(75 points total)
Instructions
First, in the space below, specify the social work practice question that you plan to address this semester. The question you selected should be ONE of the four practice questions that you formulated in Part 3 of Assignment 1, with possible refinements based on your expanding knowledge of the science of social work. Feel free to revise your question as needed.
Social Work Practice Question (please specify in the space below) (5 points):
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Which are the most effective interventions that exist that have made a positive impact among at-risk youths at group homes to ensure that they successfully transition to adulthood? |
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Leaders - Identify a historical or contemporary person that has provided leadership relevant to your practice question. As part of your response, briefly describe the contribution made by the leader you identified (5 POINTS):
| Jean Vanier is a Canadian-born humanitarian, philosopher and theologian. He was born on September 10, 1928, is the founder of L'Arche. This is an international organization whose main aim is to offer assistance to persons with different developmental disabilities globally. He has authored more than 30 books that give an insight on various interventions that can be used in helping the risk and other persons found in group homes towards transition them usefully into adulthood. |
Literature & Media - Identify a movie, television show, play, book, poem or song relevant to your practice question. As part of your response, briefly describe the nature of the work that you identified; if available, provide a link to the media. (5 POINTS):
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In the movie "America" released in 2009, it revolves around the different interventions used in various centers of care such as the group and fosters homes to help the youth get back on track with their lives as they head towards adulthood. The two main characters in the movie are a bi-racial boy "America" and psychiatrist at a youth treatment center, Dr. Maureen Brennan. Through the different sessions that the doctor takes America through, she is able to learn the life through which the boy has experienced. He is faced by sexual abuse encounters which make him drift away from society and also is lagging behind in school. It is through an unsuccessful suicide attempt that America and Dr. Brennan meet, and she helps him cope with his past through giving him the proper support and courage that he requires so as to get is life back on track. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9FgFnXvWzs |
Professional Organization s – Provide the name and link for three (3) websites for professional organizations related to your practice question. One website should be for an organization at the local level, one should be for an organization at the national level, and one should be for a team in the international arena (15 POINTS).
At the local (e.g., city, county, regional, or state) level:
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Plummer Home for Boys http://www.plummerhome.org/ |
At the national (i.e., U.S.) level:
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Champions of Change https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/microsite/blog/31387?page=6 |
At the international level:
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L’Arche International https://www.larche.org |
Policies – Find and briefly describe two (2) policies/laws relevant to your practice question. One policy should be at the Federal (i.e., national level) and the other should be at the State level (10 POINTS).
At the Federal (i.e., national) level:
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Most of the youth who are put in group homes suffer from chronic disabilities. As such, the government has set up the IDEA and FAPE aimed at protecting such youth. Through these laws, they require that any caregiver or educator involving themselves with persons with disabilities should ensure that they have in place educational programs that will offer the individuals the best education possible. This is accompanied with other life skills that will help them in their adulthood life in future ( Zirkel & McGuire, 2010). |
At the State level:
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In Massachusetts, the state government has come up with policies to ensure that they assist the at-risk youth in group homes and foster homes as they transition into adulthood. This has seen the state extended its health coverage to the young people to 21 years of age including wavering the tuition and fees in public colleges for the youth. Any court case involving youth has been extended to 21 years of age for the court judges (Department of Urban & Environmental Policy & Planning Field Projects, 2016). |
Databases – Provide the name and link of an academic database containing journals and articles specifically related to your practice question (i.e. generic databases such as Google Scholar are not appropriate) (5 POINTS):
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PubMed https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ |
Public Use Data – Provide the name and link of a dataset or data file relevant to your practice question that is available for use by the public (5 POINTS):
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U.S Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families Children's Bureau, Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/systems/index.htm |
Publications – Provide the name and link of a journal, newsletter, or blog related to your practice question (5 POINTS):
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Marchand.V. & Scorr.B.L (2007). “Pathway to a Successful Young Adulthood” http://www.cssp.org/publications/pathways-to-outcomes/youth-pathway-pdf-9-07.pdf |
Theoretical/Conceptual Knowledge – Locate a book, book chapter, or dissertation that discusses theories/etiology, models, or frameworks related to your practice question (10 POINTS).
Provide the name of the theory, model or framework that you identified, as well as the citation for the book, book chapter, or dissertation:
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Developmental Framework (National Research Council,2009) |
Briefly discuss how the theory, model, or framework you identified helps you to understand your practice question:
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The mental, behavioral and emotional disorders should not be left out when coming up with interventions that will be used in shaping their future lives. It is important for one to fully have in mind what the different age-related patterns and competencies are necessary so as to come up with functioning interventions. For a normal human being, he/she has to undergo various developmental phases which see one experiencing cognitive, behavioral and emotional changes. Any developmental; foundation that an individual passes through is what forms their future foundation upon which they will use in solving various challenges. As such, as one transition into adulthood, having a firm developmental basis will help them in assuming the roles related to being an adult of which they can also influence another future generation. As such, this indicates that the interventions strategies used in helping at-risk youth in group homes should ensure they are formed basing on the different developmental milestone an individual will pass through. |
Statistical Epidemiological Data - List two (2) relevant statistics related to your social work question. One statistic should pertain to the U.S. (national or local), and the other should pertain beyond the U.S. (i.e., to another country or globally). Additionally, one of the statistics should be a current or recent "point-in-time" statistic (e.g., for a particular year), the other should be a trend over a period. Also, provide the citation for the source of the statistic (10 POINTS).
U.S. statistic and citation:
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According to the U.S DHHS, in 2015, the number of youth in group homes has increased over the decade, and it is nearly about 50% of all the children in the foster homes. As of September 30, 2015, there were more than 420,000 children in foster homes as per the data obtained by the AFCARS (US DHHS, 2016). |
International statistic and citation:
| Foster care has also turned out to become an issue globally. This has seen the children not having enough resources or support systems that can help them transition into successful adulthoods. In Canada, there are more than 80,000 children in foster care while in Australia the number stands at 39,000 (Marquis 2014) |
Part 2. Locating Empirical Research Studies (20 POINTS)
APA 6 th edition citation and a brief summary of an empirical article that is a systematic literature review . Include the Impact factor of the journal. (5 POINTS):
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For most people, they do not understand what group care entails. This is made up of the different forms of residentially-related treatment and placement amenities provided to the youth and other persons who suffer from various needs. For most of the needs, they cannot be addressed in a typical family based setting indicating they require specialized care. For some of the care as in foster homes, the youth are mostly orphaned, and they may not be affected by any form of disability. The impact factor of this journal is that most of the interventions used in such settings do not have positive effects on the youth as they transition into adulthood as such, there is need to ensure they use evidenced-based practices (James, 2011). |
APA 6 th edition citation and a brief summary of an article that focuses primarily on the scope and impact of the problem or issue. Include the Impact factor of the journal. (5 POINTS):
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For most youths, the transition from childhood to adulthood is one categorized by a strain between imminent threats and potential prospects. At risk youths found in group homes, however, make up a vulnerable population of which they face a lot of challenges towards this transition. This is due to the problematized and characterized living conditions they face resulting from their emotional and behavioral difficulties. The impact factor of this article is that, by using the attachment theory, one can easily be able to pinpoint the different problems these youth face and understand them. This will help one to come up with the best interventions of helping them towards their transition into adulthood. (Ramsey-Irving, 2015). |
APA 6 th edition citation and a brief summary of an article that focuses on a policy or legislation that impacts the problem or issue. Include the Impact factor of the journal. (5 POINTS):
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A huge number of the children found in group homes, they suffer from various learning disabilities. It is through learning that these youth can successfully be equipped with the necessary skills they will use as they transition into adulthood. As such, the federal government had to come up with the IDEA and FAPE laws to ensure these persons are protected. The impact factor of this journal article is to indicate that the provision of educational opportunities to youth in group homes is not just a requirement by the law, but rather, it is important to use the best interventional strategies in doing so (Zirkel and McGuire, 2010). |
APA 6 th edition citation and summary for an article that focuses on the evaluation of the impact of treatment or intervention of the problem or issue. Include the Impact factor of the journal. (5 POINTS)
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Mots youths in group homes find the life outside the homes being difficult. They may be faced with challenges of which, they did not expect nor do not know to overcome them. Some of these can include when looking for a job, housing, finding a spouse and many others. As such, this article shows why it is important to ensure that the interventions used in foster homes are not juts aimed at academic excellence for the youths but rather other factors such as social skills and behavioral which will be useful in the life outside the homes (Keller et al., 2007). |
References
Department of Urban & Environmental Policy & Planning Field Projects. (2016). transition-age youth in Massachusetts. Retrieved 12 June 2017, from http://as.tufts.edu/uep/sites/all/themes/asbase/assets/documents/fieldProjectReports/2016/transitionYouthMA.pdf.
Keller, T. E., Cusick, G. R., & Courtney, M. E. (2007). Approaching the transition to adulthood: Distinctive profiles of adolescents aging out of the child welfare system. Social Service Review , 81 (3), 453-484.
James, S. (2011). What works in group care?—A structured review of treatment models for group homes and residential care. Children and youth services review , 33 (2), 308-321.
Marquis. C. (2014). Foster Care Is An International Issue. The Huffington post . Retrieved 12 June 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marquis-cabrera/foster-care-is-an-interna_1_b_5297922.html.
National Research Council. (2009). Preventing mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders among young people: Progress and possibilities . Washington, D.C: National Academies Press.
Ramsay-Irving, M. (2015). The foster care systems are failing foster children: The implications and practical solutions for better outcomes of youth in care. Canadian Journal of Family and Youth/Le Journal Canadian de Famille et de la Jeunesse , 7 ( 1), 55-86.
United States Department of Health and Human Services (US DHHS). (2016). the adoption and foster care analysis and reporting system (AFCARS) report: Preliminary FY 2015 Estimates as of June 2016. Retrieved from 12 June 2017 http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/foster.pdf.
Zirkel, P. A., & McGuire, B. L (2010). A Roadmap to legal dispute resolution for students with disabilities. Journal of Special Education Leadership , 23(2).
