Latin American countries have shifted from a model of education governance based on hierarchical rules and centralized authority to a results-driven model with shared responsibility among state and non-state actors. Yet, adopted governance models show remarkable cross-national variation. This dissertation aims at explaining this variation amid convergence through the qualitative comparative analysis of education governance in Chile, Argentina, and Colombia during three distinct periods of development, namely centralized education planning from the standpoint of manpower needs (1960s-1970s), market-oriented governance mechanisms (1980s-1990s), and accountability-oriented education for all (2000s-2010s). This analysis demonstrates that while diffusion of widely recognized policy ideas about education governance produces convergence, political contestation of domestic organized actors produces variation that ranges from full adoption to outright rejection of foreign recommendations. My study qualifies insights from institutional and diffusion theories by specifying the conditions in which domestic actors are able to modify both, domestic institutions and powerful foreign ideas. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Education reforms in several Latin American countries follow a global trend characterized by at least three changes: 1) from selective student recruitment towards the universalization of secondary education and school choice for families; 2) from a centralized curriculum towards curricular autonomy; and 3) from student evaluation exclusively delegated to teachers towards national standardized tests. Yet, adopted governance models show remarkable cross-national variation. Chile has traditionally emulated global ideas and become a quasi-market of education. Argentina was more reluctant to global norms and made only moderate changes to the state-run governance model. Finally, Colombia left the education of the wealthy to the market, while centralized the authority over the education of the poor. Through a comparative historical analysis of these three countries, this study explains the way in which global ideas are domestically translated through the interaction between diffusion mechanisms, domestic policy legacies, and the ability of domestic actors to negotiate the implementation of foreign recommendations. The evidence provided by this dissertation suggests that the level of organization, the closeness to the decision-making process, and the impact of the power resources of supporters and opponents of global ideas define the extent to what these ideas are adopted. If global ideas favor the interests of powerful actors and opposition is weak the more likely result is the emulation of foreign recommendations. Yet, the more the opposition obtains resources to force powerful actors to bargain, the more the chances for global norms to be resisted or rejected. This analysis explains how the encounter between global norms and domestic institutions shapes processes of domestic institutional entrepreneurship and uncovers paths through which this entrepreneurship is more likely to produce emulation or rejection of global ideas. This dissertation qualifies insights of historical and sociological institutionalisms and contributes to the literature on education policy globalization.

Today, there are children sleeping under bridges with no food to eat and nowhere to go. Without our help someone's daughter will continue to cry herself to sleep as she sleeps in the woods with only a blanket, someone's son will feed himself with trash from a dumpster, someone's granddaughter sleeping under a bridge will be raped and someone's grandson will commit suicide because he lost all hope. These children need our help. (Enough is Enough, 2022). Although there are some government agencies and organizations that try to identify what can be done to help the homeless youth population, minimal progress is taking place. The United States Government and other organizations are offering some assistance, but more funding is needed to save the lives of this vulnerable population. In addition, homeless youth need to have available access and knowledge that these resources exist and are available to help them fully transition back into society. This study examined the growing reality of youth homelessness and the impact of interventions for housing, mental health, and substance use. The primary goal of this theses is to bring awareness and educate the public on the homeless youth crisis currently being faced throughout our country. In addition, the resource guide that was created with the research found from this study will be distributed in places homeless youth can access such as local schools, shelters, churches, police and fire stations, as well as online databases.

Social policy concerns groups. Specifically, social policies have been implemented as a means to affect the well-being of sexual and gender minorities, including areas such as health, employment, violence, and many others. Undergraduate student opinions on such policies are an understudied area of survey research. Possible correlates of support for such policy areas include, but are not limited to, sexual prejudice, attributions, increased contact with the minority group, gender, Para-social contact, and many others. This research administered a 55-item survey to undergraduate students at the University of Central Florida. With a sample of 210 individuals, this study aimed to answer the following research question. Which explanatory variables are most correlated with support for social policies and rights regarding sexual and gender minorities? Dimension reduction techniques were utilized to create three sub-scales that measure the dependent variable: Alternative Relationship Recognitions, Socio-Political and Economic Goals, and Basic Freedoms. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were reported, confirming the internal consistencies of the dimensions. Bivariate correlation analyses revealed a number of variables with consistent relationships to the dependent variable: sexual prejudice, attributions that view homosexuality as something with which an individual is born, support for abortion rights, partisan identification, ideology, religious affiliation, and religious attendance. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression models further assessed the nature of the relationships; sexual prejudice was the most correlated with support for social policies and rights pertaining to sexual and gender minorities. Discussions of findings, limitations of this research, directions for future research, and empirical implications are provided accordingly.

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<p>In recent years child poverty has become a concern among poverty reduction advocates and social policy actors. This is evident in advocacy efforts of the National Campaign against Child Poverty (Campaign 2000), and the policies embedded within the National Children’s Agenda and the Ontario Government’s Child Poverty Reduction Strategy. In this current era of social policy, advocacy groups have changed the shape of their poverty reduction arguments to suit the current third way social policy approach (Dobrowosky and Jenson, 2004). In Hamilton a local multi-sector poverty reduction advocacy group formed in 2006, the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction (HRPR). Initially, this group chose to advocate for poverty reduction through a child centred framework. This research project examines what contributes to this social policy phenomenon as well as the potential consequences of a child focused policy response.</p> <p>The local advocacy effort of the HRPR to reduce poverty mirrors this larger trend in social policy. In the following chapters I will examine whether and how the HRPR is illustrative of this larger trend and the strengths and weakness of this advocacy approach. As well, I will explore what the implications are for women and other marginalized groups who live in poverty when social policies or programs focus solely on child poverty reduction.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

<p>Under neoliberal capitalist globalization, women's poverty and the deepening of women’s oppression and exploitation have been notorious. Indeed, women are facing poverty all over the world, including in industrialized capitalist countries. Women living in poverty and particularly poor single mothers have been targets of the counter neoliberal reform of the capitalist welfare state. This counter reform is a gendered, classist, and complex alteration that has assaulted the social responsibilities and budgets of the welfare state. The impact of neoliberal policies against single mothers is evident in Ontario. However, policymakers continue taking away the assistance and social welfare programs that used to support single mothers. Neoliberal governments have created provincial policies to reinforce women’s unpaid caring responsibilities and to intensify the surveillance and control exerted over poor Ontarian single mothers. This qualitative case study has explores critically the role of neoliberal social policy in Ontario child welfare. Through a feminist approach and using official documentary data, this research analyzes Ontario Kinship Care Policy. The study looks at the historical and social context in which the policy was formulated, depicts the main goals of the policy, and analyzes the policy’s outcomes both, for the system and for women. Possible areas of future research on this policy are listed in the conclusions.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

In the world of growing diversity, interdependence, and rapid change, making sense of policy evolution, especially in analytical settings, is increasingly challenging, not the least due to the flaws of conventional assumptions or the limits to the availability of evidence. As we consider an alternative worldview embracing the complex and adaptive nature of social reality, we recognize there are further boundaries to what can be known and done about the outcomes in social systems. Yet, this foundation also promises to broaden our horizons with new tools for understanding, comparing, and developing public policy. Inspired by innovation research, this work makes the case for bringing a set of such tools into public policy studies and situates them in an essential theoretical context. Further, through an analysis of social and labour market policy development across two jurisdictions—while reaching to flexicurity as a model and reference—it demonstrates the application of the new approach to the study of welfare state modernization and to policy scholarship more generally. / Dissertation / Candidate in Philosophy

Cognitive dissonance is an important element in adult learning in that it challenges previously held ideas in favor of new knowledge. In-class simulations and game-based learning are used as innovative and effective pedagogical tools in challenging adult learners and enhancing the students’ ability to think critically about larger societal needs. This paper will review the literature relevant to cognitive dissonance, adult learning, and game and simulation practices in higher education. The authors present the results of one simulation activity in a quasi-experimental non-random comparison group conducted across five universities within multiple undergraduate and graduate level social work policy courses. Findings of this research on the use of simulations in social work policy courses can be used to guide other social work programs with embedding this effective educational practice into their programs. Institutions of higher education, specifically within the discipline of social work, can play an important role in continuing the research and evaluation of this effective pedagogical practice through measuring outcomes on student critical thinking and changes in student beliefs and biases.

Black women face significant social and economic adversities throughout their life course as intersecting identities impact their experiences of double jeopardy (gender and racial discrimination) and result in various forms of inequity. Though researchers have examined the health inequalities experienced by Black women, Black women as caregivers of their children who have been diagnosed with mental illnesses have yet to be examined in research. Gaps in knowledge exist regarding how a child's diagnosis of a mental illness impacts the parenting practices of Black women and the family dynamics. Further, the barriers to health access experienced by Black women as they navigate mental health systems and the resiliency factors and coping mechanisms employed by Black women have yet to be examined. Utilizing a grounded theory method of qualitative inquiry, this study addresses the gaps in the literature, is a response to a direct call to research, and examines the lived experiences of Black women as caregivers for children diagnosed with mental illnesses.  Findings indicated that the mothers find and navigate resources and interventions independently; they utilize formal sources as a last resort and often find those supports ineffective, and they are in a constant state of learning and teaching others about the mental health needs of their children. Though the mothers sought support, they live in a state of isolation, meeting the mental health needs of their children and the needs of others in their families, with limited support from both formal and informal sources.

Black people in the U.S. die at younger ages, have significantly higher rates of death from treatable medical conditions, are more likely to have late-stage breast and colon cancer diagnoses and more likely to die from these cancers, and are at higher risk for chronic illnesses compared to other racial and ethnic groups. Accessing healthcare is crucial to health and well-being; however, U.S. immigrants' use of healthcare services is far less than native-born Americans. Haitian immigrants experience health disparities at the highest rate compared to other Black immigrants in the U.S. Given their unique history, culture, and immigration experience, it is necessary to understand the health-seeking decision-making process and behaviors among Haitian immigrants. This study thus explored the following research question: How do Haitian immigrants make decisions about their health-seeking behavior? In response, this qualitative study used the Grounded Theory approach, collecting data through semi-structured interviews and a focus group with adult Haitian immigrants living in Central Florida. This led to the development of a theoretical model which shows that Haitian immigrants engage in the following process: 1. Self-Diagnosing, 2. Self-Treating: Informal Health-seeking, 3. Self-Monitoring, 4. Considering Formal Health-seeking, and 5. Seeking Medical Services: Formal Health-seeking. The model also demonstrates how barriers impede the steps towards formal health-seeking; however, Haitian immigrants can bypass these barriers under specific conditions. Understanding this phenomenon of health-seeking decision-making has implications for culturally-appropriate interventions and healthcare and housing policies to address health disparities and promote well-being among Haitian immigrants.