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Broad calls to narrow the role of police in American society have begun to include arguments to reduce the carceral responding to intimate partner violence (IPV) and add a stronger social response. The field’s improved understanding of lethality risk assessment; better classification of offender risk by past involvement with general violence or family only violence; and positive findings from trials of relationship strengthening interventions as couples counseling, restorative justice practices, and mediation, call for exploring relationship-strengthening approaches to complement more carceral approaches. Yet, a half century of adherence to traditional IPV service approaches that have steered away from relationship strengthening has generated an array of procedures and policies that need to change before the IPV services field can broaden and become more responsive. These changes are likely to be more fitting across racial and cultural groups and more suited for those seeking to improve relationship safety. This paper reviews these trends and considers legislative remedies that would facilitate the emergence of additional safe, empowering, relationship-responsive, trauma sensitive additions to IPV services.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health concern; however, limited studies have explored perceptions and experiences towards IPV among students, staff, administrators, and faculty across diverse disciplines at institutions of higher education. The purposes of this study were to (1) assess experiences of IPV among a sample of students, staff/administrators, and faculty and (2) examine the relationship among attitudes, actual and perceived knowledge, awareness, training, readiness, and personal experiences with IPV in this sample. Participants were recruited from an urban university and two university-affiliated medical institutions to participate in an online survey. Bivariate and multivariate associations were assessed. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to examine direct and indirect effects of perceived and actual knowledge and personal experiences with IPV. Of the 216 respondents, 42.6% reported personally experiencing IPV and 34.3% reported having witnessed IPV. Over 34% of participants never received training on IPV. The sub-sample with training received between one and more than 15 hours of training. Standardized total effect of training on attitudes and awareness was β = 0.42 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.30–0.51), the combined indirect effects was β = 0.18 (95% CI = 0.10–0.27) and the direct effects of β=0.23 (95% CI = 0.12–0.34), indicating that hours of training was highly associated with the participants’ perceived knowledge and actual knowledge, which improved their attitudes and awareness towards IPV survivors. Our findings suggest the need for campus-wide formal training on IPV to better prepare members in higher education to accurately identify, assess, and intervene to protect victims of abuse. Interprofessional approaches are needed that focus on the multiple and intersecting needs of victims of violence and should also enhance professional self-efficacy and increase readiness to respond to IPV survivors.

A substantial proportion of children and youth in the child welfare system have mental health concerns that warrant attention. While these youth are more likely to receive treatment in general, they are less likely to receive evidence-based treatments. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Plus (CBT+) is a training approach in evidence-based treatments for anxiety, depression, behavior problems, and symptoms of traumatic stress. Included in the model is an emphasis on symptom and outcome monitoring. Though based on well-established evidence-based treatments, clinical effectiveness of CBT+ has not been evaluated for child welfare populations. Embedded within a broader initiative called Partnering for Success, the current study evaluated the impact of CBT+ training on treatment outcomes for the mental health symptoms of a racially diverse sample of 1281 children and youth in four different states. Symptom data were collected by community-based mental health therapists as part of standard CBT+ treatment adherence procedures. Multilevel linear growth modeling was used to evaluate symptom change over time. Significant improvements were observed across all four clinical targets, with a slight curvilinear relationship found for anxiety, depression, and behavior problems. This promising initial evidence suggests CBT+ is a viable training option for treatment of child welfare-involved children and youth with a range of mental health concerns.

Objective: Police violence (PV) continues to be a national and global concern. Empirical inquiries focus on its prevalence, those who are most at risk, and associated mental health effects ...

Barth et al. (2021) published an article in this journal identifying ten topics in the field of child welfare that are frequently discussed among professionals, advocates, and researchers in an effort to shape discussions of practice and policy reform. Concerned that these discussions are often poorly informed by the research evidence, Barth et al. intended to offer a corrective to these common, erroneous narratives. The Editor-in-Chief, Bruce Thyer, asked for suggestions for commentators and then invited some number of respondents to offer their perspectives on the original article. Here, we respond to each of the submitted papers, highlighting areas of agreement, and addressing other topics where we—sometimes sharply—disagree. We welcome an ongoing, fact-based, respectful dialogue to help shape child welfare reform. Efforts to improve the child welfare system are urgently needed; we stand by our view that large-scale practice and policy reform, in particular, must be guided by the best available research evidence.

An intense appetite for reforming and transforming child welfare services in the United States is yielding many new initiatives. Vulnerable children and families who become involved with child welfare clearly deserve higher quality and more effective services. New policies, programs, and practices should be built on sound evidence. Reforms based on misunderstandings about what the current data show may ultimately harm families. This review highlights 10 commonly held misconceptions which we assert are inconsistent with the best available contemporary evidence. Implications for better alignment of evidence and reform are discussed.

Reviewing the major accomplishments and achievements discussed throughout this volume, this chapter highlights the many successes of the Grand Challenges for Social Work through the efforts of each network and their many supporters. Arriving at the mid-way mark of the initiative during a global health pandemic and a national awakening to the ongoing systemic racism that permeates society, the Grand Challenges initiative stood with the social work field and national allied organizations to advocate for policy and practice change to address the inequities illuminated by the dual and intersecting pandemics. Progress in building a network-based organizational structure offers an example for other transformative efforts. As the Grand Challenges move forward, the initiative will increase efforts to advance innovative interventions, scientific research and educational opportunities in the field of social work to address the Grand Challenges for our society.

This chapter reflects on the process and progress that brought the Grand Challenges for Social Work to the midway mark of an ambitious ten-year initiative. Critical partnerships and support enabled the initiative to expand its reach and impact on the field. Responding to early critiques of the original selection and development of the Grand Challenges, the initiative added the Grand Challenge to Eliminate Racism and strategically examines the intersection of gender inequality with each challenge by mainstreaming gender throughout the GCSW. Progress in education, policy, and research is chronicled. The chapter outlines the initiative's vision and goals for the remaining five years of the original timeline through interdisciplinary innovation and collaboration to tackle some of society's grandest challenges.

The chapter addresses violence prevention opportunities related to child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, and community violence. Healthy relationships are an antidote to violence. Social work has a long history of strengthening dyadic, family, and community relationships, and these are valuable for preventing and curtailing violence. This chapter provides a framework for centering relationships at the heart of our national fight against violence, and offers an array of ideas for macro and interpersonal practices that social workers—and their allies—can use to reduce violence. These interventions must also be trauma informed and should empower victims, including policies that improve household resources and access to affordable housing, the broader use of safety assessments in working with couples using violence, and using relationship-strengthening strategies safely, such as counseling, mediation, and restorative practices.

We used National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System and Census data to examine Black–White and Hispanic–White disparities in reporting, substantiation, and out-of-home placement both descriptively from 2005–2019 and in multivariate models from 2007–2017. We also tracked contemporaneous social risk (e.g., child poverty) and child harm (e.g., infant mortality) disparities using non-child protective services (CPS) sources and compared them to CPS reporting rate disparities. Black–White CPS reporting disparities were lower than found in non-CPS risk and harm benchmarks. Consistent with the Hispanic paradox, Hispanic–White CPS reporting disparities were lower than risk disparities but similar to harm disparities. Descriptive and multivariate analyses of data from the past several years indicated that Black children were less likely to be substantiated or placed into out-of-home care following a report than White children. Hispanic children were slightly more likely to be substantiated or placed in out-of-home care than White children overall, but this difference disappeared in multivariate models. Available data provide no evidence that Black children were overreported relative to observed risks and harms reflected in non-CPS data. Reducing reporting rates among Black children will require addressing broader conditions associated with maltreatment.

The Grand Challenges for Social Work (GCSW) derived from a commitment to strengthening society through science and has identified 13 grand challenges through an iterative process. The GCSW has, in turn, developed 13 grand challenge networks that bring together researchers and practitioners and focus their capacities around achieving innovative solutions to these challenges. These networks develop and disseminate interventions at all levels (including university-based interdisciplinary grand challenge entities), giving productive focus to the work of social work and our allies. The Grand Challenges for Social Work are helping to galvanize policy developments that draw on expertise from across the profession and exemplify social work’s scientific and pragmatic traditions and its capacity for broader societal impact.

Purpose: This randomized controlled study examines the efficacy of two innovative methods to teach beginning motivational interviewing (MI) skills: live supervision (LS), a small group experiential learning interaction with standardized client actors and in-the-moment guidance from a supervisor, and a coding learning (CL) method, where students in a classroom setting are introduced to MI skill development via learning to code MI practice behaviors. Methods: Seventeen social work students in a child welfare training program were randomized to receive either LS or CL training method. Changes in MI knowledge, attitudes, and MI skill were assessed through self-report and observational measures pretraining, posttraining, and at 5 months follow-up, after a semester of learning-as-usual. Results: Both training groups demonstrated an improvement in MI knowledge and attitudes from pretest to follow-up. MI skill gain within groups varied for specific MI skills. Discussion: Implications for maximally efficient MI training are advanced.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the relationship among police legitimacy/trust and experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV), including victims’ decisions to report IPV to police and police responses to IPV. Design/methodology/approach Data were drawn from the 2017 Survey of Police–Public Encounters II – a cross-sectional, general population survey of adults from New York City and Baltimore (n=1,000). Regression analyses were used to examine associations among police legitimacy/trust, IPV exposure, police reporting of IPV, and perceived police responses to IPV and interaction effects. Findings Higher levels of IPV exposure were significantly associated with lower levels of police legitimacy/trust; however, this relationship was stronger among African–American participants than non-African–American participants. Higher levels of police legitimacy/trust were significantly associated with more positive police responses to IPV and this relationship was stronger among heterosexual participants than sexual minority participants. Research limitations/implications Future research should examine prospective relationships to understand causal mechanisms linking individual perceptions of police legitimacy/trust, experiences with IPV and victims’ interactions with police. Practical implications Low levels of legitimacy/trust between police and citizens may result, in part, if police are engaged in negative or inadequate responses to reports of IPV. Police–social work partnerships can enhance effective police responses to IPV, particularly to racial/ethnic and sexual minority individuals. Originality/value This study provides empirical evidence linking police legitimacy/trust to the experiences of IPV and perceived police responses to reports of IPV, including important group differences among victims based on race/ethnicity and sexual orientation.

A number of programs, policies, and practices have been tested using rigorous scientific methods and shown to prevent behavioral health problems (Catalano et al., Lancet 379:1653–1664, 2012; National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2009). Yet these evidence-based interventions (EBIs) are not widely used in public systems, and they have limited reach (Glasgow et al., American Journal of Public Health 102:1274–1281, 2012; National Research Council and Institute of Medicine 2009; Prinz and Sanders, Clinical Psychology Review 27:739–749, 2007). To address this challenge and improve public health and well-being at a population level, the Society for Prevention Research (SPR) formed the Mapping Advances in Prevention Science (MAPS) IV Translation Research Task Force, which considered ways to scale up EBIs in five public systems: behavioral health, child welfare, education, juvenile justice, and public health. After reviewing other efforts to scale up EBIs in public systems, a common set of factors were identified as affecting scale-up in all five systems. The most important factor was the degree to which these systems enacted public policies (i.e., statutes, regulations, and guidance) requiring or recommending EBIs and provided public funds for EBIs. Across systems, other facilitators of scale-up were creating EBIs that are ready for scale-up, public awareness of and support for EBIs, community engagement and capacity to implement EBIs, leadership support for EBIs, a skilled workforce capable of delivering EBIs, and data monitoring and evaluation capacity. It was concluded that the following actions are needed to significantly increase EBI scale-up in public systems: (1) provide more public policies and funding to support the creation, testing, and scaling up of EBIs; (2) develop and evaluate specific frameworks that address systems level barriers impeding EBI scale-up; and (3) promote public support for EBIs, community capacity to implement EBIs at scale, and partnerships between community stakeholders, policy makers, practitioners, and scientists within and across systems.

Current calls to end structural racism in the US include proposals to abolish or radically transform child welfare services (CWS). While substantial research finds numerous poor outcomes following maltreatment, the efficacy and acceptability of CWS, particularly for children of color, has long sparked debate. This review summarizes the state of quantitative research across seven domains for children overall and by race with varying degrees of CWS contact. Current research with adequate comparisons provides no robust evidence to support the idea that children have worse outcomes from CWS involvement, but few studies focused on Black children. Implications for research and system change are discussed.

Although foster care homes play a crucial role in providing stable placements to children who enter the child welfare system due to maltreatment, there is currently no federal minimum rate nor standard methodology to establish adequate rates to support foster parents to meet these children's needs. Therefore, it is important to establish a model to estimate the real costs associated with caring for children to serve as a foundation for states to set adequate reimbursement rates. The objectives of this study are to: use the methodology of a 2007 study to establish foster care minimum adequate rates for children (MARC) based on the child's age and geographical location in every state; update the MARC with cost of living adjustments to 2016; examine changes in gaps between the MARC and the current foster care rates; and identify states that have made increases to their reimbursement rates, relative to the MARC over time. Results found that all but four states provide lower foster care reimbursement rates than the adequate costs in 2016. This study recommends that, at the federal level, enhanced precision in operational definitions of care categories could increase consistency in the way that states reimburse foster families. Additionally, findings provide policy suggestions to establish a national methodology standard and increase foster care rates to the level that will meet children's needs. This study will enhance the scant body of literature found on establishing an economic model to estimate foster care costs.

Preparing prospective adoptive parents for receiving a child into their family is an important task for child and family professionals. This study uses data from the recent Modern Adoptive Families survey to understand parent perspectives on their preparation for adoption. Logistic regression (n = 917) and qualitative thematic analysis of adoptive parents' comments about their adoption preparation were conducted to understand aspects of the preparatory experience that were satisfactory (n = 623) or dissatisfactory (n = 283). Child emotional and behavioral problems significantly predicted parent dissatisfaction with adoption preparation. Major themes for satisfactory aspects of preadoption services included receiving information about adoption in general and, more specifically, about clinical and special populations, and parenting tools and strategies. In addition, parents identified opportunities to connect with others touched by adoption and access to specialized post-adoption services as helpful. Conversely, parents expressed dissatisfaction when information was lacking or withheld, when they had quality concerns with the worker or agency, and when there was a dearth of services and supports following adoption. Implications of these findings include the need for adoption mental health competent training for adoption professionals to better support families preparing for or experiencing adoption.

Few evidence-based parenting programs exist for children under the age of three and even fewer have been rigorously evaluated in comparison to parenting programs for older children. The Parent University Program (PUP), was developed to serve parents with children birth through three who lived in southwest Baltimore. Parent-child dyads ( N = 86) participated in the parenting program with the goal of increasing responsive parenting skills. Participants of the PUP showed a significant increase in responsive parenting behaviors. Participants in this open trial study who completed pre-test, post-test, and follow-up assessments showed a significant change from clinical to non-clinical status after attending the PUP. Neither the type of facilitator nor the number of hours attended showed an association with changing parenting behaviors. The age of the child was associated with the change in responsive parenting. Parents of older children in the birth to three age range had higher scores at pre-test and showed less change over time. The results of this study suggest that the Parent University Program was associated with positive change in responsive parenting behaviors for parents with children birth through three years of age.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss ways of equipping the child welfare (CW) workforce to improve the well-being of children through graduate education and post-MSW training. Design/methodology/approach This paper analyses the barriers to providing mental health (MH) services to vulnerable children and families and discusses three evidence-based ways of overcoming them. Findings Child and family social workers need to do more than case management if they are to influence the well-being of the children and families they seek to help. A variety of methods is necessary to implement this changed role and three initiatives – Partnering for Success, Motivational Interviewing for Child Welfare Trainees and Training Adoption-Competent Welfare Professionals – show promising results. CW workers can learn to implement evidence-informed MH practices with high fidelity. Research limitations/implications None of the studies are controlled studies. Practical implications The paper offers innovative ideas about workforce implications and implementation strategies. Social implications Abused and neglected children’s well-being is deserving of more effective methods. Originality/value The paper provides details of three innovative evidence-based projects – national models in the USA – concerned with promoting children’s well-being.

This article introduces readers to four invited articles comprising a special section on implementing the Grand Challenges for Social Work Initiative. We highlight key contributions made by the authors of each article, which collectively explore implications of the grand challenges initiative for social work education, science, campus leadership, and campus–community collaboration. We describe how substantive points raised in the special section connect to the rapidly growing interdisciplinary literature on the implementation of grand challenges.

Many children and youth involved with child welfare services receive mental health services. Yet, substantial evidence suggests efforts are frequently uncoordinated and clinical outcomes are inconsistent. Enhancing the coordination of mental health services is a potential mechanism for improving outcomes when combined with the use of evidence-based practices. The Partnering for Success (PfS) model provides comprehensive coordination support while ensuring children and youth have access to cognitive-behavioral approaches to treating anxiety, depression, and trauma, and/or a parent management approach for behavior problems. PfS leverages a co-training collaborative model for mental health and child welfare professionals to understand the optimal interplay between professionals and families and the targeting of treatment. PfS uses a High-Fidelity Performance Indicator framework organized and assessed at two distinct levels: (1) Delivery System Partnership & Leadership Performance and (2) Child Welfare & Mental Health Workforce Performance. Results across four sites indicate that the model is generally feasible and training efforts result in significant knowledge gain for child welfare workers and mental health practitioners. Over the course of the project, 2285 clients were served using the clinical model and, across all treatment targets, significant improvements in symptoms were observed. The results of this collaborative model are sustained implementation of mental health services that are evidence-based, coordinated between child welfare workers and mental health practitioners, and offered evidence of improved mental health treatment outcomes.

Oppression is a politically-determined status with implications for policy, practice, and education. Oppressed groups are broadly considered to be vulnerable to exploitation and discrimination. As a result, additional legal, ethical, and service standards are established to ensure that this predictable mistreatment is avoided or addressed. Similar to populations that are currently recognized as oppressed, children do not fully experience the right to vote or access to resources. They have increased exposure to violence and are a minority group, which constrains equal opportunity. Recognition of children as an oppressed group could help expand their protections and opportunities. Actions that can begin to rectify the rights of children include: the addition of children in anti-oppression teaching and research, scholarship that focuses on children’s rights that may be infringed upon, guaranteeing funds specifically designed for children’s benefit, consideration of children’s capacity and opinions in decision-making, and the creation of government entities to regulate and promote mechanisms for prudently expanding the rights of children.