Child Welfare Caseworkers: A Pivotal Role in the Uptake of Evidence-based Practices / Christina M DeNard.

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

DeNard, Christina M., author.

Contributor:

Garcia, Antonio R., degree supervisor.

Rosenkropf, Lori, degree committee member.

Beidas, Rinad S., degree committee member.

University of Pennsylvania. Social Welfare, degree granting institution.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social work.

Social Welfare--Penn dissertations.

Penn dissertations--Social Welfare.

Local Subjects:

Social work.

Social Welfare--Penn dissertations.

Penn dissertations--Social Welfare.

Genre:

Academic theses.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (160 pages)

Contained In:

Dissertation Abstracts International 79-01A(E).

Place of Publication:

[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]: University of Pennsylvania ; Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2017.

Language Note:

English

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

Despite the proliferation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) for children and families, some children and families are not utilizing EBPs in the child welfare (CW) system. This may be caused by a lack of CW caseworker referrals since children and families access services through their caseworker. Theory-based research that uses an explanatory model is needed to elucidate areas of intervention to increase CW referrals to EBPs. Therefore, this mixed method study seeks to examine factors that influence caseworkers' decisions to refer and to develop an adapted Theory of Planned Behavior model explaining caseworker referral decisions. Participants (N=110) were caseworkers and support staff at two privately contracted child welfare agencies that could refer families to an EBP, the Positive Parenting Program (Triple P). Poisson regression was used to determine the impact of caseworker demographic variables and intention to refer on the number of referrals to Triple P. A subset of the sample (N=12), participated in one-on-one interviews focused on factors that influenced their decision to refer to Triple P. Directed content analyses was used to determine whether participant data supported an adapted TPB model, inclusive of information-sharing and intra-organizational relationships. Regression results showed that participants from Agency A were more likely to refer to Triple P than participants from Agency B (b=3.25, p<.05). Additionally, participants who identified as African-American were less likely to refer to Triple P than those who did not (b=-3.38, p<.05). Intention to refer was not a significant predictor of caseworker referral to Triple P. Qualitative data revealed that 1) beliefs about Triple P's effectiveness, 2) conflicting court mandates, and 3) information about and agency support around Triple P, impacted caseworkers' decision to refer. Qualitative results lent support to an adapted TPB model and corroborated quantitative findings. Recommendations include increasing communication and training for caseworkers and court officials, fostering intra-organizational relationships, and increasing agency support for Triple P. Future studies that examine organizational variables such as supervisory buy-in and system-level variables such as court mandates are needed to further elucidate the factors that affect caseworker referrals to EBPs and EBP implementation in CW settings.

Notes:

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 79-01(E), Section: A.

Advisors: Antonio R. Garcia; Committee members: Rinad S. Beidas; Lori Rosenkropf.

Department: Social Welfare.

Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 2017.

Local Notes:

School code: 0175

ISBN:

9780355183634

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.