Marina Lalayants

Multidisciplinary Collaboration in Child Protective Clinical Consultations: Perceptions of Best Practices

Mental illness, substance abuse, and domestic violence are common co-occurring problems in families involved in child maltreatment allegations. When two or more of these problems are involved in a case, the integration of multiple professionals and collaboration among them become especially complex. This study examined perceptions of best practices of multidisciplinary collaboration at an innovative clinical consultation program in a large, governmental child protective services agency. Seven themes emerged as most important in achieving a best practice: setting the stage; mandate; trust and communication; strong leadership; building a shared identity; structural supports and resources; and continuous feedback and evaluation. Conditions and recommendations to achieve best practices in multidisciplinary collaboration and implications are discussed.

Delinquency, depression, and substance use disorder among child welfare-involved adolescent females

Although adolescents with delinquency are known to have higher-than-average rates of depression or substance use disorder (SUD), research on the topic is inconsistent. It remains unclear weather depression or SUD leads to delinquency, whether delinquency leads to depression or SUD, or whether there is bi-directionality. Utilizing the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (Wave I: 2008-2009; Wave II: 18 months later: N=5872), we used logistic regression to predict depression from delinquency (and vice versa), and SUD from delinquency (and vice versa). After inclusion of control variables, we found that females with minor theft in Wave I were more than 4 times as likely (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]=4.34; 95% CI: 1.10-17.16) as females without minor theft to be depressed in Wave II, and those with public disorder in Wave I were almost 3 times as likely (aOR=2.74; 95% CI: 1.03-7.30) as those without public disorder to have SUD in Wave II. Overall delinquency also predicted depression or SUD, and SUD predicted delinquency. Practitioners could address risk for depression or SUD among child welfare-involved adolescent females by focusing on overall delinquency or on specific types of delinquency (minor theft for depression and public disorder for SUD) and by offering interventions (e.g., cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy) that have been shown to be effective in preventing depression or SUD. In addition, with respect to our finding that SUD predicts delinquency among adolescent females, practitioners can help prevent delinquency by offering interventions (e.g., intensive outpatient treatments) that have well documented effectiveness in addressing SUD.

Clinical data-mining: Learning from practice in international settings

This article describes a practice-based, mixed-method research methodology – Clinical Data-Mining (CDM) – as a strategy for engaging international practitioners for describing, evaluating and reflecting upon endogenous forms of practice with the ultimate goal of improving practice and contributing to knowledge (Epstein, 2010). These knowledge contributions are perforce ‘local’, but through conceptual reflection and/or empirical replication they may also be ‘globalized’. More specifically, the article defines, describes, and details CDM methodology; discusses its strengths and limitations; and illustrates international applications in Australia, Hong Kong, Israel, New Zealand, and the United States. It also describes various infra-structural support platforms and CDM’s primary and secondary organizational benefits.

Trends in Domestic and International Social Work Research: A 10-Year Review of American Research Journals

ABSTRACT This article presents a typology of international social work research and analyzes trends over a 10-year period (1995–2004) based on reviews of 707 articles from three major American social work research journals: Social Work Research, Journal of Social Service Research, and Research on Social Work Practice. The analysis revealed there was a considerable increase (3.5%) in the total amount of research articles, particularly a higher increase in international social work research (2.8%) than national social work research (0.8%). A small decline was detected in transnational comparative research (−0.4%).

The Influence of Policy Context on Transition Age Foster Youths' Views of Self-Sufficiency

ABSTRACT In this exploratory study, focus group methodology was used to examine the potential influence of policy context on informing transition age youth (TAY) views of self-sufficiency upon aging out of foster care. The authors purposively selected two different policy contexts concerning extended foster care: New York City and Los Angeles County. Compared to New York City, Los Angeles has a relatively newer policy concerning extending the age of foster care benefits to 21. Four focus groups were conducted (2 in each location) with TAY recruited from community-based foster care agencies. The total number of participants (aged 18–22) was 21 (13 in Los Angeles and 8 in New York). In both policy contexts, participants defined self-sufficiency mainly as economic independence and planning for success. However, while Los Angeles TAY emphasized a need to “strive through it,” meaning persevere through self-reliance, New York TAY believed that self-sufficiency could be at least partially achieved by leaning on others, including social services. The findings help to illustrate how varying policy landscapes, including those that are in flux, can shape client understandings of core beliefs related to service utilization and client–provider interactions. Implications for child welfare policy and practice are proposed.

Psychiatric Hospitalization Among Adolescents

About one in five adolescents has psychiatric disorders that are serious enough to disrupt normal life functioning. Since youth with such problems may need intensive treatment, hospitalization continues to be an important part of mental health service provision. However, little is known about inpatient care for this population. Existing research has yielded inconsistent findings. There are several examples of this inconsistency. For instance, some investigators 3 suggest that the various psychiatric disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety) are equally likely to result in hospitalization. In other words, when all disorders are taken together, none of them stand out as being especially linked to admission. In short, everyone is at risk. On the contrary, other researchers found that depressed adolescents are more likely than other youth to be hospitalized. Still other researchers point to conduct or oppositional defiant disorder. Taken together, there is a lack of consensus as to which disorders, if any, are more closely linked to hospitalization. Researchers have also examined the relationship between demographic characteristics and psychiatric hospitalization. A better understanding of such characteristics can help identify those adolescents who are most at risk. However, literature on demographic risk is also inconclusive. For instance, some investigators 9 suggest that younger children are more likely than older youth to be hospitalized, but Foster found the reverse to be true. Similarly, Pavkov and colleagues found that African Americans are at heightened risk, but Foster found that Caucasians are more likely to be readmitted. Still other studies 4, 7 found no ethnicity differences. Given these inconsistent findings, this study sought to examine which diagnoses are associated with psychiatric hospitalization and which demographic factors are associated with inpatient stay? More specifically, presence of disruptive behavior disorders (attention deficit, oppositional defiant, or conduct disorders) might be associated with increased hospitalization risk. Because symptoms are often exhibited externally (acted out) in these disorders, they may outwardly signal the need for inpatient stay to a greater extent than disorders that are expressed inwardly (e.g., depression). Or

Peer Support Groups for Child Welfare–Involved Families

Studies on risk factors and circumstances related to child maltreatment have continuously emphasized the important role of social support. As a result, peer support groups have been gaining attention and recognition in recent years in the field of child maltreatment prevention. However, little is known about the benefits that child welfare–involved parents receive in peer support groups, as well as the distinctive service elements that make these groups successful. By examining child welfare–involved parents’ experiences participating in peer support groups, this study provided a better understanding of the perceived beneficial aspects of peer support groups, specific types of supports offered to and by peers, and unique characteristics of these groups.