The purpose of this research study was to foster improved intercultural communication and understanding in the studied organizations and to foster diversity related discussion in the Oregon developmental disabilities services industry. Research was conducted by collecting data from 16 human resource managers who work in human services organizations serving people with developmental disabilities. Through the use of an email survey and follow-up telephone interviews with a subgroup ofthe 16 participants, data were gathered regarding participant perspectives on their organizations' diversity initiatives and on their suggestions for effective diversity strategies. Specific areas of focus included: the benefits and barriers to workplace diversity and strategies to foster workplace diversity. The research produced a comprehensive set of strategies that focused on the following six areas: leadership commitment to diversity; organizational commitment to diversity; organizational commitment to diversity training; the modification of human resources practices to accommodate diverse cultural needs; the consideration of alternative service configurations and job descriptions to accommodate different cultural needs; and the development of a comprehensive community outreach program.

Undoubtedly, runaway and homeless youth (RHY) are one of the most vulnerable, yet underserved groups in our country. Well-meaning advocates have developed programs and services in an attempt to remedy this, yet there is little evidence of their effectiveness. Moreover, according to the research literature, a low utilization rate of current services by youth is a major concern. From a constructivist theoretical position, this study posits that the missing element is youth voice and the researcher hired formerly homeless youth to conduct the analysis of focus group data gathered from RHY who were participating in a range of services funded by the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act. By employing participatory action research (PAR) methods, this study privileges youth voice and asks two research questions; 1) what are current program models doing right with regards to RHY services, and 2) what can be learned by employing youth analysts in research. Findings indicate that how services are offered is as important as what services are offered. Additionally, by privileging youth and providing meaningful participation, youth are exceptionally capable to develop and evaluate services, programs and policy. Youth workers must continue to privilege youth voice if they hope to effect change in the lives of young people. If not, services will continue to play a key role in keeping RHY as one of the most marginalized groups in our society.

Nearly 23,000 youth age out of the foster care system between the ages of 18 and 21 each year in a transition fraught with challenges and barriers. These young people often lack developmentally appropriate experiences and exposure to necessary knowledge, role modeling, skill building, and long-term social support to promote positive transitions to adulthood while in foster care. As a result, young people who exit care face an array of poor adult outcomes. Nearly 60% of transition-aged foster youth experience a disability, and as such, face compounded challenges exiting foster care. While the examination of young adult outcomes for youth with disabilities has been largely missing from the literature, available research documents that young adults with disabilities who had exited foster care were significantly behind their peers without disabilities in several key areas. Literature examining the experiences of transition-aged youth with disabilities in the general population also highlights gaps in young adult outcomes for young people with disabilities compared to their peers. Compounding the issue for youth in foster care, those who experience disabilities often reside in restrictive placement settings such as developmental disability (DD) certified homes, group homes, or residential treatment centers. Though limited, there is some evidence to suggest that these types of placements negatively impact young adult outcomes for those aging out of foster care. The rules and regulations in place to promote safety in these types of placements could further restrict youth from engaging in meaningful transition preparation engagement while in foster care. Therefore, youth with disabilities, whose needs necessitate a higher level of support towards transition preparation engagement, may actually receive fewer opportunities than their peers in non-relative foster care and kinship care as they prepare to exit care into adulthood. The work in this dissertation provides knowledge to address gaps in the literature around transition preparation engagement during foster care for youth with disabilities, youth residing in restrictive foster care placements, and youth who report high levels of perceived restrictiveness as they prepare to enter into adulthood. This dissertation is a secondary analysis of transition preparation engagement data collected at baseline for 294 transition-aged youth in foster care who participated in an evaluation of an intervention to promote self-determination and enhance young adult outcomes, called My Life. Transition preparation engagement in this study was represented by eight domains: youth perceptions of preparedness for adult life, post-secondary education preparation engagement, career preparation engagement, employment, daily life preparation engagement, Independent Living Program (ILP) participation, transition planning engagement, and self-determination. Transition preparation engagement domains were examined using hierarchical multiple regression analysis to explore differences by disability status, placement setting, and youth self-report of perceptions of restrictiveness. In alignment with the literature, 58.8% of youth in this sample experienced a disability. Additional key demographics, including age, gender, and race, and foster care experiences, including length of time in care and placement instability, were entered into the regression models as covariates. Results indicated significantly less transition preparation engagement for 1) youth with disabilities compared to youth without disabilities, 2) youth residing in restrictive placements compared to youth in non-relative foster care and kinship care, and 3) youth who reported higher levels of perceived restrictiveness compared to youth who reported lower levels of perceived restrictiveness. Program, policy, and research recommendations are discussed that highlight the need to promote transition preparation engagement for this particularly vulnerable group of young people in foster care who experience disabilities, are residing in restrictive placement settings and who report high levels of perceived restrictiveness.

Globally, an estimated one in four women have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetimes. IPV has enormous physical, mental, and social consequences across ecological levels of human experience. These consequences extend to the children of adult women survivors of IPV and are worsened by intersecting experiences of racism, classism, sexism, and xenophobia. Service systems purporting to help, such as child protective services (CPS) and health service systems, can either create additional harm for women and their children or offer services that women may have difficulty accessing due to cost, isolation, and other factors. These harms can be especially pronounced among (a) Black women who have used drugs, who have children, and who are in community supervision programs (CSPs) in the U.S. and (b) Syrian refugee women with children living outside camps in Jordan. These populations of women face particular challenges getting basic needs met while navigating safety for themselves and their children – both due to IPV and from systems themselves (e.g., risk of losing custody of their children, sociocultural risk of interference in family life). Yet, limited research exists on the relationship between experiencing IPV and service involvement within these two populations. The following dissertation aims to address these research gaps in three papers, using descriptive and bivariate data as well as logistic regression analyses of E-WORTH and Women ASPIRE studies, as informed by ecological theory. The first paper (E-WORTH), guided by ecological theory, aims to determine the prevalence of and test hypothesized associations between psychological, physical, and sexual IPV and CPS involvement among Black women who have used drugs, who ever had children, and who are in CSPs in New York City (N=247). I hypothesized that women who ever had children, were in CSPs, and had ever experienced psychological, physical, and/or sexual IPV by male partners would have higher odds of being involved with CPS in their lifetime than women who ever had children, were in CSPs, and had not experienced IPV by male partners. Using self-reported data from Black women who have used drugs and were recruited from CSPs in New York City, I found that 70.85% of women who ever had children and who were in CSPs reported ever experiencing psychological IPV by a male partner, 70.04% reported ever experiencing physical IPV by a male partner, 48.58% reported ever experiencing sexual IPV by a male partner, and 40.89% reported ever experiencing psychological, physical, and sexual IPV by a male partner. Further, I found that 55.87% of women reported ever having had an open case with CPS. Multivariable logistic regression analyses revealed that women who had experienced lifetime sexual IPV had significantly higher odds of ever being involved with CPS than women in the study who had never experienced sexual IPV (OR: 1.81; 95% CI: 1.09, 3.01). Similarly, women who experienced multiple forms of IPV (psychological, physical, and sexual) also had significantly higher odds of being involved with CPS (OR: 1.81; 95% CI: 1.07, 3.04). However, these associations did not hold in adjusted models. Paper 2 (Women ASPIRE) aims to (1) compare the prevalence of mental health symptomology (anxiety, depression, and PTSD) among Syrian refugee women with children under age 18 living outside camps in Jordan who have and who have not experienced physical and/or sexual IPV in the past year; and (2) examine the relationship between IPV and mental health symptomology among Syrian refugee women with children living outside camps in Jordan. Based on ecological theory as my conceptual framework, I hypothesized that Syrian refugee women with children who had experienced IPV in the past year would have significantly higher odds of meeting screening criteria for anxiety, depression, and PTSD as compared to Syrian refugee women with children who had not experienced IPV in the past year. I found high rates of IPV, anxiety, depression, and PTSD among women in the sample (N=412). Furthermore, using multivariable logistic regression models from the Women ASPIRE dataset, I found that women with children who had experienced physical and/or sexual IPV in the past year had significantly higher odds of meeting screening criteria for all three mental health conditions – anxiety (aOR: 3.68, CI: 2.28-5.94, p<0.001), depression (aOR: 3.03, CI: 1.83-4.99, p<0.001), and PTSD (aOR: 6.94, CI: 3.75-12.84, p<0.001) – than women with children who had not experienced IPV in the past year. Despite these findings, at least one-fifth of women with children reported an unmet need for mental health or protective services, and less than one-third of women were aware of the availability of these services in their local communities. The third paper (Women ASPIRE) aims to (a) examine the prevalence of physical and sexual IPV among health service-seeking Syrian refugee women with children in non-camp settings in Jordan and (b) compare the differences in health service use between women with children who had and who had not experienced IPV (N=412). Informed by experiences across levels of ecological theory, I hypothesized that women with children who had ever experienced IPV would have lower odds of using each type of health service (i.e., general, specialist, reproductive, mental health, and emergency health services) – and would have higher odds of using limited numbers of services – than women with children who had never experienced IPV. I tested my hypothesis using binary logistic regression models and an independent samples t-test. I found that nearly 60% of Syrian refugee women with children living outside camps in Jordan had ever experienced physical and/or sexual IPV by their current or most recent husband. Contrary to my hypotheses, I found that women with children who had ever experienced IPV had over three times the odds of using mental health services and were significantly more likely to use a greater variety of health services (including mental health services) than women who had not experienced IPV (aOR: 3.10, 95% CI: 1.92-5.00, p<0.001; mean 3.26 vs. 2.84 types of services respectively, t [410] = 03.71, p<0.001). Findings affirm that IPV is a serious public health issue among the affected populations and that access to needed services remains crucial to affected populations. Results fill gaps in existing literature by confirming that women with children in each study population have high odds of system involvement, particularly with CPS and mental health service systems, thereby offering social workers within those systems opportunities to intervene effectively. Thus, this dissertation can help social work practitioners and clinicians offer more responsive, accessible, and relevant services to clients within the study populations. Policymakers and administrators can fund development and testing of interventions across multiple ecological levels to promote the safety, health, and well-being of women and their children. Researchers can build on these findings through quantitative and qualitative studies on intervention effectiveness and accessibility among women engaged with system.

According to Part H (Public Law 101-476), governors of each state have the authority to designate a lead agency within the state to carry out this legislation. Some lead agencies may include the Department of Education, Department of Health, or Department of Economic Security. Each lead agency has the power, within Part H, to decide whether infants and toddlers who are at risk will be served under the provisions of special education to infants and toddlers. According to The National Early childhood Technical Assistance System (NEC*TAS) (1992), 22% of states include at risk in their definitions for Part H. Of those 11 states, only 6 include services for perinatally exposed infants and toddlers in their at risk definition. The National Association for Perinatal Addiction Research and Education (NAPARE), (1993) defines perinatally exposed as, "fetal exposure to inappropriate use of licit or illicit drugs." Delivery of care is not systematic between these state agencies. There is a lack of knowledge of which services, if any, each delivery system offers to perinatally exposed infants/toddlers and their families. Therefore the purpose of this study was to examine the delivery of services in the six states that serve this population under the at risk definition of Part H and compare those results to three states that do not serve perinatally exposed infants and toddlers under this legislation. Telephone interviews of 9 state Part H Coordinators were conducted to obtain information concerning various services provided to substance exposed infants/toddlers and their families. Six of those states claimed to provide services to perinatally exposed infants and toddlers under the at risk definition of Part H and three made no such claims. Data from the survey instrument were analyzed using qualitative analysis. Findings of the study revealed that only health department lead agencies provide services to perinatally exposed infants/toddlers and their families under the at risk definition of Part H of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Data analysis provided information for making recommendations to governors and lobbying organizations who are concerned about providing services to perinatally exposed infants and toddlers. / Ed. D.

This quantitative study was aimed at determining the value of the psychosocial services rendered by the staff members of the Godisanang OVC programme to OVC in Rustenburg in order to make recommendations on how these services could be improved. Fifteen caregivers, who were employed by the Godisanang OVC programme, were interviewed in October 2013. Data was presented in the form of statistics, tables and numbers. This study revealed that the psychosocial services that are rendered by the Godisanang OVC programme to OVC are of value. Therefore, it is recommended that the psychosocial services be extended to other regions of Rustenburg. / Health Studies / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)

An exploratory study was undertaken to research the effect of hearing impairment on employment and socialisation of black hearing impaired persons and the role of social workers and job placement officers in supporting these hearing impaired persons in their work situation. The Council and Affiliates should disseminiate information on the effect of deafness on employment to the public and also embark on social work services to Deaf employees. Future socio-demographic data with a central register of interpreters and post-lingually hearing impaired employees should be embarked on by the Council as well as the effect of preparation of the hearing impaired for the open labour market and environmental barriers on their employment opportunities. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Work)

This study focused on the psychosocial effects of parental loss on children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. The primary aim of the research was to explore the psychosocial effects of parental loss on children orphaned by HIV/AIDS through the eyes of the caregivers. Five participants were selected for this study using convenience sampling. The data was collected using face-to-face semi-structured interviews. The interviews were analysed using thematic content analysis and themes were extracted and presented. The results of this study indicate that children orphaned by HIV/AIDS living in the children’s home experience many psychosocial problems. Further research on the psychosocial issues specific to orphaned children raised in children’s homes in rural areas is recommended / Psychology / M. A. (Clinical Psychology)

Thesis (MOccTher)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South African Protective Workshops struggle to transform to align to a developmental human rights approach and to increase sustainability in the absence of a uniform model and an implementation strategy. This study applied qualitative research methodology in the form of Action Research with Co-operative Inquiry to answer the research question of what could be a framework of best practice for and strategy of transformation for protective workshops (PWs) operated by the South African Federation for Mental Health (SAFMH) in South Africa. It included the development of a transformation strategy for 31 PWs for adults with intellectual disability operated by SAFMH member organisations across South Africa. Seven representatives from the managers and service users of PWs were selected trough convenient sampling. The participants formed a co-operative inquiry group to determine the nature of the service to be delivered and how it should be implemented. The purpose was to develop a framework for possible and relevant services for persons with intellectual disability. Such services should preferably be aligned to the human rights based legislation and funding requirements of the Department of Social Development as to increase the long-term sustainability of the PWs. Given that the study was funded by the SAFMH, the directors requested that the Co-operative Inquiry Group use the exisisting best practice model used by Cape Mental Health as a template and point of departure. The study was done over a 12-month period (February 2012 – February 2013) and included a research initiation meeting, four search conferences and a presentation of the findings to the SAFMH Directors. The study contributed new knowledge on the nature of service provision to persons with ID and the ideal process to transform services within the SAFMH context. Through inductive content analysis two themes emerged namely: 1) Comprehensive service provision and 2) Coordinated transformation of services. The first theme determined that comprehensive services to persons with ID should consist of inclusive, appropriate, enabling and empowering services. The second theme suggested a new way of coordinating the transformation of services through systematic implementation, suitable regulation, sufficient capacity and ensuring sustainability. A central management structure was suggested to ensure coordinated implementation, to secure funding and to monitor and evaluate the implementation. A mind-shift towards new thinking was identified as a prerequisite for stakeholders buy-in on transformed service delivery. This mind-shift relates to the status of the service users with ID as adults in training towards employment in the open labour market and maximum integration into society. This study contributed new knowledge that informs the development of a new service delivery framework of best practice. The proposed implementation strategy could offer persons with ID the opportunity to progress and develop towards their maximal level of integration into society. It further provided PWs with possibilities for conceptualising different models of practice in the form of an implementable framework and a strategy to transform services. The findings were presented to the SAFMH Directors who adopted the concept framework and implementaimplementation strategy in theory as a proposal for future transformation without amendments. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Suid-Afrikaanse Beskermde Werkswinkels vind dit moeilik om te transformeer na ‘n ontwikkelingsbenadering wat op menseregte gegrond is en om hul volhoubaarheid te verbeter in die afwesigheid van ‘n eenvorminge model en ‘n strategie vir implimentering. Hierdie studie het kwalitatiewe navorsingsmetodes in die vorm van Aksie Navorsing met Koöperatiewe Ondersoeke gebruik om ’n transformasie strategie vir die 31 Beskermde Werkswinkels vir volwassenes met intellektuele gestremdheid, wat bestuur word deur die lidorganisasies van die South African Federation for Mental Health (SAFMH) regoor Suid-Afrika. Die koöperatiewe ondersoekspan het bestaan uit verteenwoordigers van die werkswinkel bestuurders en gebruikers van die dienste wat geselekteer is deur middel van gerieflikheidsteekproefneming. Hulle ondervinding het meegewerk om vas te stel wat die aard van die dienste moet wees en hoe dit effektief geïmplementeer kon word. Die doel van die studie was om dienste daar te stel vir persone met intellektuele gestremdheid wat in lyn is met menseregte wetgewing en die riglyne vir befondsing deur die Departement van Maatskaplike Dienste om sodoende die langtermyn volhoubaarheid van die werkswinkels te verbeter. Omdat die studie deur SAFMH befonds is, het die direkteur die koöperatiewe ondersoekspan gevra om die Cape Mental Health model as ’n beginpunt te gebruik aangesien dit reeds as ’n beste praktyk model in die sektor erken word. Die studie is oor ’n periode van 12 maande uitgevoer (Februarie 2012 – Februarie 2013). Dit het ’n inisiasie vergadering, 4 ondersoek konferensies en ’n aanbieding van die bevindinge aan die SAFMH-direkteure ingesluit. Die eerste tema het nuwe insig gegee oor die aard van dienste aan persone met intellektuele gestremdheid en die ideale manier om dit te implementeer om te transformeer van huidige na beste praktyk status binne die SAFMH konteks. Deur induktiewe inhoud analise het twee temas na vore gekom vanuit die kodes, sub-kategorieë en kategorieë. Die eerste tema het gedui op omvattende dienste aan persone met intellektuele gestremdheid in die vorm van inklusiewe dienste, toepaslike dienste, dienste wat persone in staat stel en dienste wat hulle bemagtig. Die tweede tema het nuwe kennis opgelewer aangaande die gekoördineerde transformasie van dienste deur sistematiese implementering, toepaslike regulering, genoegsame kapasiteit en deur te verseker dat dit volhoubaar is op die lang duur. ’n Sentrale bestuursentrum is voorgestel om gekoördineerde implementering te verseker. ’n Nuwe denkwyse oor die status van volwassenes met intellektuele gestremdheid deur alle belanghebbendes is geïdentifiseer as ’n voorvereiste vir die aanvaarding en suksesvolle implementering van die transformasie strategie. Hierdie persone moet gesien word as volwassenes wat in opleiding is om in die ope arbeidsmark te werk en op die hoogste vlak van integrasie in hulle gemeenskappe te funksioneer. Die nuwe kennis het gelei tot die ontwikkeling van ’n nuwe diensleweringsraamwerk en implementeringstrategie wat persone met intellektuele gestremdheid die geleentheid kan gee om maksimaal te ontwikkel en te integreer in hulle gemeenskappe. Dit bied verder aan beskermde werkswinkels die geleentheid om alternatiewe modelle van dienslewering te oorweeg. Die bevindinge is aan die SAFMH-direkteure voorgelê en die raamwerk en strategie vir implementering is in teorie aanvaar sonder enige veranderinge.

Thesis (M Social Work)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Non-biological caregivers often take children into their care when their own biological caregivers have failed to provide them with a safe and loving home. These children are often also affected with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). Learning of a child’s disability can be a big shock to non-biological caregivers especially if it is misunderstood, available professional help is scarce and intervention resources are not readily available. These non-biological caregivers are often not prepared for the financial, emotional and physical investment that is required to fully support the children and their development. This can cause various emotional reactions and implications that are challenging for the caregivers. It is critical to recognise parenting experiences and challenges as a means of developing and promoting intervention strategies and support that will respond to the needs of the children with FASD and their non-biological caregivers especially from a South African perspective. There is a need for social workers to take on responsibility for addressing FASD as they have the professional capacity to help families living with FASD to develop and maintain stable and nurturing households. One way in which this can be achieved is through the initiation and facilitation of support groups. The goal of the study was to gain an understanding on the experiences of non-biological caregivers of children with FASD and of the utilisation of support groups to help them cope better. The researcher made use of a combination of an exploratory and descriptive research design. By using both a quantitative and qualitative approach in a complimentary manner, the researcher was able to gain an in depth insight into the lives of the non-biological caregivers and how they experience this disability and support groups that are utilised as a means of helping them cope. Permission to conduct the study was granted by the committee for Human Research at the University of Stellenbosch. The literature study firstly investigated the implication of FASD on affected children. Secondly, the extents to which non-biological caregivers are affected by the consequences of this disability were discussed. After this the utilisation of support groups as a method of supporting non-biological caregivers, with the emphasis on a mutual-aid and educational approach as theoretical underpinning was described. The empirical study was completed with 16 participants through face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. An interview schedule based on the findings of the literature study was utilised. The criteria for inclusion were that participants had to have attended at least 5 support group sessions and had to be a non-biological caregiver of FASD children who had attended the support groups specifically related to this disorder. The results of this study mostly confirmed the findings from the literature study which showed that support groups play a vital role in providing necessary support to non-biological caregivers who are often unprepared for the realities of caring for a FASD child. Recommendations are aimed at the social work profession in South Africa who need to align itself in providing necessary support to non-biological caregivers through the use of support groups and various other methods of service rendering. Suggestions for future research are also made in line with how non-biological caregivers can be supported in their unique caregiver responsibilities. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Nie-biologiese versorgers neem dikwels kinders in hul sorg wanneer kinders se biologiese ouers versuim om vir hulle ‘n veilige en liefdevolle huis en omgewing te skep. Hierdie kinders kan ook ly aan of geaffekteer word deur Fetale Alkohol Spektrum Versteuring (FASV). Dit kan ‘n groot skok wees wanneer versorgers uitvind dat die kind geaffekteer is daardeur, veral as hierdie versteuring misverstaan word. Professionele hulp is skaars, en intervensies en hulpbronne is nie vryelik beskikbaar nie. Versorgers is dikwels nie voorbereid op die finansiële, emosionele en fisiese eise wat nodig is om ten volle die kind se ontwikkeling te ondersteun nie. Dit kan dit lei tot verskillende emosionele reaksies met verskeie gevolge wat opsigself ook verskeie uitdagings vir die nie- biologiese versorgers veroorsaak. Dit is van kritieke belang om die ervarings en uitdagings van ouerskap te verken in die bevordering en ontwikkeling van intervensiestrategieë ter ondersteuning van die behoeftes van die kinders met FASV en hul versorgers, veral vanuit ‘n Suid-Afrikaanse perspektief. Daar word vereis van maatskaplike werkers om verantwoordelikheid te neem vir die aanspreek van FASV, aangesien hulle die professionele kapasiteit het om families wat geaffekteer is te help, en om hulle by te staan sodat ‘n stabiele en koesterende huishouding ontwikkel en volgehou kan word. Een manier waarop dit bereik kan word, is deur die vestiging en fasilitering van ondersteuningsgroepe. Die doel van hierdie studie was om ‘n begrip te ontwikkel oor die ervarings van nie-biologiese versorgers van kinders met FASV se benutting van ondersteuningsgroepe. Die navorser het gebruik gemaak van ‘n kombinasie van ‘n verkennende en beskrywende navorsing. Deur die gebruik van beide ʼn kwantitatiewe en kwalitatiewe benadering, is die navorser in staat gestel om ‘n indiepte insig in die lewens van die versorgers te bekom, en ondersoek in te stel oor hul ervarings van die versteuring/gestremdheid deur ondersteuningsgroepe wat as intervensie aangewend is. Toestemming om die studie te doen is deur die Etiese Komitee vir Menslike Navorsing aan die Universiteit van Stellenbosch bekom. Eerstens is die literatuurstudie voltooi waarin die navorser ondersoek ingestel het oor die implikasies van FASV op geaffekteerde kinders. Tweedens is daar bespreek hoe nie-biologiese versorgers geraak word deur die gevolge van hierdie versteuring/gestremdheid. Daarna is ondersteuningsgroepe as ‘n metode van ondersteuning aan versorgers ondersoek, en klem is gelê op ‘n wedersydse hulpbenadering en ‘n opvoedkundige benadering as teoretiese grondslag. Die empiriese studie is voltooi met 16 deelnemers deur middel van individuele, een-tot-een, semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude. ‘n Onderhoudskedule, wat gebaseer is op die bevindinge van die literatuurstudie, is gebruik. Die kriteria vir deelname aan die studie en groep het ingesluit dat deelnemers ten minste vyf sessies van ‘n ondersteuningsgroep moes bywoon en ook ‘n pleegouer wees van ‘n FASV kind. Die resultate van hierdie studie het meestal die bevindinge uit die literatuurstudie bevestig en het getoon dat ondersteuningsgroepe ‘n belangrike rol speel in ondersteuning aan nie-biologiese versorgers, wat dikwels onvoorbereid is op die werklike problematiek van die versorging van ‘n kind met FASV. Aanbevelings word gerig aan die maatskaplikewerk-professie in Suid-Afrika, ten einde ondersteuningsgroepe en ander metodes van dienslewering te bied, ter ondersteuning aan die versorgers van FASV kinders. Voorstelle vir verdere navorsing word ook gemaak sodat daar ‘n ondersteuningsnetwerk opgebou kan word vir die versorgers van ‘n FASV kind ten einde aan hulle unieke versorgingsbehoeftes te voorsien.