This study explored the relationship between mentoring and social workers’ job satisfaction and social workers’ intention to remain employed in child welfare. This study was conducted in Children Family Services (CFS), San Bernardino. Ninety six child welfare workers completed the survey using the JSS‑CW and the IRE‑CW instruments. A quantitative research design was utilized to analyze the data. Specifically, an Independent Sample T‑Test was used to analyze differences between the social workers who had a mentor and those who did not. Additionally, a Pearson R Correlation Test was conducted to analyze the relationship between mentoring and the different factors influencing the dependent variables. The present study revealed no correlation between informal mentoring and social workers’ levels of job satisfaction and their intentions to remain employed in child welfare in San Bernardino County. The study also revealed that although child welfare workers are highly satisfied at their jobs they still intend to leave child welfare if they are presented with a better job opportunity. These findings cannot be generalized because this study was designed specifically for San Bernardino County and the validity and reliability of the JSS‑CW is unknown. Further research on mentorship, more specifically formalized mentoring programs, is recommended.

Currently, there are thousands of foster youth in the child welfare system. When they reach the age of 18, some of these youth emancipate from the system, while some of them participate in extended foster care. The extended foster care system was implemented to support and provide services to young adults passed the age of 18, to provide them a couple more years to obtain stability in their lives. In order to participate in extended foster care, they have to meet a few requirements, and sometimes this is the minimum level of commitment and effort they contribute. These requirements include: school enrollment, employment working at least 80 hours per month, enrollment in a program for employment readiness or a documented medical condition that hinders the youth from any of the above. These young adults in extended foster care do not always have positive experiences and positive results. This study was conducted to explore this topic. This was an explorative study which conducted a qualitative analysis of interviews of young adults in extended foster care. These interviews were analyzed by using the Constant Comparative Analysis approach. The results provided a glimpse into the experiences of these young adults. Overall, their experiences are positive, but there is a need expressed by these youth, that more services and support would be helpful and in turn could produce more successful results for the extended foster care program, as a whole. Future research can build upon this study, by using a larger sample size, using a mixed methodology, and using a consistent interview method, to explore areas of concern in order to be able to generalize the results to all youth and extended foster care programs across the state of California.

This study examined the outcomes for young adults in Extended Foster Care. Extended Foster Care is a relatively new program within the Child Welfare system, which provides services for former foster youth between the ages of 18 and 21 to become more successful, independent young adults. Before the implementation of Extended Foster Care in 2012, most of the foster children were left to fend for themselves after they turned 18, which resulted in negative outcomes. Extended Foster Care is a seemingly helpful program; however, due to its new existence there has been very limited research regarding the outcomes of these young adults in Extended Foster Care. This study used secondary data from the San Bernardino County Legislative, Research and Quality Support Services Unit. After data retrieval, independent t-tests and chi-squared tests were conducted using SPSS version 21. The independent variable of days spent in Extended Foster Care was compared to the following dependent variables: disability status, education status, housing status, and employment status and its barriers. The results of this study showed that the longer a young adults stays in Extended Foster Care, the higher their likelihood is of positive housing, employment, and education status. This study suggests it is critical to continue to provide Extended Foster Care services and further research needs to be conducted to ensure program quality and to continue to improve the services to this vulnerable, young adult population.

This study focused on the reason that close to 500,000 children were in the foster care system in 2009 in the United States, and the average length of care was over 26 months. The primary focus was why foster parents are unable to form a bond with the children placed in their home and the effects of not forming any attachment to the children. The results can be extremely negative for the children for many reasons including the foster parents not being invested in the child and providing only minimal standards of care. Moreover, the child does not receive the nurturance or guidance so desperately needed. The child’s wellbeing was not the primary focus of the foster parent. The child is unable to learn the core value of caring, nor form healthy relationships and unfortunately cannot develop or express other healthy emotions. This compromises the child’s ability to function in society as a healthy productive member. Further examined was the perspective of the child as to what the children’s social worker could do differently.

The Child Welfare system is widely known as the macro system responsible for ensuring the safety of children within particular parameters, which, in some cases, results in the removal of these individuals from their family of origin. Research has explored the short- and long-term effects of this disruption in hopes of improving the ability of services to effectively prevent negative effects. Despite improvements on a macro and micro level, foster youth continue to be unprepared for the transition out of the foster care system, resulting in negative outcomes. According to research, the newly developed theory of emerging adulthood may have implications in terms of the component that is key to the success of this population in the future. The purpose of the current study was to explore the importance of social support for newly emancipated foster youth. This study utilized a qualitative study design and sought data in the form of self-reports which were captured through an interview that consisted of 14 questions. Participants included 8 administrators working in the counties of San Bernardino and Riverside who possessed at least two years experience working directly with emancipated foster youth or with an agency which provided services to this population. The data collected was conceptualized as a model that highlighted the application of the theory of emerging adulthood as important in terms of service implementation; however, implementation would require the reconsideration of policy and improvement the utilization of services by foster youth in order to increase permanent placement. The results of this study implies that future research should determine the benefits of beginning independent living services at a younger age, linking these individuals with informal support systems, transitioning these individuals to a social worker with the knowledge and ability to apply the theory of emerging adulthood, regarding these individuals as active participants in the services provided, and providing foster parents with psychoeducation.

The purpose of this study was to examine social workers’ perspectives on the risk factors that are associated with cases of removal of infants. A quantitative survey design was utilized, using self-administered questionnaires that were distributed electronically to social workers located in San Bernardino County. The sample consisted of 94 participants, and the majority of the participants were White, non-Hispanic females. The study found that social workers identified substance abuse, the lack of infant’s physical safety in the home along with the age of the infant, and the lack of parents’ readiness to take part of the safety plan as highest risk factors for the removal of infants. Lastly, a surprising finding in this study was that a child’s ethnicity was indicated as a risk factor that increases the possibility of infant removal. It is recommended that social workers continue to receive trainings and other educational opportunities to enhance the social workers’ knowledge, values, and practice skills, to ensure the safety and well-being of all children.

This systematic literature review synthesizes findings from empirical studies published between 1989 and 2016 to examine types, use, purpose and implementation of information and communication technology in public child welfare to determine if there are thematic reoccurrences in these arenas. Study results yielded information to the field of social work and public child welfare by determining themes in successful usage, purpose and implementation of information and communication technology in public child welfare to better serve those vulnerable populations. This systematic literature review contextualizes and identifies these themes across the literature. Studies included in this review were analyzed and categorized to determine reoccurring themes in information and communication technology use, purpose and implementation.

Latino immigrants have a strong presence in Southern, California. Although the Latino population can be attributed with possessing significant strengths and resiliency, their unique barriers as to legal status, language, and culture, have led to the researchers’ developing an interest on how undocumented immigrant status affects family reunification and service delivery within the child welfare system. The following research study focuses on evaluating how undocumented immigration status affects family reunification and service delivery in child welfare. It seeks to answer how current case work practice addresses the needs of undocumented Latino immigrant families that become involved within the child welfare system and how their undocumented immigration legal status impacts the reunification process and the receipt of services within the community. For the purpose of this study, an urban Southern California child welfare agency servicing a large population of immigrant Latinos was utilized. Using the constructivist paradigm, researchers interviewed ten children’s social service workers that possessed a mixture of knowledge, experience, and insight as to this population. The study found that undocumented Latino immigrants faced barriers related to their poor acculturation, that affected their family reunification. For instance, not understanding the English language, not understanding child abuse laws, limited access to culturally appropriate services, and social workers’ limited knowledge of working with undocumented Latino immigrant clients were barriers faced by this population. The findings in this study can be utilized by the child welfare agency to improve cultural awareness trainings for child welfare workers, work towards increasing culturally sensitive service availability, and advance policy.

The high turnover rate of child welfare social workers has been a chronic issue that society has yet to mitigate. To understand this problem, the researchers looked at contributing factors in comparison to the factors that promote job longevity. The researchers reviewed the multidimensional theory of burnout, to explore the ongoing issue of high turnover rates. Also, organizational support theory was examined to determine if support from organizations contributed to job longevity. The post-positivist approach was used to gather qualitative data from this study as to the potential factors promoting job longevity through individual interviews with seasoned child welfare social workers. The study participants identified potential barriers in the workplace, the skills needed for professional development, and the benefit of having a support system to effectively do their job. In addition, the study participants demonstrated a strong sense of self-awareness and utilization of internal traits that promoted job longevity. It was discovered that child welfare social workers who possess emotional intelligence had the ability to cope with stress better, had less health issues, and were more likely to promote to higher level positions. By understanding the factors that contribute to job longevity, child welfare agencies can implement measures to promote job retention. Furthermore, when agencies invest in child welfare social workers by providing them support, it is reflected in the quality of their work and client engagement.

Abstract Children with developmental disabilities are a particularly vulnerable population with complex, unique needs. In order to ensure that these clients are achieving the best quality of life possible, they typically require an array of community support services where social workers will often intersect with them in a variety of settings and roles. Therefore, there is a substantial need to ensure that student’s entering the workforce as newly qualified workers have some familiarity and exposure to what presenting issues these children are facing as well as the different techniques and tools available to engage with and assess them. This study examined California State University School of Social Work student’s preparedness, willingness, and eagerness to work with children who have developmental disabilities. It utilized a quantitative approach with a questionnaire that was distributed via the Qualtrics system to student’s emails. A total of 80 social work students participated in the study and answered questions regarding their demographics, familial and curriculum exposure to developmental disabilities, their work experience, and their perceived levels of preparedness, willingness, and eagerness to work with children who have developmental disabilities. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the student data collected. The social work curriculum provided to students in the program is designed with the intent to prepare them for working with a diverse population that have a variety of needs, which will include individuals who have developmental disabilities. In order to effectively do this, it is recommended that courses offer more comprehensive lesson plans exploring not just a definition-based approach to developmental disabilities, but also incorporate elements of effective engagement, advocacy, and assessment methods.