Does community and family engagement enhance permanency for children in foster care? Findings from an evaluation of the family-to-family initiative

There is limited research assessing the effectiveness of family engagement for improving permanency for children. An important challenge is that randomized designs are not feasible for evaluating these practices because effective implementation of family engagement requires systemic change. Findings from a national evaluation are presented to illustrate how preliminary evidence can be developed from comprehensive child welfare reform initiatives. The results show when and how family and community participation may facilitate permanency for children.     

Disentangling substantiation: The influence of race, income, and risk on the substantiation decision in child welfare

Understanding the source of disparities found at decision-making points along the child welfare pathway is essential to understanding and addressing the overrepresentation of African American children. Although research has documented the existence of disparities, it has been less successful in identifying the explanatory factors behind them. Critiques of research examining these disparities have suggested that poverty is likely a stronger explanatory factor than race, yet analyses that include measures of poverty using data from child welfare systems have largely not been conducted. This study uses data from the Texas child welfare system to identify the factors contributing to disparities at the substantiation decision. Given the relationship between poverty and child maltreatment, the analyses control for the effect of family income, as well as other factors related to maltreatment, to better understand the effect of race on this decision-making point. Findings indicate that when family income is controlled, race is not a significant factor in the substantiation decision. However, when also controlling for caseworker perceptions of risk, race emerges as the stronger explanatory factor. This suggests not only an important relationship between race, income, and risk assessment, but also that disproportionality in the child welfare system is a complex phenomenon that cannot be explained by a single factor. These results further demonstrate that the effect of racial bias on decision-making remains an important consideration in understanding the overrepresentation of African American children.     

Assessing Observer Effects on the Fidelity of Implementation of Functional Analysis Procedures

Instructing and training others to implement functional analysis (FA) procedures can be a cumbersome and time-consuming task. Students and practitioners are required to learn all of the various components to establish conditions and analyze results while also learning to conduct the sessions. The current study assessed the fidelity of individuals implementing FA conditions after observing and rating the fidelity of videos models, using a multiple-baseline design across FA conditions. Video models of each condition were provided throughout; however, participants were only asked to provide fidelity ratings for one video. Results demonstrated the intervention was successful in increasing participant performance above baseline levels for 16 of 17 participants, with 7 participants requiring an additional intervention in which they were asked to observe their own performance. Further research should evaluate the degree to which this procedure may effectively prepare individuals working with non-confederate children and carry over to other responses and settings.     

Social Work's Role in Prenatal Diagnosis and Genetic Services: Current Practice and Future Potential

Abstract

Although the development of sophisticated technologies associated with prenatal testing processes have assisted in the practice of prenatal diagnosis, limited attention has been given to the complexities surrounding the decision-making processes for pregnant women following a poor or fatal diagnosis. An emerging international body of knowledge suggests that the process of having prenatal testing and then deciding on whether to continue a wanted pregnancy is often difficult and traumatic. In the last 50 years, social workers have played an invaluable role in the provision of holistic counselling and support for children and families in a range of areas and contexts. This paper highlights the unique contributions that social workers can bring to the field of prenatal testing. It emphasises the consideration of strengths and values inherent within social work practice that provides appropriate and timely support for women who have received a poor or fatal diagnosis following prenatal testing.     

Teaching Note—Incorporating Social Innovation Content Into Macro Social Work Education

The practice of social innovation offers promising approaches for addressing social issues. Although many social innovation strategies are congruent with macro social work theory and practice, some of the insights and tactics that have emerged in the social innovation field have the potential to strengthen current macro practice. Based on our experiences with the social innovation program at the Boston College School of Social Work, we focus on 5 aspects of the social innovation cycle and suggest social innovation content that can be incorporated into macro social work curriculum.     

Voices of former foster youth: Supportive relationships in the transition to adulthood

As the adolescent development literature has recognized the importance of social supports in the transition to adulthood, child welfare research, policies, and programs have turned their attention to the relational needs of youth emancipating from the foster care system. This study builds on the extant literature on social support among transitioning foster care youth; it goes beyond the sole identification of relational networks, to explore how youth actually utilize their network members, and the overall quality of their support system. This study collects data from twenty qualitative interviews with foster youth, ages 18–21. We analyze the data using consensual qualitative research methods in order to develop core themes around shared youth experiences. We found that while foster youth did identify a wide network of both formal and informal supports during their transition to adulthood, there were “holes” in the form of support, especially appraisal and instrumental support, provided by informal network members. Additionally, an unrealistic perception of supportive and permanent relationships may be contributing to poor outcomes in emerging adulthood. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

Sidedness in Carrying Objects Other than Infants Resembles Sidedness in Infant Cradling: A Two Nation Study of Gender Differences

Studies have repeatedly documented that 60 to 80 % of adults cradle (or carry) infants on the left side of their bodies. However, very little is known about sidedness tendencies when carrying objects in general. The present naturalistic study examines sidedness among college students as they carried books and other “academic” objects on campus. Special attention was given to sidedness biases in the use of a cradling-like carrying style. Over 2,500 observations were made of non-infant object carrying by college students in Malaysia and the United States. In both countries, females used a cradling-like carrying style much more than did males, while males predominantly carried books beside the hip. Regarding sidedness, there were significant left sided biases in the use of a cradling-like style by females in both countries and by males in Malaysia. Other sidedness differences in object carrying were also found. The left sided bias in infant carrying documented in other studies roughly resembles what this study found regarding the carrying of objects bearing no resemblance to infants, especially by females. Theories for left sided biases in infant cradling need to account for why similar biases exist particularly among females when they are carrying inanimate objects.     

A Cross‐National Look at How Welfare States Reduce Inequality

A major shift in welfare state research occurred at the turn of the century as researchers moved from explaining the development of welfare states and variations in spending across welfare states to a focus on welfare state outcomes. One of the key outcomes examined in the literature is inequality. While much of the early literature examined overall spending, followed by analysis of specific taxes and transfers related to old age, unemployment, disability, health, and families, more recent research has included a broader range of welfare state policies including work‐family policies and flexicurity. This essay highlights some important developments in the research on welfare states and inequality.