Read about the Research to Practice Network.
Most Recent Research Article
Successful Programs for Youth in Transition to Adulthood
- McCreary Centre Society
The transition to adulthood can be a critical time in the development of positive mental health. This review considers the research evidence for different strategies and community interventions that promote positive mental health among young people during this transition. Read more.
All Research Articles
Mentoring the Development of Reflective Practice in Decision-Making
- Jackie Stokes, Social Service Worker Program, College of New Caledonia
All of us have had the experience of wondering about, questioning, or being surprised at someone else’s decision-making. Understanding a client’s or family’s situation is complex, in part, because there are various perspectives about the issues, the causes, and the intervention. In team meetings, lively discussion about these various perspectives can lead to a more thorough assessment and understanding of a particular situation which then leads to a better resolution for the client and family. However, in some cases, even with the best intentions, the situation becomes worse, and in some cases, the social work decision-making plays out as a scandal in the local media. Read more.
Disproportionate Representation and First Nations Child Welfare in Canada
- Richard Sullivan and Grant Charles, UBC School of Social Work
Disproportionality in child welfare is disturbing for many reasons, not least of which is that it reveals major structural fractures in the social contract of our country. When any identifiable group has disproportionate numbers of children coming into state care, the underlying issues that may give rise to problems in family functioning warrant examination. Alas these underlying problems are not typically addressed in conventional approaches to service in behalf of families at risk of disruption. Indeed it is quite common for interventions to focus on the ‘problem’ family while ignoring significant contributors to the family problems. This paper seeks to identify some of the patterns. Read more.
Supervision in Northern and Remote Child Welfare Practice
- Glen Schmidt, PhD, RCSW, Associate Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work, University of Northern British Columbia.
Child welfare is influenced by a number of factors including public policy, the economy, culture, and the prevailing social values. Child welfare practice is also shaped and formed by the geography of the work location. This paper considers ways in which geographic location influences the practice of social work supervision in the field of child welfare. Read more.
Collaborative Practice to Support the Inclusion of Children with Special Needs in Schools
- Donna McGhie-Richmond, PhD, Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology & Leadership Studies, University of Victoria.
This article is written not so much as a recipe for how to collaborate ... rather it is written as a reminder of the meaning, intent and significance of collaboration in our work with children and youth. We must understand collaboration in order to collaborate. This is a primary step in giving it priority. Read more.
Islands of Safety and the Social Geography of Human Dignity - A Child and Mother Safety Planning Initiative for Cases of Paternal Violence in Child Welfare
- Cathy Richardson, PhD, School of Social Work, University of Victoria.
Islands of Safety aims to create safety by orchestrating positive social responses to children and adults who are at risk in their own families. The model includes the creation of concrete, workable safety plans. Where possible, and with a maximum level of choice and autonomy, Indigenous families are invited to discuss their hopes and dreams for their family through a Métis/Cree model of family life by identifying how their family has responded to current and historical violence and oppression. Read more.
Toward a Comprehensive Agenda for the Integration of Child and Family Services
- Dr Daniel Salhani, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, University of British Columbia Okanagan. This paper is a personal reflection on the integration of child and family services practices in Canada. The paper is also Dr Salhani's critique of his own practices in this area. The central thesis is that integration of services must exist at all levels in order to be sustainable, that is, a permanent, flexible, locally governed, effective, efficient and self-renewing feature in Canadian communities. Read more.
An Introduction to A Picture of Health: Highlights of the 2008 BC Adolescent Health Survey
- Annie Smith, Executive Director, McCreary Centre Society.
This survey is the largest survey of its kind in Canada and provides the most comprehensive picture of the physical and emotional health of BC youth, including risk and protective factors. It offers us key information, not only about the current health picture of BC youth but also about health trends and the effect of programs and policies implemented over the past 15 years. Read more.
Fathers and the Child Welfare System
– Christopher Walmsley, PhD, Associate Professor School of Social Work and Human Services, Thompson Rivers University.
Today, men are present in the lives of child welfare involved children as resident or nonresident fathers, step-fathers, the mothers’ partner, the mother’s brother or father, and family friends. Yet the overwhelming focus of child welfare policy, practice, research and education is mothers. This essay explores why men and fathers are often not involved in child welfare services, describes how to encourage their involvement, and identifies some of the complexities of increased father involvement in child welfare. Read more.
Doing Youth Suicide Prevention Critically: Interrogating the Knowledge Practice Relationship
– Jennifer White, School of Child and Youth Care, University of Victoria.
One of the aims of this paper is to show some of this complexity and unsettledness while never losing sight of the practical need to support practitioners to work constructively and ethically to prevent youth suicide and suicidal behaviours; an orientation that has something in common with Patti Lather’s notion of a “double(d) practice” in which we are “doing and troubling” the practice simultaneously (Lather, 2007). Read more.
Does the Organization Matter? An Examination of the Link Between Organizational Management Practices and Client Outcomes.
– Warren Helfrich.
This paper will review the human services literature regarding the relationship between organizational or management variables and client outcomes as well as point to some promising practices for the management of human services organizations. Read more.