State of the art in U.S. multicultural social work practice: Client expectations and provider challenges

ABSTRACT

To obtain a comprehensive view of the level of knowledge and development achieved in multicultural social work practice, I conducted a scoping review of U.S. empirical literature for the 10-year period from 2007 through 2016. The review revealed that across the board racial and ethnic minority clients continue to experience marginalization and report low satisfaction with services. Conversely, providers are subject to some tensions and biases toward multicultural practice exacerbated by employers’ lack of emphasis on cultural competence. The problematic findings from the review suggest that our current approaches to cultural competence may need to be reexamined.     

Examining Direct Service Worker Turnover in Three Long-Term Care Industries in Ohio

This is the first study to examine direct service worker turnover and its predictors across three provider types: nursing homes, home health agencies, and providers of services for the developmentally disabled. Stratified random sampling procedures were used to select provider types across five geographic regions in Ohio. Data were collected from administrative staff. Findings indicated that annual direct service worker turnover did not significantly vary by provider type (mean = 33%). Predictors of turnover related to job burnout, negative social support, and region. Policymakers can promote practices to lower direct service worker turnover such as addressing burnout and increasing support.     

“Don't Leave Me Hanging”: Homeless Mothers’ Perceptions of Service Providers

ABSTRACT

Few interventions have been developed for substance-abusing homeless mothers. Among those interventions, high dropout rates (up to 85%) are consistently reported. Understanding homeless mothers’ experiences with service providers may be an important first step to understanding ways to increase treatment engagement. Therefore, the current study used qualitative methods to gain a better understanding of homeless mothers’ perceptions of service providers. A total of 28 mothers who were currently residing at a homeless shelter in a Midwestern city participated in three focus groups. Overall, mothers held negative perceptions of service providers related to understanding, support, and fear. Based upon this study's findings, recommendations are offered to improve service delivery and guide future research.     

论网络服务提供者在版权法上的地位

网络服务提供者在版权法上的地位是由其在网络上所发挥的功能决定的。当网络服务提供者作为信息内容的提供者直接参与信息交流时,即其在充当网络内容提供者的角色时,其实际在版权法中居于信息"发布者"的地位;当网络服务提供者为用户提供电子邮件账号而充当网络接入服务提供者时,其仅起到一个"传输管道"的作用;当网络服务提供者作为主机服务提供者的法律地位是介于发布者和传播者之间的一种新型信息主体。     

Interpretative accounts of work capacity assessment policy for young adults with disabilities

Young adults with disabilities are a specific target of the welfare-to-work policy introduced by many OECD countries over the past decade. The implementation of these policies is a significant concern for service delivery organisations and advocates in Australia and internationally due to complex intersecting structural barriers that persist for many young adults with disabilities. A particular focus of this article is work capacity assessments. Drawing on socio-political theories and interpretive policy analysis, the 22 in-depth interviews with personnel from service delivery organisations and advocacy organisations reveal how the deemed capacity to work process is not only interpreted as flawed, but the current policy approach disables young adults, perpetuates stigma, and creates division between service users and service providers. The accounts reinforce the need to contest such assessments and instead turn towards a rights-based capability approach permitting young adults with disability self-determination over their education-to-employment pathway.     

Financial Abuse of Older People by a Family Member: A Difficult Terrain for Service Providers in Australia

Financial abuse by a family member is the most common form of abuse experienced by older Australians, and early intervention is required. National online surveys of 228 chief executive officers and 214 aged care service providers found that, while they were well placed to recognize financial abuse, it was often difficult to intervene successfully. Problems providers encountered included difficulties in detecting abuse, the need for consent before they could take action, the risk that the abusive family member would withdraw the client from the service, and a lack of resources to deal with the complexities inherent in situations of financial abuse.     

Transition Programming for Sustainable Livelihoods Beyond Institutional Care in Zimbabwe: Service Providers’ Perspectives

This article explores the perspectives and programme needs of transition service providers (institutions and the government) in preparing and supporting adolescent girls leaving institutional care in Harare, Zimbabwe. Key informant interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with institutional staff from Institution A (government‐owned) and Institution B (privately owned) and social services officers from the Department of Child Welfare and Probation Services. Service providers define successful transition programming as the provision of comprehensive services and support to facilitate the achievement of sustainable livelihoods beyond care and recommend the development of well‐resourced transition models for adolescent girls leaving institutional care.     

The Business of Caring: Women's Self‐Employment and the Marketization of Care

Our goal in this article is to contribute to a differentiated analysis of paid caring work by considering whether and how women's experiences of such work is shaped by their employment status (for example, self‐employed versus employee) and the nature of care provided (direct or indirect). Self‐employed care workers have not been widely studied compared with other types of care workers, such as employees providing domestic or childcare in private firms or private homes. Yet their experiences may be quite distinct. Existing research suggests that self‐employed workers earn less than employees and are often excluded from employment protection. Nonetheless, they often report greater autonomy and job satisfaction in their day‐to‐day work. Understanding more about the experiences of self‐employed caregivers is thus important for enriching existing theory, research and policy on the marketization of care. Addressing this gap, our article explores the working conditions, pay and levels of satisfaction of care workers who are self‐employed. We draw on interviews from a small‐scale study of Canadian women engaged in providing direct care (for example, childcare) and indirect care (for example, cleaning).     

Training Mental Health Professionals on Ethical Issues and HIV/AIDS

This report describes the importance of ethics training for mental health professionals working with persons infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. We first describe three major ethical dilemmas (confidentiality, duty to warn, and suicide) faced by mental health providers serving persons with HIV/AIDS, and the legal and clinical aspects of these dilemmas. We present data from the South Texas AIDS Training Project describing the types of mental health professionals who have attended workshops on ethical issues and HIV/AIDS. Finally, we report observations about the impact of the ethics training sessions on the participants' knowledge and attitudes.     

Rural Victorian service provider responses to the National Disability Insurance Scheme

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has transformed the nature of funding available to health and human service organisations to provide services to people with disability in Australia. However, there is relatively scant literature on the rural implementation of the NDIS, particularly how rural NDIS service providers are affected by the NDIS. Researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 health professionals employed by rural providers, and analysed data using rural and remote health and organisational change frameworks to understand how rural providers were impacted by and responded to the NDIS. The findings suggest rural providers were impacted to differing extents and responded to the NDIS in different ways. Participants reported that disability and community health services were affected more than hospitals and private allied health practices. Impacted rural providers responded by changing the nature and types of services, service processes and their workforce, and redefining organisational characteristics. Impacted rural providers may require additional support to continue providing services, and those less impacted may require other incentives to better engage with the NDIS. Rural proofing of NDIS policy could reveal suitable supports and incentives to ensure rural people with disability can access required services.