Keith A. Alford

Family preservation services and special populations: The Invisible Target.

Children of color are especially vulnerable for a devastating outcome as a result of their living environment and are disproportionately represented within the child welfare system. Social workers, who are trained to mitigate the effects of social injustice and societal inconsistencies, particularly among minorities and oppressed populations, perpetuate the injustices associated with the child welfare system by ignoring the special needs of children of color when administering family preservation services. The authors present results from a national study that examined the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of family preservation workers regarding the service criterion based on whether a family is part of a special population. Results indicate a significant bias against targeting family preservation services to children of color.

Promoting Well-Being Through Relationship Building: The Role of Smartphone Technology in Foster Care

ABSTRACT Mindful of the tremendous risk factors that foster youths encounter, a federal demonstration project sought to increase their protective factors and to mitigate their adverse experiences. The ability to form and maintain healthy relationships is a key protective factor as it helps youths navigate life’s challenges, especially those challenges that result from unresolved loss and grief as a result of being in care. The study was guided by a relational competence framework. The youths were issued smartphones, and their social service providers were given a Web-based application designed to increase communication between the foster youths, their providers, and their mentors. Findings reveal several favorable outcomes associated with the use of the smartphones but also several unintended negative consequences. Recommendations for balancing youths’, caregivers’, and providers’ needs, positions, and rights are discussed. Likewise, the authors discuss the study’s implications for program development that utilizes smartphone technology to increase youths’ ability to experience healthy relationships.

Introduction to Rural Families and Reshaping Human Services

This special issue of the Journal of Family Social Work, the first of two special issues examining families in rural communities, presents creative strategies and programs designed to address families’ needs. Prior to the most recent worldwide economic crisis of 2005 and 2006, many rural families in the United States struggled to meet their basic needs (Flynt, 1996; Stuart, 2004). Even in better economic times, rural families have had higher rates of unemployment and poverty compared to urban families (Economic Research Service, 2004; Flynt, 1996). Service providers in rural locales have had to use creative strategies, sometimes involving collaboration and cooperation among communities, to develop and deliver needed resources to families in their communities (Menanteau-Horta, 2005). Within the current economic and political environments, the constraints on funding for services in rural communities have expanded, while need for services has grown. Programs have been combined, services reduced, and funding cut. At the same time, private nonprofit agencies have seen donations shrink and client applications swell (Grant, 2010; Grinfeld, 2012; Pollack, 2011). Much of the emphasis on where and how to cut services is based on the number of people served. As a result, rural programs have been more severely affected than more urban communities. The articles in this issue address rural families at various stages of development, from young children and adolescents to adults, from diverse backgrounds. The articles describe diverse human service delivery systems, including health and behavioral health, prevention, and child welfare. Two articles present technological innovations useful for better identification and understanding of needs in rural areas. This special

Conclusion: Rural Families, Another Element in the Mosaic of Diversity

Myriad elements constitute the mosaic of diversity. In any mosaic, pieces of various shapes and sizes come together to produce a unique design. Likewise, in social work, an assortment of human factors—such as age, class, culture, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, immigration status, nationality, race, religion, sexual orientation, and political ideology—form the larger, complex picture of the populations we serve. This special issue of JFSW takes a look at another aspect of diversity: rural families and human services. In a society inundated with social, familial, and economic challenges affecting the daily well-being of its inhabitants, due diligence should be given to each sphere of human services. The contributors to this issue have done just that, focusing a lens on rural America. Predominant strengths in rural communities are independence and interdependence among individuals and families. Although these characteristics vary in scope, their steady presence remains an assessment point for social workers providing service delivery. The themes highlighted by the articles in this issue include assessment, needs and assets analysis, collaboration, social support, self-reliance, placement=locale, and cultural competency. Assessment in social work practice is ongoing, as is refinement in assessment practices and tools. Toward this end, Heflin and Miller posit the utility of understanding a community’s targeted needs. The human service needs profile they discuss provides a degree of specificity by exploring demographic and economic measures across counties. As a result, risk factors are determined and special populations can be targeted. In keeping with the notion of needs identification, Rine, Morales, Vanyukevych, Durand,