Diane L. Scott

Experimental Studies of the Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) A Meta-Analysis

The effectiveness of the Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) versus standard inpatient/outpatient treatment was investigated through a meta-analysis. The study included 19 peer-reviewed published articles describing controlled, randomized experiments comparing PACT to standard treatment of individuals with severe mental illness. Treatment was found to have a significant relationship with effectiveness on each of the following six indicators: number of hospital admissions, length of hospital stay, social functioning, symptomatology, patient satisfaction, and cost. The use of PACT was associated with fewer admissions, shorter length of stay, higher social functioning, lower symptomatology, greater patient satisfaction, and lower cost. These findings were challenged, however, by the confounding effect of attrition and the small amount of total variance explained in the effectiveness indicators by the PACT intervention. Future replication studies of PACT using larger sample sizes and standardized measures of benefits and costs appear necessary to justify major shifts in mental health and vocational rehabilitation services and funding policies.

Service Learning: The Road from the Classroom to Community-Based Macro Intervention

ABSTRACT An integrated service-learning-based curriculum teaches community-based social work practice by linking classroom-learning objectives to service learning experiences in the community. This integrated approach links three core curriculum courses directly to the community and social policy through service-learning projects. At the same time, it reinforces the social work commitment to social justice by fostering student advocacy, interest, and involvement in macro and social policy issues while developing macro-level practice skills and increasing civic engagement. Course content with a sample student project, implementation issues, and implications for social work education are addressed with this curriculum model.

Challenges in Rural Social Work Practice: When Support Groups Contain Your Neighbors, Church Members, and the PTA

Rural social work occurs in unique practice environments with challenges and rare opportunities. Strong social ties, commonly found in rural communities and often missing in urban areas, can serve as sources of resilience for group members facing adverse life circumstances. Therapeutic formal and informal support groups, bolstered by this support and led by social workers in rural communities, can face numerous challenges due to locale, lack of transportation, and potential worker burnout. This article highlights ethical considerations rooted in a theme of rural group work while providing helpful hints based on the IASWG Standards for Social Work Practice with Groups.

Permanency for Children in Foster Care: Issues and Barriers for Adoption

The desired outcome for children in foster care is to be reunited with their parents or to be permanently placed in a stable home. Federal and state legislation directs increased efforts by the social welfare and judicial systems in the United States to act in the best interests of the child and to identify and reduce barriers to permanency. Records from two county dependency courts in Florida were examined and caregivers surveyed to identify issues that prevented them from adopting the child in their care, and to identify services that would have enhanced the likelihood of adoption. The findings and their implications suggest that more integration of the two systems and support for concrete assistance to caregivers are paramount to facilitating adoption of children in foster care.

Rural Social Service Disparities and Creative Social Work Solutions for Rural Families Across the Life Span

The provision of social services in rural areas has historically presented a challenge for social workers. Rural social service disparities are presented in relation to key challenges surrounding the provision of social work services in the rural United States. Barriers that define rurality and hinder the provision of social work to rural families, a multicultural examination of rural community strengths and resiliency, and creative solutions for rural social work delivery are discussed. A case study utilizing collaborative partnerships between rural churches, schools, and community leaders to combat rural homelessness and streamline service delivery for rural families across the life cycle is presented.

Shrinking Budgets and Expanding Bodies: Battling Obesity When the Economic Belt is Tight

Although Americans reduced spending on food during the Great Recession, the prevalence of overweight and obesity continued to increase. This article uses socioeconomic life course models to organize the issues surrounding obesity, striving to illustrate how community, social, and intergenerational factors, compounded over the course of a lifetime, increase risk, particularly among poor, minority, and otherwise under resourced communities. Conceptualizing obesity within life course models informs policy recommendations, practice, and guides future research. Social workers are called to respond with collaborative approaches to create accessible and affordable community food environments where the default option is the healthy, preferred choice.

Tempest in a Therapeutic Community: Implementation and Evaluation Issues for Faith-Based Programming

The therapeutic community (TC) is an increasingly utilized intervention model in corrections settings. Rarely do these TCs include faith-based curriculum other than that included in Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous programs as does the faith-based TC that serves as the basis for this article. Borrowing from the successful TC model, the program discussed here incorporates additional faith-based modules in a jail or work release program setting. Obstacles associated with program design and implementation, funding, data collection, efficacy, and outcomes are described with recommendations for ongoing and future stakeholders, policy-makers, and service providers.

Addressing childhood obesity among children in care: The missing link to promoting physical well-being outcomes

ABSTRACT Information on the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States abounds. However, the impact of overweight and obesity specifically among children receiving child welfare services (children in care) has received little attention. Although relatively little is known about obesity among children in care, limited studies suggest children in foster care are disproportionally affected, with children in long-term foster care or group homes at highest risk. Although child welfare work has not historically focused on reducing and preventing childhood obesity, child welfare agencies have an obligation to protect children’s physical and mental well-being, and the social work profession is uniquely qualified to deliver evidence-based obesity mitigation efforts among children in care.

Social Justice Implications of Domestic Violence Court Processes

With the legal system in the United States being used increasingly to protect domestic violence victims and to promote social justice, it is critical to examine the effectiveness of this intervention. This article discusses civil court processes and outcomes for a Unified Domestic Violence Court with an emphasis on the social justice and economic impact on families experiencing domestic violence. Data were gathered and analysed as a means for evaluating court processes, programmatic interventions, resources, and policies. The findings suggest that this particular court system may be failing to protect citizens, responding inequitably, and underutilizing existing resources.

Vets Caring for Veterans: A Problem-Based Learning Approach

Veterans and their family members may need clinical services from social workers or other mental health practitioners, but that is not likely their first stop in trying to secure assistance. Instead, they may seek help through their benefit claims or try to find resources from local community organizations. However, volunteers who staff these organizations may have limited exposure to military or veteran populations and lack training in interviewing, assessment, and case management. This is especially true in rural areas or communities that are not in close proximity to military bases or Veterans Affairs facilities. A veteran certificate program based on a social work curriculum can respond to those knowledge gaps and improve basic intervention skills. A newly implemented veteran certificate program using practice-based scenarios is described along with a review of implementation issues, participant outcomes, and recommendations for future needs.