<p>A key factor in mentoring effectiveness and satisfaction is ensuring that mentor preparation training and ongoing support address needed mentor knowledge and abilities (MKAs). Knowing how to mentor is different from knowing what mentoring involves or knowing mentoring policies and procedures. Ideally, mentor training incorporates both the "how" and the "what" of mentoring. Besides program administrators' ideas about needed MKAs, mentors and mentees are key stakeholders in mentor training effectiveness, yet their perspectives are not prevalent in the literature. This qualitative study examined three perspectives about MKAs related to mentor preparation training and ongoing support for a women's resource center (WRC) in a large metropolitan area in the Southwest. The WRC experienced a gap between mentor training effectiveness and mentor satisfaction with mentoring outcomes due to insufficient mentor development in MKAs most applicable to program goals. The three perspectives informing this study were mentors, mentees and mentoring program staff members. This study explored MKAs identified be each stakeholder group as necessary to mentoring effectiveness. MKAs categories identified by the stakeholders were: Mentor Self-Awareness, Mentor Self-Management, Realistic Expectations, Understand Mentees, Mentorship Management, Interpersonal Communication, Goals, WRC and Mentoring Program. Three implications for preparing mentors were identified. First, mentors need to possess realistic expectations regarding the WRC mentoring program. Second, training offered to mentors needs to distinguish between topics relevant to all mentors compared to topics relevant to some mentors depending on their previous mentoring or professional background and experience. Third, training and support should distinguish between information needed versus skills needed for effective mentoring. Ongoing mentor training and support implications include providing regularly scheduled mentorship assessments and updates to the WRC, establishing opportunities for mentors to connect with each other and the WRC, and receiving guidance for recognizing when it is time to close a mentorship and how to close it. Ongoing training and support implications indicate the need for online access to the information and resources provided during mentoring preparation; updates from the Mentoring Program Coordinator (MPC) about WRC programs, resources, and services; plus additional training and resources on mentoring effectiveness relevant while a mentorship is in progress. </p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to design a program, identify potential funding sources, and write a grant to fund a program that will provide extended transitional housing for women offenders and address the impact that long term incarceration has had on their lives.</p><p> An extensive literature review provided increased knowledge about the historical, racial and gender context of women offenders and the reentry challenges they face. The grant writer designed a reentry program for women based on current literature about women in jails, prisons; on parole and probation; and the gender specific interventions for substance use and mental health disorders.</p><p> The California Wellness Foundation was the most suitable funding source for this project. This program will be located at Harbour Area Half way Houses, Inc. in Long Beach, California.</p><p> Actual submission and/or funding of the grant was not required for the successful completion of this project.</p>

<p> Gender inequality continues to impose limitations on the progress of women in a number of ways. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how female administrators have experienced gender inequality in the workplace in order to gain a better understanding of the barriers they have encountered. This study explored participants&rsquo; administrative background, experiences as an administrator, challenges encountered related to gender inequality, and what was learned (i.e., coping, strategies to address gender inequality). The findings revealed the main challenges participants&rsquo; encountered in the workplace were based on pay and promotion. Through this study, female administrators were given an outlet to express their concerns regarding gender inequality and provide their input concerning strategies that may be effective in addressing gender inequality in the workplace.</p><p>

<p> Sexual violence against women has persisted throughout time and has proven to carry many detrimental psychological and health complications. Individuals at a higher risk for experiencing sexual violence are women of lower socioeconomic status and ethnic minorities. This curriculum was developed as a prevention program that will serve to educate young Latinas in the topic of sexual violence and enhance awareness of personal values about sex, relationships and stress management. The curriculum highlights the role that ethnicity plays in the main risk factors involved sexual violence. Specifically, young Latinas can be provided with valuable psycho education and the knowledge needed to protect themselves against the many forms of sexual violence in their communities. </p>

<p> This project served to locate a potential funding source and write a grant to secure funding for a program that provides mental health and psychological treatments, resources and information, and ultimately empowers Latina domestic workers who have survived trauma within and outside their scope of work. The program will be implemented by an MSW with Promotora community leadership. The program consists of a trauma focused intervention group with culturally sensitive and empirically supported curriculum as well as crisis mobilization services for female Latina domestic workers in the city of Los Angeles. If funded, this program will enable social workers and others to be able to advocate successfully and be informed about Latina domestic workers who face specific challenges in their work, including physical and mental health concerns, safety issues, a lack of labor protections, and overall health. Submitting this proposal for funding was not required to successfully complete this project.</p>

<p> Many studies have shown that men and women who inject drugs differ in their risk of contracting HIV, with women being at higher risk. However, the risk factors between women and men are less well understood, and more knowledge about them can inform gender-sensitive prevention and treatment for people who inject drugs (PWIDs). Research synthesis and meta-analysis was implemented on studies conducted with adult injection drug users that made gender comparisons on biological, behavioral, and social- structural risk factors. Fifty-five studies in the research synthesis provided data for inclusion in the meta-analysis. The analysis yielded many significant findings. With regard to biological risk factors women were one and half times or more as likely to engage in vaginal sex (<i>OR</i>=1.60, <i>p</i>=0.000), engage in oral sex (<i>OR</i>=1.59, <i>p</i>=0.001), to experience injecting problems such as difficulty locating a vein (<i> OR</i>=1.71, <i>p</i>=0.000), and STIs (<i>OR</i>=1.66, <i> p</i>=0.001). With regard to behavioral injection risk factors, women were modestly more likely to engage in receptive sharing (<i>OR</i>=1.12, <i> p</i>=0.01), inject more frequently (<i>OR</i>=1.18, <i> p</i>=0.01), and were two and a half times more likely to engage in receptive sharing of injecting equipment with sex partners (<i>OR</i>=2.51, <i> p</i>=0.000) while women were less likely to share equipment with friends (<i>OR</i>=.79, <i>p</i>=.0001). With regard to behavioral, sexual risk factors women were significantly more likely to engage in unprotected sex (<i>OR</i>=1.41, <i>p</i>=0.05), have multiple sex partners (<i>OR</i>=1.72, <i>p</i>=0.01), have steady sex partners as opposed to casual sex partners (<i>OR</i>=1.87, <i> p</i>=0.000), and were nearly four times more likely to engage in survival sex work (<i>OR</i>=3.77, <i>p</i>=0.000). With regard to social-structural risk factors, women were nearly ten times more likely to experience sexual violence (<i>OR</i>=9.6, <i>p</i>=0.000) while women were significantly less likely to experience physical violence that was not sexual (<i>OR</i>=0.60, <i>p</i>=0.000). Women were twice as likely to experience poor health status (<i>OR</i>=2.08, <i> p</i>=0.000). Significant heterogeneity was found among all analyses. Overall, the findings of this study provides evidence that women who inject drugs experience greater HIV risks in all areas than men who inject drugs, suggesting that future harm reduction strategies should be tailored to women&rsquo;s and men&rsquo;s specific risk factors.</p>

<p> Single parent families are a prevalent trend among the African American community. Low socioeconomics and compromised maternal monitoring challenge the family structure of single African American families. These challenges produce negative psychosocial outcomes for African Americans. The purpose of this project was to design a one-year program and identify a funding source to write a grant proposal. The goal of the program was to provide psycho-educational groups to increase single African American mothers' knowledge of effective communication and conflict resolution. Additionally, the program was designed to provide emotional support. Long Beach Memorial Medical Center was selected as the host agency. The Annenberg Foundation was selected as a potential funding source. The actual submission and/or funding of this grant were not a requirement for the successful completion of this project.</p>

<p> A majority of inpatients in acute psychiatric settings have histories of trauma, especially sexual violence. The purpose of this content analysis review of the periodical literature was to gain a better understanding of the issues faced by involuntarily held female survivors of rape and sexual assault within acute inpatient psychiatric settings and explore what existing inpatient trauma-informed training was in place. Often times, the external coping mechanisms for these individuals appear in the form of self-injurious behaviors, which are then responded to by professionals with the mindset of impending suicide. As the content analysis of the 30 reviewed studies demonstrated, the lack of education and training regarding the connections between sexual assault and coping mechanisms continues to be reflected in the modern interventions utilized within psychiatric settings. For this reason, a paradigm shift is warranted, so as to reduce the risk of re-traumatization for rape and sexual assault survivors under involuntary hold, within these institutions.</p>

<p>The purpose of this project was to create a program, locate a potential funding source, and fill out a grant application to acquire funding for a physical activity program for clients at Mariposa Women and Family Center who are currently being treated for diagnoses of depression and anxiety. A literature review was conducted to increase the knowledge of the intersection between physical activity and mental well-being, as well as the specific types of physical interventions that are the most effective. During a comprehensive search on the Internet, the California Wellness Foundation was discovered to be the best funding source for the proposed program. A grant application was filled out in order to potentially gain funding to support a physical activity program at Mariposa Women and Family Center in Orange County, California. The actual submission and/or funding was not required for the successful completion of this project. </p>

<p> This secondary data analysis utilized pre-existing data from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) to explore associations between knowledge, awareness and attitude of Hispanic women on Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection. The study also analyzed the relationship between demographic factors (age, poverty level, and duration of stay in the United States) and their knowledge, awareness and attitude of HPV infection. The study sample consisted of 351 Hispanic women ages 18 to 26 years old. The findings revealed that women who administered the Pap smear test are more likely to decrease their risk of contracting HPV infection and cervical cancer. In addition, findings showed that knowledge, attitude and awareness on HPV encouraged women to administer the HPV vaccine.</p>