Dana J. Sullivan

Fostering Interdependent versus Independent Living in Youth Aging Out of Care through Healthy Relationships

Although the child welfare system has historically provided “independent living” services, youth aging out of foster care are at increased risk of negative outcomes such as poverty substance abuse, and homelessness. This manuscript builds upon the recent shift to “interdependent living” approaches by describing skills for various stages of relationships, including the youths relationship with their caseworker and foster family, centering around the need to define clear expectations and model healthy relationship skills. Youth must recognize their risk patterns and need for professional support, and develop educational/vocational goals for mentoring. Future relationships often include reconnecting with birth families and dating/romantic relationships, requiring an exploration of physical and emotional safety and establishment of healthy patterns for life-long relationships.

Twenty-Five Years of the Children's Bureau Investment in Social Work Education

One focus of the Childrens Bureau over the past 25–30 years has been the provision of funds for social work students at the BSW and MSW levels to specialize in child welfare. Universities have been taking advantage of Title IV-E funds to prepare social work students for public child welfare work. To assess current practices, a survey was sent to all U.S. social work programs to determine how many had a child welfare emphasis, examine how programs ran, and evaluate the programs. Descriptive results and findings from the most sophisticated evaluations are reviewed and implications provided.

The Impact of Training and Other Variables on the Preparation of the Public Welfare Workforce

The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of innovative training for public welfare workers on training outcomes, as well as the individual and organizational mediators of these outcomes. This study surveyed 623 public welfare workers on training satisfaction, knowledge, transfer, individual variables such as personality and learning readiness, and organizational variables such as team and supervisor support of learning. Results indicate that public welfare workers experienced a significant increase of knowledge from pre- to post-training, reaching a mastery level of knowledge. Personality and organizational support of learning were related to training satisfaction, while personality and learning readiness were related to self-reported training transfer. Given the ever-changing policy and practice context of public welfare, training is an essential organizational strategy to promote best practice.

Professionalizing the Child Welfare Workforce: Kentucky's Credit for Learning (CFL) Initiative

ABSTRACT In this article, we provide an overview of existing university–agency partnerships in child welfare. Then we discuss in detail one states extension of its partnership approach to enhancing professional development system via an initiative called Credit for Learning, where child welfare workers are able to meet agency training requirements while earning graduate course credit that can be applied towards a masters degree in social work. Knowledge gained from the experience of developing and implementing this initiative is also discussed.

Identifying Barriers to Permanency: The Recruitment, Selection, and Training of Resource Parents

Staff and resource parents in the public child welfare agency and private child care facilities were invited to participate in research in one state to examine the barriers surrounding resource parent recruitment, training and selection, and strategies for achieving more timely permanency. Issues identified included the need for a shared vision among all stakeholders and the need to focus more on developing public and private agency partnerships. Data-driven strategies were then designed to address identified barriers. This process can serve as an example of how systems may use solicited input from the field to develop interventions or modify casework practice in an attempt to improve child and family outcomes as needed.