.

Focal Point, Volume 26, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

This issue of Focal Point focuses on the recognition that mental health and physical health should not be considered separately. It addresses how the mind and body impact each other, and how we can strive to achieve balance within ourselves.

Healthy Body -- Healthy Mind, L. Kris Gowen

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The author's introduction to this issue of Focal Point, which focuses on the interrelationship of mind and body, and its impact for social work with youth.

Emancipated Foster Youths' Perceptions Of Their Relationships With Their Social Workers, Joni Renee Dominguez, Lakesha Lavone Spivey

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to examine emancipated foster youths' perceptions of their relationships with their social workers while in the foster care system.

Strategic Sharing Workbook: Youth Voice In Advocacy, Eric Lulow

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This workbook is for individuals who have experienced traumatic life experiences and are interested in sharing their stories in an effort to promote change. Training in Strategic Sharing is an important part of advocacy – we encourage anyone who has experienced traumatic life events and wishes to share those experiences in an effort to promote positive changes for yourself and/or others, to do so with the help of this guide.

As you will see mentioned several times in this workbook, it is really important that you take the time to take care of yourself. This training was not developed to …

Focal Point, Volume 25, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

This issue of Focal Point is about Healthy Relationships and their effects on young adults with mental health conditions. While most of the articles focus on the positive aspects of relationships, others highlight more negative experiences and their impacts.

Innovation In Collaboration: The Summer Institute On Youth Mentoring As A University-Community Partnership, Kevin R. Jones, Thomas E. Keller, Marc E. Wheeler

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The article explores the utility and flexibility of one of the more comprehensive partnership frameworks by using it to a university-based summer institute designed to foster the exchange of knowledge between practitioners and researchers in the field of youth mentoring. It states that youth mentoring is a well-known and prevalent mode of intervention with youth and children across the U.S. The Summer Institute on Youth Mentoring at Portland State University was developed to provide a new and distinctive educational chance for experienced youth and mentoring experts. Portland State University became known as a pioneer in facilitating collaboration between youth mentoring …

Healthy Relationships, L. Kris Gowen

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The author's introduction to this issue of Focal Point, focused on healthy relationships. Offers background information and brief synopses of the articles contained in this issue.

Focal Point, Volume 24, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

The articles included in this inaugural issue of the "new" Focal Point address "Transitions to Adulthood" from the perspectives of researchers, youth, family, and professionals. [This is the first issue of Focal Point as published by the Research and Training Center for Pathways to Positive Futures; previous issues had been published under the preceding RTC for Family Support and Children's Mental Health.]

Why It Makes Sense To Practice Child Welfare Social Work In The Public School System: An Evaluation Study, Desiree Joanne Robinson Moody

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to propose why it makes sense to practice child welfare social work in the public school system (kindergarten through 12th grade), and to evaluate why there is a need for child protective services (CPS) child welfare social workers to be active and out-stationed in the public school setting. A questionaire was developed to interview and obtain responses from nine experienced retired and prior social workers.

Focal Point, Volume 23 Number 02, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

This issue of Focal Point highlights a number of successful and innovative efforts to promote youth voice and youth empowerment. Many of the articles are authored by or include contributions from youth who are directly involved in the featured programs.

Mapping The Participatory Process, Barbara J. Friesen, L. Kris Gowen, Pauline Jivanjee, Abby Bandurraga

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This presentation explores the use of Practice-Based Evidence methodologies to support social work with Native American youth. It is based on a five-year collaborative effort between the Native American Youth and Family Center, National Indian Child Welfare Association, and the Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health. The researchers aims were to develop strategies for documenting the effectiveness of services, and to develop a process for conducting evaluations based on known outcomes of community based programs.

Establishing Adult Lifelong Connections For Emancipating Foster Youth, Tylia Lindsey Jones

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to examine the ways in which Riverside County Children's Social Services Workers (CSSW's) are establishing adult lifelong connections for emancipating foster youth. Interviews were conducted with CSSW's from the Independent Living Program (ILP) and the Planned Permanency Living Arrangement (PPLA) units. The purpose of the interviews was to identify resources that CSSW's are using to secure adult lifelong connections for youth transitioning out of the foster care system.

Focal Point, Volume 23 Number 01, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

Stigmatization can result in exclusion of and discrimination against the stigmatized individual. This issue of Focal Point provides state-of-the-art information about stigmatization, its causes and consequences, and strategies and programs for alleviating it.

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 …

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.

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.

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.

Transitional Difficulties Among Foster Youth: A Look At Social Support And Attachment, Ashley Megan Brady, Kyra Kristine Dotter

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study is to examine the level of social support in a sample of foster youth nearing emancipation. Additionally this study seeks to examine if a relationship between social support and anxious and/or avoidant attachment styles can be observed.

The Perceived Educational Barriers Of Foster Youth: Social Workers' Perspectives, Barbara Marruth Castro, Nancy Ramirez

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to assess social worker perspectives on challenges that foster youth encounter in attaining adequate educations. Social workers need to be able to identify the best services and resources that will help this population continue their educational advancement.

Focal Point, Volume 21 Number 01, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

This Focal Point issue focuses on child traumatic stress, particularly as experienced by children involved in the child welfare system. The causes and effects of traumatic stress are discussed, as are evidence-based treatments, and prevention strategies.