Social Welfare Commons^™

Hong Kong In Brief: Children’S Subjective Well-Being, Stefan Kühner, Maggie Lau

IPS Policy Brief

The research is conducted by Professor Stefan Kuehner and Professor Maggie Lau, Lingnan University and is funded by Children’s Worlds (ISCWeB, funded by the Jacobs Foundation), completed the third wave of their international survey, asking over 128,000 children in 35 societies worldwide about their lives.

The Housing Department Rent Stabilization Program In The City Of San José: Has The Tracking Of Tenant Protection Ordinance Eviction Notices Been Successful To Understand Rent And Eviction Trends From 2019 To 2020?, Viviane Nguyen

Master's Projects

This study is a two-part process evaluation of the RSP’s tracking of TPO (2017) just cause eviction filings. This study also intends to understand the RSP’s collected data when it is properly processed. This study’s research questions are as follows: Was the RSP’s process for tracking just cause evictions working to achieve the program’s goal in determining eviction outcomes? At what levels did landlords pursue just cause evictions for failure to pay rent? Is there a significant disparity between market-rate property managers’ eviction filings and rent-controlled apartment landlords’ eviction filings?

Life, Liberty Or The Pursuit Of Happiness In A Post-Covid 19 Era, Aurobindo Ghosh, Amit Haldar, Kalyan Bhaumik

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

A multi-generational pandemic has afflicted economies and convulsed worldwide health systems putting policymakers on prongs of an unthinkable trinity of choice: life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness? These inalienable rights guaranteed by the US Declaration of Independence seem farcical with three of largest four democracies in the world accounting for the highest infections. In this opinion piece, we re-evaluate the clichéd debate between life and livelihood. Second, we investigate the implementation hurdles faced by the frontline medical policymakers expediting testing regimes and vaccine development to avert an unfolding catastrophe. Medical professional are opting for mitigation strategies like isolating infections …

Does Your Agency Embrace Evidence -Based Management Practices?, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Child welfare agencies are encouraged to use evidencebased practices in all aspects of their work to try to improve outcomes for children and families. The child welfare field has made improvements in using data, research, and evaluation to inform practice and decision-making, but still has a ways to go. The primary goal of the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) is to build the evidence base regarding strategies to strengthen the child welfare workforce. One means of practicing evidence-based management for improving workforce outcomes is using workforce analytics. As part of the Child Welfare Workforce Analytics Institute, the QIC-WD …

Louisiana Progress Update- Redesigning The Child Welfare Worker Position, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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When there is a high workload, there is often a lot of turnover and when there is a lot of turnover the remaining workforce has an even greater workload. The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) was all too familiar with this negative cycle and the impact it was having on its child welfare workforce. When DCFS became a Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) site, they were ready to make a significant change to their workforce operations. After a thorough needs assessment, DCFS decided to work with the QIC-WD on a job redesign project to strengthen …

Informal Learning Behaviors, Megan Paul, Robert Blagg

Umbrella Summaries

What are informal learning behaviors?

Informal learning behaviors (ILBs) are self-directed, intentional activities to acquire knowledge and skill outside of formal learning environments (Cerasoli, Alliger, Donsbach, Mathieu, Tannenbaum, & Orvis, 2017). Informal learning is distinct from learning that is externally imposed or required, involves structured content or processes, or occurs accidentally (Cerasoli et al., 2017). It is the day-to-day, on-the-job learning that occurs in the workplace. ILBs include things like observing, asking questions, seeking information, and practicing (Cerasoli et al., 2017). A highly related behavior is seeking feedback, which is sometimes described as a form of informal learning but has …

Virginia Progress Update - The Timely Implementation Of A Technology Solution, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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The pandemic is pushing the U.S. workforce to adapt and seek mobile solutions to carry out key tasks. Virginia’s child welfare workforce strengthening effort, supported by the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD), includes a transcription service and a mobile solution (an application or app) on iPads to help the workforce manage their administrative and family engagement tasks out of the office. The effort began in 2017 but demand has been heightened by the pandemic. This post summarizes what the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) has accomplished and learned as they roll out new technology to thousands of …

Workplace Supports For Lgbt Employees, Toby Burnham, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are workplace supports for LGBT employees?

Workplace supports for LGBT employees are organizational policies and practices that are thought to improve the work experiences of LGBT employees and foster diversity within an organization. Although there isn’t one set of specific workplace supports for LGBT employees, one way of summarizing the contextual supports in the workplace is to categorize them as (a) formal LGBT-supportive policies and practices, (b) LGBT-supportive climates, and (c) supportive workplace relationships (Webster, Adams, Maranto, Sawyer, & Thoroughgood, 2017). Formal policies and practices that are supportive of LGBT employees include things like same-sex benefits coverage, LGBT resource …

Perspectives From A Prevention Team, Jaqueta Taylor, Rynika Polk, Jackie Gooch

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Louisiana’s redesign includes the creation of prevention teams. The prevention teams include one supervisor, three child protective services (CPS) workers, two family services (FS) workers, and one child welfare team specialist. Over the course of the past year each team was established, trained, and worked together to build a cohesive unit. Team members expressed a mix of excitement and concern about their new roles. The redesign meant the supervisor was managing new team members, workers were delegating tasks they were previously responsible for, and team specialists were new to the team and had to establish trust with their coworkers. The …

My Experience With Cfs Strong, Lana Sayre

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I am a child and family services specialist supervisor with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. A few years ago, I volunteered to take over for another member of the workforce retention team that was working with the QIC-WD to develop/select an intervention that Nebraska could implement to reduce employee turnover among child and family services specialists (CFSS), our frontline worker position. Employee retention is a constant, ongoing challenge. Our work is challenging and very stressful. You have to be an expert in child safety and have a broad understanding of all of the issues which affect the …

Presenteeism, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is presenteeism?

Presenteeism is not simply a matter of attending, or being physically present, at work. Rather, it refers to going to work while ill and, in some cases, also includes the concept of lost productivity as a result (Johns, 2010; McGregor, Sharma, Magee, Caputi, & Iverson, 2017). Unlike absenteeism, which can be measured through personnel records, presenteeism is measured by employee self-report via surveys or interviews. For the more limited definition (going to work ill), employees are asked whether or how often in the past they showed up to work when they were sick and should have taken …

Grit, Maggie Thompson, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is grit?

Grit is a personality trait that is defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals” (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007, p. 1087) and as “… not just resilience in the face of failure, but also having deep commitments that you remain loyal to over many years” (Perkins-Gough, 2013, p. 14). It has been conceptualized as a higher-order trait comprised of two lower order facets: perseverance of effort (the tendency to work hard even in the face of setbacks) and consistency of interest (the tendency to not frequently change goals and interests). The two primary self-report measures …

Diversity Training, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is diversity training?

Diversity training refers to a “distinct set of instructional programs aimed at facilitating positive intergroup interactions, reducing prejudice and discrimination, and enhancing the skills, knowledge, and motivation of participants to interact with diverse others” (Bezrukova, Spell, Perry, & Jehn, 2016, p. 1,228). In the absence of a standard approach, there has been significant variation in the design and context of diversity training.

The following characteristics have been identified as differing across trainings reported in the research literature (Bezrukova et al., 2016):

► Content Focus: Group-specific training focuses on learning about one or more specific groups (e.g., …

“Deserting The Broad And Easy Way”: Southern Methodist Women, The Social Gospel, And The New Deal State, 1909-1939, Chelsea Hodge

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the course of three decades, white southern Methodist women took on issues of labor and poverty through their national women’s organization, the Woman’s Missionary Council (WMC). Between 1909 and 1939, the WMC focused their work on five groups of people they viewed as in need of their help: women, children, black southerners, immigrants, and rural people. Motivated by the Social Gospel and an intense belief that their faith led them to effect real change in the American South, the WMC intervened in people’s lives, pursuing reform that could at times be maternalistic and condescending but at other times radical …

The Refinement Of Slum-Like Structure Based On The Sustainable View: Changqian Residential In Wuhan City As An Example, Yucheng Liu

International Programs

No abstract provided.

Working Children On Java Island 2017, Yuniarti

International Programs

Children's wellbeing has currently become a global concern as many of them are engaged in the labor force. A small area estimation (SAE) technique, EBLUP under Fey Herriot model, is employed to reveal their number in regencies of Java Island. Statistics have been disaggregated by geographical location (urban/rural) and gender. These statistics are required by the government as the basis for policy making.

What We Know About Pandemics And The Stress They Cause, Anita Barbee

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Pandemics are not new, but they significantly impact how we work, socialize, and manage our health. This can be especially difficult for those in the helping professions for whom face-to-face contact and travel are part of their daily routine. This blog post explains what a pandemic is and the stress that it causes. What is a Pandemic? When the spread of a disease escalates, it can become a pandemic, affecting a wide geographical area and a significant portion of the population. Pandemics are marked by uncertainty, confusion, and a sense of urgency which may be exacerbated by the inundation of …

Managing Stress While Working From Home During The Pandemic: Strategies For Self-Care, Andrew Winters

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Stress is often driven by feeling a lack of control over things you once had control over. This lack of control can create feelings of anxiety, depression, and even anger. This blog post highlights some elements of self-care that can help you stay present and regain a sense of control where you can. Manage your newsfeed How much information are you consuming about the pandemic? Too much news can add to your stress. Try to minimize your consumption of news about the outbreak to once a day, preferably in print format (e.g. magazines, newspapers) and limit your exposure to media …

Reported Crime In Map Communities Compared With Other Nyc Areas. Map Evaluation Update Number 5., Jeffrey A. Butts, Sheyla A. Delgado, Richard A. Espinobarros, Gina Moreno

Publications and Research

This is the fifth of six Evaluation Updates reporting interim results from John Jay College’s evaluation of the New York City Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety (MAP). The study analyzes public safety outcomes in 17 public housing developments participating in the MAP initiative and finds meaningful and sometimes statistically significant improvements.

Mindfulness, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is described as “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p. 22). Instead of being on autopilot and reacting in reflexive and mindless ways, perhaps with a focus on the past or the future, it is about being fully aware of and present in the moments of our lives. The nonjudgmental aspect is about not leaping to “likes and dislikes, opinions and prejudices, projections and expectations” (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p. 23) and instead observing without evaluating. Mindfulness is considered both a trait and a state. Trait mindfulness refers …