Implementation is posited as a multiphasic process, influenced by a range of factors, within a multilevel context. While there appears to be a general consensus that every implementation initiative will have a unique combination of influences that vary in importance across the implementation phases, leadership is an essential tenant throughout…

Objective: Research-supported treatments (RSTs) are considered the gold standard of client care. Investigating how to best implement and sustain RSTs in real-world practice is important. The present study addressed a gap in the literature concerning the relative contribution of RSTs and culture and climate to client outcomes in community-based…

David Stoesz offers a sweeping critique of the Children's Bureau and social work education by claiming the existence of a "child welfare cartel." He also attacks the quality of social work education and research, which he claims has poorly invested government funding and helped create the unmitigated failures of the American child…

Social work researchers are making significant advances in science funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to improve the health of underserved and marginalized populations throughout the world. Unfortunately, research results are often only available to other scientists at academic institutions, limiting their impact. To facilitate the…

The probity of the Children's Bureau's National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI) is examined with respect to the status of child welfare as well as the performance of social work education. By requiring that funding go only to accredited schools of social work, which is not authorized by relevant provisions of the Social Security Act,…

Although the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI) is a specific focus of Stoesz's article, a more expansive and thought-provoking critique is made of the NCWWI within the context of a purported overreliance and dependency on the Children's Bureau, concerns regarding the quality of social work education, and the development of a…

Objective: This article reports on the impact of the Individual Development Account (IDA) program on credit. Method: Using a convenience sample of IDA participants (N = 165), data were analyzed using paired sample "t" tests, independent sample "t" test, one-way analysis of variance, Mann-Whitney "U" Tests, and…

Human service organizations are uniquely positioned, given their scope of practice and access to consumers with the widest range of needs to significantly increase the national capacity for research if they were effectively equipped with the knowledge, skills, and funding to integrate research and development into their ongoing organizational…

Objectives: The authors examine if some of the reason clients from racial and ethnic minority groups experience outcome disparities is explained by their therapists. Method: Data from 98 clients (19% minority) and 14 therapists at two community mental health agencies where clients from racial and ethnic minority groups were experiencing outcome…

Objectives: This study examines consumer and agency level predictors of competitive employment for consumers with co-occurring disorders. Methods: The study sample included 191 consumers from mental health agencies receiving Integrated Dual Diagnosis Treatment services, including a subgroup which was referred for Supported Employment Services.…

This study examines the organizational and institutional factors that may be associated with the success of schools of social work (SOSWs) in securing research grant awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and constituent agencies. Using data from the CRISP database on NIH grant funding, the Lombardi Program on Measuring University…

Quality improvement centers were created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Children's Bureau beginning in 2001 to promote knowledge development through an innovative approach to applied collaborative research in child welfare. The National Quality Improvement Center on the Privatization of Child Welfare Services was funded to…

Social workers in academic and agency settings have the opportunity to do funded research using the National Institutes of Health (NIH) R03 small grant mechanism designed for discrete, clearly defined projects that can be completed within a 1- to 2-year time period with limited funding. This article describes the R03 mechanism and provides a guide…

This article responds to "Do Social Workers Make Better Child Welfare Workers than Non-Social Workers?" by Dr. Robin E. Perry. The article articulates National Association of Social Workers' support for a professional social work labor force to serve children and their families and for continued federal investment in the training of these workers.…

This article introduces the National Science Foundation as a potential funding source for social work researchers and describes the experience of one faculty member in seeking funding from this source. The author provides an overview of the foundation, discusses its programmatic structure, proposal preparation, selection criteria, and review…