Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of the application of action research in the design of a degree-level leadership skills programme in the English social care sector. Design/methodology/approach: The action research study involved four formal semi-structured interviews with strategic leaders in the social care sector…

The organization and research programs of the Social Welfare Practice and Research Centre (SWPRC) at the Chinese University of Hong Kong are outlined. There are five regular research programs (Family and Group Practice Research Centre, Human Behavior and the Social Environment Research Program, Mutual Aid and Social Capital Research Program,…

The persistence of the Great Recession provides us with the opportunity to engage in a long overdue conversation about public investments in America's children. Less than ten percent of the Fiscal Year 2010 federal budget of $3.603 trillion is allocated to children and youth. This percentage is likely to decline in the next decade if current laws…

Partnerships between literacy teachers and community service workers have the potential to engage people with low literacy levels in learning. Through interviews and surveys with these two groups, this paper explores their views on literacy, how it impacts on their work, and their ideas about partnerships with each other. Overall, partnerships are…

Rising rates of nonmarital childbirth in the United States have resulted in a new family type, the fragile family. Such families, which include cohabiting couples as well as single mothers, experience significantly higher rates of poverty and material hardship than their married counterparts. Ariel Kalil and Rebecca Ryan summarize the economic…

This article sets out results from a Welsh Assembly government-funded study of complaints involving children and their use of advocacy services commissioned by local authorities in Wales. As this is the first study of its kind in Wales there is no baseline against which to compare the findings, hence we discuss the data in the context of a wider…

Introduction: This study examines child, family, and case characteristics that impact rates of re-referral to Child Protective Services (CPS) using data on all closed CPS investigations for the state of Rhode Island between 2001 and 2004. Method: A longitudinal dataset of all referrals to CPS was created using state submissions to the National…

Research has found that foster youth who remain in care beyond age 18 are more likely to participate in services and tend to have better outcomes than those who do not. However, not all youth eligible to remain in care beyond age 18 do so. This study examines Illinois, one of the few states that extends care up to age 21, to identify the major…

Since the introduction of the first neoliberal budgets in the mid-1980s, Canadian social service workers have had ample reason to resist changes in their work lives. Drawing on literature as well as on themes emerging from an intentionally diverse subset of data collected as part of a multiyear study, this article explores the resistance…

Objective: While child welfare policy and legislation reflects that children who are exposed to domestic violence are in need of protection because they are at risk of emotional and physical harm, little is known about the profile of families and children identified to the child welfare system and the system's response. The objective of this study…

The multifaceted role of research in social work education and practice requires innovation to respond to the broader mission of the university and the needs of the community. Building research capacity and supporting infrastructure for research thus demands new approaches to effective collaboration between stakeholders. Intermediary organizations…

Background: A nationwide questionnaire survey conducted in Germany in 2005 found 1584 families headed by persons with intellectual disability with 2164 adults becoming parents between 1990 and 2005. Materials and Methods: In spite of a lower response rate and a more limited time frame compared with a previous study undertaken in the early 1990s…

Parents with intellectual disabilities, like all other parents, need support with child rearing. Often this support comes from family and friends, but in the case of parents with intellectual disabilities, they are more likely to have to rely on the service system. Research from a number of countries demonstrates that there is limited system…

Previous findings on older adults' awareness of community support services (CSSs) have been inconsistent and marred by acquiescence or over-claiming bias. To address this issue, this study used a series of 12 vignettes to describe common situations faced by older adults for which CSSs might be appropriate. In telephone interviews, 1,152 adults…

Deinstitutionalization has been the hallmark of public policy for people with intellectual disabilities within many countries in the developed world for the past 40 years. Although within Britain deinstitutionalization is set to be completed by the end of 2008, beyond the simple closure of hospitals, the success of this initiative can at best be…