Doctor of Philosophy / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Karen S. Myers-Bowman / The focus of this qualitative case study was to examine the qualities and characteristics present in a successful resource family who parents high-risk teenagers. Perspectives were gathered from the resource parents, their birth children, a foster teen living in their home, and professionals that work with these resource parents. Utilizing Family Systems Theory and content analysis of the data, themes were identified as contributing to the success of this resource family. Themes identified were inclusion, communication, boundaries, humility, and a willingness to be hurt as well as positive attitude. Implications of these themes are discussed with the literature, theory, and the use of the pre-service training that resource parents are provided. A perspective was gained from both inside and outside the resource family for analysis. A discussion around implications of these findings as well as the need to explore additional areas is outlined.

Resource Family Approval (RFA) is a policy that was recently enacted in California. The process seeks to merge existing policies on the regulations of families who wish to care for children involved in the foster care system. The purpose of this study was to understand the perceptions of resource family approval social workers and the implementation of RFA. Ten participants were chosen from the resource family approval unit from a county child welfare agency. The study was a qualitative design with in person interviews. Common themes emerged in responses to social worker's thoughts about RFA, social worker's ideas for preparing other workers, families and the agency, and advice to new workers in RFA. The study found that participants had mixed responses regarding their own thoughts about RFA. The majority of the participants in the study felt that RFA was good in theory but not in execution. The study also revealed that RFA workers needed to be open-minded and focus on communicating with all parties involved in RFA. One of the recommendations is for policy makers to assess the effectiveness of the policy before enacting changes and give the policy time to work itself out before trying to change things so often. Another recommendation is that it is critical to offer ongoing trainings to both the workers and the families for RFA to be implemented and run smoothly and effectively within the community.

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the current practice of and barriers specific to recruiting Native American foster homes in urban areas. The literature review suggested that historical, cultural, and bureaucratic barriers to recruitment existed. The study used a qualitative, exploratory design. The data was obtained from in-depth interviews with 10 individuals whose job it is or has been to recruit Native American foster homes. The participants were employed with either a foster family agency, county child welfare agency, or a supporting organization servicing Los Angeles County and/or the San Francisco Bay Area. The interviews were conducted using a semi- structured interview guide designed by the researchers. The findings suggest that the recruitment of Native American foster families is hampered by: expense/lack of financial support, Resource Family Approval, understated deficiency and need, Native American recruitment not prioritized, bias and judgement, vulnerability and the value of privacy, distrust of government, lack of cultural awareness, absence of connection to the community, and tribal enrollment of caregiver. The research also identified proactive efforts by individuals and agencies to specifically recruit Native American foster homes. The results from this study have implications for social work practice related to the recruitment and retention of Native American foster homes.