essay on child welfare

Child welfare - Free Essay Examples And Topic Ideas

Child welfare encompasses a range of services and policies aimed at ensuring the safety and well-being of children. Essays on child welfare might explore the historical evolution of child welfare policies, the various models across different cultures or nations, or the challenges faced by child welfare systems. Other topics might include the analysis of specific policies, the societal implications of child welfare interventions, or the discussion on the rights of children in contemporary society. The topic is vast and pertinent to societal development. We’ve gathered an extensive assortment of free essay samples on the topic of Child Welfare you can find at Papersowl. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

Child Welfare Policy

Child Welfare policies began to be implemented in the United States in 1974. The major Child Welfare policies are as follows: AFCARS- The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System. The system was created to collect and preserve case information on all children who are in foster care as well as all children who have been adopted. It houses demographics of the foster/adoptive parents as well as the child’s information. It documents the current placement as well as the […]

Child Welfare in African Americans

Child welfare is defined as a variety of services that are put in place to protect children and families by providing the necessary support for childcare (Lewandowski, 2018). In the United States, child welfare agencies are responsible for coordinating key services aimed at preventing cases of child abuse and neglect, providing essential services to families in order to help them protect and care for the children effectively and support the wellbeing of the at-risk children especially those living in foster […]

International Adoptions

Adoption from foreign countries, also known as international adoption, is continually growing in drastic demand. The process is one that is expensive, time-consuming, and complicated, but the final product is worth the while because the child is taken in by a family who will care for them. The process is most commonly regarded as being worth the resources and effort for both family and child. The other side believes that international adoptions open the door for the endangerment of the […]

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Race in Child Welfare System

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship of race (African American and Caucasian) and start placement type (congregate care, foster care, kinship care, or other) for children first entering the Maryland child welfare system. This paper will highlight the significance and prevalence of the disproportionality of African American children in kinship care in the United States. A literature review of a previous study that examines the relationship of child characteristics (including race) of children initially placed in […]

Human Trafficking and Child Welfare

Child victims of human trafficking are more likely to suffer from long term affects rather than adults due to the critic stages of development they may be going through. As time persists after the abuse occurred, strong defensive emotions, like anger and fear, can be associated within relationships the individual has that have no correlation to the abusive event (McCammon, McCammon, & Ramby, 2006). Children who have been abused or trafficked can begin to develop a sense of hypervigilance in […]

Importance of the Single Parenting Problem

Single parents are often turned down or used as a last resort when adopting a child. Many professionals as well as the general public think it is in the best interest of the child to grow up with a mother and father. This ideal is keeping children in foster care longer than necessary. Individuals have to go through greater obstacles to adopt a child including independent or international adoptions. Even these methods of adoption are not guaranteed. The current policies […]

Compare and Contrast Child Welfare in the USA and Colombia

Introduction This paper discusses child welfare systems in the USA and Colombia. The child welfare system is a cluster of services which is aimed to improve children’s well-being by ensuring they are safe, achieve permanency, and strengthen families to care for them successfully (Adamowicz, 2019). In most cases, many people are intricated in the child welfare system because of reports suspecting them for child neglect/abuse, which is also referred to as child maltreatment. According to the Federal Law, child maltreatment […]

Topic: Child Fostering/Adoption

Purpose: To persuade and inspire people into planning to adopt and/or foster a child as the shortage of foster homes/ parents continue to grow and children placed on care is increasing. Thesis: All children deserve to grow up with love and the right to build a relationship of a family with stability and not be living from house to house within a foster care system. Would you agree that we all have certain phrases that we cannot anxiously wait to hear […]

Child Abuse: Battling Neglect and Seeking Understanding

"Childhood should be carefree, playing in the sun; not living a nightmare in the darkness of the soul," (Pelzer). A child should never have to question, "Does my mommy or daddy love me?" or "Why was I not good enough?" Those are the questions that ran through the back of my mind for many years. Though I never quite understood why I had these fears of being alone and abandonment. My biological parents brought me home from the hospital when […]

Students that Grew in the Foster Care System

Many of us in this classroom grew up in a loving and caring family but few have had the same opportunity. There are many students that grew in the foster care system but wasn’t that caring for most people in that system. Some kids in the system were mistreated and didn’t really have that much support. So, for those of you who want to be parents in the future, just think about adopting. Wouldn’t you like to give the same […]

Kinship Care is Better for Children and Families

Introduction Being 18 can be a really exciting age as a teenager. This may even be the most exciting time of their lives. They are becoming older and now they are able to do things such as, staying out long past their normal curfew, being free from the rules that their parents have given them for the past 17 years. They are becoming a legal adult, and some may think of it as a good thing, while other teenagers may […]

Adoption is a very Challenging Process

Adoption Adoption is a very challenging process that many couples choose to go through. Couples usually consider adoption because of infertility issues. Adopting children by non-biologically-related adults has a long, convoluted history in the U. S and across the globe... (Wiley 985). However, when adopting a child there are a lot of advantages and disadvantages. Adopting a child was not a common practice (Szekely 56). During the process, parent(s) should be opened minded and clear of what they are getting […]

Adoption and Sibling Relationships

Adoption is the establishment of a legally recognized, lifelong relationship between adoptive parents and the adoptee in question. Adoption is an everlasting preference for beginning parents. Adoption can appear in various ways. A person can undertake their stepchild or relative. There are international adoptions where a couple adopts an orphan from every other country. A man or woman may additionally also want to adopt from foster care. This is where a child’s parents have voluntarily, or involuntarily relinquished parental rights […]

Adoption in the United States

Adoption in the United States is not uncommon at all. But if you are looking to adopt, why limit your options to the U.S. When there's a whole world of children out there in desperate need of caretakers. If you choose to adopt you should adopt internationally. You should adopt internationally because you help a child by taking them away from a pace with possible minimal healthcare, you will get the child faster because in the U.S. there's always difficulty […]

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50 Child Welfare Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best child welfare topic ideas & essay examples, 🥇 most interesting child welfare topics to write about, 📌 simple & easy child welfare essay titles.

• Canadian Child Welfare System Evolution Significant changes started with the introduction of the Indian Act, the Act for the Prevention of Cruelty to and Better Protection of Children of 1981, and the Child Welfare Act of 1922.
• Temporary Aid Program: Racism in Child Welfare The purpose of this paper is to analyze the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program in the context of child welfare disparities. We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• Child Welfare and Human Trafficking Young people and children that live in “out-of-home care” due to reasons of abuse or lack of resources are at higher risk of becoming subjects of trafficking.
• Issues Influencing the Welfare of Children The children of gay and lesbian parents balance their truth and safety when presenting their families to others because they fear becoming subjected to the effects of homophobia.
• Casa, a Child Welfare Program Critical Review “It takes all of us, a village of everyday people, to standup and commit to making a meaningful differences in the lives of abused and neglected children, our children.
• Child Welfare: Vaccinations and Immunizations In the United States, there are various programs and policies put in place to ensure that children below the age of 18 receive timely vaccines and social support.
• Child Welfare: Human Trafficking in San Diego The paper consists of an introduction, the consecutive sections addressing the definition of the issue, its legal background, the occurrence of child trafficking, and the interventions initiated by the authorities to fight the threat.
• Turnover Rate for Child Welfare Workers The purpose of this quantitative correlation study was to examine the relationship between Emotional Intelligence, job insecurity, and job burnout among child welfare workers.
• ‘We Care’ Organization and Children Welfare Urip argues that it is the duty of every member of the society to see to it that moral ethics are upheld in the upbringing of the child.
• Child Welfare in the Together Youth Shelter About the Together Youth Shelter: Stability as the Top Priority Appealing to families in order to address their issues and solve the rates of child negligence in the community is an incredibly challenging task.
• Mental Health Need and Service Use Among Latino Children of Immigrants in the Child Welfare System
• Child Human Trafficking Victims: Challenges for the Child Welfare System
• Application Submission for Child Welfare Specialist
• Child, Parent, and Family Predictors of Child Welfare Services Involvement Among TANF Applicant Families
• Exploring the Self-Care Practices of Child Welfare Workers
• English Medical Law Should Not Prioritise Child Welfare Over the Choice of a Competent Minor
• Center-Based Care Accreditation Status and the Early Educational Outcomes of Children in the Child Welfare System
• Addressing Disproportionality and Disparity in Child Welfare
• Bias, Racism, and Evidence-Based Practice: Development of the Child Welfare
• How Child Welfare Workers View Their Work With Racial and Ethnic Minority Families
• Mother’s Autonomy and Child Welfare: A New Measure and Some New Evidence
• Engaging Child Welfare-Involved Families Impacted by Substance Misuse
• African American Disproportionality and Disparity in Child Welfare
• Child Welfare and Intra-Household Inequality in Albania
• Child Welfare Professionals’ Responses to Domestic Violence Exposure Among Children
• Housing Decisions Among Homeless Families Involved in the Child Welfare System
• Differential Factors Influencing Public and Voluntary Child Welfare Workers’ Intention to Leave
• Disability Pension Among Adult Former Child Welfare Clients
• External Debt, Fiscal Drainage, and Child Welfare: Trends and Policy Proposals
• Case Manager Motivation in Child Welfare: Job Control’s Curvilinear Relationship and Instrumental Feedback’s Moderating Influence
• Linking Worker-Parent Working Alliance to Parent Progress in Child Welfare: A Longitudinal Analysis
• Mental Health Outcomes Among Child Welfare Investigated Children: In-Home vs. Out-Of-Home Care
• Nativity and Immigration Status Among Latino Families Involved in the Child Welfare System
• Integrated Substance Abuse and Child Welfare Services for Women
• Developing and Validating Measures for Child Welfare Agencies to Self-Monitor Fidelity to a Child Safety Intervention
• Chronic Disease Prevalence Among Young Mothers With a Relationship to the Child Welfare System
• Maltreatment and Delinquency: Investigating Child Welfare Bias in Juvenile Justice Processing
• Child Welfare Agency Climate Influence on Worker Commitment
• Child Welfare and Old-Age Security in Female-Headed Households in Tanzania
• “Hands On” vs. “Empty”: Supervision Experiences of Frontline Child Welfare Workers
• Organizational Climate and Child Welfare Workers’ Degree of Intent to Leave the Job
• Bridging the Divide Between Child Welfare and Domestic Violence Services: Deconstructing the Change Process
• Migration, Household Composition, and Child Welfare in Rural Northeast Thailand
• Differential Uses for BSW and MSW Educated Social Workers in Child Welfare Services
• Individual and Organizational Factors in Job Retention in Kentucky’s Child Welfare Agency
• An Evaluation of the Incredible Years Parenting Training Program in Child Welfare
• Child Care Assistance for Families Involved in the Child Welfare System: Predicting Child Care Subsidy Use and Stability
• Motivating Child Welfare Case Managers: An Application and Extension of Feedback Information Theory
• Managing Child Welfare Agencies: What Do We Know About What Works?
• Need for and Actual Use of Mental Health Service by Adolescents in the Child Welfare System
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102 Child Welfare Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Child welfare is a critical issue that affects the well-being and future of our society. It encompasses various aspects, including child protection, foster care, adoption, education, healthcare, and social services. Writing an essay on child welfare can be challenging, as it requires in-depth research and a comprehensive understanding of the topic. To help you get started, here are 102 child welfare essay topic ideas and examples:

Child Protection:

• The role of child protection agencies in ensuring the safety of children.
• The impact of child abuse on a child's development and well-being.
• Strategies to prevent child abuse and neglect in society.
• The effectiveness of child protection laws in different countries.
• The long-term consequences of child abuse on victims' mental health.
• Exploring the relationship between child abuse and substance abuse in parents.
• The role of schools in identifying and reporting child abuse cases.
• The importance of community involvement in child protection efforts.
• Cultural perspectives on child protection and its implications.
• The ethical considerations in child protection interventions.

Foster Care:

• The challenges faced by children in the foster care system.
• Evaluating the impact of frequent placement changes on foster children.
• The role of foster care in providing stability and support for children.
• Exploring the experiences of foster parents and their motivations.
• The importance of maintaining connections with birth families in foster care.
• The educational outcomes of children in foster care.
• The impact of trauma on children entering the foster care system.
• The effectiveness of post-placement support programs for foster families.
• The role of foster care in addressing racial disparities in child welfare.
• The long-term outcomes of children aging out of the foster care system.
• The benefits and challenges of transracial adoption.
• Exploring open adoption and its impact on birth parents, adoptive parents, and the child.
• The experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals and couples in the adoption process.
• The impact of adoption on a child's sense of identity and belonging.
• The role of international adoption in providing permanent homes for children.
• The ethical dilemmas in adoption practices and policies.
• The importance of post-adoption support services for families.
• The impact of adoption on sibling relationships.
• The experiences of adult adoptees and their search for biological roots.
• The influence of media representation on public perception of adoption.
• The impact of poverty on educational outcomes for children.
• Exploring the achievement gap in education and its implications for child welfare.
• The role of schools in supporting children who have experienced trauma.
• The benefits and challenges of inclusive education for children with disabilities.
• The importance of early childhood education in promoting child development.
• The impact of standardized testing on students' well-being.
• The role of teachers in identifying and addressing child welfare concerns.
• Exploring alternative schooling options for children with unique needs.
• The influence of socioeconomic factors on educational opportunities.
• The effectiveness of educational interventions for children in foster care.

Healthcare:

• The impact of healthcare disparities on child welfare outcomes.
• Exploring the connection between child health and child welfare.
• The role of pediatricians in identifying and reporting child abuse.
• Addressing mental health needs in child welfare systems.
• The importance of preventive healthcare for children in vulnerable situations.
• The impact of trauma-informed care on child well-being.
• Exploring barriers to accessing healthcare for children in underserved communities.
• The role of technology in improving healthcare outcomes for children.
• The ethical considerations in medical decision-making for children in foster care.
• The long-term health outcomes of children who have experienced adversity.

Social Services:

• The role of social workers in child welfare systems.
• Exploring the intersectionality of race, class, and child welfare outcomes.
• The impact of housing instability on child well-being.
• The importance of family preservation services in preventing child removal.
• The challenges faced by kinship caregivers in providing care for children.
• The role of community-based organizations in supporting families at risk.
• The impact of substance abuse on child welfare interventions.
• Exploring the effectiveness of family support programs in preventing child maltreatment.
• The experiences of youth transitioning out of the child welfare system.
• The influence of public policy on child welfare outcomes.

Child Rights and Advocacy:

• Exploring the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and its implementation.
• The role of child advocates in ensuring the rights and well-being of children.
• The impact of child labor on children's rights and development.
• The importance of children's participation in decision-making processes.
• The influence of media on shaping public perception of child welfare issues.
• Addressing child marriage and its consequences for child welfare.
• Exploring child trafficking and its implications for child welfare.
• The role of non-governmental organizations in advocating for child rights.
• The impact of armed conflict on children's rights and well-being.
• The ethical considerations in conducting research involving children.

Parenting and Family Support:

• The importance of parenting programs in promoting child well-being.
• Exploring the impact of parental substance abuse on child welfare.
• The role of fathers in child welfare interventions.
• The challenges faced by single parents in providing for their children.
• The impact of incarcerated parents on children's well-being.
• The effectiveness of home visiting programs in supporting vulnerable families.
• Addressing domestic violence and its impact on child welfare.
• Exploring the cultural variations in parenting practices and their implications.
• The influence of parental mental health on child welfare outcomes.
• The role of extended family networks in supporting child welfare.

Technology and Child Welfare:

• The impact of social media on child welfare interventions.
• Exploring the ethical implications of using technology in child welfare practices.
• The benefits and challenges of digital platforms in connecting foster children with potential adoptive families.
• The role of telehealth in improving access to healthcare for children in rural areas.
• The use of artificial intelligence in identifying at-risk children.
• The potential of virtual reality in trauma-informed care for children.
• Addressing cyberbullying and its impact on child welfare.
• Exploring the digital divide and its implications for child welfare outcomes.
• The role of technology in supporting youth aging out of the foster care system.
• The influence of screen time on child development and well-being.

International Perspectives on Child Welfare:

• Comparing child welfare systems in different countries.
• The impact of globalization on child welfare practices.
• Exploring child labor in developing countries and its implications for child welfare.
• The role of international organizations in promoting child welfare globally.
• Addressing child soldiers and their rehabilitation in post-conflict societies.
• The influence of cultural norms on child welfare policies and practices.
• The experiences of refugee children and their access to child welfare services.
• Exploring child marriage practices and their impact on child welfare in different regions.
• The role of international adoption in addressing orphanhood.
• Comparing child trafficking policies and interventions across countries.

Emerging Issues in Child Welfare:

• The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on child welfare outcomes.
• Exploring the intersection between climate change and child welfare.

These essay topic ideas and examples provide a starting point for exploring various aspects of child welfare. Remember to critically analyze the issues, consider multiple perspectives, and support your arguments with evidence. By delving into these topics, you can contribute to the ongoing conversation and work towards improving the lives of children worldwide.

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Children and the Child Welfare System: Problems, Interventions, and Lessons from Around the World

• Open access
• Published: 30 January 2021
• Volume 38 , pages 127–130, ( 2021 )

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• Jarosław Przeperski   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5362-4170 1 &
• Samuel A. Owusu 1  

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Securing the welfare of children and the family is an integral part of social work. Modern society has experienced enormous changes that present both opportunities and challenges to the practice of social work to protect the welfare of children. It is thus essential that we understand the experiences of social work practitioners in different parts of the world in order to adapt practice to the changing times. To help achieve this, we present a collection of papers from around the world that presents findings on various aspects of social work research and practice involving children and the potential for improved service delivery.

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The protection of children’s welfare in many parts of the world involve different institutions and professionals ranging from social workers to the police, courts, schools, health centers, among others. In the course of their duties, some form of collaboration to varying degrees occur between these institutions and professionals in order to secure the welfare of children (Lalayants, 2008 ).

The child welfare system and social work particularly, has been observed to have undergone complex changes from its inception till now (Bamford, 2015 ; McNutt, 2013 ; Mendes, 2005 ; Stuart, 2013 ). Historically, the family and the local community were in many societies, solely responsible for a child’s well-being. When in crisis, the family including the wider extended family, was primarily responsible for supporting the child and solving their problems.

In response to wider changes in contemporary society, the child welfare system has increased the involvement of aid institutions protecting the welfare of children while reducing the role of the family. The family as a unit has also undergone changes, from the involvement of a broader network of relatives and the local community to the dominance of the nuclear family. Family ties have been weakened in many societies and the way the family unit functions has changed. Many children experience problems that often exceed the capacity of help available to these nuclear families. This has made it necessary to involve professional institutions (education, health, etc.) to aid in other areas outside of their core mandates to ensure children are secure, healthy, fed, and entertained and also to help families regain their own strength.

Although certain challenges to child welfare have persisted over time, children in contemporary times face some threats to their welfare unique to the times. Advancement in technology on one hand presents novel problems such as internet-use addictions and extensive means of child exploitation whiles on the other hand, these advancements in technology also provide opportunities to reach more clients effectively, gather data for analysis, and monitor and assess the performance of workers as well as the effectiveness of services. Modern ICT tools (such as online platforms and mobile applications) provide more flexibility in engagement between social workers and clients and the frequency of such meetings or engagements. However, an uncritical over-reliance on these tools presents other problems. Some social workers may be prone to avoid difficult situations involving uncooperative or violent families (Cooper, 2005 ) and an over-reliance on online meetings may worsened such cases, leaving vulnerable children unprotected.

All around the world, differences exist in the degree of exposure and the severity of problems facing children based on their age group (infants, toddlers, teens, and, youth), gender, geography, economic background, and culture. For instance, among the genders, differences exist in the probability of falling victim to child sexual abuse (Wellman, 1993 ) and the consequences of such victimization (Asscher, Van der Put, & Stams, 2015 ). Children from poor families are more at risk of being involved with the welfare system in certain countries (Fong, 2017 ) while poor and developing countries lack some resources needed to support children and families compared to more developed and richer countries. In addition, cultural attitudes towards parenting in different parts of the world may exacerbate the problems of child neglect, corporal punishment, and other forms of abuse.

To ensure that social workers are better equipped to deal with the daunting task of protecting the welfare of children, reforms have been proposed which are aimed at improving on the knowledge and skills of social workers, instituting standards of practice based on data, striving for continuous excellence in organizations (Cahalane, 2013 ) among others. The social work interventions aimed at improving the welfare of children of any given society can be affected by political, cultural, and socio-economic factors and this needs to be understood and addressed during the design, implementation, and assessment stages of interventions. Reisch and Jani ( 2012 ) describe how politics affect the development of social programs at the macro and micro levels, workplace decision-making processes, and resource allocation for agencies and clients.

With the aim of understanding the various challenges facing social work and the child welfare system around the world and the existing opportunities to address them, several papers on varying topics related to child welfare have been collated into this special issue. The contributors come from Asia, Africa, North America, and Europe and present the results of research into different areas affecting child welfare, child welfare workers and institutions, and interventions. Many lessons can be learnt from understanding the problems facing children and their families from around the world, the services and interventions instituted to combat such problems, the state of mind of children and their relationships with others, and the potentials of modern tools to improve service delivery in the child welfare sector.

In the special issue, Filippelli, Fallon, Lwin and Gantous ( 2021 ) present the paper, “Infants and Toddlers Investigated by The Child Welfare System: Exploring the Decision to Provide Ongoing Child Welfare Services”. Following the concerns of limited research into decision-making process of young children involved in the welfare system, the authors aimed to contribute to the literature on cases of maltreatment of young children and decisions to address them. The authors sought to answer the questions of the character of investigations of alleged child maltreatment, what factors influence decisions to recommend welfare service provision, and what differences may exist between cases involving infants and toddlers. After reviewing data on investigations into suspected cases of child maltreatment in Canada, it was determined that assessment by welfare workers and the mental health of caregivers are important indicators of decisions to transfer cases for further services. For cases involving infants, results indicate caregiver characteristics and household income are unique factors influencing decision-making while in toddler-involved cases, the toddler and the caregiver characteristics are factors that affect decisions.

Van Dam, Heijmans, and Stams ( 2021 ) aimed to determine the long-term effect of the intervention program, Youth Initiated Mentoring (YIM) organized in the Netherlands. They sought to find out how the mentors and the youth mentees were doing several months or years after the program and their impression of the whole program. In the paper “Youth Initiated Mentoring in Social Work: Sustainable Solution for Youth with Complex Needs?”, they show some findings on the present situation of mentees, the quality and trajectory of mentor–mentee relationships, and the level of support from social workers. Results indicate a sustained relationship between majority of the mentors and mentees and a reduction in the likelihood of out-of-home placement among other long-term benefits. The authors offer some recommendations for future research into Youth Initiated Mentoring.

Mackrill and Svendsen ( 2021 ) in the paper, “Implementing Routine Outcome Monitoring in Statutory Children’s Services” highlights the outcome of a 2-year long study on the effect of implementing a feedback-informed approach to family service provision in Denmark. In the study, they sought to understand how the feedback informed approach assisted in protecting children and families and what gaps exist in the service delivery chain. This involved analyzing by means of a constructivist grounded theory approach, anonymized data derived from field notes and interviews of various stakeholders. They report that the feedback-oriented approach helped service workers to follow legal directives especially in areas of assessment, care planning and follow-up, as well as in their approach to interviewing children. On the other hand, they assert that this approach to service delivery fails to emphasize attention to risk especially within families and the rights of clients to legal advice and recourse, among other issues. They offer some recommendations to address some of the identified challenges.

In order to understand the perceptions of the youth about older people with regards to healthcare and social help so that resources to address any existing negative stereotypes can be identified, Kanios ( 2021 ) surveyed 1084 school-going young people in Poland. Findings of this survey are presented in the paper titled “Beliefs of Secondary School Youth and Higher Education Students About Elderly Persons: A Comparative Survey”. Results show varied beliefs about older people regarding healthcare and social help among Secondary School Youth and Higher Education Students. Most of the respondents from both groups held no stereotypical views of older people. Students in higher education especially were found to maintain a more mature outlook on older people. Kanios concludes the paper with some recommendations of educational interest to combat existing negative stereotypes of older people.

Frimpong-Manso ( 2021 ) aimed to understand the views of social workers in Ghana on the benefits of intervention programs that strengthen families and to identify any existing barriers to their successful implementation in his paper, “Family Support Services in The Context of Child Care Reform: Perspectives of Ghanaian Social Workers”. Qualitative data derived from interviews with social workers point to some benefits of the existing family support services such as capacity building and wellbeing promotion of the families. Some identified challenges to success include inadequate funding and poor interagency cooperation.

Odrowąż-Coates and Kostrzewska ( 2021 ) from Poland present an analysis of the indicators of successful and fulfilling teenage motherhood in their paper titled “A Retrospective on Teenage Pregnancy in Poland. Focusing on Empowerment and Support Variables to Challenge Stereotyping in the Context of Social Work”. With the aim of showcasing positive cases of teenage motherhood as a means of empowerment and a way to tackle stereotypes in Poland, the authors utilized data from interviews and field practice notes involving teenage mothers and family court curators. Findings from this study show these teenage mothers to be empowered, independent, persevering, and with agency. Resources available through social work interventions and other support systems are also highlighted. The authors emphasize the need to show the positive life experiences of teenage mothers and the social work programs that contribute towards that in order to dispel existing stereotypes.

Abu Bakar Ah et al. ( 2021 ) in their paper, “Material Deprivation Status of Malaysian Children from Low-Income Families” relied on data from a self-reported survey of 360 poor children in Malaysia to determine their level of material deprivation. Results indicate a low level of material deprivation among poor Malaysian children. The authors include some recommendations to improve on the well-being of children in Malaysia.

With the hypothesis that the quality and quantity of placement of children with their kin depend on social workers, managers, and some organizational factors, Rasmussen and Jæger ( 2021 ) present a case study of social workers and their field practices related to kinship care in Denmark. Their paper, “The Emotional and Other Barriers to Kinship Care in Denmark: A case study in two Danish municipalities” contains analysis of the findings of their study. Through a mixed method approach of analyzing documents, interviews, observations, and dialogue meetings, data on placement into kinship care in two municipalities in Denmark were gathered. Among all the cases selected for the study, they reported a reasonable level of satisfaction among all parties involved. However, the authors indicate a hesitation among social workers to enter emotionally-charged familial situations which affects their decisions on kinship placement. The paper also points to the non-involvement of families in a systematic manner in placement decisions as another factor that affects placement decisions.

Grządzielewska ( 2021 ) from Poland, reviews how machine-learning can be applied as a tool to predict burnout among social work employees in the paper, “Using Machine Learning in Burnout Prediction: A Survey”. The ability to analyze and interpret large amount of data makes the tools of machine learning very useful. The paper attempts to compare traditional and newer methods of predictive modeling and discusses how different variables affect the choice of appropriate methodologies. It is discussed in this paper how machine-learning algorithms can be incorporated into a burnout monitoring system to create new models of burnout, identify the potential for burnout among new recruits and existing employees, and design appropriate interventions. The author recommends further attention by social work researchers in the study of burnout.

We acknowledge the contributions of the various authors to making this special issue possible by sharing their perspectives on child welfare service delivery.

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Przeperski, J., Owusu, S.A. Children and the Child Welfare System: Problems, Interventions, and Lessons from Around the World. Child Adolesc Soc Work J 38 , 127–130 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-021-00740-5

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Professional Writing for Child Welfare Practitioners

Writing in child welfare, plain language, documentation, grant & proposal writing, writing & grammar, articles & research, videos about writing in social work, submit feedback or recommend a resource.

This guide is intended as a supplementary resource for caregivers and child welfare practitioners. It is not an authority on health or medical information and cannot replace advice from a medical professional, nor is it meant to be representative of all perspectives. Users are encouraged to think critically when reviewing publications and other materials. 

As Donna McDonald et al write in Ethical Professional Writing in Social Work and Human Services , " Social workers write a lot and their writing has a major impact on people's lives. The complexity of their writing task arises because they must deal with confidential client information while usually writing for multiple audiences ." This guide is intended to support child welfare practitioners, and includes sector-specific tips as well as generic resources for professional, technical, and report writing. This guide includes a section on plain language writing, as well as sections on documentation and case notes. 

• Writing in Social Work | Texas A&M University This page from Texas A&M University lays out a summary of what it takes to write proficiently in the field of social work.
• Tips for Writing in Social Work: Accurate and Respectful Language This handout will give you tips on how to use language in a way that is clear, accurate, and respectful. These are best practices that apply to any piece of social work writing, whether it is a clinical case note, a policy proposal, or a research paper for school. Please keep in mind that these tips are not meant to be used as hard-and-fast rules. Language changes over time, with conventions coming and going. Social workers need to consider the context in which they are writing; the intended audience and any other people who might potentially access the document (such as a court of law); the reason for writing and the purpose that the information serves; and any possible unintended consequences (McDonald et al., 2015).
• How to Write Good Case Notes (Social Work) | SavetheSocialWorker This outline from Save the Social Worker discusses the ways that social workers can build their skills to write strong case notes. Please note that Child Welfare Practitioners in Ontario must file paperwork within 24 hours, so the advice regarding 3 days should be disregarded.
• A Writing Guide for Social Work: Student Edition | University of Texas This guide assumes that a high-quality product—an essay, a report, a research paper—results from a streamlined, efficient, rigorous process. This guide can usher you through the complete work-flow, from idea to final draft, or you can read it in any order, as your needs or preferences require. Each of the following sections represents a stage in the writing process.
• Professional, Technical Writing Introduction | Purdue OWL These OWL resources will help you conduct research and compose documents for the workplace, such as memoranda and business letters. This section also includes resources for writing report and scientific abstracts.

• Plain Writing Checklist | US National Archives Use this checklist from the American National Archives to see if your document meets plain language standards.
• Plain Language Tips & Examples | Web Editor Hub From Web Editor Hub, this is a list of ten ways to ensure the language you are using in your materials is easy to understand.
• Guide to Writing in Plain Language | Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne This Guide to Writing in Plain Language comes from The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, and focuses on ways to write in plain language in clinical reporting while working with children and families.
• Importance of Documentation and Best Practices in Case Notation | Sonya O. Boyne, LMHC
• Elements of Good Documentation | DC Child and Family Services Agency
• Documentation in Social Work | Dr. James Smalley
• Ethics Alive! To Record or Not to Record: The Ethics of Documentation | Allan Barsky
• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University is a detailed and thorough site dedicated to helping all people with their writing, research, and citation skills. There is information on professional writing, avoiding plagiarism, English as a Second Language-specific resources, and citation style resources for all types of resources commonly used in reporting.
• Cambridge Online Dictionary The Cambridge Online Dictionary and thesaurus provides spellings, definitions, and the option to listen to a word being pronounced out loud with US or UK pronunciation.
• Assessing BSW Student Documentation Skills: An Exploratory Study Using a modified version of an existing documentation review worksheet, researchers conducted an exploratory study that examined the quality of documentation among senior BSW social work majors in their last semester, in which they complete a 500-hour field practicum. Results showed that one percent of students documented a client strength and 45.9 percent of students did not sign the document. Additionally, 96 percent of the documents were legible, and 81 percent of students included service provision in their documentation. Recommendations for further research and suggestions for replication are included.

Want to see a new guide on a specific topic? Looking for resources on an issue or practice area we haven't covered? Is there a resource you'd like to recommend? Please contact Jessica Mariano, Content & Research Librarian ( [email protected] ). 

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Essay Collection: COVID-19 and Child Welfare: Challenges and Responses

TABLE OF CONTENTS & ABSTRACTS

Child Poverty and the Pandemic Lenette Azzi-Lessing The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the hardships of children living in poverty, with school closings and reduced access to food and housing hitting these children the hardest. This essay describes these and other inequities in pandemic-related harms to children in families that are the most vulnerable. The author points out that solutions to the scourge of child poverty have been available for some time and urges readers to become active in countering the beliefs, attitudes, and policies that perpetuate aberrantly high rates of child poverty in the world’s richest nation.

Exploring the Potential Benefits of Virtual Child Welfare Services Anna Davidson Abella, Flandra Ismajli, and Linda M. Callejas This essay explores the implementation of remote services for families awaiting reunification with children placed in alternate care settings. We draw on perspectives from parents and stakeholders involved in family reunification using remote services, gathered through a rapid ethnographic assessment (REA) we conducted between March and June 2020. Based on our findings, we suggest that a hybrid model of service delivery may harness the benefits of virtual innovations in service access while also ensuring protection of parental rights and child safety. We also call for more research on the effects of remote service delivery on vulnerable families is needed.

Communicating During A Crisis: Making Challenges an Opportunity Megan Branham and Allison North Jones The protective factors we advocate for in families, including social connections, are the same protective factors that will keep child welfare organizations surviving and thriving despite a global pandemic. Maintaining or enhancing robust communications and advocacy efforts ensures that organizations are communicating and educating policy-makers and other decision-makers about critical services being provided—and the impacts an organization is having despite the COVID-19 crisis.

The Moment to Transform Child Protective Courts Elizabeth Clement and Vivek Sankaran This article explores lessons child protective courts learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and how they can use these lessons to build a more equitable system moving forward. The article highlights specific opportunities for innovation to increase access to justice within the child protective system, including efforts courts can lead to encourage stakeholders to resolve issues outside the court system.

Addressing the Digital Divide for Youth in Foster Care Serita Cox COVID-19’s first impact on youth in foster care came on March 11, 2020. The Los Rios Community College District—which serves the greater Sacramento, California area—sounded the alarm with an SOS email: School was closing. Many students who were in foster care did not have computers or access to the Inter-net. iFoster, a nonprofit based in Truckee, California, set a scalable plan in place to ensure that every eligible youth currently or formerly in care, between the ages of 5 and 26, would have access to the technology they needed. We have proven with the following combination that bridging the digital divide for youth in foster care is a solvable problem— and one that can be replicated as distance learning continues this fall and into the foreseeable future: (1) the right technology solution(s); (2) accurately identifying eligible recipients; (3) implementing an efficient distribution process; and (4) accessing funds.

Collaboration During COVID-19: The Role of Faith Communities and Technology Jacob G. Holland and Audrey Deckinga This essay examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on child welfare agencies’ ability to serve children and families. It proposes that the collaboration between child-serving agencies and local churches is essential to providing effective care for children and families who are vulnerable. To spur this collaboration between stakeholders, this article issues simultaneous calls to action: first, for the child welfare system, from policy-makers to caseworkers, to view and intentionally include the local faith community as a critical partner in the work to protect and serve children and families; and second, for the local faith community, from pastors and ministry leaders to lay people, to proactively come alongside child welfare agencies and social workers to serve those in need. This essay highlights CarePortal, a technology platform that connects the needs of children and families to people who want to help, as an effective opportunity for collaboration between the child welfare system and faith community.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Latinx Immigrant Children & Families: A Call to Action Jesse Ramirez and Kristina Lovato This essay examines how the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has exposed systemic inequities in the U.S. health care system and economy, disproportionately impacting Latinx immigrant children and families. Qualitative findings from interviews conducted with Los Angeles-based social service providers (n = 25) show that practitioners adapted to new demands during shelter-in-place orders by providing remote therapies and bilingual information to dispel myths and fears regarding COVID-19. Collaborations were formed with immigrant advocacy-based agencies to mobilize online services such as ESL classes, legal clinics, and trainings to empower immigrant communities. A call to action is issued to address macro- and mezzo-level systemic weaknesses, and to preserve and build on the strengths of Latinx immigrant families.

COVID-19’s Economic Impact: Threatening a Decade of Progress in U.S. Food Security Emma Langley and Shannon Strother As the United States struggles to mitigate and contain the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the nation has faced shocks to household-level income and employment not seen since the Great Depression. As key determinants of food security, these secondary effects of the pandemic challenge working families’ ability to access adequate nutritious food. Public policy measures, including the roll out of Pandemic EBT and adaptations to SNAP and school-based meals, aim to alleviate skyrocketing food insecurity; however, the unsustainable strain on charitable food organizations to meet demand for private assistance suggests that public benefits are insufficient to meet this need.

Creativity Across Borders: Supporting Transnational Families during a Pandemic Elaine Weisman A child’s right to a loving family and connection to their culture, ethnicity, race, and language is a cornerstone of CWLA’s National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare. For thousands of children, these connections span international borders. Modifying assessment tools, empowering local professionals, and reimagining service delivery models can increase our ability to connect families in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic—particularly in communities that have been hit the hardest.

COVID-19 and the Importance of Addressing Prenatal Care in Pre-Birth Planning Conferences Anna Caroline Straughan The CSA #14 policy was issued in New York City as a protocol for child welfare agencies to determine the placement of a baby of an expectant mother whose older children are custody of child protective services. PreBirth Planning Conferences were established as part of the protocol to assess for risks. Expectant women are at a heightened risk for infection with COVID-19, which can cause complications during pregnancy. This article examines the potential of Pre-Birth Planning Conference to support the health of expectant mothers and discusses the rationale for prioritizing prenatal care during COVID-19.

The National Family Preservation Network: Analyzing Remote Child Welfare Services During COVID-19 Michelle Reines The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on family-serving agencies and their clients. The National Family Preservation Network sought to assemble guidance for service delivery by collecting information about how agencies adapted during the pandemic. Fortunately, remote services do not seem to adversely affect the number of families served or their outcomes. Agencies have been innovative in developing strategies for serving families remotely and technology has played a big part in this. The lessons learned from this experience can be applied to other scenarios when remote services may be necessary or preferable.

Shifting to a Remote Children and Family Services Workforce: The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Marc D. Smith When the COVID-19 pandemic struck and it became clear that one of the best options to help curb and prevent the spread of the virus was social distancing, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services moved quickly to ensure that its child abuse hotline remained staffed 24 hours a day. This meant securing equipment and training employees—and had the added benefit of improving morale and reducing the number of callbacks

The Challenge of Stay-at-Home Orders for Children, Youth, and Families Rick Azzaro COVID-19 will forever change our reality and produce many expected and unexpected consequences. In the interest of public health, our response has necessitated the need for widespread restrictions and stay-at-home orders. Stay-at-home orders required us to modify child welfare practices and, often, can add additional stressors related to our capacity to function and meet the demands of daily living. Social services that typically support and respond to family violence, substance abuse, and mental health concerns are dramatically restricted during the pandemic, resulting in decreased access, limited reporting, and isolation of those in need of support services. Families isolated at home are likely experiencing additional stress, increases in intimate partner violence (IPV), substance abuse, suicide, and child abuse. This article explores the unseen consequences of individual and family struggles that happen behind closed doors and provides recommendations for future policies and practices

Videoconferencing in Child Welfare: An Appreciative Inquiry Angela Pittman-Vanderweide, Robin O’Brien, and Erica Vilay Videoconferencing has positively affected connections between parents and the child welfare system— though with notable limitations. Some counties have reported increased parent engagement and increased efficiencies for case and court workers. Groups that have traditionally been marginalized may particularly experience benefits, with less disruptive time schedules doing much to alleviate intimidation and burden. Where appropriate, to the exclusion of investigations and family visits, we urge child welfare practitioners and researchers to embed videoconferencing in practice models post-COVID.

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Child Welfare, Essay Example

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In approaching how best to convey my ambition to study social work, I face a serious conflict. Simply, I have no professional experience in my background related to the field.  It is, in fact, possibly inadvisable to even mention this before explaining my position and my ambitions in this regard.  I do so, however, to reinforce that very ambition.   I believe that honesty is a core value necessary for anyone seeking to enter or study social work.  Then, I feel that social work also demands a sensible awareness of realities, and attempting to disguise my lack of experience is no part of such an awareness.

That said, I may state with absolute honesty that I have been involved in social work in other ways, and before I decided to seriously study the field.  Daily life affords opportunities in “social work”, I think, for any individual with a desire to be of service to others, even when that service is not offered on a professional level.  In my case, there was a circumstance that remains powerfully within me, from when I was an adolescent.   A neighbor had a child she was having difficulty caring for.  A single mother, she was the sole support of the small family, and desperately needed to keep her job. Unfortunately, that job provided no child care facilities or assistance for its employees, nor was she paid enough to hire a sitter.  There was a facility in the community for such care, but the woman worked many evenings, and consequently could not take advantage of it.

As I said, I was a teen, and was engaged in the typically active life of an adolescent.  I had my school, my friends, my family, and my own interests, and it did not consciously occur to me to offer help to the woman.  The situation, however, simply evolved because I found I could not stand by when a serious problem was before me.  I volunteered to watch the child as many evenings as I could, which was a great relief to the mother.  Then, and in a kind of proactive fashion, I set out to create a better support structure for her.  I went to other, trusted neighbors and established a schedule, which eased the task for all concerned while allowing the mother the peace of mind she needed.   From this experience, I began to feel that many problems that seem insurmountable to people, such as the mother’s, are not impossible to fix, when efforts are made in the existing social framework.

In committing to study social work, I intend to gain as much information as I possibly can, because information is the key to helping others.  This, I believe, is true, no matter the social work arena.  In whatever setting the social work is done, it exists to promote the well-being of the clients (Hepworth, Rooney, & Rooney  3).  Caring is essential, but only knowledge can open doors, change adverse circumstances, and empower people to improve their lives.  On a very basic level, I do not believe social work actually changes due to societal changes.  Certainly, different conditions, globally and nationally, emphasize different needs, and some confronted today in social work include sustainability or funding in troubled economies, cross-cultural education, and a means of understanding the issues particularly as emerging from an increasingly globalized world (Sowers, White, & Dulmus  33).  The greater realities, however, remain, and the work is in place to serve those in need in the community.   I feel that a social worker must always be focused on this factor, no matter how many obstacles, or of what kind, are in the way.  This is the field to which I want to devote my energies and my life.  To that end, I most sincerely apply to enter the social work program, to begin attaining the knowledge to make this happen.

Works Cited

Hepworth, D. H.,  Rooney, R. H., & Rooney, G. D.  Direct Social Work Practice: Theory and Skills.   Belmont: Cengage learning, 2009.  Print.

Sowers, K. M., White, B. W., & Dulmus, B. N.    Comprehensive Handbook of Social Work and Social Welfare: The Profession of Social Work . Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2008.  Print.

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Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Child Welfare — Analysis of Child Welfare Policy

Analysis of Child Welfare Policy

• Categories: Child Protection Child Welfare

About this sample

Words: 2882 |

15 min read

Published: Feb 8, 2022

Words: 2882 | Pages: 6 | 15 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, historical context, economic context, political, ideological and values context, global context, policy effectiveness and recommendations.

• About CAPTA: A Legislative History. (2019, February). https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/about.pdf
• Child Abuse Background and History. (n.d.). https://family.findlaw.com/child-abuse/child-abuse-background-and-history.html
• Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) Recommendations to the 116th Congress. (2016). https://www.preventchildabuseny.org/application/files/5015/4930/5929/PCAA_CAPTA_Recommendations_to_the_116th_Congress_4.0.pdf
• Davidson, H. (2011, January). The CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010: What Advocates Should Know. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/childrens-rights/articles/2011/capta-reauthorization-act-of-2010-what-advocates-should-know/
• Harfeld, A., & Marlowe, K. (2017, March). Making America's Children Safe Again. https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.une.idm.oclc.org/doi/full/10.1111/jfcj.12089
• Lloyd, M. H., Luczak, S., & Lew, S. (2019, April). Planning for safe care or widening the net?: A review and analysis of 51 states’ CAPTA policies addressing substance-exposed infants. https://www-sciencedirect-com.une.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S0190740918309848
• Martini, M., & Nutton, J. (n.d.). CAPTA and the Residential Placement: A Survey of State Policy and Practice. Retrieved April, 2009, from https://search-proquest-com.une.idm.oclc.org/docview/226976339?pq-origsite=summon
• Petersen, A. C. (2014, March 25). Child Abuse and Neglect Policy. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK195993/
• Policy & Legislation. (2018). https://www.firststar.org/learn-more/policy-legislation/
• Thorne. (2017). A look at child abuse on the global level. Retrieved from https://www.pbc2019.org/protection-of-minors/child-abuse-on-the-global-level

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In “Solutions to poverty, not posturing” (The Washington Times, January 11, 2016) Cal Thomas argues that our current solutions for fighting poverty in America are not working, and that we must focus on empowering the poor rather [...]

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Essay on Child Welfare System

The child welfare system refers to a government agency that operates in most countries and is charged with child protection, including child abuse and child neglect reports. Their main objective, however, involves the promotion of the physical and emotional wellbeing of children, the promotion of their safety as well as that of their families by offering caregivers help in caring for them, and when the above cannot be successfully achieved, the reallocation of at-risk children with either next of kin or adoptive families. Decision-making within the child welfare system is a highly complicated procedure that is subject to both ethical considerations and legal ones (Oramas, 2017). The choices made are often in the context of competing priorities, and numerous such dilemmas arise in the process.

One such dilemma in recent times primarily involves the decision-making process on whether or not to remove Jonathan, a victim of child abuse and neglect whose name was changed to protect his identity in adherence to the twelfth ethical standard of human services, from the care of his abusive father upon his request and without a conclusive investigation on the situation at home or even a report (National Organization of Human Services, 2015). The child in question was a seven-year-old with severe verbal limitations, delays in language reception, and articulation disorder, all attributed to the severe neglect from his father. Additionally, upon further review following a fifth child protection report, facial bruising was observed on Jonathan and his siblings, painting a picture as to the extent of the abuse incurred by the children. Furthermore, Jonathan pleaded with the casework specialist to take him and place him in better care, even pointing to a picture in the room of a child smiling. Despite the child being a victim of considerable abuse and neglect and desperately wanting to be removed from the setting, the casework specialist could not immediately grant him the wish, displaying knowledge of local, state, and federal laws that dictate adherence to standard protocol.

The legal implication of this was that the verbal proof provided by Jonathan was not sufficient in the eyes of the law to warrant his immediate reallocation, while the ethical implication involved the fact that the casework specialist had to leave a known victim of child abuse in the same setting due to the law’s restrictions. This violated the specialist’s ethical standing as Jonathan may have continued to endure the same or otherwise worse abuse and neglect under his father’s care until his reallocation eight months later. This can be seen as ineffective as child abuse is allowed to continue due to the law’s restriction. I would have gone against my legal directives and followed my ethical inclination to rescue the child from the toxic and abusive environment.

Ibarra, p. (2017). The changing workplace: Insights on managing workplace challenges.  Public Management (00333611), 99 (5), 18-20. Retrieved from EBSCO multi-search.

Leadership and Performance in Human Services Organisations  https://pdfs.semanticscholar  .org/fab2/ 2334fc3093aac5af2c11aa3e16660940638f.pdf

National Organization of Human Services (2015). Ethical standards for Human Services Professionals. Retrieved from  https://www.nationalhumanservices.org/ethical-standards .

Oramas, J. E. (2017). Counselling Ethics: Overview of Challenges, Responsibilities, Responsibilities and Recommended Practices. Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (1947-2900), 9(3), 47-58. Retrieved from EBSCO multi-search.

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