<p> Employment and legal barriers have been identified as being two key factors that are keeping fathers from being fully engaged and involved with their children. The purpose of this project is to write a grant that funds employment and legal assistance components to the already established Project Fatherhood program at Families Uniting Families in Long Beach, California. Funding will be requested from two foundations. </p><p> The overarching goal of this project is to expand the services of Project Fatherhood to help the members reach their potential as fathers and members of their communities. The program&rsquo;s primary goals are to increase the employability of the fathers and remove legal barriers to employment and reunification. The effectiveness of the program will be determined by total number of fathers who acquire and maintain employment, and the legal barriers that are decreased and/or removed. Submission of this proposal for funding was not required to successfully complete this project.</p>

<p> Religious persecution is a part of daily life for most of the world&rsquo;s population. Religious freedom is elusive for many and the effect of violent religious persecution is potentially debilitating and traumatic. Despite research in the areas of refugee trauma and genocide studies, there is a lack of best practice methodology for psychosocial interventions on behalf of survivors of political and religious persecution. A literature review reveals both a lack of research in terms of best practice for this sub-group and a potential for consensus-based and participatory action research for best practice and staff team empowerment. A participatory action research framework was developed to enable our diverse, international staff trauma team and partners to work toward an inclusive, participative, consensus process leading to a collective narrative and action planning. The data collection and analysis included a consensus process, individual interviews, a focus group, field notes and document review. The joint analysis and narratives were presented as a written narrative with emerging themes that included: narrative and story, community and culture and identity and reconnection. The process allowed previously marginalized staff, voices from the Global South, to emerge along with staff of Western countries. Finally, action planning proposed organizational and community of practice change based on the emerging practice consensus and illuminative narratives.</p>

<p> Because the Latino population is the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States and because sexual assault is a common crime, it is important to understand the mental health implications on sexually assaulted Latinas. A quantitative study on secondary data explored PTSD and depression symptoms in a sample of Latina sexual assault survivors.</p><p> Data from 79 Latina sexual assault survivors who received psychotherapy revealed that after six sessions they no longer met criteria for PTSD. Furthermore, after 6 sessions their depression rates also decreased. Latina sexual assault survivors benefit from brief treatment.</p><p> Findings in this study may help educate the Latino community on the importance of mental health services after traumatic sexual experiences.</p>

<p> Foster youth face barriers unmatched by their non-foster peers, particularly in the arena of academic achievement. Although a majority (84%) of foster youth report aspirations of attending higher education, only 5% graduate by age 22 or 23, compared to non-foster youth in the same age group, who graduate at a rate of 30% (Courtney et al., 2010; Courtney, Terao, &amp; Bost, 2004). The current study describes factors from the perspective of 13 foster care alumni that supported them in the process of gaining acceptance to college and graduating. Supportive factors and resilience theories provided the framework that guided the research. Utilizing a grounded theory approach, foster care alumni who completed at least a 2- or 4-year degree were interviewed. Five common themes were identified in narratives of these individuals: exposure to validating environments, availability of pre-college informational and appraisal supports, motivating factors, and the presence of expectation.</p>

<p> This curriculum was developed to train social workers, foster parents, and supportive adults who work with Transitional Age Youth (TAY). This curriculum is designed to train on the best practices in the areas of team collaboration and building and permanency. The TAY population faces immediate adulthood and lacks emotional and developmental skills to be successful in society. Youth who have a team of supportive adults and a permanent connection to a committed adult have a greater chance of overcoming the negative odds. This curriculum focuses on training supportive adults (social workers, foster parents, and mentors) about the emotional needs of TAY including communication skills, coping skills, and decision making. These developmental needs have been overlooked in program implementation on state and federal levels. Research suggests that these skills are most effective when learned in a natural setting by adults TAY know and trust. This thesis will review the TAY population, the challenges, and the current responses to the problem. The second part of the thesis will include the curriculum modules and outline a facilitator's guide for each module.</p>

<p> The linkages between intimate partner violence, posttraumatic stress disorder, and insomnia have only recently been the subject of inquiry. Until this study, research about the relationship between insomnia and posttraumatic stress disorder in the lives of intimate partner violence victims has been non-existent. This study begins to address a gap in the literature by analyzing associations between intimate partner violence, clinical level insomnia, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, age, race, employment status, and intimate partner violence victims' return to court. </p><p> In particular, this exploratory study examines whether clinical level insomnia, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, or both are associated with a greater probability that a victim of intimate partner violence will not return to court to pursue a permanent civil order of protection. Data were collected through surveys, interviews, and reviews of court records on 112 women who resided in upstate New York. Study participants initiated actions to obtain orders of protection from the Domestic Violence Intensive Intervention Court, a specialized domestic violence civil court, from 2007 to 2008. The following factors were analyzed to determine their impact on whether a woman returned to court: (a) age, (b) race, (c) employment status, (d) perceived danger, (e) posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, and (f) clinical level insomnia. This study finds significant relationships between several factors: clinical level insomnia and perceived danger, clinical level insomnia and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, race and return to court, and severe danger level and return to court. However, in the final logistic regression models, only race emerged as a predictor of whether a woman returned to court. Specifically, women of color were a third less likely to return court than white women. These results have significant implications for future research and clinical intervention.</p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to create a program, identify a funding source, and write a grant to fund a psychoeducational support group. A detailed literature review was conducted to analyze the background and prevalence of the problem as well as past solutions attempted to resolve the problem.</p><p> Substance-exposed infants continue to be taken from their mothers at birth and placed in the care of relative caregivers or foster care providers. This program seeks to help improve the level of awareness of caregivers about the potential challenges and needs of substance-exposed infants. The goal of the proposed program is to create a psychoeducational support group for the purpose of increasing the knowledge of and support for caregivers of substance-exposed infants. The program will target cities in the Service Planning Area (SPA) 6 of Los Angeles County.</p><p> Actual submission and/or funding of this grant was not a requirement for successful completion of this project.</p>

<p> The divergent goals of educational institutions versus those of school social workers can lead to school social workers feeling disenfranchised. A major premise in the profession of social work is empowerment; yet, practitioners of school social work report feeling marginalized, misunderstood, underappreciated, and at-risk for elimination, common expressions of a lack of empowerment and self-efficacy. The experiences of school social workers with empowerment and self-efficacy within the workplace have been overlooked as a potential factor in the ability of these workers to empower and serve their clients. The purpose of this study was to understand the lived and share experience of this population. The conceptual framework for the study was based on the theories of selfefficacy and empowerment. A qualitative method of phenomenological inquiry was used to gain insight into the meaning ascribed to the empowerment and self-efficacy experiences of this population, as well as the resulting thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and implications. Interviews, observation, reflective journaling, and thematic content analysis were incorporated with a purposeful, criterion-based sample of 12 school socialworkers located within the state of Pennsylvania. Data were analyzed using Moustakas's method of content analysis and the study produced 6 themes and 3 subthemes. The findings indicate that school social workers can become more empowered and efficacious through communication with stakeholders and advocacy efforts. Social change implications of this study may include informing pupil-services professionals with a better understanding of these characteristics, thereby enhancing their contribution to public schools, as well as their service delivery to children and families.</p>

<p> Past research has recommended that clinical mental health (CMHC) administrators employ a relational focus to their work, but little evidence exists that such a relational focus is actually being utilized. Guided by Rogers' principles of client-centered therapy, this study examined whether CMHC administrators possessed the knowledge and attitudes to utilize the recommendation of relational based therapy and whether implementation in the CMHC was feasible. A qualitative multiple case study design was utilized to collect personal interviews with 12 CMHC administrators who could discuss Norcross and Wampold's single recommendation about therapeutic relationships. Results were triangulated with the guide for CMHC financing, namely Rule 132, as provided by the administrators. Thematic content analysis of the data revealed that administrators were knowledgeable and in favor of the recommendation where funding could be provided. However, the administrators considered implementation unreasonable because of regulations, low financing of CMHC services primarily through Medicaid, burdensome paperwork requirements, and limited staff qualifications. Understanding these answers from CMHC administrators within the context and limitations of the CMHC should impress upon lawmakers the need for adequate financing of resources to implement the recommendation, which could result in promoting social change in the delivery of services for mental health.</p>

<p> Emotions and context can influence moral decisions. The present study examines the influence of emotions, disgust, and organizational context on moral judgments. The emotion of disgust was elicited on participants while one of three moral dilemmas that varied in context philosophical, social, and organizational were presented. The results indicated that the social situation elicited happiness and perceptions of moral wrongness. The philosophical situation elicited sadness in participants. The organizational situation elicited disgust in participants.</p><p>