Child Welfare最新文献

Associated with extensive negative outcomes for children, parental substance use disorders are a major concern within the child welfare system. Obtaining actual prevalence rate data has been difficult, however, and there are no recent published reports on this issue. Using a systematic search, this paper examines: (1) Prevalence estimates of parental substance use disorders in the child welfare population; (2) the types of child welfare involvement for reported prevalence estimates; and (3) how prevalence information is being collected. Prevalence rates were found to have a wide range, from 3.9% to 79%, with regional prevalence estimates being higher than national estimates. Prevalence rates of parental substance use disorders varied by type of child welfare involvement of the family and method of data collection. This study points out the need for improvements in prevalence estimates in the United States and national data collection procedures to ensure that child welfare and substance abuse treatment systems are adequately responding to children and families with substance use disorders.

This article presents preliminary findings from an impact study that drew upon administrative data collected by city agencies and data collected by a supportive housing program for young adults who are aging out of foster care, homeless, or at risk of homelessness. Participation in the program was associated with a reduction in shelter use and jail stays during the two years after program entry. The study demonstrates the benefits of collaboration and the possibilities of using administrative data from multiple public agencies to evaluate program impacts on young adult outcomes.

Using a mixed-methods methodological approach, the proposed study examines the associations between economic well-being and independent living experiences in foster youth. Quantitative data were collected from N = 294 in-care foster youth using the Casey Life Skills assessment (α = .79 to α = .95). Qualitative data were collected via focus groups with aged-out foster youth (N =15). Results provide important insights on youth's economic well-being, financial literacy, individual experiences regarding aging out of foster care and independent living. This study provides new insights into the complex dynamics of successfully transitioning out of foster care and the need for supporting economic well-being in foster youth to better prepare them to live independently and develop coping skills for the challenges they might experience once they leave the system.

This paper describes Connecticut's Supportive Housing for Families (SHF) program, which is one of five national sites comprising a federally- funded demonstration of housing and child welfare. Evaluations of supportive housing (SH) interventions are complicated by contextual factors that make it difficult to isolate their effects. 'Ihese and other challenges complicate efforts to conduct rigorous research and establish external validity, and to date, few studies examine the impact of SH interventions for child- welfare involved families. We describe retrospectively the development of SHF using. six stages of imple- mentation articulated within an implementation science framework, noting both the core components of the program and its expansion from a small pilot exploration, to a statewide initiative, and now to the center of a systems change effort with potential to influence national policy and implementation.

To evaluate a new way of meeting the growing demand for training prospective resource parents, our study compared the efficacy of a blended online and in-person approach with a traditional classroom-only approach. Findings based on a sample of 111 resource parent prospects showed significantly greater gains in knowledge from pre- to posttest for the blended approach over the classroom-only approach. The blended approach also produced dramatically lower dropout rates during preservice training. Both groups made significant gains in parenting awareness from pre to post, but those gains were greater for the classroom-only approach. Post hoc analyses examined this finding more closely. Satisfaction with training was comparably high for both groups. Gains in knowledge and awareness were sustained at a 3-month follow-up assessment.

This study found that youth involved with the child welfare system have high rates of sexual risk behaviors and outcomes, including forced sex, early age at first sex, low contraceptive use, and pregnancy, which are more than double those of adolescents from the general population. Caseworkers may need training in how to address sexual risk factors and may need to support caregivers in addressing these issues with their children. Findings highlight the importance for case-workers, caregivers, and others to address the sexual and reproductive health needs of maltreated youth.

Only half of the states in the U.S. mandate that foster homes have a smoking ban. It is beneficial to promote training about the impacts of exposure to secondhand smoke to foster caregivers. This article presents the evaluation of a training delivered to foster and adoptive parents in Georgia. The topics with highest values learned were: 5 steps to creating a smoke-free home, benefits of a smoke-free home, dangers of secondhand smoke, and thirdhand smoke.

This cross-sectional secondary data analysis examined the ecological factors influencing the outcomes of families receiving services from a local department of social services to address child maltreatment risk and incidence. The results indicated that families that experienced repeated maltreatment also experienced greater poverty and material need than families with more successful outcomes. This study highlights the responsibility of the child welfare system to address deep-seated poverty issues of families experiencing child maltreatment risk and incidence.