The purpose of this research is to explore through a critical lens the ways in which independence planning for crown wards is reflected in recording documents and the extent to which such documentation suggests the nature of continued involvement with the youth in such planning processes. Data were gathered by examining planning documents used by Child Welfare agencies in Ontario for crown wards. To accommodate the evolving emergence of themes and conceptual patterns revealed in the data, a grounded theory approach and constant comparative method was used as detailed by Charmaz (2006). Independence planning involved crown wards in developing visitation plans with members of the family of origin, and included goal setting pertaining to the development of social skills and acquisition of educational qualifications and instrumental skills. The planning documents lacked specific behavioural examples, contextual understanding, specific examples of the efforts undertaken by CAS workers and caregivers to support goals, and examples of discussions between workers and crown wards. Planning documents generally reflected little involvement of the crown ward. Planning and OnLAC documents require modification so as to allow for and encourage qualitative information and greater input from the crown ward. Such modifications ought to be understood by Child Welfare management in terms of making planning processes more useful and beneficial to crown wards and CAS workers. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

No description available.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relations of the different channels of the (parent-teacher) association, the functions of the association, and the work that the thirteenth district of Texas is doing through its different channels.

No description available.

Background and Purpose: Parental substance abuse is a prominent theme in child welfare. Substance abuse treatment models include psychosocial, pharmacological, and legal interventions (Eggins, 2016). However, whereas the focus on child outcomes (e.g., re-unification) is clearly the long-term, or ultimate, goal, treatment engagement, attendance, retention and completion are important intermediate goals of the treatment system (Marsh, 2012). The purpose of this scoping review addresses the research question: “What is known about interventions that have assessed intermediate and ultimate goals for substance-abusing parents involved with child welfare? Specifically, our aims included ascertaining how many studies linked the intermediate outcomes to the ultimate outcomes. Methods: We used Arksey, and O’Malley’s (2005) five-stage scoping review framework to identify, select, chart, collate, and report on relevant studies. Databases searched included Social Work Abstracts, Scopus, CINAHL, ERIC, Web of Science, PsychArticles, and PsychInfo, as well as reference lists in related review articles. We also searched the websites of existing networks and relevant organizations. Inclusion criteria of literature: peer-reviewed; no date or study design restrictions; used “child welfare” and “substance abuse” as search terms; and reported on intermediate and ultimate goals. At each stage of the search each author read the abstract and the full article, as needed, to decide on articles to be included. Results: The search resulted in 26 peer-reviewed studies that met criteria, 21 published within the past 15 years. Studies were categorized using Eggins (2016) framework of treatment categories: Home-Visiting (n = 1); Family Treatment Drug Courts (FTDC) (6); Multidimensional Interventions (9); and Family, Parent or Child Focused Interventions (10). Study samples ranged from 15 to 1562 clients. Just over 45% of studies involved experimental (31%) or quasi-experimental (15%) designs. Certain categories or specialized interventions within categories increase engagement over traditional child welfare services. These include family drug courts, recovery coaches, service matching, and intensive case management. These interventions also resulted in improved ultimate outcomes. However, only six of the studies included ultimate outcomes and only two of those studies directly examined the link between the intermediate and ultimate outcomes. Further, although these interventions were statistically effective, some studies also reported overall low rates of both service utilization and reunification. Themes in non-experimental studies included the importance of therapists’ attitudes, child welfare involvement as an important motivator for engagement, and ongoing challenges of treatment access and structural barriers. Conclusions and Implications: The limited literature from this scoping study suggests various intervention models are successful in substance abuse treatment engagement, retention, and subsequent re-unification for families involved in child welfare. A next step is to further examine the linkage between the intermediate outcomes of engagement and treatment attendance and ultimate outcomes. Further, these should be mixed method studies that capture the salient components of the interventions that lead to increased intermediate outcomes and well as ultimate outcomes. Identification of the most useful interventions and mechanisms within the interventions are critical for informing best practices for the growing parental substance abuse problem within child welfare.

No description available.

There are a number of processes at play within the child welfare and healthcare systems that have the potential to be othering and stigmatizing for people (Pollack, 2010; Snowden, 2003; van Ryn, 2003). These stigmatizing practices are compounded and made all the more complex when the child welfare and healthcare systems operate simultaneously in people’s lives. Despite this, there appears to be limited research about the interplay between the child welfare and healthcare systems in producing stigma, in spite of how closely and recurrently these structures interact and work with one another. This study investigates the interaction of stigmatizing processes and practices at play between Brant Family and Children’s Services and the Brantford General Hospital. Specifically, it explores, from the viewpoint of child welfare staff, the experiences of new mothers receiving perinatal care at this hospital, who are also clients of Brant Family and Children’s Services. This study employs a critical social work framework, coupled with elements of intersectionality and a social justice lens. An eclectic methodological approach was used, integrating tenets of critical and interpretive social science research, and a narrative approach. Four semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with child protection staff employed at Brant Family and Children’s Services, with six major themes identified, including: the exclusion of mothers within the hospital setting, issues with Brant FACS’ birth alert documentation, and the paradoxical ways in which stigma can operate in the lives of new mothers receiving care at this hospital. These themes are explored and future directions and recommendations are discussed. Suggestions are also made in terms of how these organizations can begin to address the practices at play between both systems that unfortunately, appear to harmfully impact on mothers who are involved with Brant Family and Children’s Services, and receiving perinatal care at the Brantford General Hospital. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

This project examines two organizations--the Better Babies Bureau and the Children's Bureau--created by Progessive women in the early twentieth century to combat high infant mortality rates, improve prenatal and postnatal care, and better child welfare. The Better Babies Bureau, founded in 1913 by journalists from the Woman's Home Companion magazine, and the Children's Bureau, founded as a federal agency in 1912, used similar campaigns to raise awareness of these child welfare problems in the early 1900s; where they differed, however, is in their ultimate goals. The Children's Bureau sought to improve long-term medical care and infant mortality rates for women regardless of race or socioeconomic status; I analyze how they worked directly with midwives and health officials to provide better care for mothers and children. The Better Babies Bureau, in comparison, catered specifically to white women through prize-based contests and eugenics rhetoric. Through their better baby contests, they promoted the idea that disabilities and defects should be eliminated in children in order to create a better future. By the late 1910s, these two organizations were utilizing nationwide campaigns to appeal to mothers through either consumerism or health conferences. I argue that although the Better Babies Bureau made a greater cultural impact, the Children's Bureau made a longer lasting—and farther reaching—impact on infant mortality rates by making healthcare more accessible for both rural and urban women. / Master of Arts / In the early twentieth century, many Americans became concerned with the number of children dying before age one. This thesis examines two different organizations that were created in an attempt to reduce these infant mortality rates, improve prenatal and postnatal care, and better child welfare. These two organizations, the Children's Bureau and the Better Babies Bureau, were created and run by Progressive women who took vastly different approaches to raising awareness of these problems. The Children's Bureau worked directly with health and government officials to improve child welfare and healthcare. Meanwhile, the Better Babies Bureau utilized contests to convince mothers that defects and disabilities needed to be eliminated in their children. In this thesis, I argue that the Children's Bureau was ultimately far more effective by appealing to a wider audience, creating a plan for long-term medical care, and improving access to prenatal and postnatal care for women.

M.S.

In the fall of 1938, Marion Kenworthy, child psychologist, and Clarence Pickett, director of the American Friends Service Committee, began designing a bill that would challenge the United States's government's strict immigration laws and allow persecuted children to come to the United States and live in American homes. The Wagner-Rogers Bill, named for Senator Robert Wagner of New York and Representative Edith Rogers of Massachusetts and introduced in February 1939, sought to allow the entry of 20,000 refugee children from Germany. At the time, multiple domestic factors limited the willingness of American politicians to meet this problem head on: high unemployment rates after the stock market crash in 1929, an isolationist sentiment after the impact of World War I, and xenophobia. These factors discouraged the lawmakers from revising the quota limit set on obtainable visas established by the 1924 Immigration Act and allow outsiders into the United States. These few actors who supported the Wagner-Rogers Bill reflect a hidden minority of the American public and political body that fought to help Jewish refugees by standing up to the majority of citizens and politicians against higher immigration into the United States, and the story of the this Bill demonstrates what might have been possible and illuminates 20th century models of American humanitarianism and its role in creating international refugee protection. / Master of Arts / In the fall of 1938, Marion Kenworthy, child psychologist, and Clarence Pickett, director of the American Friends Service Committee, began designing a bill that would challenge the United States’s government’s strict immigration laws and allow persecuted children to come to the United States and live in American homes. The Wagner-Rogers Bill, named for Senator Robert Wagner of New York and Representative Edith Rogers of Massachusetts and introduced in February 1939, would allow the entry of 20,000 refugee children from Germany. At the time, multiple domestic factors limited the willingness of American politicians to meet this problem head on: high unemployment rates after the stock market crash in 1929, an isolationist sentiment after the impact of World War I, and xenophobia. These factors discouraged the lawmakers from reforming pre-existing immigration policies to allow more outsiders into the United States. These few actors who supported the Wagner-Rogers Bill reflect a hidden minority of the American public and political body that fought to help Jewish refugees by standing up to the majority of citizens and politicians against higher immigration into the United States, and the story of the this Bill illuminates 20th century models of American humanitarianism and its role in creating international refugee protection.