<p> In 2014, there were over 1.1 million reported cases (ECPATUSA, 2017) of Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) and according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) the Northern California Bay Area has become one of the nation&rsquo;s thirteen High Intensity Child Prostitution areas (Walker, 2013). From a strengths-based trauma-informed perspective, this study explored the factors that assist youth with exiting &ldquo;the life&rdquo; associated with CSEC. The primary research question was: What can be learned from the lived experiences of women who successfully exited childhood commercial sexual exploitation and perceive themselves to be functioning well despite this history? </p><p> This qualitative study employed semi-structured interviews from the Northern California Bay Area, with thirteen predominately women of color, average age of 25 (range 21&ndash;26), who successfully exited the &ldquo;Life&rdquo; after an average of four years (range 1&ndash;9). The average age entering the &ldquo;Life&rdquo; was 13 (range 8&ndash;17) with all exiting at age 17. A thematic analysis identified twenty themes organized under three primary categories. The first category is Self-Defined Wellness: naming of &ldquo;self&rdquo; outside the &ldquo;Life&rdquo;, connections with family, breaking the cycle, and embracing the term &ldquo;Survivor.&rdquo; The second is Describing the &ldquo;Life&rdquo;: sex for goods, surviving &ldquo;the Game&rdquo;, pimp control, wanting to be loved, contributing family factors and the grooming process. The third is the Exiting Process: naming one who exited, others depending on me, exiting not profitable, fear keeps you in, thinking about leaving, the importance of family, pending motherhood, wanting to be free, sustaining exit, and professional systems not accessed. There were four recommendations from Survivors: active listening, encouragement, non-judgment, and &ldquo;don&rsquo;t leave when we push&rdquo;. Lastly, two anecdotal themes emerged: treated like garbage by the legal system and &ldquo;I thought I was grown&rdquo;. </p><p> The study design uniquely positioned the voices of Survivors as experts in relation to expanding knowledge about the exiting process and offering recommendations for youth, family members, and providers. Contributions include the importance of bearing witness to youths&rsquo; stories as part of resiliency/recovery and valuing the complexities of family relationships in the exiting process. Implications for advocacy, research, and practice are discussed.</p><p>

No description available.

No description available.

<p> An estimated 2.5 million children in the United States, under the age of 18, have experienced the death of a parent. Losing a parent to death is almost unquestionably the most devastating event that could occur in the life of a young child. Further, many surviving parents/caregivers report difficulty in communicating with children regarding the loss and its impact on the family. The proposed program &ldquo;A Heart Connection&rdquo; will provide support and coping tools to children and surviving parents/caregivers to help them in the adaptation to this profound loss. This grant application to the Foundation for Grieving Children Inc., will provide needed funds to provide evidence-based group therapy programming for both the bereaved children and surviving parents/caregivers through Comfort Zone Camp (CZC), a nonprofit agency for grieving children and families in Los Angeles, California. The actual submission and/or funding of this grant are not a requirement for successful completion of this project.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Saint Mary's University, 2009. / Includes abstract and appendix. Advisor: Albert J. Mills. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 218-231).

<p>Considerable attention has been paid to the impacts of disasters on affected populations, with special attention to disaster mental health on vulnerable populations. When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005, 80% of the city was flooded forcing a mandatory evacuation. At-risk and marginalized communities are the most vulnerable to the impacts of this disaster. The musicians of New Orleans are representative of such a community, and are dispersed across the city representing a wide range of disaster experiences. The experiences of musicians as an at-risk community in a disaster context across evacuation, displacement, and returning to the city have significant impacts on mental health and stress, but also on the social and cultural aspects of life as a musician. While being a member of an at-risk population increases vulnerability to the impact of a disaster, some musicians have proven resilient. This study sought to better understand the factors of resilient musicians in an effort to better inform how to assist this socially and culturally important population in subsequent disasters. Using a Variable-Generating Activity (VGA), 10 musicians were interviewed about their lived experiences before, during and after Hurricane Katrina to create items for a scale of musician resilience. Musicians were nominated as being resilient from a list of 502 musician contacts from the New Orleans Musicians Assistance Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to assisting musicians since Hurricane Katrina. The VGA uses qualitative tenets of triangulation in videotaped interviews of musicians to identify factors associated with musician resilience. Analysis of the musician interviews yielded 155 original truisms associated with factors of musician risk and resilience in a post-Katrina context. 28 truisms were removed as duplicates or redundant, leaving 127 unique truisms spanning the themes of the musician experience including: Risk Factors, Stress and Mental Health; Protective Factors; Social Support; Psychological Impact of Music; and, Community Connection and Mentoring. Discussion of findings supported previous research on musicians, disaster mental health, and associated topics of disaster resilience, including community connection, social support, access to resources, and personal interpretation of disaster outcomes. This study further supports the appropriateness of Conservation of Resources as a useful model with at-risk populations affected by disaster. </p>

<p>The purpose of this project was to find a potential funding agency and create a grant for an in-home visitation program for homebound, older adult veterans. The goal of the program is to promote enriching relationships, increase levels of compassion by both parties, and decrease levels of depression/loneliness and/or social isolation among the older adult veteran population within Los Angeles County, California. The program will offer visitations by community college students and weekly activities addressing depressive symptoms while incorporating access to case management support for additional needs, such as medical and psychiatric referrals. The host agency for the program will be Home-Based Primary Care in the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. The Archstone Foundation was selected as the funding source for this grant. The actual submission and/or funding of this grant were not a requirement for the successful completion of the project.

<p> The purpose of this project was to locate a potential funding source and write a grant to fund an evidence-based program, Buried in Treasures, that will help women 35&ndash;55 years old with hoarding behaviors. An extensive literature review was performed to investigate the best way to treat Hoarding Disorder in the community. The proposed program will be located at Mariposa Women's Center and funded by a Promoting Innovation grant by the California Wellness Foundation. </p><p> The primary goal is to help people with Hoarding Disorder while utilizing web tools and newer technology in an evidence-based program. The objectives are to increase quality of life by 20% and knowledge by 30% and to reduce the amount of items acquired. If funded, this structured program will decrease hoarding behaviors and improve mental health. The actual submission of the application was not a requirement of the thesis project.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to conduct a community health risk assessment of the city of Long Beach, California specific to the 90813 ZIP code by utilizing an adaptation of the Catholic Health Association of the United States (2013) model for community health assessment to identify the most imperative risk factors for the chronic homeless population in the 90813 ZIP code of Long Beach. Data on three domains (physical health, mental health, and housing) measuring 16 risk factors were gathered from both archival data and major public sources. Data from Long Beach 90813 ZIP code were compared to data from Los Angeles County, California, and the United States. Risk factors that are the utmost concerning for the community appeared to be difficulties in obtaining health care, infectious diseases, both ER and hospitalization rates due to alcohol abuse and high poverty rate. Efforts to reduce the amount of both sheltered and unsheltered chronic homeless individuals should target all three domains. Recommendations for evidence-based programs and interventions to reduce the most salient risk factors are provided.</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.