This research project surveyed San Bernardino County non-relative licensed foster parents to assess their level of satisfaction with the Department of Children's Services. This research also explored factors related to communication and feelings of support and determined their impact on over all feelings of satisfaction with the agency.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether or not DCS social workers would obtain client's educational records if they had electronic access to these records. If a social worker could access client school records quickly and easily and then enter the information into the case management computer system, the school history would travel with the client to their new environment. This information would insure that the foster child with special education needs was placed in the proper classroom, giving the child a better chance to succeed.

This study proposed to determine if there are different personality traits between police officers, Department of Children's Services (DCS) intake and carrier workers. It was proposed that differences may indicate that investigations done by DCS be delegated as a law enforcement function whereas family preservation services be the responsibility of DCS.

The purpose of this study is to explore and understand the reasons why some siblings are placed together and why other siblings are separated within the foster care system.

The quantitative study attempted to examine the barriers and challenges of grandparents raising grandchildren. The primary focus is to explore the problems and concerns to determine what are the specific needs of these redefined families. The researcher employed a questionnaire with some closed and open-ended questions, pertaining to the problems and concerns of custodial grandparents. Twenty-five grandparents in San Bernardino County were interviewed to obtain data regarding this issue. The findings of the study revealed that grandparents and grandchildren both are in need of internal and external resources to enhance, empower and support their inner ability to adjust and cope with their new and often traumatic family transitions.

The purpose of the study was to look at whether domestic violence is being viewed as a risk factor in homes where there is also physical child abuse. Historically a misconception has existed that child abuse occurs in a vacuum of sorts, isolated from other family problems.

This study was designed to differentiate the significant demographic and familial factors found in families when reunification is successful versus when reunification fails in cases of child removal due to physical abuse and domestic violence. The purpose of this study was to identify which, if any of these factors, lead to successful reunification. Content analysis of adjudicated cases of child abuse in San Bernardino County was used to transform qualitative information into quantitative data.

This study examined the perceptions of child welfare and family drug court professionals regarding the emerging family drug court program in Riverside County. The following were addressed: what are the strengths of the program, what are challenges or barriers in the program, how do others not involved in the program feel about the program, how the need for the program was recognized, and how child welfare professionals view the future of the program.

The purpose of the study was to determine how knowledgeable the San Bernardino County Department of Children's Services (DCS) social workers were about Family Preservation Services has been to determine if that intervention works to alleviate out-of-home placements.