This curriculum, written for graduate social work students and child welfare workers, is designed to improve the quality of care and services provided to children in out-of-home care. It highlights the importance of providing child welfare services that are responsive to the needs of children who must prepare for emancipation and the responsibilities of adult life. While more research efforts are aimed at tracking youth emancipating from the foster care system, little is known about those who are currently enrolled in post-secondary education. Further, research on youth exiting the foster care system tends to highlight negative outcomes. Little is known of former foster youth who go on to lead healthy and productive lives and what the contributing factors were that enabled them to succeed. Understanding their pathways to college and identifying the factors related to educational achievement can help inform program and service delivery to youth currently in the foster care system. (186 pages)Merdinger, J. M., Hines, A. M., Lemon, K., Wyatt, P., & Tweed, M. (2002).

This collection uses primary sources to explore the politics of the Gilded Age. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

The "quantum" of economics is the optimizing individual. All of economics ultimately boils down to the behavior of such individuals. Microeconomics studies their basic actions and interactions: individual markets, supply and demand, the impact of taxes, monopoly, etc. Macroeconomics then lumps together these individual markets to study national and international issues. In structure this book—which covers only microeconomics—is not unlike a hiking trip. We start out by putting our boots on and getting our gear together: in Part I we study the optimizing individual. Then we set out on our path and immediately find ourselves hacking through some pretty thick jungle: even simple interactions between just two people (Part II) can be very complicated! As we add even more people (in studying auctions, for example), things get even more complicated, and the jungle gets even thicker. Then a miracle occurs: we add even more people, and a complex situation suddenly becomes simple. After hacking through thick jungle, we find ourselves in a beautiful clearing: competitive markets (Part III) are remarkably easy to analyze and understand.

This curriculum offers an empirically based instruction tool for child welfare social workers or other related practitioners on family reunification services: the historical groundings and legal frameworks; the types of services that are offered to parents; factors associated with parents’ use of services; and information on the effectiveness of services. The curriculum blends a literature review of current knowledge with a study on family reunification services, with the intent to provide contextual information to aid social workers in the development of appropriate and responsible case plans for parents receiving reunification services in the child welfare system. (158 pages) Vugia, H., Osterling, K. L., D'Andrade, A. (2009).

How do"welfare to work' programs such as the New Deal take into account and shape people's personal lives? This unit looks at how participation in, and drop-out from,"workfare' programs are interpreted within different theoretical perspectives, and uses two case studies to connect the theory with the reality of people's lives.

This guide supports the California MSW program Ethnic Sensitive and Multicultural Practice competency module and is composed of: a listing of applicable competencies; bibliographic data; resources for course materials; continuing education and training resources; membership, advocacy, and service organizations; internet sources; and syllabi of nationwide courses which included content on ethnic sensitive and multicultural practice skills. The guide can be used as standalone material for use in individual classes within courses, to encourage the development of courses which cross-cut traditional social work education categories, as discussion tools or exercises in courses needing ethnic sensitive and multicultural practice examples, by researchers to access literature available in specific areas, and to highlight child welfare resources available on the internet. (138 pages)Canto, C., Tracy, L., White, R. C., & Clark, S. (1998).

This item contains resources relating to the intersection of child welfare and substance abuse services. It includes: a draft outline trainers may use to blend components of sample training curricula; sample curricula on adult substance abuse and on alcohol and other drugs in the practice of child welfare; supplemental training resources including experiential exercises, sample case studies and training handouts; and a bibliography and copies of key articles from research and practice literature. In addition, two brief reference booklets--one on resources for training child welfare staff about substance abuse and one on elements of effective alcohol and drug training for child welfare professionals--are included. (260 pages) Louisell, M., & Drabble, L. (1997).

This curriculum is intended to help child welfare workers, administrators, and policy-makers increase the job retention of public child welfare caseworkers. California’s statewide shortage of social workers is expected worsen, and the field of public child welfare is facing its own acute shortage of social work personnel. More important, high turnover rates in child welfare agencies are a major obstacle to timely investigations, compromising the ability of agencies to protect children. The retention of public child welfare workers is an immediate pressing professional and practical concern, and this curriculum points directly to specific solutions to the problem. (58 pages)Weaver, D., Chang, J., & Gil de Gibaja, M. (2006).

This text is intended for use in introductory social work classes at the college level. Chapter topics include the foundations and history of social work and social welfare; generalist social work; ethics and values; social policy; race & ethnicity; sex, sexism, & gender; LGBTQ+ clients; poverty and financial assistance; school social work; families and children; healthcare and disabilities; substance use; mental health; criminal justice; and older clients. Mick Cullen, LCSW, CADC, MA, is a professor and chair of the social work/human services department at College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois. Matthew Cullen, LICSW, LCSW, M.Ed., is a counselor at Green River College in Auburn, Washington.

This text is intended for use in introductory social work classes at the college level. Chapter topics include the foundations and history of social work and social welfare; generalist social work; ethics and values; social policy; race & ethnicity; sex, sexism, & gender; LGBTQ+ clients; poverty and financial assistance; school social work; families and children; healthcare and disabilities; substance use; mental health; criminal justice; and older clients. Mick Cullen, LCSW, CADC, MA, is a professor and chair of the social work/human services department at College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois. Matthew Cullen, LICSW, LCSW, M.Ed., is a counselor at Green River College in Auburn, Washington.

Module I discusses effects of sexual abuse trauma on young children; describes the adverse effects of sexual abuse trauma and the role of past victimization experiences in motivating sexual acting out; includes a literature review; and covers affective, cognitive, and behavioral effects. Two practice models that explain the effects of abuse are discussed and compared, and an integrative treatment model is introduced. Module II discusses childhood sexual development, reviews research on sexual behavior problems in children, presents research findings about normative sexual development in children as well as criteria differentiating sexually abusive behavior problems from age-appropriate sex play, includes experiential exercises on sexual values, and reviews and discusses clinical and research methods used to classify types of children with sexual behavior problems. Each module contains learning objectives, suggested readings, an outline of issues addressed in the module, and suggestions for teaching the module in the classroom and in field practicum. (143 pages)Rasmusssen, L. (2000).

This curriculum examines the types of decisions child welfare workers are required to make, the factors that influence their decision-making patterns, and various approaches that could potentially improve decision making on both an individual and organizational level. To further explore the issues surrounding decision making, the curriculum focuses specifically on Structured Decision Making® (SDM®), a model that can be used to assist social workers in making accurate and consistent decisions about the levels of risk for maltreatment found in families, to provide guidance about service provision, and to assist with reunification and permanency planning. In 1999, the State of California decided to make SDM® a required tool for child welfare agencies statewide, and SDM® has since been implemented in several counties, including Los Angeles. To explore the implementation and effects of SDM®and its implications on child welfare decision making, the authors conducted a multi-level study in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. The study addressed three central questions: (a) what are the challenges related to implementing the full SDM® model in the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), (b) what impact does implementation of the full SDM® model have on child welfare service delivery, and (c) what impact does implementation of the full SDM® model have on child permanency outcomes? (254 pages) Kim, A. K., Brooks, D., Kim, H., & Nissly, J. (2008).

This program explores the correlation between the reduction of the incidence of substance abuse and the reduction of the incidence of child abuse. Estimates indicate that 40-60% of child abuse cases are substance abuse related; yet, meager resources and attention are directed toward alleviating the problem. This tape offers six elements that provide a framework for successful intervention with substance abusers. Three role-playing scenarios show how these elements are incorporated into situations that social workers encounter in the field, translating classroom learning into practice. (28 minutes)San Diego State University. (1994).

This empirically based curriculum addresses a number of issues related to disparity and disproportionality experienced by African American families involved with child welfare. It is well documented that for decades African American children have been overrepresented in child welfare throughout this country. Yet little is known about what strategies might be implemented in order to reverse this phenomenon. This curriculum is based on findings from a Community-Based Participatory Research Project that brought together African American community leaders and university faculty to examine both the historical evolution and prominent features of a cultural broker approach to promote engagement and partnership with the African American community and the county child welfare agency. This curriculum provides research highlights, historical perspectives, conceptual frameworks, approaches for community engagement, tools and experiential opportunities to strengthen social worker understanding, and knowledge and skills regarding issues related to disproportionality and disparity experienced by African American families in child welfare. It addresses five areas: the history of cultural racism and oppression in child welfare, the prevalence of racial disparities and disproportionality in child welfare, the role of community partnership and collaboration with African American families in child welfare service delivery, the cultural broker approach to community engagement in child welfare practice, and key considerations for improved child welfare partnerships with African American communities. (108 pages) Siegel, D., Jackson, M., Montana, S., & Rondero Hernandez, V. (2011).

Increasingly, public agencies are adopting models of self-assessment in which administrative data are used to guide and then continuously evaluate the implementation of programs and policies. In California, public child welfare agencies track performance outcomes spanning a range of child safety, permanency, and well-being domains, as dictated by federal and state mandates. This curriculum has been designed to provide Title IV-E and others students interested in public child welfare systems with an overview of the state’s Child Welfare Outcomes and Accountability System. Students will be provided with hands-on opportunities to become experienced and “statistically literate” users of aggregate, public child welfare data from the state’s administrative child welfare system, attending to the often missing link between data/research and practice. This curriculum is organized into five teaching modules, providing instructors with student learning activities, PowerPoint slide presentations, and other materials to support graduate IV-E students in the development of practical data analysis skills. Materials focus on publicly available data hosted through the Child Welfare Indicators Project at the University of California at Berkeley, a long-standing agency/university data partnership: http://cssr.berkeley.edu/ucb_childwelfare. CalSWEC funding for the development of this curriculum was provided to the Child Welfare Performance Indicators Project. Modules were developed to support instructors of both first- and second-year MSW research courses. Module objectives include: (a) to support student (and instructor) understanding of California's child welfare system performance goals and progress to date; (b) to develop students who have highly desirable (and practical) data analysis skills, including the ability to intelligibly distill and present numerical findings; and (c) to prepare a cohort of IV-E MSW students equipped to adopt leadership roles in county child welfare agencies, bringing with them an appreciation for how data can be used to improve practice and inform policies. Putnam-Hornstein, E., Needell, B., Lery, B., King, B., & Weigmann, W. (2013).

This curriculum is a standardized workplace management curriculum for training entry-level social workers in child welfare agencies in the State of California. The curriculum is composed of nine modules that may be used as separate classes or together in a single course. The modules are constructed to be suitable for three distinct groups of users: BSW students, MSW students, and child welfare agency supervisors and program managers (first and second line supervisors)--and those interested in such positions. Students can study from these sections during their matriculation, while agency employees might be exposed to them via departmental training opportunities, a local child welfare training academy, university extension or concurrent enrollment programs, or continuing education providers. (151 pages)Gilson, S., Cornet, B., & Ralph, C. (2009).

This course seeks to provide a supportive context for students to grow significantly as writers by discovering and engaging with issues that matter to them. Writing on social and ethical issues, we can see ourselves within a tradition of authors such as Charles Dickens, Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, George Orwell, Rachel Carson, John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., who have used the power of the pen to inspire social change.