Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal最新文献

The social ecological model illustrates the complex relationships between a person and their environment. Reviews of the literature highlight a need to increase our understanding of how social processes affect youth across multiple environmental contexts. We use data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study to test social connections and observant adults in three contexts: neighborhood, school and family; as predictors of wellbeing, and internalizing and externalizing behaviors in a sample of youth. Our findings suggests that social connections in the neighborhood, school, and family are associated with positive youth outcomes. Observant adults in the school and family are associated with greater wellbeing and fewer externalizing symptoms whereas observant adults in the neighborhood was not associated with youth outcomes. These findings highlight the importance of developing spaces where youth feel included, and the positive impact that observant adults in proximal contexts can have on youth. Understanding how social processes operate across contexts can help practitioners create synergy across the most salient contexts that affect youth.

COVID-19 mandates required residential youth care providers to quickly adapt services while adhering to state and local mandates, impacting family visitation, stress, and potential disruption to reunification efforts. This mixed-methods study utilized data from a larger study of residential group homes in one southeastern state, utilizing the Quality Standards Assessment (QSA). First, utilizing open-ended responses on the QSA, a content analysis was used to explore residential care providers’ challenges and responses during COVID-19. Next, descriptive statistics and trend charts were utilized to explore quality differences in programs pre-, during, and post-COVID-19. The qualitative data reflected that COVID-19 presented significant challenges to residential care providers, including impacts on family and community engagement, programmatic procedures, education, and the residential care workforce. Responses to challenges included creating activities on-campus, conducting family visits virtually, shifting to on-campus schooling, and conducting re-licensing inspections virtually. The quantitative analysis showed mean quality rating trends dropping during the pandemic, with some quality ratings improving post-pandemic. Moreover, trends in mean incident reports increased during and post-pandemic years. Residential programs adapted to challenges, while some gaps remained. Issues with school and being isolated from family and community, as well as an increase in incident reports, were experienced among youth within residential care during COVID-19. Post-pandemic incident reports underscore the potential long-term impacts of COVID-19 on residential group care.

In Spain, unaccompanied migrant minors receive care provision from the government. This article analyzes the experience of unaccompanied young migrants in the protection system of Catalonia (Spain) and their preparation for the transition to independent living. A survey with 90 unaccompanied migrant youths who were about to leave care was conducted. The results show that many of the participants were in non-specific transitional housing placements (67.7%), with scarce opportunities for developing basic independent living skills. Moreover, 29.4% of young people were not aware of the existence of an emancipation plan, and 10.3% felt that they had not received any preparation for independent living. Although only 24.4% had completed secondary education or higher, the majority were enrolled in some form of training (82.2%). Nevertheless, most of the young people had had some paid unskilled work experience (83.3%) in their countries of origin. Despite this, when interviewed, only 10% of the participants were working, and their prospects for emancipation were challenging. Their main concerns were their legal status (40.2%), finding a job (41.4%), and finding a place to live once they reached legal age (34.2%). Moreover, the youths’ social support networks were very precarious: 43.5% could count on only one person or no one at all when they needed material support, and their main source of support was educators. Implications for social work practice are discussed.

The goal of the current study is to glean lessons learned from the Fostering Higher Education (FHE) intervention evaluation study to provide concrete strategies for helping other youth-serving organizations overcome barriers to participating in manualized intervention implementation and evaluation. Specifically, this study assesses lessons learned in organizations that serve youth with foster care experience regarding (1) implementing FHE in relation to (a) site preparation, (b) implementation, and (c) pursuing racial equity in practice; and (2) participating in research/evaluation. This study involves qualitative analyses of surveys, emails, and meeting notes from FHE implementation staff, supervisors, administrative staff, and TA providers across three study sites in the United States. Surveys assessed lessons learned by site implementation staff during the FHE implementation and evaluation process, as well as quarterly assessments of the technical assistance for implementation and evaluation provided to FHE implementation sites by the research team. Emails and meeting notes provided insights into sites’ implementation- and research/evaluation-related experiences and challenges as they were happening during the study. Communication/collaboration were key for the success of both implementation and evaluation of FHE, while training and technology were also key for implementation, and project timing and understanding the value of research were important for evaluation participation. Key themes regarding the pursuit of racial equity in FHE practice included the importance of collective learning, independent practice, and client-centered program delivery. A variety of recommendations for other youth-serving organizations interested in implementing and evaluating manualized interventions are provided based on the study’s findings.

Place attachment is the cognitive-emotional bond individuals develop for physical locations. It can develop toward residential settings and is often associated with positive emotions and psychological and physical comfort. Literature in social work, and other social sciences, lack an exploration of the physical features that contribute to the development of place attachment toward residences for children in foster care. Using a retrospective mixed-methods design, this study examines the physical attributes of North American foster care environments that did—or did not—encourage place attachment in foster children between the ages of 7–12. Participants recalled a low level of place attachment toward their foster residences; place attachment and participants’ ease of recall of a foster residence were positively correlated. Perceived impact of the physical environment on sense of comfort in a foster home was neutral. Three open-ended items revealed themes concerned with "furniture,” “entertainment,” specific “structural features,” and “outdoor attributes” contributed to the development of place attachment toward past residences, while “inadequate space,” “aesthetics and ambience,” and “lack of cleanliness and organization” did not contribute to place attachment. “Outdoor attributes,” “adequate space,” and “entertainment” were noted as desirable in foster residences to facilitate the development of place attachment. This study may guide social workers and government administrators in understanding links between the physical attributes of foster homes and children’s psychoemotional responses. It adds to a small but growing number of studies at the intersection of social work and environmental psychology that may improve quality of life for children in foster care.

Unfortunately, the retention rate of foster parents is low, and multiple challenges exist for agencies in maintaining long-term foster parents. Research examining perceptions of recruiting and licensing foster parents may provide some insight into supporting future foster parent recruitment and training for child welfare professionals. This study utilized administrative data from the state of Florida to examine and compare the perspectives of foster parents and child welfare workers regarding the recruitment and licensing of foster homes. This cross-sectional administrative survey included a total of 1,249 foster parents and child welfare workers in the state of Florida. Descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to examine the perspectives of foster parents and child welfare workers across multiple questions related to the need for foster homes and recruitment and licensing processes. Results indicate that caseworkers and foster parents in this sample generally held different perspectives across most of the questions related to the need for foster homes, recruitment and licensing practices. Implications for recruiting and licensing foster homes and the need for consistent and accurate messaging to both foster parents and child welfare workers are discussed. More research is needed to explore recruitment and licensing processes, particularly research-supported strategies that have not been well-tested among foster care samples.

Young people in the United States foster care system face unique challenges related to their involvement in the system, often stemming from placement instability, disconnected policy and action, and an overburdened child welfare system. These experiences often result in limited opportunities for self-advocacy and change, difficulties forming quality relationships with peers and important adults, and barriers to academic and independent living success. There is a dire need for theoretically grounded, empirical work that can guide lawmakers, social workers, clinicians, foster/kinship parents, and youth in foster care themselves towards more positive, self-determined experiences within and beyond the system. This review advances Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, Deci and Ryan, The Journal of Mind and Behavior 1:33–43, 1980) as an under-utilized yet particularly well-suited theoretical framework to guide research that will achieve these aims. After introducing the SDT framework and its clear relevance to critical issues in foster care research, this review articulates an SDT-guided research agenda centered on advancing youths’ well-being, specifically by promoting the achievement of SDT’s three core psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. This review also identifies future directions for research applying the SDT framework as a means to better understand and advance the “best interests” of young people in the foster care system.

Youth of color residing in urban areas face elevated risks of vicarious police contact which can intensify feelings of fear, anger, and cynicism toward law enforcement. However, little is known as to how vicarious police stops are patterned across youths’ social circles and how these diverse vicarious exposures shape youths’ attitudes toward and stress about police. The current study analyzed data from the Survey of Police-Adolescent Contact Experiences, a cross-sectional survey of Black youth aged 12–21 in Baltimore City, Maryland (n = 345). Youth self-reported whether they knew anyone who has been stopped by police and selected their relation to who was stopped. They also reported how often they, themselves, engaged in efforts to avoid police, how stressed they were about police violence in their community, and their attitudes of policy legitimacy. The study used descriptive statistics, OLS regression, and ancillary attenuation analyses using the Karlson-Holm-Breen method. Results showed that over 50% of youth knew someone stopped by police, with 12% reporting four or more known persons. Analyses indicated that knowing more individuals stopped by police was associated with increased avoidance and stress while being linked to decreased perceptions of police legitimacy – findings particularly salient for those with four or more known persons stopped by police. Additionally, knowing a friend stopped by police significantly increased both police avoidance and stress levels. These findings underscore the importance of understanding vicarious police contact patterns within youths’ social circles and their implications for stress and attitudes about the police, emphasizing the need to foster positive police-youth relationships and address stress-related outcomes.

Despite the considerable growth and advancement in fatherhood research, relatively little is known about the effects of father–child relationship quality on social functioning among children who experience child maltreatment. Applying the strengths-based perspective, the current study sought to examine the association between father–child relationship quality and social functioning (social competence and positive peer relationships) among at-risk children, and to determine whether these associations are moderated by perpetrator type. This study included a sample of 681 US children (age 12 years) drawn from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect. We conducted a series of ordinary least squares multiple regression analyses. Higher-quality father–child relationships were associated with higher levels of social competence (B = 0.19, SE = 0.06, p = .002) and positive peer relationships (B = 0.05, SE = 0.02, p = .005). Significant interaction effects were found. The positive association between father–child relationships and peer relationships was significantly stronger among children with a history of maltreatment perpetrated by fathers with or without mothers (B = 0.16, SE = 0.05, p = .002). Findings highlight the importance of positive father–child relationships in building social resilience among children who experience maltreatment. Practitioners working with youth who are at risk for maltreatment should consider engaging fathers in services to support the development of strong father–child relationships.

It is often unclear what leads to long term success for young adults that spent time in foster care. In this study we examined individual and systemic factors, including time in foster care, involvement in leadership programs, and health insurance coverage, seeking their impact on flourishing. Drawing on a national sample of 379 young adults that spent time in foster care, the survey examined individual and systemic factors that could increase flourishing in early adulthood. Study results reveal that Transitional Age Youth (TAY) who spent time in foster care experience significantly less flourishing compared to the general population (t = − 12.85, df = 337, p < 0.001). Additionally, sexual and gender minority youth within the foster care system report lower levels of flourishing than their heterosexual peers (t(336) = 13.1, p < 0.001). Multiple regression analysis indicates that flourishing is negatively impacted by race, with African American TAY experiencing significantly lower flourishing (β = − 0.52, p < 0.01), and by sexual orientation, with sexual minority youth also reporting reduced flourishing (β = − 2.26, p < 0.001). Moreover, the length of time in foster care, particularly for those who spent 16–18 years in care, was associated with decreased flourishing (β = − 1.65, p < 0.01). Health insurance emerged as the only positive factor, significantly enhancing flourishing outcomes (β = 1.41, p < 0.001). This study contributes to a better understanding of disparities for marginalized populations, emphasizing the critical role of access to healthcare services in promoting flourishing among vulnerable young adults.