This exploratory grounded theory study is a comparative analysis of kinship and foster care in the province of Ontario. This study sought the perspective of three constituent groups—caregivers (N=22), workers (N=14) and youth (N=9)—from both kinship and foster care constituent populations. The total number of participants was 45. This is one of the first comprehensive qualitative studies in the province of Ontario since the inception of the kinship model of practice implemented by the child welfare system in 2006. The study resonates with important practice, policy and research implications for Ontario and beyond. Recruitment for the study was generated through various child welfare organizations and a kin grandparents support network. Findings from each of the three groups include the following: (1) specialized kin workers recognize the complexities and unique needs of kinship placements; (2) foster parents and kin caregivers have very different needs related to training, financial remuneration and support; and (3) youth experience feelings of loneliness and frustration when moving to different placements, but also acknowledge the importance of relationships, particularly to their assigned worker. The analysis of these three group converges to a very simple but poignant conclusion: kinship programs are unique and require a level of intervention that is separate and discrete from the current foster care paradigm.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 184-232).

Diss.--Rand. / Title from first screen of PDF (viewed Oct. 22, 2003). Includes bibliographical references (p. 140-146).

The civil society perspective and the corporatist perspective have thus far dominated studies on state-society relations in the Chinese context. While these paradigms are insightful, their unidirectional and rigid natures may no longer adequately describe the complex nature of evolving state-society relations in China. As such, Joel S. Migdal’s State-in-Society framework is adopted as the theoretical premise of this study. Allowing for more fluidity, the State-in-Society theory serves as an alternative approach towards examining interactions between the state and nonprofits and between the state and society. The concept of social control within the framework is examined in further detail. Descriptive multiple case study was used as a method of inquiry, followed by thematic analysis. Findings generally corroborate with the logic of social control, with compliance, participation and legitimacy being the incremental stages with which both nonprofits and the state seek to attain from each other and from the public. It was found that the state employ strategies including co-optation, procedural validation and hijacking scholarship to gain participation whereas moral reinforcement, rhetoric validation, and image consolidation are used to attain legitimacy. Ironically, nonprofits employ similar strategies in an attempt to change the state’s behaviour. Vilification and shaming are used to gain compliance, while resource appropriation and preemptive engagement are employed to attain participation. Moral reinforcement, image consolidation, individual credibility and persistence were found to be critical factors in bolstering organizational legitimacy. Furthermore, findings generally support the claim that nonprofits operating in rural areas enjoy greater autonomy than those active in urban areas. Even so, state-society relations is highly localized and therefore overgeneralization should be avoided. In addition to contributing to the discourse on state-society relations, this study seeks to identify the role of nongovernmental organizations in orphan care provision in China. Along with content analysis and field observations, 10 in-depth cases are presented to illustrate existing obstacles pertaining to orphan care provision. Identified barriers are subsequently compartmentalized into five main categories: knowledge level, policy level, cultural level, organizational level, and state-NGO relations. Given the distinct welfare system extant between rural and urban areas, findings indicate that orphans in rural areas are disproportionately disadvantaged compared to those residing in cities. This may be due to the relatively weak economic and human resources that often characterize rural China. One important observation is the growing tendency for local governments to regard nongovernmental organizations as critical service partners. However, the sustainability of this service model is questionable, especially when the state claims to carry primary responsibility over citizen welfare. The legal ambiguity concerning the registration and governance of nonprofits also jeopardizes future undertakings. Nevertheless, it is strategically and rationally sensible for local governments to ally with nonprofits insofar as there are deficiencies in the former’s capacity to deliver social services for disadvantaged children. This study concludes by discussing policy implications on China’s third sector and social development. / published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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Child welfare agencies are considered some of the most stressful places of employment. This stress is related to several factors: (a) the myriad forms of child maltreatment that employees must deal with on a consistent basis, (b) high caseloads, and (c) the organizational climate of most child welfare agencies. Working in child welfare involves seeing battered, beaten, bruised, burned, and neglected children on a daily basis and sometimes experiencing the death of a child as a result of abuse or abuse-related conditions. Because of the stressors inherent in child welfare agencies, retention of employees has become an increasing issue throughout the United States. A review of the literature determined that most studies involving child welfare retention focused on the reasons that employees leave the agency. These studies found that child welfare employees' reasons for terminating their employment included excessive caseloads, lack of supervisor support, job dissatisfaction, and a negative organizational climate. This dissertation explored the reasons that child welfare employees, specifically supervisors, remain employed in child welfare agencies from a strengths perspective. A qualitative study was conducted with 50 child welfare supervisors to determine whether their ability to remain with the agency was related to resilient characteristics. Results of the study indicate that the possession of a personal mission or calling, support systems, and coping skills are among the primary factors that allow supervisors to achieve employment longevity. These and additional findings are discussed in detail as well as implications for child welfare, social work practice, and social work education. / text

Critical social work theories have taken a prominent place in Canadian social work curriculums and academic social work literature in recent years. The prevalence of critical social work theory is understandable considering that the content of critical theories can help social workers grapple with how to carry out a practice that is centrally concerned with social justice. However, critical social work theories have generally been presented abstractly, with little attention placed upon the particular contexts of social work practice. As a result, not much is known about how critical social work theory is actually applied in practice. This is especially important in the context of child protection, where issues of oppression and power are particularly acute. / This thesis is premised on the assumption that an understanding of the context of child protection work is necessary in order to develop a critical social work theory that is applicable to this field. The thesis examines the context of child protection practice by exploring the subjective experiences of 14 front-line child protection workers. Drawing on in-depth interviews that focus on day-to-day practice, this thesis suggests that child protection work involves dealing with a range of fears that influence workers' practice, including their fears about children being harmed and about their own physical and professional vulnerability. As well, child protection workers presented a picture of the ways that their legislative and organizational context shaped their work. These factors of child protection appeared to influence a practice in which relationships and interventions with clients were focused on monitoring parents' completion of a series of tasks and children were constructed as vulnerable, individual, and rights-bearing. Ideas for a critical child protection practice are offered, based on these results. In particular, a critical child protection practice that includes the adoption of more detailed attention to the internal worlds of parents, child-care workers and children is discussed.

An exploratory study was conducted to examine the effects of parental child protection employment on the children of the employees. Semi-structured interviews were conducted of eight children, who had one parent employed in a child protection agency in Eastern Ontario. The analysis of the interviews demonstrated perceived impacts on identified areas of the participants' lives: family transactions within the community; internal family functioning; and the impact on the individual participant. The interview results were also examined along four variables: gender of the child protection worker parent; gender of the participant; age of the participant; and position held by the child protection worker parent. Of these, only the gender of the child protection worker parent appeared to have a differing trend between groups. Further research is suggested to generalize these results beyond the participants in the study.

The goals of this study were to determine the proportion of children that were identified in the 2005 & 2006 at one youth protection agency as victims of sexual abuse or as at risk of becoming victims; to describe the family members and offenders and to determine what decisions concerning treatment and restrictions of contact were consistent with a model of best practice. Information on 18 variables was collected and grouped into child, abuse, offender, and agency response categories. In total, 70 children or about 3% of investigated cases involved either victims or children at risk of sexual abuse. Best practice responses for treatment were followed in 90% of the cases for treatment but only 70% of the cases for restrictions of contact; this difference was statistically significant. Findings show importance of specialized sexual abuse training for workers, managers and judges, more treatment resources for nonoffending parents and further research involving a larger sample and validated best practice model.

Using secondary analysis methodology - a statistical analysis of Police data - this study examines the annual incidence and patterns of child (0-14 years) death by homicide in New Zealand in the decade 1991-2000, and identifies the similarities and differences ofthese with an earlier New Zealand study and with international patterns. The study then determines the number of victims of child homicide with whom the New Zealand child care and protection service had had significant contact during the years 1996-2000, this period being chosen because of the availability of comprehensive case records. The report describes the New Zealand child care and protection legislative scheme and delineates the phases of an investigation undertaken by the Department of Child Youth and Family Services, identifying the possible practice errors attendant with each phase. Using qualitative analysis of case reviews undertaken by the Department of Child Youth and Family Services, the study investigates when deaths have occurred: during intake and prior to investigation; during an investigation; or during an intervention; and identifies the incidence of practice error. The findings of the two parts of the study are integrated using a systems perspective that discusses the influences of family, professional, organisational and community systems on child homicide. The report concludes with the implications of this analysis for child care and protection policy, practice and research. The findings of the study are discussed together with the implications for child protection practice.