This study aimed to explore the caregiving experiences of primary caregivers, mothers of children with high-functioning autism, during the transition of leaving school and sometimes starting work. In-depth interviews were conducted with nine caregiving mothers with high-functioning children with autism aged 16–27 years. Results revealed that caring for a high-functioning child with autism during their life transition includes three roles: social advocacy, caregiving life coach, and personal selfhood reexamination. Thus, a theoretical model of empowering these caregivers during the child’s school-to-work life transition can be established. With the empowerment strategies of strengthening multiple roles, findings allow practitioners and policymakers to reflect on the interventions supporting families in transitioning planning at different systematic levels, including the individual, the family, and the larger community.

Although research on adult ADHD has become more prevalent since the condition’s recognition in the 1990s, information remains scarce about if and how it impacts functionality in relationships. Adults with ADHD can experience interpersonal relationship difficulties due to the disorder’s signature symptoms of hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattentiveness, as well as due to adult ADHD’s oft-observed dimension of emotional lability. Adults with ADHD tend to have more trouble navigating romantic relationships and are more likely to be divorced than adults without ADHD. The purpose of this paper is to perform a systematic literature review of empirically based studies of integrative couples therapy wherein at least one partner struggles with adult ADHD. Future research, gaps in the literature, and practice implications also are discussed, including hope for focus on the positive aspects of ADHD for individuals and partnerships.

Charles has two lovers,His wife, and his widowed mother,Both desire equal attention,That calls for tension. Once a caring son,Now a Loving husband.Once half-orphan with a shoulder to lean on,Now a ...

The family is described as a complex system of relationships and functions of individual members. If a child with a disability is present in the family, this is an important characteristic of the family that affects the functioning of the family system. At an early age, children with disabilities are dependent on a certain level of family support that is proportional to the type and extent of their disability. The level of support subsequently affects the quality of life of the family. The literature study aimed to characterize and analyze available research on the quality of life in families with a disabled child in China. The search for relevant resources for this study was carried out in China’s National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data, and VIP databases. The search strategy was based on the following construct: (a) the quality of life of the family; (b) AND parent OR carer OR mother OR father; (c) AND disab * OR disability OR special needs; (d) AND AB = children OR child OR student OR infant. This review consolidates the empirical research to date on families’ quality of life and outlines areas of research for further exploration.

Family caregivers provide the predominance of care for loved ones requiring caregiving support in the United States. Quality of life and caregiver burden are impacted as caregivers age and their health declines. The purpose of this study was to determine if the domains of caregiver burden (time dependence, developmental, emotional, and impact of finances on caregiving) and informal social support were predictors of quality of life for aging parental caregivers of adult children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Participants (N = 320) included caregivers who were at least 50 years of age and had an adult child (18+) diagnosed with ASD. The findings indicated that three variables (developmental burden, emotional burden, and informal social support) entered the multiple linear regression analysis as significant predictors of quality of life after controlling for caregiver age and self-reported health. Social workers and other health professionals should be cognizant of health declines in caregivers that could impact their ability to provide care. They also should encourage family and friends to assist caregivers by providing emotional support and helping with everyday tasks. When visiting aging caregivers, professionals should look for signs of declining health and suggest the caregiver visit his or her primary care provider.

Welcome to the combined second and third issues of the twenty-fifth volume of JFSW. Included in this issue is first something interesting and a little different for JFSW, a poem. This poem is entit...

Current sexual health outcomes disproportionately represent Black adolescent and young adult females. The significance of this conceptual review is to first highlight reduced access to traditional forms of sexual health resources and the urgency for innovative social work intervention. Secondly, I present an overview of fatherhood literature that points to the value of Black father–daughter relationships pertaining to sexual health. Recent policies have insufficiently addressed the sexual health needs of many young Black females, and the Black father, despite historically damaging images of his engagement, may offer immediate support to a daughter’s sexual health decision making processes. While large scale structural changes are needed for developing effective health policies, in the interim, benefits of Black father engagement through sexual communication training and education may support the healthy sexual decisions of daughters.

Research aimed at understanding the barriers that family members of persons with mental illness may encounter in seeking supportive and preventative services from social workers during the hospitalization of their family member is scarce. Therefore, a cross-sectional survey study was implemented among 120 family members of persons with mental illness in family-centered services in two psychiatric hospitals in Israel. The research instrument included structured questionnaires and open-ended questions examining the barriers to seek help and the experience of families caring for a person with mental illness. The findings indicate that having a person with mental illness in the family may have significant implications on the barriers experienced by family members to seek help for themselves. The extent of the barriers could be related to factors such as the stigma they may experience, overwhelming reactions, lack of knowledge about the mental illness and about the availability of services for families, and dilemmas about seeking help. Social workers are in a key position in psychiatric hospitals to identify and reduce the individual as well as the contextual barriers. To increase family members’ readiness to seek help and their access to early intervention, they should adopt a family-centered approach.

Historically, most practice-informed research and research-informed practice have focused on domestic violence (DV) victimization. These explanations are often preferred by practitioners, advocates, and policymakers due to their straightforwardness and simplicity. However, an understanding of DV perpetration is enhanced when we look through the multiple lenses of culture and society, relationship, and gender. The objective of this exploratory research is to document the beliefs and experiences of nine immigrant Latino men regarding domestic violence. The study employed descriptive phenomenology to gain a deeper understanding of participants’ lived experiences from their perspectives and in their words. An integrated, ecological framework guided the contributions of culture, relationships, and personal characteristics when understanding the Latino men’s beliefs and experiences of DV. The patriarchal gender roles of “machismo” and domination are common themes. Participants discuss the conflicts of immigrants operating their gendered roles in a country which has laws against physical enforcement of these roles. The participants recommend those who encounter Latinx DV consider three key factors: (1) socialization of male children and young men, (2) dignity and worth of young girls and women, and (3) clear communication, respect, and mutual understanding between spouses and extended family members.

This paper examines and reflects on a storytelling method that enables children to share their life stories in the intervention and decision-making process associated with child protection evaluations. The child is granted an active role in this process by directly participating in telling their life experiences. The example described herein centers on the case of a 14-year-old girl from SOS Children’s Village (CV) and how storytelling is used to capture details of her personal history, focusing on the themes of the child’s place of birth, home and life before placement, the move into placement and everyday life at SOS CV.

Incarceration effects various facets of family structure and the system as a whole. Relationships may suffer immensely due to the consequences of incarceration, particularly the coparenting relationship. The purpose of this literature review is to compile and analyze scholarly works in order to examine incarceration and its multiple layers that contribute to parenting, coparenting, and the impact of this relationship on the overarching family system. The focus is to synthesize literature regarding incarceration, incarcerated parenting, coparenting, and incarcerated coparenting. Additionally, this review discusses the complex issues surrounding incarceration and its impact on the coparenting relationship. Clinical implications are provided to ensure best treatment practices and to advocate for marriage and family therapists to be employed in correctional settings.

Parent advocates are peers with lived experience who were formerly involved with the child welfare system and who interact with child welfare-involved parents and families to provide varying types of needed supports. Understanding the role of the secondary traumatic stress among parent advocates is crucial as secondary traumatic stress can not only hamper the quality of services provided to families but can also adversely impact advocates. Given the dearth of available research, this exploratory study provided a unique and much-needed glimpse into the parent advocates’ experience of secondary traumatic stress, through data generated from qualitative in-person interviews with the advocates. Several respondents admitted that they experienced some self-detected secondary traumatic stress. The study identified the formal and informal coping mechanisms that the program and advocates employed to handle such stress. Implications are discussed, and areas for future research are presented.

To help fill the gaps in their support system and meet the needs of their families, low income mothers may develop or maintain intimate partner relationships (IPRs). This study employs the voices of 22 low-income mothers to examine the factors that influence how low-income mothers’ perceive their intimate partner relationships. Researchers employed a semi-structured interview guide to encourage participants’ reflection about characteristics they seek in an intimate partner, their most recent relationships, and the types of help they want from an intimate partner. A grounded theory approach was used to identify key themes. Identified themes include the impact of participants’ personal history and the centrality of their role as mother. Past experiences of abuse and violence experienced by many low-income mothers made it difficult for them to trust. This research provides insight into the experiences of low-income mothers and IPRs that can be used in future theoretical model development. Practice implications include the need for trauma-informed services and increased social service programs for mothers leaving problematic relationships.

Parents with intellectual disability, like all parents, need support with childrearing. Early identification of parental intellectual disability may be key to the planning and delivery of appropriately adapted, inclusive family supports and services. The purpose of this study was to investigate the performance of a brief screener for parental intellectual disability. A total of 185 parents, including 91 parents in receipt of specialist intellectual disability services and 94 parents utilizing generic family support services, completed an interview/survey which incorporated candidate screening questions. The results of logistic regression and ROC curve analysis showed that a simple four-item screener performed well (accuracy 90.44%, sensitivity 92.31%, specificity 90.43%, AUC .96). The potential benefits of screening have to be weighed up against the risks of potential misuse. We therefore suggest that screening be introduced in the context of continuing professional education and initiatives to build system’s capacity to support parents with intellectual disability and their families.

The effects of family maltreatment on the military are far-reaching and well documented, with implications that include the deterioration of mission readiness and an increase in distractibility for all involved. Congress has mandated each service agency to take steps in preventing partner and child maltreatment, including outreach – enlisting military leaders to identify, respond to, and mitigate risk factors for maltreatment in their active duty (AD) members – but the success and impact of these efforts have gone mostly unexamined. This article explores the implementation and evaluation of a new Air Force (AF) family maltreatment training based on empirical and military-specific evidence of prevalence, risk and protective factors, and the impact on military families. This project sought to optimize and standardize such trainings across bases in an interactive manner. As expected, the training led to significantly greater knowledge about family maltreatment, significantly lower belief in the justification of both IPV and parent–child aggression, significantly lower belief in the effectiveness of parent–child aggression to solve problems, significantly increased self-efficacy to help prevent and address family maltreatment on the base, and marginally significantly more positive beliefs about Family Advocacy Program (FAP). Additionally, satisfaction with the training was very high.

There is a dearth of available supports and services aimed specifically at parents with disabilities. The Parent-Centered Planning (PCP) intervention was developed to fill this gap, aiming to enhance supports for parenting for parents with disabilities. This brief approach was modeled after person-centered planning, with a focus specifically on parenting. This qualitative paper explores the experiences of a sample of parents (N = 13) with physical, intellectual and/or developmental disabilities who participated in a pilot study of PCP. Our study found that nearly all parents participating in the intervention strengthened relationships during the process of participation in PCP, clarified their goals related to parenting, and made progress toward their identified goals. The study also found that parents had mental health concerns, often related specifically to their disability supports. The article describes the nuances of these findings and discusses the implications for practice and future research.

This study shares the experiences of 16 family members who have lived with a close relative with substance use disorder (SUD). Primarily, the study asks, what are the experiences of family members living with an individual with SUD? In particular, what are their experiences of affection and emotional bonds? Moreover, it asks, what are the experiences of each family member regarding cohesion and communication? Qualitative methods were used, and 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted. The participants were organized into groups of four: four parents, four spouses, four adult children and four siblings of individuals affected by SUD. Each group comprised two men and two women. Overall, the participants felt that SUD had harmed their families’ emotional bonds. Parents and adult children reported greater affection toward their relatives with SUD (children and parents) than spouses and siblings did toward their relatives affected by SUD (spouses and siblings). These feelings were expressed in terms of positive emotions such as compassion and hope, whereas spouses and siblings expressed more negative feelings such as hopelessness or rage. From the analysis, a proposed dynamic functional model of emotional states in the study’s families was formed, showing the dynamics of feelings and emotional bonds between specific family members and the family member with SUD (This paper is a part of a larger research project).

Effective intervention for families with parental substance use disorders (SUD) and child maltreatment requires multiple agencies to collaborate on system changes to deliver family-centered services. The Collaborative Values Inventory (CVI) was designed for use in multi-system interventions to facilitate understanding of differences in beliefs among professionals. This study reports on significant revisions to the CVI and the psychometrics of the CVI_2. The primary aim was to develop CVI measures suitable for research by identifying a subset of CVI_2 items with adequate factor loadings, sensitivity to interagency differences, and strong overall reliability. The Outcomes CVI includes 24-items that met the inclusion criteria and subsequently showed a strong factor structure and strong unidimensional reliability. Suggestions for research on values and beliefs for family-centered initiatives are included.

Adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience significant social communication challenges that impact key areas of life, including relationship and employment success. Evidence points to great potential for social communication growth in adults with ASD; however, families’ access to supports and services is limited by lack of funding and accessibility. Scant research has been dedicated to unearthing the experiences of adults with ASD and their parents pertaining to social communication supports and services. This qualitative study gathered perceptions from 17 parents through focus groups aimed at determining barriers to and gaps in the system of social communication supports and services for adults with ASD. Using a phenomenological approach, conceptual content analysis was used to examine the parents’ perceptions and determine coding categories. Analyses revealed a number of barriers to effective use of such services and supports, and wishes for changes to facilitate services and supports in this area. Implications for professionals and policymakers are presented.

Natural supports are informal (unpaid) relationships that support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in their natural environments and communities. A wide range of people can serve as natural supports for people with IDD, such as family (both biological and chosen), friends, neighbors, community members, etc. Natural supports can positively impact people’s relationships, and community integration. The aim of this study was to examine the connection between natural supports for people with IDD, quality of life, and service expenditures. To do so, we analyzed secondary Personal Outcome Measures® quality of life data and service expenditure data (n = 251) using linear regression models. Our findings suggest people with IDD with natural supports have a better quality of life than people without natural supports. In addition, LTSS service expenditures were $20,000 lower on average for people with IDD with natural supports compared to people without natural supports, regardless of their demographics. As such, we believe natural supports have the potential to improve people with IDD’s lives, build their relationships, and help them integrate into their communities. However, there is danger in utilizing natural supports in lieu of formal services solely for cost-cutting, particularly in a service system that is already underfunded.

Parental caregivers can expect to support their children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across the lifespan. Providing ongoing support for adult children with ASD who have difficulty performing activities of daily living (ADLs) independently can increase caregiver burden. This may be particularly challenging for compound caregivers (caring for at least one adult child with ASD and another care recipient). The present study investigated differences in relationships between caregiver burden and basic ADLs (BADLs) and instrumental ADLs (IADLs) between compound and noncompound caregivers. Using a nonexperimental correlational research design, 320 parental caregivers of adults with ASD completed a web-based survey. The quantitative analysis compared compound and noncompound caregivers on relationships between caregiver burden and ability to perform ADLs independently. Differences for caregiver burden, BADLs, and IADLs between compound and noncompound caregivers were statistically significant. However, comparison of correlations of caregiver burden and ADLs between the two groups was not significant. These findings provided support that caregiver burden was negatively impacted by the lack of independence in functional ability of their care recipients with ASD for both groups. Social workers and other professionals should offer relevant interventions, supports, and services that benefit compound and noncompound caregivers and their adult children with ASD.

This study presents findings of a mother-only coparenting intervention conducted in conjunction with fathers’ participation in a fatherhood program. Specifically, this study sets out to determine whether there is an association between mothers’ participation (N = 127) in the group-based intervention, Understanding Dads™, and changes in mothers’ reports of the coparenting relationship and mothers’ coparenting attitudes. The findings of this one group pretest/posttest/follow-up study showed that mothers reported fewer disagreements and less undermining of fathers following participation in the intervention. Mothers also indicated greater confidence in their ability to coparent cooperatively with the father after participation. Implications for fatherhood programs are discussed.

The purpose of the current study was to explore the challenges experienced by hearing parents when parenting a child with hearing loss. Using a qualitative purposive sampling design, interviews were conducted with 13 parents (9 mothers, 4 fathers) residing in Cape Town, South Africa. Four salient themes emerged, namely: 1) communication is difficult, hard, and frustrating; 2) lack of knowledge and information about hearing loss makes it difficult to parent; 3) little or no support makes for a lonely journey; and 4) support identified by parents for parents. The findings of the study have important implications for collaboration and partnerships between parents and health and family practitioners within South Africa for the design and development of supportive interventions for parents parenting a child with hearing loss.

The present study presents a multivariable model for explaining the contribution of daily hardships on the one hand, and social and personal resources on the other hand, to explaining wellbeing among financially-challenged single mothers in Israel. The research sample included 203 single mothers whose monthly income is lower than the mean income in Israel. Data were collected by structured questionnaires and analyzed by path analysis. The findings revealed that the single mothers’ resourcefulness was related to wellbeing both directly and indirectly. The higher the resourcefulness of the participants, the higher their social support and the lower their experience of daily hardships, which in turn are related to higher wellbeing. Subjective poverty, rather than the objective economic situation, contributes to explaining their wellbeing.

Depressive symptoms in parents and caregivers to children are associated with adverse biopsychosocial outcomes for caregivers themselves and the children in their custody. Higher overall and parenting-related stress, including stress over children’s unsupervised after-school time, is associated with increased caregiver depression risk. Child after-school program participation is a form of social support that may mitigate parenting-related stress and reduce caregiver depression risk. This study tested for the association between child after-school program participation and caregiver depression in a sample of 486 caregivers in Richmond, Virginia. Child after-school program participation was associated with a significant reduction in the likelihood of a past caregiver depression diagnosis (OR = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.39– 0.86, p = .007). This relationship remained significant after adjusting for the influence of caregiver anxiety, stress, financial hardship, and sociodemographic characteristics (OR = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.27– 0.86, p = .015). Child after-school program participation may function as a protective factor that reduces caregiver depression risk. More research is needed to determine whether the observed association is causal in nature and dosage dependent. Findings from this and future studies may be used to inform evaluation of the impact of after-school programs at the family-level.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) in pediatric populations affects the entire family yet neurorehabilitation is often centered on the individual needs of the child. This article provides an overview of select theory, models of family assessment and health care, and family interventions relevant to the family social worker in the field of pediatric rehabilitation. The intention of the author is to encourage family social workers to apply their expertise in a medical setting without limiting their role in attending to instrumental needs of the patient. The role of the Medical Family Therapist is presented as an emerging profession dedicated to applying family theory, models, and interventions by attending to the needs of the whole family affected by TBI, as well facilitating relationships between families and healthcare teams.

This paper examines the perspectives of child protection workers (CPWs) (n = 106) on the participation of children in child protection practice in Estonia. The findings indicated that child participation was most related to the term “asking a child’s opinion.” On a theoretical level, CPWs considered the asking of a child’s opinion to be significant in child protection practice in order to make decisions in the child’s best interests. In practice, however, asking a child’s opinion was acknowledged to be dependent on the level of development and age of the child, whether there were any custody disputes, and time factors. The reflections of CPWs indicate a protectionist approach regarding child participation because they discussed the issue of children being vulnerable and how encouraging them to participate might be detrimental to their well-being.

The current study examined the relation between two sets of survey scale measures of adult sibling relationships. The first set of three scales assesses what adult siblings feel about, think about, and how they behave toward their siblings. These three subscales of the Lifespan Sibling Relationship Scales have established validity and reliability, with those psychometric properties confirmed in the current sample of 262 adults. The second set of nine survey items assess adult sibling comfort communicating with siblings about potentially sensitive issues and were developed by the authors for a larger longitudinal study, therefore had not been previously examined psychometrically. An exploratory factor analysis revealed two factors, comfort talking with siblings about family and life issues, both factors showed acceptable reliability. Those two factors were then used in structural equation models to explore associations with the three Riggio subscales. The final model revealed acceptable fit, ${\chi }^2$= 907.51, df = 467, p <.01; RMSEA =.06, C.I. =.05.-07; CFI =.93, IFI =.93, TLI =.91, and indicated that what adults feel about and how they behave toward their siblings was predictive of what they think about their siblings, which was in turn was predictive of their reported comfort communicating with their siblings about sensitive family and life topics.

The Child Attitude Toward Illness Scale (CATIS) is an established measure of how CSHCN perceive the impact of chronic conditions on their lives. We tested the psychometric properties of the CATIS adapted for use with siblings (CATIS-S) of youths with spina bifida (SB), a complex congenital birth defect. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) tested the factor structure of the CATIS-S in a sample of 208 adolescent siblings of youths with SB. Construct validity was ascertained by evaluating relationships between the CATIS-S and measures of psychosocial functioning. CFA yielded a 12-item two-factor solution comprised of an Emotion subscale ( $\alpha$ = 0.85) and Social subscale ( $\alpha$ = 0.76). Construct validity was indicated through significant associations between CATIS-Emotional and self-concept (r = 0.30, p< .001) and parent-perceived SB severity (r = −0.17, p = .01), as well as CATIS-Social and sibling conflict (r = −0.26, p< .001), behavior problems (r = −0.37, p< .001), and self-concept (r = 0.50, p< .001). Results provide preliminary support for a 12-item, two-factor version of the CATIS-S. Social workers can administer the CATIS-S to assess the psychosocial strengths and needs of youths who have siblings with SB and provide targeted interventions to those at-risk to improve their psychosocial functioning.

Despite physically and emotionally violent behaviors being the most common form of violence in families, little is known about the manifestation of physical and emotional sibling abuse across the lifespan. Furthermore, given the normalization and dismissal of sibling abuse by many families as well as society, it is likely that social work practitioners do not recognize this form of violence as substantially problematic. This article highlights the prevalence of physical and emotional sibling abuse, the labels and definitions used to discuss deleterious behaviors between siblings, the consequences and associations of experiencing sibling abuse in childhood and adolescence, and how this form of family violence likely manifests in adulthood and older adulthood. Practice implications (micro, mezzo, and macro) are then highlighted to provide ways in which social work practitioners can help children, adolescents, adults and families to intervene and respond to sibling abuse in order to address this form of family violence regardless where in the lifespan one needs assistance.

Siblings play a critical role in children’s behavioral development; yet sibling-focused assessment and intervention for youth behavior concerns are uncommon in social work practice settings. To address this research-to-practice gap a scoping review of research focused on siblings and the development of externalizing behaviors in childhood and adolescence was conducted. Forty-three empirical studies published between 1997 and 2017 were reviewed and synthesized. Results illuminated a number of processes through which siblings influenced the development of externalizing behaviors. Identified behavioral domains included conduct problems, substance use, and sibling abuse. Sibling negativity and hostility, coercive sibling interactions, and sibling collusion were consistently associated with the development of conduct problems. Substance use behaviors were primarily influenced via sibling role modeling, social reinforcement, facilitating access, and co-use. Moderating effects of parental involvement, peer influence, sibling age range, and sibling gender composition were also observed. Less research was conducted on the processes underpinning sibling abuse, although prevalence studies suggest high rates of sibling victimization, particularly among close-age siblings and male-male dyads. Results indicate the need for social workers to consider both the characteristics of sibling groups and the quality of sibling relationships when assessing and intervening to prevent and address externalizing behavior problems in children and adolescents.

The predominance of literature on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) focuses on the diagnosis and needs of young children with ASD and their parental caregivers. Research that compares adults with ASD who were in extended public school programs and those who had either aged out of the programs or were not attending these programs and their service needs is lacking. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in caregivers’ reported use of formal and informal social support services for adults with ASD in public educational systems and those who are not receiving services from the educational system. A national sample of 320 parents (age 50+) of an adult child (18+) diagnosed with ASD completed a web-based survey. Results of the study indicated that parental caregivers and adults with ASD were not accessing support services, especially after leaving or aging out of public schools. Social work practitioners and other healthcare professionals can play an important role in addressing the needs of parents and individuals with ASD as they transition into adulthood and age across the lifespan. Future research should investigate the need for services for adults with disabilities, specifically ASD.

The study reported here explains the development of a Malaysian Family Functioning Scale (MFFS) that can be used by researchers and practitioners in the field of marriage and family therapy. Results show that the MFFS validly measures the functioning of Malaysian families. Items used in the instrument were developed based on data gathered from Focus Group interviews with family experts and consolidated with findings from previous studies. A total of 121 items for the MFFS were produced and tested using a pilot test. Following the pilot test, an initial scale of 121 items was administered to 233 participants. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) conducted on the items in the MFFS resulted in the extraction of four factors consisting of 30 items. Confirmatory factor analysis using data from 350 participants was subsequently conducted to verify the validity of the four factors discovered through EFA, which are Communication, Cohesion, Rules, and Roles. The study reported here shows that the MFFS is a reliable and valid measure that can be used by researchers and practitioners to understand the level of family functioning across different ethnic groups in Malaysia. There may be valid applications to other collectivist societies as well.

Despite the fact that family reunification remains the foremost permanency-planning goal for children in the child welfare system, reunification is not always successful and reentry into foster care after reunification is hardly a rare event due to parental unaddressed needs, stress, and lack of supports. This study explored a peer-delivered pre- and post-reunification support program for child welfare-involved families. Using qualitative focus groups and interviews, experiences of parents with the peer support services were examined. The findings suggested that the presence of a family coach with a shared experience remained a critical source of support for many parents, providing emotional, informational, instructional, and advocacy supports while cultivating the special feelings of connection, comfort, trust, and guidance. The efforts to ensure sustainable permanency outcomes should seriously consider the important role that family coaches play as supporters, guides, and trusted confidantes to a vulnerable population of parents in need of more comprehensive emotional and concrete services.

This paper reports Phase II findings of an exploratory study of 26 families who have adopted children with Asian heritage, where at least one parent is Asian American. In-depth interviews provided a rich exploration of parents’ motivations to kin through adoption, the ways in which race and ethnicity factored into their child-selection preferences (if at all), their assumptions about their ability to create kinship bonds with an adopted child, and strategies for racial and ethnic socialization. The themes of approximating or performing family and inconspicuousness were repeated by parents when they considered how race and ethnicity factored into child-selection preferences and their assumptions about creating kinship bonds. The adoptive parents in this study were measured and nuanced in weighing the role of race and ethnicity for Asian adoptees, but the implicit strategies of modeling, mentoring, and intergenerational transmission were described less as strategies, and more about belonging and being a part of an extended tribe that was more authentic because of a shared identity as Asian Americans. Ultimately the question of whose interests are being served when race and ethnicity are considered has been dynamic and shifting throughout adoption history. This study sought to contribute in a small part to moving the conversation beyond the polarized Black-White racialized paradigm and provides direction for further research.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a recognized public health problem, and despite clear practice recommendations from service providers to recognize diverse cultural perspectives when addressing IPV, the narratives of Muslim refugee women are missing in our professional literature. The objectives of this qualitative exploratory research project are to (a) document the narratives of Muslim refugee women on IPV, and (b) identify the barriers that stop refugee women from accessing culturally appropriate services. Through in-depth interviews, the compelling narratives of 16 refugee women illuminated their perceptions of IPV. Our methodology was based on participatory action research (PAR), whereby participants have an active role in shaping research questions as well as in the analysis and verification of research findings. The three major themes that emerged were: (a) participants’ definition of IPV, (b) cultural perspectives on IPV, and (c) barriers and strategic resources needed to support refugee families. We also provide recommendations for professionals working with this population.

The increasing emphasis on research supported treatments in behavioral health requires clinicians to develop knowledge and skills for evidence-based practice. Graduate professional degree programs must address this in preparation for the emerging workforce. In this paper, we synthesize results from two related studies that examined the extent to which master’s level professional degree programs prepare future practitioners to deliver a process of evidence-based practice or specific evidence-based treatments. We compare these results with a previous study of North American administrators and supervisors who hire graduates from Master's level professional degree programs. The first study explored the Masters in Social Work curricula, and the second study examined Marriage and Family Therapy programs. Professionals with these graduate degrees are primary providers of behavioral health treatment. Results demonstrate how both disciplines are changing and offer both rationale and concerns voiced by program deans and directors. Compared with a study of provider perspectives, the collective results indicate institutions of higher education are providing at least modest levels of training in evidence-based treatments. We conclude with suggestions for university partnership with behavioral health and social service programs.

Successful innovations inevitably evolve over time. Such change presents challenges for implementation, especially given that the contexts interacting with the innovation are evolving too. We discuss the implementation of the Managing and Adapting Practice (MAP) system in Minnesota over a 15-year period. We present an approach to customizing training when the innovation has changed over time resulting in various levels of experience and expertise with the innovation. Findings suggest this approach may help bring early-adopters of an evolving service model up to current standards in an acceptable and feasible manner. We conclude with lessons learned that future customized trainings should consider.

In this article, we present a university partnership with public and private child welfare organizations that simultaneously transformed MSW field curricula and informed installation and implementation of new child welfare practice models. Anchored in implementation science and frameworks, the partnership’s plan-do-study-act feedback loops identify challenges and opportunities, integrate lessons for students, instructors, and participating organizations, and prepare future workforce and leaders to deliver evidence-informed practice. Its focus, processes, structures, and tools offer academic professional degree programs an example of how workforce preparation and the implementation of service programs can be mutually reinforcing and beneficial.

This paper describes a dynamic process of workforce development, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) within an early childhood mental health (ECMH) network serving children birth to five and their families. The key feature of an effective structure and multi-year process to train clinical service providers in evidence-based practices is the capacity building cycle: Assess, Select, Train, Evaluate. The New York City (NYC) ECMH network assessed the capacity and competencies of early childhood clinical practitioners and selected evidence-based practices and models that are: 1) appropriate for the birth to five population, 2) dyadic or family based, and 3) trauma-informed and/or strengths-based. We describe the evaluation, needs assessments, and best practices that support the effective use of evidence-based practices. It is important to flexibly respond to the needs of the community when selecting evidence-based practices, paying particular attention to equity issues. Considerations to note are that the few EBPs available for this birth to five population are costly, have a limited number of trainers, may not have a train-the-trainer model, and rarely have these EBPs been evaluated in multi-lingual or diverse U.S. communities. The success of implementing a multi-year cycle in NYC lies in having a funded training center closely linked to the workforce.