Navigating COVID-19 and racial trauma as a Black student at predominantly White institutions.

Black students at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) contend with racial microaggressions that can lead to negative mental health and academic outcomes. The physical and mental health consequences of the novel coronavirus pandemic are well-known. What remains unknown is how targeted racial hate during a pandemic might have a compounded effect on Black essential workers. The current study examines how future essential workers in helping professions cope with dual crises as they navigate mostly White universities. Study participants were Black university students attending PWIs in the United States enrolled in social work, public health, or psychology programs during the 2020-2021 academic year. Participants completed an online survey that measured racial microaggressions, COVID distress, sense of belonging, engagement in activism, and well-being. Hierarchical regression models revealed COVID distress predicted poorer well-being. Also, COVID distress interacted with racial microaggressions to predict well-being. Findings have implications for developing decolonized learning communities with a liberation pedagogy in community psychology and other helping professions.

A Pilot Study of the Adoption and Guardianship Enhanced Support (AGES) Program: Preventing Discontinuity by Walking Alongside Adoptive and Guardianship Families Who are Struggling.

PURPOSE: There is a strong preference for evidence-based child welfare services, however, there are few well-researched programs for families that struggle post-permanence. Following adoption or guardianship, some families experience significant challenges, struggle to find effective programs, and run the risk of family instability. This study described the process used to develop the Adoption and Guardianship Enhanced Support (AGES) intervention and explored: 1) the needs of families participating in the program and 2) how AGES worked with families to address those challenges. METHODS: This descriptive study utilized quantitative structured assessment data and qualitative data from case records to explore the needs of families and provide context for qualitative, in-depth interviews with families regarding their experiences with the AGES program, presented using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Pre-service structured assessments indicated multiple dimensions of parenting strain, with case record reviews and interviews with families providing a nuanced picture of multiple sources of strain, suggesting the project was reaching the intended audience. Record review and interviews demonstrated strong alignment between needs of families and the support provided by AGES workers. Intended analysis of quantitative post-assessment data was not possible, due to lower enrollment and higher staff turnover than expected, as well as study timeframes. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The approach utilized by AGES workers, one that walked alongside families and provided flexible responses to identified needs, showed promise for adoptive and guardianship families. Replication and additional research are needed to assess the program with a larger sample and more rigorous methods.

Mind, body, and spirit: a constructivist grounded theory study of wellness among middle-class Black women.

Previous studies show that Black women in the United States experience disproportionately poorer health outcomes compared to women of other racial/ethnic groups. Recently the focus is on improving the health of Black women in the United States. However, there is little empirical evidence on what Black women need to improve their health to be well. The goal of this constructivist grounded theory was to increase the understanding of wellness among middle-class Black women (N = 30) in a large Midwestern city in the United States through an intersectional lens. The findings show that the connection and balance between mind, body, and spirit was the core experience of wellness among middle-class Black women. Mind, body, and spirit was described in three ways-(a) mentally managing, (b) physically caring for my body, and (c) connecting spiritually-with the women also noting the barriers and facilitators they endured to be well. Each of these categories highlight the tension middle-class Black women experience with trying to be well. Implications for future practice and research with middle-class Black women are discussed.

Utilizing a Matrix Approach to Analyze Qualitative Longitudinal Research: A Case Example During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Qualitative Longitudinal Research (QLR) is an evolving methodology used in understanding the rich and in-depth experiences of individuals over time. QLR is particularly conducive to pandemic or disaster-related studies, where unique and rapidly changing environments warrant fuller descriptions of the human condition. Despite QLR's usefulness, there are a limited number of articles that detail the methodology and analysis, especially in the social sciences, and specifically social work literature. As researchers adjust their focus to incorporate the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic, there is a growing need in understanding the progression and adaptation of the pandemic on individuals' lives. This article provides a process and strategy for implementing QLR and analyzing data in online diary entries. In the provided case example, we explore a phenomenological QLR conducted with graduate level students during the COVID-19 pandemic (Saltzman et al., 2021), and outline a matrix framework for QLR analysis. This paper provides an innovative way in which to engage in qualitative data collection and analysis for social science research.

Black women and COVID-19: The need for targeted mental health research and practice.

COVID-19 has significantly impacted a substantial number of Black Americans. Black women, in particular, are facing challenges financially, physically, and mentally during this unprecedented time. Between serving as frontline workers, being concerned about contracting the virus, contributing to their families financially, and worrying about their loved ones' health, Black women are experiencing great strain on their mental health and well-being. These stressors illustrate the need for social work researchers and practitioners to address Black women's mental health. This paper presents our reflections, experiences, and response to COVID-19 as Black women and scholars. Guided by our reflections and personal experiences, we put forth suggestions and reflexive thoughts for social work researchers and practitioners to prioritize Black women's mental health during and after these unprecedented times.

Supporting the end of prostitution permanently (SEPP) prostitution court: examining inter-professional collaboration within alternative criminal justice settings.

Problem-solving courts such as prostitution courts are becoming an important feature of the American court landscape. Internationally, while there is a great deal of skepticism regarding problem solving courts, at least five countries (e.g., England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, and Canada) are deliberating whether this "revolutionary panacea" which has swept America's criminal justice system is the right approach for them. Few studies have explored the benefits and challenges of problem solving courts (i.e. prostitution court) using an interprofessional collaborative framework. The purpose of this case study is to examine contemporary issues related to prostitution courts using Bronstein's model of interprofessional collaborative framework which identifies five components that facilitate optimum IPC: 1) interdependence, 2)newly created professional activities, 3)flexibility, 4)collective ownership of goals, and 5) reflection on the process. Some benefits of IPC include working collaboratively, adaptability, adjusting expectations, investment in the process and making changes as needed. Some of the challenges of IPC were coercive power, dual roles, bait and switch, hierarchy, and push for outcomes at the expense of clients. As criminal justice systems nationally and internationally contemplate widespread implementation of different kinds of problem-solving courts, these benefits and challenges need to be considered before states and countries adopt these courts.

"Keeping It Real": The Relational Effects of Trauma Among African American Women and Their Substance Abuse Treatment Counselors.

African American women experience disproportionately high rates of trauma. Interpersonal forms of trauma often make it much more difficult for trauma survivors to initiate and maintain positive, healthy relationships with others. This study examined the kinds of relationships women with extensive histories of trauma and substance had with their substance abuse treatment counselors and the characteristics that they believe contributed to connected and disconnected client-counselor relationships. Using the case study method, 26 in-depth interviews were conducted with African American women. Data analysis revealed three primary kinds of relationships women had with their substance abuse treatment counselors: reparative, damaging, and transactional. Eighteen (69%) of the 26 women had reparative relationships with their counselors. Reparative relationships had two primary characteristics: empowering and mattering. Two (8%) of the 26 women had damaging relationships with their substance abuse treatment counselors. Damaging relationships had two primary characteristics: unimportant and untrustworthy. Six of the women (23%) had transactional relationships with their substance abuse treatment counselors. Transactional relationships were task-focused and superficial. Healing from interpersonal experiences of trauma is possible only within the context of trusting relationships. Substance abuse treatment counselors have an opportunity to help African American women with histories of trauma heal and recover. Creating positive, therapeutic relationships between clients and professionals is essential.

School and program related factors influencing disclosure among children participating in a school-based childhood physical and sexual abuse prevention program.

BACKGROUND: School-based child abuse prevention programs were created to provide knowledge so that children can recognize abuse, teach skills that decrease children's risk for abuse, normalize the disclosure process, and provide a pathway for children who may be experiencing abuse to report the abuse. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore school and program factors that trainers in a school-based prevention program believed were associated with disclosure among youth from kindergarten through 12th grade. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: This study is based on eighteen trainers and administrators who work with the Play it Safe!® school-based program in Dallas-Fort Worth area. METHODS: Using the qualitative case study method, in-depth interviews were conducted. RESULTS: Data analysis revealed three factors that influenced disclosure: school, school personnel, and program features. The school-related factor was time allotted to the training. The school personnel-related factors were disengagement, ambiguity concerning abuse, prior history with children, and professionals' personal history of abuse. Finally, the program-related factors were the core messages of the training, providing specific examples, and repetition of the program. To date, there is a dearth of studies that explore the role that schools and school personnel play in the disclosure process. CONCLUSION: Child abuse has devastating effects on children's physical, social, emotional, and psychological well-being. Understanding more about schools, personnel, and program-related factors that lead to disclosure, which are more amenable to change, is critical to ensuring the safety of children.

"Strap up:" Sexual socialization and safer sex practices among African American youth in foster care.

Adolescent sexual health is often reflected through a problem-oriented lens. This serves to reinforce prevailing sexual scripts and cultural images of disenfranchised youth. Very little is known about the support young people in foster care, particularly youth of color, need to stay sexually healthy and safe. This article presents data on the sources and types of sexual socialization experiences that supported African American transitional age youth in foster care to protect against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Eighteen African American participants (18 to 21-years old) who reported condom use in two quantitative interviews were selected to participate in a qualitative interview. A mapping exercise and thematic analyses were used to identify the participants' sources of support and sexual socialization experiences. The study's findings indicated the youth had a combination of informal and formal sources that conveyed four types of STI/HIV prevention messages: Effective, Affective, Affinity, & Tangible. The majority of the participants (83%) received all four types of STI/HIV prevention messages from adult, partner and/or peer sources. Sources who motivated the participants the most to protect against STIs/HIV had a strong relationship with the youth and communicated openly about safer sex practices. Results of this study provide implications for future research as well as indications for practice that may be incorporated into training for child welfare practitioners, foster parents, kinship caregivers, and others who encounter youth in foster care.

Correction to: The Effect of a Change Agent on Use of Evidence-Based Mental Health Practices.

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake.

Restoring and Empowering Traumatized Girls in a Philippines-Based Independent Living Program: An Exploratory Study.

Researchers have examined knowledge and skillsets that enhance successful transitions into independent living for at-risk youth residing in independent living programs; however, few studies examine programs outside of the United States. Employing focus groups and participant-observation, this exploratory study examined areas of personal development, knowledge, and skills that former graduates, staff, and administrators of a Philippines-based independent living program believed essential for the success of young women with traumatic histories. Thematic analysis revealed three themes: (1) Psycho-Emotional-Spiritual Well-Being, (2) Cultivating a Fighting Spirit, and (3) Financial Stability. Distinct from much of the literature, spiritual development, a mechanism of Psycho-Emotional-Spiritual Wellbeing, and Cultivating a Fighting Spirit, a form of empowerment, emerged as important areas of development. The focal program emphasized personal development and restoration for the survival and success of young Filipina women in their agency.

The Effect of a Change Agent on Use of Evidence-Based Mental Health Practices.

Children's service systems are faced with a critical need to disseminate evidence-based mental health interventions. Despite the proliferation of comprehensive implementation models, little is known about the key active processes in effective implementation strategies. This proof of concept study focused on the effect of change agent interactions as conceptualized by Rogers' diffusion of innovation theory on providers' (N = 57) use of a behavioral intervention in a child welfare agency. An experimental design compared use for providers randomized to training as usual or training as usual supplemented by change agent interactions after the training. Results indicate that the enhanced condition increased use of the intervention, supporting the positive effect of change agent interactions on use of new practices. Change agent types of interaction may be a key active process in implementation strategies following training.

Health-Risk Behaviors and Dating Violence Victimization: An Examination of the Associated Risk Behaviors Among Detained Female Youth.

There are many health-risk behaviors that may elevate the risk of adolescents engaging in teenage dating violence. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the health-risk behaviors that are associated with a sample of female juvenile offenders to identify the extent to which those behaviors contribute to dating violence. The survey assessed respondents' health-risk behaviors prior to incarceration, their perceptions of quality of life, post-incarceration expectations, psychosocial factors, and other social determinants. Results indicated youth exposure to dating violence, alcohol, drug, and risky sexual behaviors in the year prior to incarceration. These findings demonstrate the need to address teen dating violence with at-risk adolescents in addition to risky behaviors.