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The Sustainability Framework and Assessment Tool was developed at the Center for Public Health Systems Science (CPHSS), a public health research center at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. The Center’s work in the area of sustainability began in 2003 with Project LEaP, a rigorous process evaluation examining the effects of funding reductions on eight state tobacco control programs. Recognizing that sustainability is a significant challenge for not only public health, but also social service and clinical care programs, in 2010 CPHSS began…
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Journal Article The Incredible Years (IY) Parent and Child Series are evidence-based interventions that increase knowledge and mastery of parenting, mood regulation, and interpersonal problem solving strategies for caregivers while developing similar social and emotional skills in their children. Rogers, Bobich, and Heppell (2016) use a case study approach to examine the effectiveness of adaptations of the IY program for delivery in a transitional housing shelter. They describe strategies for modifying IY to meet the needs of a vulnerable population within the context of the shelter and the broader welfare…
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Journal Article The commentaries by Williams (2016) and Gartenberg and Lang (2016) on the case of Cathy and her mother Ms. Z (Rogers, Bobich, & Heppell, 2016) explore the similarities between children who have been homeless and those in the foster system, and highlight the importance of trauma-focused treatment to address their mental health needs. A further consideration of the challenges to obtaining such treatment due to system barriers, stigma, and the intergenerational transmission of trauma is applied to the case of Cathy. This illustrates the importance of an array of mental health treatment…
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Journal Article This issue on fathers was conceived as a rallying cry for all professionals to examine their practices of including fathers in their services. For too long, infant mental health professionals have either ignored fathers' important influences on infants and toddlers or have given lip-service to their importance while allowing the status quo of not including fathers to continue. This article provides history and context for the impetus behind --and the hurdles to--moving from focusing on dyads to family systems, and it highlights a few forward-looking new programs and initiatives already…
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This slide presentation begins by explaining key components of child well-being, including: physical health, development, and safety; psychological and emotional development; social development and behavior; and cognitive development and educational achievement. Information is then provided on inputs that impact child well-being outcomes and reasons social workers need to focus on the positive inputs. Reasons include: the Declaration of Independence that focuses on the right of men to the pursuit of happiness, good science, fully describes children and youth, can be measured well, and to…
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Journal Article This article introduces a successful reading program, Family Connections, for incarcerated parents and their children. A comprehensive review of the literature supports the need to implement prison programs from an ecological perspective, in which the needs of inmates and their families are considered. More specifically, the benefits of directing resources toward the establishment of reading programs in prisons and jails for inmates and their children are discussed. The Family Connections program is aimed at improving inmates' parental skills and attributes. The article also includes the…
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This set of three slide presentations shares findings on the effectiveness of home visiting programs in engaging fathers. The first presentation discusses findings from a study that reviewed research on programs and services to support fathers, including the use of home visiting programs. It found home-visiting programs for fathers are uncommon but may be increasing, most programs are an expansion of services offered to mothers and children, programs may have difficulty convincing families and staff that the programs are for men, and that there is insufficient research to evaluate the…
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Journal Article Legal and social service systems rarely acknowledge the status of men as fathers in the conceptualization and delivery of interventions for intimate partner violence (IPV). Large percentages of men who are arrested and mandated to intervention programs for IPV are fathers who continue to live with or have consistent contact with their young children despite aggression and substance use. There are currently no evidence-based treatments that address co-morbid substance abuse and domestic violence perpetration with emphasis on paternal parenting for fathers. This article will describe the…
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Journal Article Young fathers (N = 143) ages 16 33 participated in an assessment of risk behaviors, service needs, and mental health issues upon entering a fatherhood program. Almost 70% were unemployed, 39% were school dropouts, 47% used alcohol, 40% had problems with the law, and 42% had been in jail. The most frequently reported mental health issues were problems related to relationships, neighborhood, family, tobacco use, police, and being a parent. Fathers also identified feeling states of anger, sadness/depression, nervousness/tension, helplessness, and aggression. Although risk behaviors and mental…
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Journal Article Administrative data was used to compare pre-reform and post- reform cohorts of teenage parents regarding the impact of reform on welfare enrollments, case closures, child maltreatment, and subsequent births. The relationship between mandated living arrangements to outcomes was also examined. Cohort differences were observed in enrollments and reasons for closure, but not in maltreatment or birth rates. Living arrangements were found to be associated with case closure. 12 references and 2 tables. (Author abstract)
