Perspectives of Msw Students on the Reunification of Children

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PERSPECTIVES OF MSW STUDENTS ON THE REUNIFICATION OF CHILDREN

WITH THEIR PARENTS

A Project

Presented to the faculty of the Division of Social Work

California State University, Sacramento

Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK

Juan Carlos Vega

SPRING 2019

Juan Carlos Vega

PERSPECTIVES OF MSW STUDENTS ON THE REUNIFCATION OF CHILDREN

WITH THEIR PARENTS

A Project

Juan Carlos Vega

Approved by:

______, Committee Chair Maria Dinis, Ph.D., MSW

______Date

iii

Student: Juan Carlos Vega

I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University format manual, and that this project is suitable for shelving in the Library and credit is to be awarded for project.

______, Graduate Program Director ______Serge C. Lee, Ph.D., MSW Date

Division of Social Work

Abstract

PERSPECTIVES OF MSW STUDENTS ON THE REUNIFICATION OF CHILDREN

WITH THEIR PARENTS

by Juan Carlos Vega

This study explored the perspectives of California State University, Sacramento MSW students on the reunification of children with their families. The study utilized a quantitative survey research design that asked participants to respond to questionnaire items using a Likert scale. Participants (n=73) were selected via convenience sampling and were asked to respond to multiple survey items regarding their perspectives on the reunification of children with their families as well as indicate their demographic information. Data analysis showed that MSW student’s opinions was geared towards eliminating barriers to reunification, while maintaining parents liable for their circumstances. Implications for social work practice and policy are discussed.

______, Committee Chair Maria Dinis, Ph.D., MSW

______Date

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would first and foremost like to thank Professor Dinis for her expertise, guidance, and quick responses with any question that I had with this project. I would also like to thank the entire Social Work Department staff as their cooperative work and dedication made this a wholesome experience.

Secondly I would like to dedicate this project to my lovely wife Andrea, without your support, patience and motivation, this achievement would not have been possible.

For my last dedication I would like to dedicate this to my family as well as in- laws, especially my father Gonzalo who never had the opportunity or option to receive an education.

-Juan Carlos Vega

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Acknowledgements ...... vi

List of Tables ...... x

List of Figures ...... xi

Chapter

1. The PROBLEM ...... 1

Background of the Problem ...... 3

Statement of the Research Problem ...... 6

Purpose of the Study ...... 7

Research Question ...... 8

Theoretical Framework ...... 8

Definition of Terms...... 15

Assumptions ...... 16

Justification ...... 17

Delimitations ...... 18

Summary ...... 19

2. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ...... 20

History of Child Welfare and Reunification ...... 21

Mental Health Disabilities for Children and Adults ...... 25

Drug and Alcohol Abuse ...... 27 vii

Lack of Resources (Financial and Interpersonal) ...... 29

Client and Worker Relationship...... 30

Parent(s) Engagement ...... 32

Government Oversight and CPS Statistics ...... 32

Gaps in Literature ...... 33

Summary ...... 36

3. METHODOLOGY ...... 38

Research Question ...... 38

Research Design...... 38

Quantitative Approach ...... 39

Rational Choice Theory ...... 40

Statistical Analysis ...... 41

Survey Research...... 42

Variables ...... 43

Study Population ...... 44

Sample Population ...... 44

Sampling Method ...... 45

Instrumentation ...... 46

Data Gathering Procedures ...... 49

Data Analysis ...... 50

Protection of Human Subjects ...... 50

viii

Summary ...... 51

4. DATA ANALYSIS ...... 52

Demographics of Study Participants ...... 52

What are the perspectives of MSW students on the reunification of

children with their parents? ...... 55

Summary ...... 75

5. CONCLUSION ...... 76

Summary of Findings ...... 76

Discussion ...... 78

Implications for Social Work Practice and Policy ...... 83

Recommendations ...... 85

Limitations ...... 87

Conclusion ...... 88

Appendix A. Research Instrument ...... 90

Appendix B. Letter of Informed Consent ...... 93

Appendix C. Email to Professors ...... 95

Appendix D. Human Subjects Committee Approval Letter ...... 96

References ...... 97

LIST OF TABLES Tables Page

1. Summary of Survey Results ...... 56

2. 18 Months is Enough Time vs. 18 Months is Not Enough Time ...... 58

3. Children Can Thrive with Anyone vs. Children Need to Reunify with

Parents……………………………………… ..…………………………….. 59

4. Family Should Stop Contact vs. Contact with Client Once a Week ...... 60

5. Children Can Be Reintegrated vs. Children can Thrive Well Without Kin.... 62

6. Using Drugs and Parenting vs. Using Drugs and Reunifying ...... 63

7. Reunification and Client Worker Relationship vs. Communication Between Client

and Worker………………...... 65

8. Non-Violent Family Members as Foster Parents vs. One Completion of Case Plan

Reunifies ...... 66

9. Non-Violent Kin Should Foster vs. Ethnicity ...... 68

10. Children Can Thrive Without Kin vs. Age ...... 69

11. No Child Support for Parents vs. Gender ...... 70

12. Children Need to Reunify vs. Gender ...... 72

13. Reporting to Dependency Court on Theory vs. Age...... 73

14. 18 Months is Enough to Reunify vs. Ethnicity ...... 74

LIST OF FIGURES Figures Page

1. Gender of Participants...... 53

2. Age of Participants ...... 54

3. Ethnicity of Participants ...... 54

Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM

According to The National Traumatic Child Stress Network, every year

approximately one million children come to the attention of our Child Welfare Services

agencies. Out of the children that come to the attention of our child welfare agencies,

approximately 437,465 were in foster care in 2016 according to the US Children’s

Bureau. According to the Bureau, in 2016 there were approximately 65,274 children

awaiting adoption whose parents lost their parental rights. If parental rights were lost, it

means that parents failed to reunify with their children, or reunification was not in the

best interest of the child, as determined by a Judge in Juvenile Dependency Court.

Despite the children whose parents lost their parental rights, according to the Children’s

Bureau, there was over 250,000 children total who exited the foster care system in 2016.

Child Welfare Agencies are government funded entities that are organized with front line staff, supervisors, managers and attorneys that represent the agencies’ position in court. According to Howell (2005), decisions that are highly influenced by personal biases are made by child protection workers routinely, and go unquestioned by child welfare agencies, despite mounting empirical evidence that stereotypes related to clients’ race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, income, and behavior are factors that influence the decision-making process. Furthermore, if it becomes routine for decisions made by social workers to go unquestioned, then it is important to understand why it is that this is happening and it must be addressed.

According to a job posting on the Sacramento County Website in January 2019, the level of education desired for a Master level CPS Social Worker is a Master's Degree from an accredited college or university in social work, or a Master's Degree from an accredited college or university in a program that meets the education requirements for a

Marriage and Family Therapist or Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor license issued by the California Department of Consumer Affairs Board of Behavioral Science

Examiners. It is important to note that a candidate with a Master’s degree in Social Work qualifies for the job, without taking into account the area of concentration that the candidate chose while a student. According to Socialworkguide.org, although the concentrations available vary between colleges, some common specialization areas include Children, Youth, and Families; Health; Mental Health; and Older Adults and

Aging Societies. Both second-year courses and field placements will be directly related to each student’s chosen area of concentration. The area of concentration that is catered specifically towards teaching and training students/workers in working with CPS populations, is the Title IV-E program that is under the Children Youth and Families concentration.

Aside from the educational background of CPS employees, it is important for

CPS workers to understand their biases, feelings related to child welfare, and the different varying variables related to the reunification of children with their parents. Since upon graduation MSW students will be qualified candidates for job openings with CPS agencies, this researcher finds it important and beneficial to understand the perspectives of MSW students on the reunification of children with their parents. By understanding the

3 perspectives of MSW students, future MSW students, CPS Social Workers, and educational/instructional staff, will have a better understanding of MSW students perspectives which will enlighten on any possible issues and biases to be addressed.

This author is personally interested in exploring this topic because of this author’s past work in child welfare, past education in Social Work, and this author’s current title IV-E emphasis as a graduate MSW student. Additionally, this Author would also personally like to see more families reunified with their children. This author’s aim with focusing on this area is to help provide more knowledge to practitioners and social workers to help reunify more children with their biological parents and to open up room for future discussions.

To address the above mentioned concerns regarding non-reunification, this author will aim to explore the Perspectives of MSW students on the reunification of children with their families to advance and supply Social Workers with updated research knowledge that will help shape a more competent practice that will potentially increase positive case management results. Positive case management results can be described as the reunification of parents with their children.

Background of the Problem

According to Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System

(AFCARS) FY 2016 data, the median age for children in foster care was 7.8 years old. At the age of 7.8 years, children are really impacted by not being able to reunify with their biological parents. According to (AFCARS 2018), in 55% of all of the cases for 2016, the case plan goal was to reunify with their parents, and for 26% of the cases the case plan

goal was to be adopted. It is worthy to note that on the cases where the case plan goal was

to be adopted, their previous case plan goal could have been to be reunified with the

parents. According to the AFCARS, 44% of the children were white, 23% were Black or

African American, and 21% were Hispanic. Race is important to note, as cultural competence could be a variable to consider in the research analysis. According to

AFCARS statistics, for the children discharged from care, for 51% of them the reason for discharge was reunification with the parents, for 26 % of them the reason was adoption, and for 10 % the reason was legal guardianship. Legal guardianships made up 3% of case plan goals and at discharge that figure went up to 10%. This increase could be due to an unattainable case plan goal of reunification or adoption, and then moving on to legal guardianship as an alternative permanency plan.

The goal within child welfare is to help parents establish a stable and secure

parenting relationship where, according to federal and state statutes, reunification, as the

most desirable form of permanency, could be established (Child Welfare Council, 2018).

Reunification is the returning of a child who, had been placed in foster care, to the safe

care of his/her parents or caretaker. There is a common understanding amongst

practitioners and educators that reunification is most impacted by proper and meaningful

engagement, assessment, case planning, and provision of needed services and support.

Also important with reunification are funding for services, support from courts, and

stable, competent staff.

When thinking about stable competent staff, it is important to note that staff

working in Child Welfare will vary with education, cultural background, and years of

experience in the field, as well as personal motivations and values. According to the

department of Social Services policy manual for staff requirements (1993), regulation 31-

070 states that at least 50% of all staff performing emergency response and family

maintenance services must possess a Master’s degree in Social Work or its equivalent in

education and/or experience as certified by the State Personnel Board or a county civil

service board.

The requirement for at least 50% of CPS emergency response and family

maintenance workers, and 100% of supervisors to have a Master’s degree in Social Work

gives a lot of importance and value to the attainment and possession of a Master degree in

Social Work. After staff is hired to work in Child Welfare, it is then common for staff to

be trained in different areas related to child welfare to continue to improve practice.

However, according to Howell (2005), despite objective decision-making protocols, judgments may be biased by the decision-maker’s belief in stereotypes regarding parental behaviors such as drug use. This can dangerous and harmful when working with vulnerable children and their families as lack of bias awareness can impact the recommendations and assessments made by CPS staff.

According to Child Welfare League of America (2017), in 2015 there were approximately 72,000 victims of abuse or neglect in California, a rate of 7.9 victims per

1000 children. Of the children that were victims of abuse or neglect CWLA reports that

86.2% were neglected, 9% were physically abused, and 5% were sexually abused.

Children living in out of home care were represented as 21% white, 19% black, 53%

Hispanic, and 1% were American Indian/Alaskan Native, with 5-6% being of more than

one race or ethnicity (CWLA). Furthermore, there has been a growing trend of

grandparents being the primary caretakers of their grandchildren. In 2015 approximately

272,320 grandparents were the primary caretakers of their grandchildren (CWLA).

By considering the diverse background of CPS clients and their reasons for being

involved with CPS, it allows CPS workers, practitioners, and management staff the

opportunity to assess for the necessary knowledge that front line staff and management

must have in order to effectively work with clients. According to CWLA (2017), the

average turnover rates for CPS agencies is 20-40% with 10% turnover which is

considered low. On another note, studies have showed that the more time a caseworker

spends with a child and family, the more positive outcomes will result for those children and their families (General Accounting Office 2003). High turnover rates means that

children and their families will have newly assigned case workers every time a worker

moves on to another job/position. Having many workers can impact the relationship,

trust, and rapport that a worker and client can have with each other.

Statement of the Research Problem

Being that having an MSW degree means that a student will qualify for an

advanced worker position within CPS and other related child welfare agencies and

partners, it is important to have an understanding of the perspectives of MSW students as

it relates to the reunification of children with their parents. With high CPS employee

turnover rates and CPS agencies and their partners consistently hiring new MSW

employees, it would be beneficial and important to have an understanding of the

perspectives of MSW students on the reunification of children with their parents. The

process, factors, and variables involved with the involvement of CPS clients with the

CPS agency can be complicated, intricate and confusing for both workers and clients. It is important that potential CPS Employees/MSW students have a good foundation understanding of their own biases, thoughts, and perspectives as this can affect the work that they do with their clients. By having a better understanding of the perspectives of

MSW students on the reunification of children with their families, it leaves room open for discussion, improvement, and a more research informed practice.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this research project is to gather and organize data related to the

Perspectives of MSW students as it relates to the reunification of children with their parents. As part of the research 24 multiple choice questions will be asked. The questions address topics revolving around reunification including the worker client relationship, caretakers of foster children, length of time given to parents to reunify, background check policies, cultural competence, drug use and parenting, and other current practices employed in the reunification process. The data collected from this study will aim to help improve and inform reunification practices, as well as increase awareness for present and future reunification workers and management, educational staff working with MSW students, and policy advocates.

The data gathered from this research may reveal that MSW students are more negatively biased toward reunifying parents, however on the contrary, the research may find that MSW students would like more change or “disagree” with current policies relating to the reunification of children with their parents. The research aims to highlight

important themes relating to the perspectives of MSW students on the reunification of

children with their parents. These themes will aim to create more awareness so that in the

end, it will potentially help increase reunification rates for children returning home with

their parents. By an increased awareness, there will be better practice for CPS employees,

and with better practice higher rates of children returning home with their parents.

Research Question

This study explores one particular research question: 1) What are the perspectives

of MSW students on the reunification of children with their parents?

Theoretical Framework

Considering that the study explores the perspectives of MSW students in the

reunification of children with their parents, this researcher felt that this study would be

best guided by a rational choice theory and a strengths theory approach. Evidence-based

practice can be seen as an operationalization of a rational choice approach to judgment

and decision making (Guido, 2009). More specifically, in the face of a decision-making

situation, it is theoretically assumed that MSW students will consider a set of alternatives,

ascribe consequences to them, order these consequences according to their importance and value, and make an optimal choice among their available choices. Rational choice theory will aid this researcher in analyzing the decisions made by the research

participants, while maintaining a focus on the strengths and not the deficits of the

participants. This research will survey MSW students and the participant’s answers will

leave room for the application of rational choice theory while maintaining a strengths

perspective during the analysis of the data. Rational choice theory will direct the analysis

and will help give insight into the choices made by MSW students according to their

survey answers. This study will factor in key issues relating to the reunification of

children with their parents while attaining a deeper understanding of the perspectives of

MSW students as it relates to key concepts in the reunification of children with their

parents.

When thinking about this research on the perspectives of MSW students as it

relates to family reunification, this researcher finds it important to not only focus on the

deficits of the choices of MSW students but also to focus on the strengths of MSW students and the strengths of the parents who aim to reunify with their children. In this research this researcher will analyze a family's challenges and obstacles in reunification, while maintaining a focus on the family/client’s strengths. This researcher will be applying the strength perspective. The strengths perspective and strengths-based approaches offer service providers ways of working that focus on strengths, abilities and potential rather than problems, deficits and pathologies (Kim, 2013). Topics associated to the strength perspective that this researcher will focus on are resiliency and empowerment. This researcher will look for how MSW students used the strength perspective to make their choices regarding the reunification of children with their parents.

Rational Choice Theory/Intersectionality

Rational Choice theory is favorably applicable to a study that aims to analyze and conclude an aggregate perspective of MSW students on a debatable topic that is the reunification of children with their parents. In traditional Rational Choice theory, it would

be assumed that the rational choice perspective sees human behavior as based on self-

interest and rational choices about effective ways to accomplish goals. Human

interaction is seen as an exchange of resources, and people make judgments about the

fairness of change (Hutchison & Charlesworth, 2007). As such, a research based on

Rational Choice Theory would seek to analyze data based on an exchange of resources,

with the underlying assumption that participants made the most rational choices based on

their best self-interest. According to rational choice theory, decisions would be based on

costs and rewards, however, values, norms, and social expectations, as well as

alternatives, influence the assessment of rewards and costs (Hutchinson).

Randall Collins (1994) went on to suggest that of current social theories,

contemporary rational choice theories have the greatest chance of informing social policy

(Hutchison & Charlesworth, 2007). Social policy refers to ways of reducing inequalities

in access to services for social groups defined by socio-economic status, race, ethnicity,

migration status, gender, sexual orientation, disability and age (Platt, 2019). Rational

choice theory focuses on human interactions at many levels. In this particular research,

rational choice theory will be applied by taking into account individual participants

background, power, privilege, and intersectionality.

Intersectionality emerged from feminist and critical race theory and contributed to the social sciences, especially in the areas of study related to identity and power (Azmitia

& Thomas, 2015). Intersectionality can be described as the categorization of overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination and disadvantage, such as race, social class, gender, education, and family composition. The term was first created by Kimberle

Crenshaw when describing the struggles of African American women (Claire, 2016). It is

important to consider intersectionality in the analysis of the research data as the rational

choices made by participants could be correlated to the intersectionality of participants.

This researcher may find that participant’s answers were influenced by race, age, or sex.

Application of Rational Choice Theory/Intersectionality

Rational choice theory advocates and critics emphasize that it is psychological, individualistic and reductionist (Krstic, 2013). Rational choice theory can be applied to research analysis in various forms, it can be applied in the strict form taking into account the principle of maximization. This type of rationality focuses on maximizing benefit and cost. Furthermore, rationality can be applied with a less strict definition where it is understood and accepted that participants do not have a lifetime to spend on decision making, so people generally do not maximize, but reach a minimal level of personal satisfaction. In the last form, rationality can be observed as organic. Organic rationality refers to the maximization of satisfaction being realized by trial and error (Krstic).

More precisely, rational choice theory creates the opportunity to place social sciences at the same analytical level at which natural sciences are. The analytical level is can be defined as features that allow the prediction of influence of individual behavior on social and political systems (Krstic, 2013). By applying Rational Choice theory, this researcher aims to have an understanding behind the reasoning for the choices that participants make relating to the reunification of children with their parents. The data gathered will be analyzed looking for patterns, trends, and phenomena that will be analyzed by applying a rational choice perspective.

This researcher will further take into account participant intersectionality and how intersectionality could play a role in the choices made by participants. Intersectionality can be taken into account in the data analysis by looking at decisions and correlations to age, gender, and sex. For example, an older white woman may opinionate differently on the topic of reunification than a young African American woman.

This researcher hopes that rational choice theory and intersectionality will further direct the aims of the research appropriately. This research may demonstrate that MSW student’s perspectives lean toward very lenient attitudes on the reunification of children with their parents. Furthermore, this research may lead to further discussions on the comparisons of MSW student perspectives, and what MSW programs are teaching students. This researcher may find that choices on the survey were related to the NASW code of ethics that are taught in the MSW program, intersectionality of participants, and personal experiences of participants. This researcher is especially interested in this population due to the ability of any MSW student to get a job in child welfare, and the complicated topic that is the reunification of children with their parents. MSW students are in an important position where their education, experience in the field, and diverse backgrounds make their opinion important and of value.

Strengths Theory

A strengths perspective is generally understood as recognizing client strengths, and not focusing so much on client problems and dysfunctions. According to encyclopedia of social work, in 1982 a strengths perspective movement began to emerge amongst staff members of the University Of Kansas School Of Social Welfare (Kim,

2013). This movement encouraged social workers to take a different approach to case management services by having social workers focus on client’s strengths and their abilities to function successfully in society to build a collaborative, supportive relationship with their clients. When referring to clients and their strengths, this researcher is referring to a client’s various talents, personality traits, spiritual beliefs and virtues. With a strengths perspective all of these “strengths” would be viewed as assets to be utilized in overcoming whatever barriers need to be overcome to achieve the client’s goal. In the topic of this research, the goal to be achieved would be the reunification of children with their parents.

Two important terms to be considered when speaking about strengths perspective are empowerment and resiliency. Empowerment refers to a social worker helping a client feel empowered to take control of their lives and face down whatever barriers impede the goal that they are trying to achieve. Resiliency, according to Webster’s new twentieth century dictionary (2019), is best described as unpredicted or successful adaptations to negative life events, trauma, stress, and other forms of risk. These terms are important for guiding the data analysis as a research participant’s beliefs about resiliency and empowerment will potentially impact their choices and decisions in the survey. For example, a social worker student that is very strength based and beliefs in resiliency may be more willing to give a second chance in reunification than a social worker student who is very deficit based and doesn’t believe in second chances.

Practitioners of strengths perspective would be very empathetic, patient, and positive regarding a client’s ability to overcome their obstacles/barriers. In strength

14 perspective, there is an understanding that a successful client will be partially due to a collaborative, productive worker/client relationship. This perspective emphasizes the importance of good management skills, meeting the client where they are, helping the client realize the solution to their problems, and thinking positively while maintaining the belief that the client has what is necessary to achieve his goals. Strength perspective strongly emphasizes that all people have the ability to learn, grow, and change (Scerra,

2011).

Application of Strengths Theory

This research project is guided by survey questions addressing several factors that at times impede and in some way impact the reunification of children with their parents.

These factors are important because the reunification of a child with his parents will often depend on the opinion, professional assessment, and stance of the assigned case social worker. A CWS social worker will serve as the courts eyes and ears and the report the social workers generate will heavily weigh in on the future of the family that the social worker is working with. As such, this researcher finds it applicable to apply a strengths perspective to guide this research as a strengths perspective is well known and taught in generalist social work practice and can potentially explain the choices made by research participants.

Participants in this research study will be answering 24 survey questions which vary in topic, but are all related to the reunification of children with their parents. The research instrument and literature review will be guided by the essence of strengths perspective. Participants are asked at varying levels whether they agree or disagree, with

15 a neutral stance not being an option. This researcher further wishes to explore topics that will be related to the survey questions answered by participants. The topics to be explored will be directly related to the reunification of children with their parents. Given the topic of the study and the research format used, strengths perspective is thoroughly applicable to this research topic.

Definition of Terms

The following terms are used throughout this research paper. They are presented bellow in alphabetical order along with brief definitions.

Case Plan- The casework document that outlines the outcomes and goals necessary to be achieved to reduce the risk of maltreatment (CFSR, 2019).

Cultural Competence- Understanding the core needs of your target audience and designing services and materials to meet those needs strategically. It is important to regularly and honestly evaluate your organizational and operational practices to ensure all voices are heard and reflected (HHSA.Gov, 2019).

Dependency Court- Juvenile Dependency Court is a court of law that focuses on the special needs of children and families (Superior Court of Santa Clara, 2019).

Kin- A group of persons of common ancestry (Merriam Webster, 2019)

Relapse- A recurrence of symptoms of a disease after a period of improvement (Merriam

Webster, 2019). In this research the use of the term “relapse” is used to refer to the return of a parent to substance or alcohol abuse.

Reunification- Coming back together again after being separated or in conflict

(Vocabulary.com, 2019). In this research reunification is used to describe the event when

a parent working with Child Welfare Services has his/her child returned to their care after

a removal.

Perspectives- Persistent beliefs held by an individual that account for their general views

towards a certain subject (APA, 2018).

Assumptions

The objective of this research study is made possible only when taking into

consideration a number of assumptions based on MSW students. One assumption is that

the perspectives of MSW students will vary due to the varying background of research

participants. The varying background will be due to individual research participant

intersectionality, family background, work experience, exposure to drug use or abuse,

and other family history and life experiences. Another assumption will be that

participants in the MSW program will lean towards a strength perspective when deciding

on client’s ability to alleviate concerns and thrive as parents. Furthermore, this research

will be conducted under the assumption that MSW students will vary in age and parental

status. This research will assume that those participants that have children will make

choices that lean towards more protective with taking as few risks as possible with close

to no second chances, for example in the case of parental drug abuse. This research will

further assume that participants will make the most rational decisions based on the

choices that provide the most satisfaction. This is where rational choice theory will be

applied to analyze the choices made by participants.

Justification

Taking into account the assumptions discussed, the goals of this research are to have an aggregate understanding of the perspectives of MSW students on the reunification of children with their parents. The reunification of children with their parents is an area in social work where for 2019, the US President’s fiscal year 2019 budget request estimates Title IV-E foster care maintenance and administrative costs will be at $5.329 billion dollars (Presidents Fiscal Report, 2019). These funds are allocated to address family crisis and dysfunction that eventually lead to child abuse and neglect.

Furthermore, these funds are used for child placement costs which can be decreased if reunification results improve and if children exit foster care in a timelier manner.

Additionally, the objectives of this author’s research are to explore the different variables surrounding the reunification of children with their parents. An educational objective of this research is to improve social workers’ practice and knowledge and awareness in the field of Child Welfare. As the research takes place, this author expects to discover information that may not have been the aim of the objectives. This author will be flexible in the analyzing of the data received.

Social Workers code of ethics guide the behavior of workers as they engage in practice (NASW, 2019). Social Work competencies impact practice and are mutually related to the code of ethics. It is this researcher’s duty to continue to address and learn about the topic of reunification. Competency four of the Counsel of Social Workers

Education (CSWE) states that social workers are to engage in research informed practice and practice informed research (CSWE, 2015). This means that past research and practice

18 must be repeatedly updated, reassessed and improved as the demographics and characteristics of the populations that we work with also change and transform.

Delimitations

This is a quantitative research study that is founded on rational choice theory and strengths perspective. This research study was designed to be exploratory in nature and the analysis of the research data could be carried out in many ways. The research on this data will be limited to roughly 100 MSW students as participants. On another note, this research is composed of MSW participants enrolled only in Sacramento State University, whereas the generalizability of the research could have been greater had the MSW participants originated from several MSW programs, not only Sacramento State’s.

Furthermore, all participants reside within a common geographical region, which further effects the generalizability of the research data.

The choice to make the research instrument a multiple choice survey means that research participants were limited in their ability to express a more complex thought regarding the topics and questions that were asked of them to voluntarily answer. This researcher purposefully did not include an option to be neutral in the survey questions as the possibility of many neutral answers was something that this researcher wanted to avoid for data gathering purposes. The choice to exclude a neutral option was decided on as any topic has many variables and can be complex. This researcher did not allow participants to answer questions in an “it depends” manner. However, participants did have the option to skip any question that they felt they could not answer.

Summary

Chapter one of this research project introduced the topic of MSW students

perspectives and the reunification of children with their parents. The chapter additionally discussed the background of the problem, the research question being addressed, the purpose of the study, the theoretical frameworks being applied, the assumptions, justifications, and the delimitations of the research. Chapter two of the research will review current academic literature relevant to the topic of the reunification of children with their parents. Topics addressed in the research survey will be further explored in more detail. Chapter three will report on the methodology of the study by recounting the measures undertaken in the research process. Chapter four will record the findings and conclusion of the investigation. In Chapter five, the author will discuss the results and the implications of the scientific exploration into the research questions.

Chapter 2

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Chapter two introduces and ranges over current research conducted on the major themes related to MSW students and their perspectives on the reunification of children with their parents. By ranging over and exploring the current literature and factors related to the reunification of children with their parents, this researcher hopes to cast light upon the various influences, circumstances, and determinants when considering the reunification of a children with their parents. The most important themes will be explored over seven main sections. The sections will include mental health disabilities for children and adults, drug and alcohol abuse, lack of resources (financial and interpersonal), relationship between social worker and client, impact of parent engagement (primarily father), government policies for county employees, and educational objectives of MSW curriculum as it relates to child welfare.

There is currently a vast amount of research that has taken place in the United

States regarding the issue of child welfare. Professionals in the field conduct research to

better be able to help children and families that have been identified as requiring

intervention or services. According to the State Policy Advocacy and Reform Center

(SPARK) (2012), in 2010, the United States spent 29.4 billion dollars on its child welfare

programs (Cooper and Devooght, 2012). It is important that Social Workers are as

efficient and effective as possible when it comes to the practice that they do with their

clients. According to competency six (NASW, 2018), Social Workers must engage in

practice informed research and research informed practice. There is currently a

substantial amount of research regarding the topic of reunification.

This author’s research topic explores the perspectives of MSW students as it relates to the reunification of children with their families. In the following paragraphs this author will be discussing the historical background of child welfare, as well as themes and gaps in literature. The themes that this author will be exploring will better help understand this author’s research and the purpose and applicability of the survey questions.

History of Child Welfare and Reunification

In order to understand how child welfare came to be in its current form, this author finds it important to understand the development of child welfare from its beginnings, to where it is today. The history of child welfare can be broken up into three stages. The first stage is prior to 1875, the second stage ranges from 1875-1962, and finally the modern era of child protection ranges from 1962 to present day (Mignon,

2016). Historically child welfare has had many shifts in practice and on who took the

initiative in protecting the children. Throughout time there have been developments that

have shifted and made changes in the practices of child protection. These shifts in

practice varied due to social change, policy implementations, funding implementation,

and the increasing research based knowledge of the short term and long term effects of

child abuse on children (Mignon).

History of Child Welfare Before 1875

Prior to 1875 there was no organized or collective way for children to be protected under legal laws. According to Myers (2008/2009), from colonial times up to

1875 there was no organized child protection efforts taking place. Despite no organized

protection efforts, horrific abuse, when proven, has for a long time been punished with criminal prosecution. For example in 1810 a woman was prosecuted for murdering her newborn child (Myers, 2008/2009, p. 450). Furthermore, in 1869 an Illinois father was

prosecuted for keeping his blind child in the cellar in the middle of winter. The father

claimed that “parents have the right to raise their children as they see fit”, but the Illinois

Supreme Court disagreed in the issue and stated, “…if the parent commits wanton and

needless cruelty upon his child, either by imprisonment of this character or by inhuman

beating, the law will punish him”. As early as 1642, the State of Massachusetts had a law

that gave a civil officer or judge the authority to remove children from parents who did

not raise their children properly (Myers, 2008/2009). For a long time prior to 1875 there

had been efforts by individual adults to help children but there was no organized way of

child protection.

History of Child Welfare 1875-1962

The 1875 case of extreme neglect and abuse of Mary Ellen Wilson came across

the attention of Etta Wheeler who exhausted her resources trying to help Mary Ellen. Etta

Wheeler got the help that she was looking for from animal protection advocate Henry

Berg who disagreed with the fact that there was no government agency dedicated to the

protection of children. After going to the supreme court of New York, this case ignited

the beginning of organized Child Protection (Mignon, 2016). The extreme case of Mary

Ellen Wilson led to the creation of the first Child Welfare agency in 1875. The agency

was called the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. At this point

and time the United States started to become aware of the abuse that some children go

through. This was a very tough topic to approach because families in those days were

very autonomous and legally obligated "mandated reporters" were non-existed.

By 1922 there were roughly 300 nongovernmental child protection agencies scattered across America. Rural areas remained with little to no access to child protection efforts.

Per Myers 2008/2009, most children who received help received it from kin and neighbors, as well as police and some courts that were willing to get involved.

According to Mignon 2016, in 1909 there was a white house conference on children.

During this conference it was determined that children could not be removed from their home for being poor alone. In 1912 the US Children’s Bureau was developed due to pressure from private charitable organizations. In 1930 African American children were added to be protected under the existing child welfare system as prior to it, African

American children were excluded. Furthermore, the Child Welfare League of America

(CWLA) was founded in 1921 with 70 participating organizations. Mignon further states that, during the great depression from 1929-1939 the Federal Government realized a need for more involvement in social welfare at many levels of society. In the New Deal of

1935, President Roosevelt created the program to Aid for Families of Dependent

Children which appropriated funds to care for poor children. By 1938, services were

provided by child welfare workers in 29 states. Up until the 1950s, there was a setting of

standards for child welfare and what it descriptively entailed.

History of Child Welfare 1962 to Present

Mignon (2016) states that the Aid to Families with Dependent Children Foster

Care Program of 1961 provided funding for families to receive support for foster care.

Increases in funding correlated with an increase in studies centered around the negative

long term effects of child abuse on children. Dr. Kempe and his colleagues, authors of

“The Battered Child Syndrome” (1961), stated that it was the responsibility of doctors

who worked with battered children to help prevent the abuse from occurring again. This

was the beginning and development of mandated reporter laws.

Additionally, during this time was passed the 1964 Civil rights Act, and President

Johnson’s War on Poverty. In the 1970s emerged the discussion on the appropriateness of

children being raised by racially diverse families and whether that was suitable or not.

The 1996 Interethnic Placement Act reduced the conditions under which race would be

considered for foster children and possible placements. Despite race not being so much

considered, in 1978 it was agreed upon that it would be beneficial to preserve Indian

culture and ancestry by passing the Indian Child Welfare Act, which made huge efforts to

keep children within tribal homes that would help maintain a Native American Culture

that was already dwindling on a thread. Unfortunately, many children still ended up in

foster care either way.

In an effort to get children back home and out of foster care, the landmark

Adoption assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 was passed. This piece of legislation

made it so that children were to be placed as close to their home as possible, funding was

provided for foster families and services for parents, and it established a role of a court

reviewing the cases on a regular basis. In 1997 the Adoption and Safe Families Act was

initiated as a result of the increasing trend of high numbers of children in foster care. This

was the first time that issues of permanency were put into legislation. This act was aimed

at reducing the amount of children in foster care by freeing them for adoption. This was

at a pinnacle of Child Welfare in the United States. Child welfare shifted from family

preservation to less tolerance for the risks with which children are confronted in abusive

families (Mignon, 2016). African American children and other children of color were at

one point unprotected by child protection laws and are now disproportionately over

represented in the Child Welfare System (Mignon).

Mental Health Disabilities for Children and Adults

According to Madden et al. (2012), in 2005, about half of all children ages 2-14

that were involved with CPS had clinically significant mental health needs. According to

Madden, children with emotional and behavioral problems, a disability, or children removed for neglect, as well as very young children and adolescents, had less chances of successfully reunifying with their families. Family factors associated with non- reunification were extreme poverty, having one caregiver in the home, less education, and existence of mental health issues or substance abuse issues (Bronson 2005; Fraser et al. 1996; Madden et al. 2012; Thomlison et al. 1996; Wells & Correia 2010).

Madden et al. (2012) further adds that evidence of treatment effectiveness for

children in out of home residential settings is either mixed or suggests worse outcomes

for children leaving these settings. If results for children with mental health issues are

mixed despite specialized settings, it leaves the question of how average parents are

expected to appropriately address their child’s mental health needs and issues. Often times, many adults with mental health issues end up in the attention of CPS agencies.

According to Chesher & Miron (2012), half of the mothers with schizophrenia end up losing their parental rights or the custody of their children. In North America about half of the women with schizophrenia are mothers. Half of the mothers with schizophrenia retain custody, however, only 12% were the primary caregivers of their child (Chesher & Miron). Aside from schizophrenia, there are several DSM mental health disorders that could affect an individual’s ability to parent their child, such as bipolar disorder or major depression.

According to Curtiss, Stromwall, Hunt and Teska (2004), the deadline driven permanency determinations set forth by the 1997 SAFE Families Act can require CPS caseworkers to make major decisions about custody and parenting rehabilitation based on incomplete or contradictory information. A way to address a parent’s mental health diagnosis that impedes proper parenting will typically be with medication. Stromwall et al. further adds that despite a parent being diagnosed with a mental health disorder, there is no measure to diagnose the direct parenting ability of the parent.

Medications used to address mental health issues are antidepressants, mood

stabilizers (bipolar disorder), and typical/atypical antipsychotics. Despite the goal of the

medications, many of the possible side effects from some of these medications will negatively affect the parents taking them. For example, antidepressants can cause anxiety,

loss of sexual arousal, weight gain or loss, insomnia, headaches, and seizures if dosage is

too high. Common side effects for mood stabilizers are risk of liver failure, white blood cell count issues, rash, hair loss, nausea, itching, and dizziness. Antipsychotics, to name a

few of the many side effects, can cause excessive drooling, sexual dysfunction, tremors,

muscle spasms, cramps, involuntary movements, spasmodic movement of extremities,

and worse of all some of these side effects may be irreversible. The issue of medications and mental health issues get even more complicated when there is a dual diagnosis of alcohol or substance abuse in the picture.

Drug and Alcohol Abuse

It is estimated that roughly 6 million (9%) youth under 18 live with at least one

parent live with at least one parent who abuses alcohol or drugs (Office of Applied

Studies, 2003 as cited in Child Welfare Information Gateway (CWIG)). According to the

article Substance Abuse and Child Maltreatment by the CWIG, children coming from

AOD homes are more likely to experience some type of abuse or neglect. Furthermore, maltreated children of substance abusing parents are more likely to develop substance abuse problems themselves. Current data indicates that children from substance abusive homes remain longer in foster care than children from non-substance abusive homes

(CWIG, 2003). Children remaining in foster care significantly increases the costs of addressing these issues. According to National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse

at Columbia University (2001) as cited in CWIG (2003), 5.3 billion dollars goes to child

welfare costs related to substance abuse.

As mentioned above, the addiction of alcohol or drugs can become a great barrier

to reunification. According to Fuller and Wells (2003), recurrence of abuse due to AOD

is most likely to happen after the first 30 days since opening the initial CPS report. Fuller

and Wells also mentions that the factors that indicate possible recurrence vary depending

on the type of allegation. According to Fuller and Wells, the factors that can predict

vulnerability are different for physical abuse, general neglect, and emotional abuse. It

becomes a very complicated issue for social workers engaged in reunification, as they

must take into account the context, concerns, history, amount of children in the home,

and even the age of the children.

The unique challenge for social workers is to determine how a parent’s substance

abuse affects their child’s safety. In the Fuller and Wells study (2003), in a sample of 95

cases where AOD was a part of the allegation of maltreatment, it was determined that

38% of cases were for neglect, 37% were for a substance exposed infant, physical abuse

and sexual abuse were at 7% and 2 % each. This study demonstrated that in cases where

AOD was involved, neglect was the most prevalent issue. Of these families, 22% of the

families received a safety rating of unsafe when taking all of the factors into consideration. Furthermore, it was determined that of the 95 families, over 25% of the families were reported for maltreatment a second time within 60 days.

To make reunification further complicated, service delivery issues have often

further prevented the successful reunification of children with their parents. Service

delivery issues can be a lack of resources to meet present needs, lack of training for CPS

employees on AOD issues, and legislative deadlines regarding the permanency of

children. More time is often needed to alleviate concerns related to AOD issues and

appropriate parenting skills, additionally impatient treatment facilities often have a

waiting list and children are often not allowed in the cases where parents still have

custody of their children. Aside from dealing with alcohol or drug issues, often the parents that social workers work with have little to no support or resources.

Lack of Resources (Financial and Interpersonal)

There is currently a substantial amount of evidence that demonstrates that social

support serves as a cushion for those under stress, reducing the rate of depression and

emotional distress following traumatic events (Brewin, Andrews, & Valentine, 2000;

Kawachi & Berkman, 2001; Lietz, Lacasse, & Cacciatore,et al., 2011). The research of

Lietz, Lacazze, and Cacciatore demonstrated that while positive social supports can have

a positive impact on the behavior of an individual, negative support or no support at all

can also bring a negative impact to the life of an individual. Research by Lietz further

demonstrated that informal support such as that of friends, extended family, neighbors,

coworkers, etc, brought about a positive impact to the life of an individual.

Parents who have less frequent contact with their social network and who live

further away from their social network are more likely to maltreat their children

(Freisthler, Holmes & Wolf, 2014). On top of that, Freisthler et al., further states that

there is a higher chance of maltreatment if the support networks are perceived as less

supportive. On another note, according to Fresthler et al., tangible resources such as

money and babysitting can reduce child maltreatment. The combined social resources of

informal and formal support help families cope in crisis situation (Balsells, Fuentes-

Pelaez, Molina, Pastor & Vázquez, 2017). Formal and informal formal supports are defined by Balsells et al. as emotional, psychological physical, informational, instrumental, and material assistance provided by others with the aim of helping an individual to maintain well-being or promote resiliency with difficult life events. Social support as defined above has proven to help children prevent re-entry into the Child

Welfare system after exiting, prevention of relapses, strengthening of family functioning and a better adjusted family system. Informal support is that provided by friends, family,

and neighbors, while formal support is that provided by institutions, agencies, and other

formally organized organizations.

Another form of social support beneficial to a reunifying parent, according to

Ankersmit (2016), is having a positive collaboration between the reunifying parents and

the caretakers of the children, as this helps reunite the children faster. This collaboration

would be based on trust, motivation, willingness, knowledge and agreement to co-parent

the children. This collaboration mentioned above would be introduced and guided by a

social worker. In order for this collaboration to happen, it would be beneficial if there

was a good relationship between the Social Worker and the reunifying parents.

Client and Worker Relationship

According to Cheryl and Ayon (2004) the client and counselor relationship is one of the most important factors that will determine the future success of a case. According to Cheryl and Ayon, empathy, respect, and collaboration, including other variables, such

as clear expectations of the parties involved, establish a good foundation in a relationship.

There is a vast amount of research, quantitative and qualitative, that has determined the importance of cultural competence, as well as engagement and rapport building when it comes to interacting with clients. A poor relationship where the client does not trust the worker will only yield negative results (Ayon & Cheryl ). Although various elements can shape the results of outcomes for foster care conditions, the preparatory measures for successful casework begins with a family-centered and strengths-based approach (Child

Welfare Information Gateway, 2010).

Research has shown that skills in direct practice have yielded a difference in client outcomes and that the work in child welfare be done by someone trained to handle human interactions that are potentially explosive and may have lasting traumatic effects

(Maiter, Palmer & Manji, 2006). Research has identified a need to increase client power within the client worker relationship as a balance of power between the client and worker has been deemed integral to the helping relationship (Maiter, et al.). The balancing of power can be aided by a worker displaying traits valued by parents. Parents valued service providers who were caring, respectful, accepting, friendly, genuine, responsive, supportive and trustworthy (Maiter, et al.). Negative qualities identified by CPS parents in qualitative studies were workers being judgmental, uncaring, lacking in understanding, authoritarian, and belittling (Maiter, et al.). Aside from the client and worker relationship, another theme that impacts the reunification results is when one parent engages in services and the other does not.

Parent(s) Engagement

According to D'Andrade. (2017), historically the field of child welfare has focused on reunification and services for the mother. In many cases the fathers are inconsistently contacted or engaged. According to the research presented by D’Andrade, a father's involvement in a child's life has proven to have a positive impact in the behavior and overall development of the child. Measures of father involvement have been associated with lower risk of CPS involvement (D’Andrade). When a child is in a CPS case, a father's involvement and financial help has been positively connected to higher reunification rates. This research brings into light the importance of engaging both the mother and the father in the reunification with their child. Another benefit of having the father engaged in services is an increased ability to co-parent which would theoretically take some stress off the mother as the father would be a social support. Additionally, it is important to mention that if a father engages in services that improve his parenting and alleviates concerns, it further aids the ability of the mother and father to more effectively, and with less conflict, co-parent their child.

Government Oversight and CPS Statistics

To address child welfare, and to attempt to achieve the most positive outcomes for

children and families, the Children’s Bureau monitors State child welfare services

through several mediums. The national vehicles used are Adoption and Foster Care

Analysis Reporting System (AFCARS), Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs),

State Automated Child Welfare Information Systems (SACWIS) reviews, and other individual per state accountability vehicles. These vehicles are used for funding, service

improvement, and to monitor the use of funds that are appropriated to each individual

state.

According to the AFCARS 2017 report, 242,000 children or 56% of children had the case can goal of reunifying with their parents or primary care providers. Furthermore,

African American Children in 2017 represented 23% (100,607), Hispanics 21% (93,507), and White 44% (193,828). 54% of children entering foster care were 6 years old or less.

According to AFCARS 2017, 41% of circumstances associated with the removal of the children were associated to either drug or alcohol abuse. 62% of cases had neglect as at least one of the circumstances that led to the removal of the child. After the removal

AFCARS statics show that only 27% of children removed were placed in a relative foster family home, and only 13% were placed in a pre-adoptive home. 52% of children placed were identified as male and 48% were identified as female. Of 247,631 children exiting foster care in 2017, only 49% (121,203) exited due to successful reunification with parents or primary care providers.

Gaps in the Literature

There is currently a lot of research available regarding the child welfare field. It is very important to be updating research as societies develop and research conducted 30 years ago may not be as applicable today as they were at the time that the research was conducted. As so, one of the gaps found within the literature was the age. American society and family makeups have changed a lot in the past 30 years. For example,

Cordero, Epstein, & Irwin (2000) conducted research 19 years ago about when

reunification works and the factors that contributed to reunification success. The research

was conducted in the year 2000 and since the year 2000 important policies have passed

that have influenced the landscape of the child welfare field as well as the study’s sources and foundation on the research went back as late as the 80s. The year 2000 was very different from today in 2019 with the increase of opiate addictions, the transformations of family structures, the wide availability of the internet, new laws and policies that were passed, and more services and programs now available with the development of more research. I find gaps some of the available literature as the outdated literature was limited to the resources at the time that it was conducted.

Aside from the literature review research being outdated, this author also finds that the research had gaps in sample size, research method, and the overall validity of the research. Some of the above mentioned research data was gathered through qualitative and not quantitative methods which makes it difficult to generalize the finding to the general population. With qualitative research also come small study sample sizes as more of a researcher’s time, effort, and resources are depleted with a smaller qualitative sample size.

Additionally, reunification and the circumstances around the topic of reunification

are unique to every family. For example, in research samples where they stated that

Alcohol or Drugs was a factor that brought the family under the attention of CPS, we are

missing insight with regards to the personal and individual circumstances of each

individual family. As an example, first time parents who have AOD issues would have a

different CPS experience than parents who have already received services, reunified, and

returned to the attention of a CPS agency for the same reoccurring AOD issue. For the

purpose of the research, each family would simply be considered, a family with AOD as

a factor. Furthermore, the research that this researcher encountered, including the 2017

AFCARS report, did not mention bypasses or the laws in welfare and institutions code section 300 361.5 allowing CPS agencies, under special circumstances, to deny parents funding for services or reunification services at all.

On another note, research with small sample sizes, and research participants located in unique geographic locations effect the generalizability of the research. Even in research where the sample sizes are larger and the research method is quantitative, generalizability to the general population is affected due to a lack overall general population representation. Research regarding drug use, race disproportionality with representation in CPS, as well as barriers to reunification are unique to the geographic location, county funding and resources, and population characteristics.

With outdated research methods, come outdated policies that went along with the research. In the past 30 years a lot of knowledge has been gained that has shaped the policies and requirements necessary to get studies approved by the Internal Review Board

(IRB). In the research that this author analyzed, reliability is not consistent as the research was not exhaustive in its methods and operational definitions continue to be a gap in literature. Operationalization effects validity and reliability as researchers are likely to increase the internal validity of their research depending on the operationalization of their definitions. This research will be filling the gap in the literature by respecting and following current test subject’s laws, rights, and restrictions, by having a larger sample size and research method that will make the research more generalizable in its findings.

Summary

The review of the literature explored in chapter two accounted for current

research that is relevant to the perspectives of MSW students on the reunification of

children with their parents. In the exploration of the research, light was shed on the

factors and the unique issues that can be variables effecting the reunification of children to their parents. The research copes with the idea that the modern era of child welfare is slightly over 50 years old, and the field of child welfare had adapted and developed as policies, funding, and research have shed light on new and effective family crisis interventions. One of the most influential changes to the field of child welfare is the 1997

Adoption and Safe Families Act which pushed for permanency in historically shorter

designated time frames.

The literature further informed on CPS case worker skills and techniques that

have been identified by CPS clients as useful in building a working relationship that

would yield successful reunification rates. Strengths based social work was repeatedly

identified as a staple for building a successful collaborative worker-client relationship,

and an essential tool when working with clients.gh Additionally, the literature shed light

on the complexity of factors and circumstances that must be taken into account when a

case worker is going to make a decision on reunifying a child to his/her parents.

Literature was concurrent with the notion that the skills and characteristics or a social

worker, such as dedication, trustworthiness, caring, understanding, partially influenced

the success/failure in reunification.

The US government currently spends billions of dollars on child welfare efforts

every year. These funds are aimed at addressing all aspects of child welfare costs and permanency. The US has established governmental agencies aimed at establishing Child

Welfare standards, goals, oversight, and liability. Some of the identified agencies are the

AFCARS, CSFR, SACWIS, and the Children’s Bureau.

Overall this chapter entailed a brief history of child welfare as well as concepts related to the reunification of children with their parents including mental health disabilities for children and adults, drug and alcohol abuse, lack of resources, client and worker relationship, parent engagement, government oversight and CPS statistics, and the gaps in the literature. The field of Child Welfare is perpetual with constant updates and changes to policy, new research informing practice, and constant shifts in the landscape of the populations that Child Welfare workers engage with. Consequently, the ever shifting landscape of Child Welfare clients means that generalizability of research findings is affected. Upcoming, this author intends to introduce the construct validity of the perspectives of MSW students on the reunification of children with their parents through a survey study design. A quantitative analysis of the possible perspectives will offer an applicable understanding of MSW student’s perspectives using a rational choice and strengths based stance. Chapter three that follows describes the methodology of the research study.

Chapter 3

METHODOLOGY

This chapter outlines in detail the methodology and research design utilized in the study. It contains sections on the study population, the sample population, the instrumentation, and the procedures applied for data gathering and data analyzing. The chapter concludes with a section describing the safety measures involved with the protection of its human subjects.

Research Question

This project explores one primary research question: What are the perspectives of

MSW students on the reunification of children with their parents?

Research Design

To address the research questions above, an exploratory quantitative survey research study design was elected. Rationale Choice theory and strengths perspective provide a framework to explore the perspectives of MSW students on the reunification of children with their families. A quantitative survey design and a rational choice theory and strength based approach allows the researcher to generate insight into choices and behaviors of the population under investigation. This type of study design will allow the researcher to explore different data outcomes and clusters of perspectives. The study design aligns with the objectives of the research project. The following subsections illuminate further on the quantitative approach, rational choice theory, strength based research, exploratory studies, and data analysis.

Quantitative Approach

Quantitative research is based on measurement and is conducted in a systematic,

controlled manner (Hagan, 2014). In this research the measurement approach being

applied will be a survey. Quantitative approach is the theoretical style that can be most

easily generalized to larger populations depending on the sample size and characteristics

of the study population. Most quantitative research tend to emphasize that there is a

common reality on which people can agree (Newman, 1998).

The goal in implementing a quantitative approach is to determine the relationship

between one independent variable and an outcome variable within the study population.

Quantitative Research deals with numbers, logic, and an objective stance (Babbie, 2010).

Most quantitative research is based on larger sample sizes that are representative of the

population under study. Quantitative research is well known for its ease or replicability

given that it has high reliability in research. It is very important that all research aspects

are clearly designed before research Data is collected (Babbie).

Another positive aspect of applying a quantitative approach is that this approach

has an objective nature and there is less likelihood of researcher bias being involved in

the research process. Researcher bias has the tendency to affect the study design, data

collection, and data interpretation. Objective data and large sample sizes common to quantitative research studies typically produce results that are generalizable to larger populations.

Despite the great attributes of quantitative research. Quantitative research study designs limit research subjects in the depth of their responses. A participant in this

research could have ideas or thoughts that are not an option to express with the chosen

research survey design. Close ended questions allow the researcher to gather data based on pre-chosen options, which could be limiting to some of the participants. In this research study participants either disagree or agree at varying levels, however, there is no

room for participants to express any other thoughts or more intricate thoughts or feelings

regarding the survey questions being presented.

Rational Choice Theory

In quantitative studies it is common for researchers to test theories instead of try to develop theories. In quantitative research designs a deductive approach is common

where a researcher tests or verifies a theory by examining questions derived from the

theory and collecting scores using a chosen measurement (Creswell, 2003). In this

research, Rational Choice Theory is applied to guide the research and content analysis of

the survey utilized. Goldthorpe (1996) as cited in Edling (2000), states that quantitative

analysis of large-scale data in sociology should be allied with rational choice theories.

Goldthorpe argued that quantitative data analysis generated statistical associations

between most likely arbitrarily chosen variables, while rational choice theory separated

from empirical realities and focuses on the foundations, adjustments to, and refinements

of the theory itself. As a result, quantitative data analysis and rational choice theory

mutually benefit each other.

Furthermore, Edling (2000) defines rational choice theory as any theoretical

approach that seeks to explain social phenomena as the outcome of individual action that

is constructed as rational, given individual’s goals and conditions of action, which for the

applicability of this research, would be strength based goals due to the foundational

education in generalist social work practice. An additional benefit of applying rational choice theory to quantitative data analysis is to address the critique that quantitative data

analysis only deals with establishing statistical irregularities in aggregate (Edling).

Rational choice theory adds social context, and explanation to the actions of single

individuals, who without rational choice theory would have been seen as outliers and

irregularities to the aggregate with no real explanation. Critiques of rational choice theory

application to data analysis claim that people do not always act rational, however,

Goldthorpe (1996) as cited in Edling (2000) explains that quantitative analysis provides

the statistical data to be explained, and rational choice theory provides the explanatory

narrative.

Statistical Analysis

Upon completing the data collection and generating the statistical output/results of the data, this researcher aims to begin to analyze the data and build aggregate analysis of the gathered statistics. Upon gathering my data, this researcher will be imputing the

data into a numerical database to then be able to analyze the data. The surveys gathered

will be placed through the quantifying process of converting my data into a numerical

format. The data conversion tool will be SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social

Sciences). The data will be gathered and organized into frequency of answers chosen and

nominal data (demographics) will be analyzed and will be compared to the ordinal data

(agree/disagree). Additionally, some ordinal data will be compared to other ordinal data

as differences, similarities, and contrasts in aggregate results are analyzed.

The themes and focus of aggregate data will be derived from the research question, the literature review content, and this researcher’s research question. To aid the analytical process, this researcher will disintegrating the data using descriptive statistics such as the mean, mode, and the minimum and maximum values. The data will be further disintegrated into percentages, as well as other more advanced statistical methods.

This researcher will be measuring the correlation, variance, and any possible regressions.

The correlation of different statistical data will describe the nature of the relationship any two variables as either strong, weak, or overall statistically significant. In the analysis of the variance this researcher will know whether the differences in the means for any two data groups are statistically significant. The analysis of the regressions will inform this researcher whether one variable is a predictor of another variable. For example, in this research it may be found that statistically significant regression is found between the age of participants and their perspectives on the reunification of children with their families.

Age could potentially be a predictor of the perspectives of MSW students, describing a statistically significant regression.

Survey Research

Survey research is a great way to gather data from many individuals in a cost effective and timely manner. Additionally, survey research remains elevated in popularity due to the method’s ease of generalizability. Furthermore, survey research tends to be a reliable way to gather and reproduce data. The reliability is due to research data being presented to each individual participant in the same exact way, and in the same exact format. In other forms of research, such as qualitative interviews, the data will often be

presented to each individual differently due to the transference and countertransference

experienced by the interviewer and the interviewee. Finally, research surveys are a very

adaptable and flexible research method that can be used for almost any purpose and in a

multitude of professions. Survey data will represent the attitudes and perspectives at a

point and time, as so, multiple surveys at different times are useful in measuring attitudes

and possible changes in attitudes over an extended period of time.

On the contrary, the strengths of surveys being flexible can also be argued to be a

weakness as having no flexibility in surveys can result in issues that would not be

presented in other types of face to face research methods. For example, if a participant

was confused about a question there would be no way to explain the question or change

the question for other survey participants. Additionally, the validity of survey research

can be a weakness as survey designs leave no room for participants to express thoughts or

opinions outside of what is provided and put in front of them. Participants in the case of

this research, are limited to the options presented in the Likert scale.

Variables

In this study the independent variable is the use and research of the reunification of children with their families. The various attitudes, outlooks, and perspectives that

MSW students express regarding this topic will constitute the dependent variable. The use and research of the reunification of children with their families was conceptualized as different situations, decisions, and policies that are important and impact in some way the reunification of children with their parents, with the purpose of improving practice and knowledge while also helping improve reunification results. The perspectives of MSW

44 students on the reunification of children with their parents were conceptualized in different dimensions related to several factors related to reunification of children with their families. For example, the survey will conceptualize and gain insight into the perspectives of MSW students as it relates to their moral and personal beliefs of foster care, drug and alcohol abuse, relapse, current time sensitive deadlines in reunification, and so on. Both the independent and dependent variables were operationalized in the survey using a Likert scale that reflected different aspects of each variable. Additionally in the survey were included nominal measurements for the purpose of gathering demographic data.

Study Population

The study population are MSW students currently enrolled in an accredited MSW program. By selecting this distinct group of potential participants, the researcher hopes to attain well-rounded information on the desired topic, as MSW students have academic and often work experience with children and families. Their insight on reunification and current experiences/knowledge will provide well rounded information on the topic of reunification.

Sample Population

The population under study had one primary qualification, they had to be currently enrolled students at Sacramento State’s MSW program. Participants in this research could be MSW students at any stage of the currently offered MSW program options. Some students could have been 2 year enrolled MSW I students, others could have been MSW II students, and a select few could have been MSW students enrolled in

a 3 year or 1 year advanced standing MSW program. To gain access to this Sample

population this Researcher planned to collaborate with MSW instructors to gain some

access to their classrooms. This access would enable this researcher to present the

proposed research and the sought after voluntary participation of students. As part of this

research a total of 73 MSW students participated in the research. The method used to

gather participants was a non-probability convenience sampling method.

Sampling Method

Convenience non-probability sampling is a method used when a researcher choses

to study a population based on convenience and ease of access. Furthermore, this

researcher surveyed student that were in classrooms at a time convenient to this

researcher, therefore, not all MSW students had the same opportunity to partake in the

research. In this research, this researcher chose to study Sacramento State MSW students

due to the ease of accessibility and the convenience of having access to this population of

MSW students. Only Sacramento State MSW students were surveyed, additionally, this researcher also had an established educational familiarity with the instructors that made it easier to gain access to their classrooms. This researcher surveyed a total of 73

Sacramento State MSW students.

Non-probability sampling has the advantage of being cost and time effective

compared to probability sampling. Secondly, non-probability sampling has the possibility

of reflecting the descriptive characteristics of the sample size represented. Non-

probability sampling was effective in this research as it was impractical to conduct

probability sampling with MSW students with a limited population and sample size. This

researcher had high participation rates as participants were made aware of their choice to

participate. Additionally, a complete list of all MSW students, emails, and contact information was not available to this researcher to be able to design a probability sampling research design, therefore, administrative costs were low.

Despite the advantages of probability sampling, there are weaknesses with this

sampling method. A weakness of probability sampling is that results are dependent and

limited to the characteristics of the sample size, therefore, generalization to other

populations is weakened. There is a risk that data gathered will be biased as it is possible

that not an adequately diverse sampling group representative of the entire body of study

was included in the research.

Instrumentation

This researcher applied a 24 question survey as the instrument to fulfill the

purpose of this research. The twenty-four question survey consisted of three background

questions and twenty-one questions addressing the purpose and goal of the research

question. The background questions chosen addressed the age, ethnicity, and gender of

the research participants. The twenty one research questions that make up the body of the

survey are close ended and are designed to generate answers that will reveal the

perspectives with regards to the reunification of children with their parents. The research

questions were designed so that participants chose a perspective and were not neutral in

their responses (See Appendix A for Survey Reference). The average duration of the

survey completion was 5-10 minutes, despite participants being advised that the survey

completion could take as long as 15 minutes. All survey completions were completed

either at the beginning of a MSW class period, or at the end of a class period. Participants

were made aware of the voluntary status of their participation and raised their hand, at

which point a research survey and letter of informed consent was handed to them.

According to Kelley et al. (2003), survey research is common in studies of health

and health services, and survey research remains most used in applied social research.

Furthermore, Kelly et al. describes the term ‘survey’ as generally referring to the

selection of a relatively large amount of people from a pre-determined population, followed by the collection of a small amount of data from each of those individuals. The surveys that this researcher gathered will provide a depiction of the perspectives of MSW students at time that the research surveys were completed, as there will be no follow up surveys.

The advantages of surveys as a research instrument are that this research will produce empirical real world observations (Kelley, et al. 2003). Furthermore, the ability to survey many people in a short amount of time is cost effective and consumes less of the researcher’s time. Compared to qualitative studies, or interview formatted research instruments, these research surveys allowed the participants to remain anonymous, to a limited extent, and therefore there is a higher likely hood of obtaining reliable data not based on social expectations or assumed norms. On the contrary, disadvantages to applying a survey include lack of details with regards to ability to cover topics in depth.

Secondly, another disadvantage includes the researcher neglecting the significance of the survey data by not focusing on the relevant issues, problems or theories, and instead focusing on the range of the research data (Kelley, et al.). In applying surveys as an

instrument for this research there is less of a power differential compared to other

instruments, such as face to face interviews.

On another note, research methods applying a survey style instrumentation pose

the risk of having low reliability. Reliability is the repeatability of the research data and the ability of a measurement to be answered the same way twice by the same individual.

For example, in this research data research questions #4 and #5 of the survey will test for

internal consistency which will estimate the reliability of the research instrument (See

Appendix A). Research questions #4 and #5 pose opposing views, therefore if the

answers pose a similar perspective based on the answers chosen, the survey will have

increased reliability. Furthermore, this researcher’s objective interpretation and analysis

of the research data gathered via this research instrument increases the reliability of the

data.

Additionally, this researcher took into account the validity of the research

instrument when drafting together the instrumentation of the research. This researcher

took into account social interaction as a threat to the internal validity of the research as students may base their answers on what they believe to be educationally the right answer. Furthermore, this researcher realizes that there is a threat to construct validity of the research by not defining the concepts used in the research well, by only applying one measure or observation of an important concept, and by not taking into account internal factors that could affect the validity of the research. Internal factors that could affect the validity of the research include hypothesis guessing where participants base their answers

on what they think the research is about, so the perspectives of the MSW students would not be solely their perspective.

Data Gathering Procedures

The procedure used to obtaining participation from qualified participants was straight forward and simple. This researcher contacted MSW instructors and professors via email and in person to gain access to their classroom at a time convenient to the professor, with as little intrusion possible to the classroom routine. Professors then allowed this researcher to present the opportunity to participate in the research at the end of the classroom, at which point, students raised their hand and a survey was handed to them along with a letter of informed consent (See Appendix B) which students could keep for their personal records.

The survey completion began as soon as MSW students were handed the survey

(Appendix A) and informed consent form (Appendix B). The survey took place at the end of class so students were provided with sufficient time to complete the survey. The majority of students completed the survey within the timeframe of five-ten minutes. The survey was comprised of three background questions and twenty-one main topic questions addressing their perspectives on the reunification of children with their families. At the end of each completed survey this researcher personally was handed the survey and the survey was placed in an envelope inside this researchers backpack. Each participant was thanked by this researcher after completing their survey.

Data Analysis

The data from the surveys was entered in to SPSS, a statistical analysis software program. The author performed various tests on the data, including cross tabulations,

charts and chi-square tests. The results are presented in table formats. These

statistical evaluations were meant to reveal the associations between various

attitudes that MSW students have towards the reunification of children with their

parents.

Protection of Human Subjects

To follow the ethical guidelines of research, this author submitted an application

to the Research Review Committee of California State University, Sacramento, Division of Social Work. The research study gained approval under the review category of

“Exempt,” meaning that there would be minimal, risk to MSW students who chose to participate in the study. The approved research project was assigned a human subjects protocol number of 18-19-056. No subjects were sought and no data was collected prior to research review committee approval.

All human subjects that participated in the research project did so voluntarily and there was no monetary or personal incentive. Human subjects were given an informed consent form prior to participating in the research (Appendix B). Subjects were advised on their ability to skip any survey questions that brought up feelings of discomfort or to terminate their participation in the survey whenever they chose to do so. All completed research surveys were kept in a locked cabinet in the home of the researcher. Participants were assured confidentiality, no names were written on the completed surveys after

participation was completed. Furthermore, participants were advised that research data

would be reported in aggregate. The gathered data will be destroyed by August 31, 2020,

one year after commencing the study. Prior to commencing the research project, all

information regarding the rights and privacy of human subjects was understood and

protected as evidenced by the approved “exempt” Sacramento State University Internal

Review Committee application, and this researcher completing the CITI Research Ethics and Compliance Training.

Summary

Chapter three outlines in detail the methodology of the research project. The research describes the inner and outer workings of quantitative research and an exploratory study. Additionally, this chapter details the foundation and advantages/disadvantages of applying rational choice theory in the research. The chapter further outlines details regarding the population used for this study, methods and instruments applied in the process of implementing the research, and the statistical analysis approach taken. This chapter ends with content outlining the importance of protecting human subjects, and the steps taken to ensure human subjects and ethical standards were met. Chapter four will present the findings.

Chapter 4

DATA ANALYSIS

This chapter will present the results concluded from this study. The research results will highlight important findings that will formulate and address the research question, “What are the perspectives of MSW students on the reunification of children with their parents?” In the following chapter will be presented the data by analyzing the responses to the individual statements/ideas that MSW participants responded to in the research survey. The research data will first address the demographics and will then move on analyzing the data gathered by utilizing a cross-tabulation where different variables

are analyzed.

Demographics of Study Participants

SPSS was utilized to produce graphs and pie charts that represent the three

demographic questions applied in this research study. There was a total of 73 participants

in this research project. Out of a sample size N=73 MSW students, the majority of the

research participants identified as women. According to Figure 1, 80% of research

participants identified as women, 15 % identified as men, and 4.1% percent as other. The

results signify that the women are disproportionately over represented in this study.

Additionally, the ethnicity of the participants varied and is expressed in Figure 2 with the

age group 26-35 being the most prominent, representing 51.39% of the study participants.

Furthermore, Figure 2 shows that 31.94% of study participants identified with the 18-25

age group as well as 16.67% of participants identified with the 36-55 age group. Of the

N=73 research participants, only one participant, representing 1.4% of the study sample,

Figure 1. Gender of participants.

Figure 2. Age of Participants

Figure 3. Ethnicity of participants.

55 exercised his/her right to not answer the age demographic question. Additionally, the ethnicity of the participants is represented in Figure 3 with White/European participants representing the majority of participants with 32.88%, followed closely behind by

Hispanics/Latinos representing 30.14%. All N=73 research participants answered the ethnicity demographic question.

What are the perspectives of MSW students on the reunification of children with

their parents?

This following section analyses the perspectives of MSW students at California

State University, Sacramento as it relates to the reunification of children with their families. This analysis will consider how demographic variables influence the results.

Furthermore, this chapter will be organized into two subsections: overall perspectives of

MSW students on the reunification of children with their parents and factors that influenced the perspectives of MSW students on the reunification of children with their families. On another note, Table 1 is representative of a summary of how participants responded to the survey questions related to their perspectives on the reunification of children with their families. There is a possibility that some of the survey questions were not extensively explored. Therefore, Table 1 will fill in that gap. Table 1 shows that the range of valid participant responses per survey question ranged from 67 responses to complete participation at 73 responses.

Table 1

Summary of Survey Results

% who % who # of valid Survey Question agree disagree responses (N) Once a family has reunified, the family should stop contact with 8.2% 91.8% 73 Child Welfare Agencies. Children should be able to reunify with their family as long as one 73.6% 26.4% 72 caretaker completes their reunification plan. It is reasonable to ask parents to have housing while completing 74% 26% 73 reunification services. Parents caring for their children is right not a privilege. 62% 38% 71 Children engaged with Child Welfare agencies come from all 91.5% 8.5% 71 socioeconomic backgrounds. It is possible for a parent to use drugs and appropriately parent 48.6% 51.4% 70 their child. Parents engaged in reunification should not have to pay child 50% 50% 72 support money. Social workers should report to the Dependency Court on the 86.6% 13.4% 67 theoretical concepts applied in the reunification process. Reunification Social Workers should have some type of 87.7% 12.3% 73 communication with a reunifying parent at least once a week. Children removed from a family can be re-integrated at any time 16.7% 83.3% 72 Lack of a Social Worker’s cultural competence will lead to 87.7% 12.3% 73 disproportionate minority youth in Child Welfare Systems. Youth in juvenile correction facilities should be allowed to 98.6% 1.4% 73 participate in reunification services despite being detained. It should not be allowed for children to be placed with caregivers 30.6% 69.4% 72 outside of their County of origin. Parents with Child Welfare history should have more intensive 88.6% 11.4% 70 services the second time engaged in services. A relapse near the end of reunification services should not prevent 56.2% 43.8% 73 a family from reunifying. Family members with non-violent crimes should be allowed to 87.7% 12.3% 73 foster for their kin. Families with children above 10 years old should have more than 70.8% 29.2% 72 18 months to reunify. 18 months is more than enough time for parents to address 38.9% 61.1% 72 reunification issues. Failed reunification is representative of the quality of the social 5.6% 94.4% 72 worker client relationship. Children can thrive just as well with non-related caretakers. 86.1% 13.9% 72 Children need to reunify with their biological parents. 80.3% 19.7% 71

Overall MSW Students Perspectives on Reunification

Chi-square test were conducted to analyze the relationship between various

survey items. In some instances, the results demonstrated statistically significant

relationships between variables, and in other cases the data results were not statistically

significant.

Table 2 shows that more than four-fifths (81.4%) of participants disagreed that 18 months is more than enough time to reunify for families with children above 10 years old.

Over half (53.6%) of participants agreed that 18 months is more than enough time to reunify for families with children above 10 years old. This relationship for18 months is more enough time versus not enough time to reunify for families with children above 10

years old was statistically significant ( 2=6.303, df=1, p=0.012).

Table 3 shows that just over four𝝌𝝌-fifths (82.1%) of study participants agree that

children need to reunify with their biological parents. Almost four-fifths (76.9%) of

participants agree that children can thrive just as well with non-related care takers as with

a family of origin. The relationship for children can thrive just as well with non-related

care takers versus children need to reunify with their biological families was approaching

significance ( 2=2.917, df=1, p=0.088).

Table 𝝌𝝌4 shows that of the participants who agreed with the statement

“reunification social workers should have some type of communication with a reunifying

parents at least once a week”, two-thirds (66.7%) also agreed with the statement, “once a

family has reunified, the family should stop contact with Child Welfare Agencies.” The

relationship between the variables stopping contact after reunification and having

Table 2

18 Months is Enough Time vs. 18 Months is Not Enough Time

Families with children above 10 years old should have more than 18 months to reunify. Agree Disagree Total 18 months is more than Agree Count 15 13 28 enough time for parents % within 18 months is to address reunification more than enough time 53.6% 46.4% 100.0% issues. for parents to address reunification issues % within Families with children above 10 years old should have more 30.0% 61.9% 39.4% than 18 months to reunify. % of Total 21.1% 18.3% 39.4% Disagree Count 35 8 43 % within 18 months is more than enough time 81.4% 18.6% 100.0% for parents to address reunification issues % within Families with children above 10 years old should have more 70.0% 38.1% 60.6% than 18 months to reunify. % of Total 49.3% 11.3% 60.6% Total Count 50 21 71 % within 18 months is more than enough time 70.4% 29.6% 100.0% for parents to address reunification issues. % within Families with children above 10 years old should have more 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% than 18 months to reunify. % of Total 70.4% 29.6% 100.0%

Table 3

Children Can Thrive with Anyone vs. Children Need to Reunify with Parents

Children can thrive just as well with non-related caretakers as with a family of origin. Agree Disagree Total Children Need to Agree Count 46 10 56 Reunify with their % within Children Need biological Parents to Reunify with their 82.1% 17.9% 100.0% biological Parents % within Children can thrive just as well with 76.9% 100.0% 80.0% non-related caretakers as with a family of origin. % of Total 65.7% 14.3% 80.0% Disagree Count 14 0 14 % within Children Need to Reunify with their 100% 0.0% 100.0% biological Parents % within Children can thrive just as well with 23.3% 0.0% 20.0% non-related caretakers as with a family of origin. % of Total 20.0% 0.0% 20.0% Total Count 60 10 70 % within Children Need to Reunify with their 85.7% 14.3% 100.0% biological Parents % within Children can thrive just as well with 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% non-related caretakers as with a family of origin. % of Total 85.7% 14.3% 100.0%

Table 4

Family Should Stop Contact vs. Contact with Client Once a Week

Reunification Social Workers should have some type of communication with a reunifying parent at least once a week. Agree Disagree Total Once a family has Agree Count 4 2 6 reunified, the family % within Once a family should stop contact with has reunified, the family 66.7% 33.3% 100.0% Child Welfare Agencies. should stop contact with Child Welfare Agencies. % within. Reunification Social Workers should have some type of 6.3% 22.2% 8.2% communication with a reunifying parent at least once a week. % of Total 5.5% 2.7% 8.2% Disagree Count 60 7 67 % within Once a family has reunified, the family 89.6% 10.4% 100.0% should stop contact with Child Welfare Agencies. % within. Reunification Social Workers should have some type of 93.8% 77.7% 91.8% communication with a reunifying parent at least once a week. % of Total 82.2% 9.6% 91.8% Total Count 64 9 73 % within Once a family has reunified, the family 87.7% 12.3% 100.0% should stop contact with Child Welfare Agencies. % within Reunification Social Workers should have some type of 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% communication with a reunifying parent at least once a week. % of Total 87.7% 12.3% 100.0%

constant contact during reunification was approaching significance ( 2=2.668, df=1,

p=0.102). 𝝌𝝌

Table 5 shows that all (100%) of the participants who agree with the statement

that children removed from a family can be re-integrated back at any time without an issue, also agree that children can thrive just as well with non-related caretakers as with a family of origin. Also on table 5, the near four-fifths (83.3%) of participants that disagree that children removed from a family can be re-integrated back at any time, also agree that children can thrive just as well with non-related caretakers as with a family of origin. The relationship between children can thrive just as well with non-related caretakers and children removed can be re-integrated back at any time without an issue was not significant.

Table 6 shows that of the participants who agree that it is possible for parent to use drugs and appropriately parent their child, two-thirds (61.8%) also agree that a relapse near the end of reunification services should not prevent a family from reunifying.

Nearly half (50%) of respondents who disagree that it is possible for a parent to use drug and appropriately parent their child also disagree that a relapse at the end of reunification services should not prevent a family from reunifying. The relationship for parents should be able to reunify after a relapse versus it is possible for parents to use drugs and parent their children is not significant.

Table 5

Children Can Be Reintegrated vs. Children can Thrive Well Without Kin

Children can thrive just as well with non-related caretakers as with a family of origin. Agree Disagree Total Children removed from a Agree Count 11 0 11 family can be re- % within Children integrated back at any removed from a family time without an issue. can be re-integrated back 100.0% 0.0% 100.0% at any time without an issue. % within Children can thrive just as well with 18.0% 0.0% 15.5% non-related caretakers as with a family of origin. % of Total 15.5% 0.0% 15.5% Disagree Count 50 10 60 % within Children removed from a family can be re-integrated back 83.3% 16.7% 100.0% at any time without an issue. % within Children can thrive just as well with 82.0% 100.0% 84.5.8% non-related caretakers as with a family of origin. % of Total 70.4% 14.1% 84.5% Total Count 61 10 71 % within Children removed from a family can be re-integrated back 85.9% 14.1% 100.0% at any time without an issue. % within Children can thrive just as well with 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% non-related caretakers as with a family of origin. % of Total 85.9% 14.1% 100.0%

Table 6

Using drugs and Parenting vs. Using Drugs and Reunifying

A relapse near the end of reunification services should not prevent a family from reunifying. Agree Disagree Total It is possible for a parent Agree Count 21 13 34 to use drugs and % within It is possible appropriately parent their for a parent to use drugs 61.8% 38.2% 100.0% child. and appropriately parent their child. % within A relapse near the end of reunification services should not 53.8% 41.9% 48.6% prevent a family from reunifying % of Total 30.0% 18.6% 48.6% Disagree Count 18 18 36 % within It is possible for a parent to use drugs 50.0% 50.0% 100.0% and appropriately parent their child. % within A relapse near the end of reunification services should not 46.2% 58.1% 51.4% prevent a family from reunifying % of Total 25.7% 25.7% 51.4% Total Count 39 31 70 % within It is possible for a parent to use drugs 55.7% 44.3% 100.0% and appropriately parent their child. % within A relapse near the end of reunification services should not 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% prevent a family from reunifying % of Total 55.7% 44.3% 100.0%

Table 7 shows that of the participants who agree that failed reunification is

representative of the quality of the social worker client relationship, 100% of those

participants also agree that reunification social workers should have some type of

communication with a reunifying parent at least once a week. Participants who disagree

that reunification social workers should have some type of communication with a

reunifying parent at least once a week, 86.8% of those participants also agreed that

reunification social workers should have some type of communication with a reunifying

parent at least once a week. The data was not statistically significant.

In Table 8, of the participants who agree that family members with non-violent

crimes should be allowed to foster their kin, nearly four-fifths (79.4%) also agree that children should be able to reunify with their family as long as one caretaker completes their reunification plan. Participants who disagree that family members with non-violent crimes should be allowed to foster for their kin, two-thirds (66.7%) also disagree that children should be able to reunify with their family as long as one caretaker completes their case plan. The relationship between perspectives regarding non-violent family members fostering kin and children being able to reunify with at least one completed case plan was statistically significant ( 2=8.590, df=1, p=0.003).

𝝌𝝌

Table 7

Reunification and Client Worker Relationship vs. Communication Between Client and Worker

Reunification Social Workers should have some type of communication with a reunifying parent at least once a week. Agree Disagree Total Failed reunification is Agree Count 4 0 4 representative of the % within Failed reunification is quality of the social representative of the quality of worker client the social worker client 100.0% 0.0% 100.0% relationship. relationship. % within Reunification Social Workers should have some type of communication with a 6.3% 0.0% 5.6% reunifying parent at least once a week. % of Total 5.6% 0.0% 5.6% Disagree Count 59 9 68 % within Failed reunification is representative of the quality of 86.8% 13.2% 100.0% the social worker client relationship. % within Reunification Social Workers should have some type

of communication with a 93.7% 100.0% reunifying parent at least once a 94.4% week. % of Total 81.9% 12.5% 94.4% Total Count 63 9 72 % within Failed reunification is representative of the quality of the social worker client 87.5% 12.5% 100.0% relationship. % within Reunification Social Workers should have some type of communication with a 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% reunifying parent at least once a week. % of Total 87.5% 12.5% 100.0%

Table 8

Non-Violent Family Members as Foster Parents vs. One Completion of Case Plan Reunifies

Children should be able to reunify with their family as long as one caretaker completes their reunification plan Agree Disagree Total Family members with Agree Count 50 13 63 non-violent crimes % within Family members should be allowed to with non-violent crimes foster for their kin. should be allowed to foster 79.4% 20.6% 100.0% for their kin. % within Children should be able to reunify with their family as long as one 94.3% 68.4% 87.5% caretaker completes their reunification plan % of Total 69.4% 18.1% 87.5% Disagree Count 3 6 9 % within Family members with non-violent crimes 33.3% 66.7% 100.0% should be allowed to foster for their kin. % within Children should be able to reunify with their

family as long as one 5.7% 31.6% caretaker completes their 12.5% reunification plan % of Total 4.2% 8.3% 12.5% Total Count 53 19 72 % within Family members with non-violent crimes should be allowed to foster 73.6% 26.4% 100.0% for their kin. % within Children should be able to reunify with their family as long as one 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% caretaker completes their reunification plan % of Total 73.6% 26.4% 100.0%

Factors that Influenced MSW Students Perspectives

This section will explore some of associations between survey questions and

participant demographics. Chi-square tests were performed to assess statistical significance. Results are presented in table format.

Table 9 shows that nearly two-thirds (65.5%) of the participants who agree that

family members with non-violent crimes should be allowed to foster their kin are

minorities. Additionally, 62.5% of participants who disagree that family members with

non-violent crimes should be allowed to foster their kin are non-white. The relationship

between ethnicity and non-violent kin as foster parents was not statistically significant.

Table 10 reveals that nearly three-fourths (70%) of participants who disagree that children can thrive just as well with non-related caretakers as with a family of origin identified with being 26 years old or older. On the contrary, nearly one-third (32.3%) of

participants who agree that children can thrive just as well with non-related caretaker as

with a family of origin belong to the age group 18-25. There appears to be no direct

relationship between the age of participants and their perspectives regarding a children’s

ability to thrive with any caretaker. The data was not statistically significant.

Table 11 highlights that over four-fifths (85.9%) of participants who agree that parents in reunification should not have to pay child support money are female.

Additionally, Table 11 also expresses that nearly four-fifths (82.9%) of participants who disagree that parents in child support should not have to pay child support are female.

There is no clear relationship between gender and MSW student perspectives regarding

Table 9

Non-Violent Kin Should Foster vs. Ethnicity

Ethnicity of Participants White Other Total Family members with Agree Count 21 40 61 non-violent crimes % within Family should be allowed to members with non- foster for their kin. violent crimes should be 34.40% 65.5% 100.0% allowed to foster for their kin. % within Ethnicity of Participants 87.5% 88.9% 88.4%

% of Total 30.4% 58.0% 88.4% Disagree Count 3 5 8 % within Family members with non- violent crimes should be 37.5% 62.5% 100.0% allowed to foster for their kin. % within Ethnicity of Participants 12.5% 11.1% 11.6%

% of Total 7.2% 11.6% 4.3% Total Count 24 45 69 % within Family members with non- violent crimes should be 34.8% 65.2% 100.0% allowed to foster for their kin. % within Ethnicity of Participants 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

% of Total 34.8 65.2% 100.0%

Table 10

Children Can Thrive Without Kin vs. Age

Age of Participants 18-25 26 and Older Total Children can thrive just Agree Count 20 42 62 as well with non-related % within Children can caretakers as with a thrive just as well with family of origin. non-related caretakers as 32.3% 67.7% 100.0% with a family of origin.

% within Age of Participants 87.0% 85.7% 86.1%

% of Total 27.8% 58.3% 86.1% Disagree Count 3 7 10 % within Children can thrive just as well with non-related caretakers as 30.0% 70% 100.0% with a family of origin.

% within Age of Participants 13.0% 14.3% 13.9%

% of Total 9.7% 13.9% 4.2% Total Count 23 49 72 % within Children can thrive just as well with non-related caretakers as 31.9% 68.1% 100.0% with a family of origin.

% within Age of Participants 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

% of Total 31.9% 68.1% 100.0%

Table 11

No Child Support for Parents vs. Gender

Gender of Participants Female Male Total Parents in reunification Agree Count 29 5 34 should not have to pay % within Parents in child support money. reunification should not have to pay child 85.3% 14.7% 100.0% support money.

% within Gender of Participants 50.0% 45.5% 49.3%

% of Total 42.0% 7.2% 49.3% Disagree Count 29 6 35 % within Parents in reunification should not have to pay child 82.9% 17.1% 100.0% support money.

% within Gender of Participants

50.0% 54.5% 50.7%

% of Total 8.7% 50.7% 42% Total Count 58 11 69 % within Parents in reunification should not have to pay child 84.1% 15.9% 100.0% support money.

% within Gender of Participants 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

% of Total 84.1% 15.9% 100.0%

parents in reunification not having to pay child support, the data was not statistically

significant.

Table 12 reveals that nearly four-fifths (78.6%) of research participants who disagree that children need to reunify with their biological parents are female. Similarly,

85.2% of participants who agree that children need to reunify with their biological parents are also female. There is no significant relationship between participant’s age and their perspectives regarding the need for children to reunify with their biological parents.

In Table 13, 90% of participants between the age group of 18-25 agree that social workers should report to the Dependency Court on the theoretical concepts applied in the reunification process. Over three-fifths (77.8%) of research participants who disagree that social workers should report to the Dependency Court on the theoretical concepts applied in the reunification process are over the age of 26 years old. The age demographic and the theories applied in dependency court variable were not statistically significant.

Table 14 shows that of participants who disagree that 18 months is more than enough time for parents to address reunification issues, over two-thirds (69%) identify as non-white. Over two-fifths (42.3%) of participants who agree that 18 months is more than enough time for parents to address reunification identify as being white. There was no statistical significance.

Table 12

Children Need to Reunify vs Gender

Gender of Participants Female Male Total Children Need to Agree Count 46 8 54 Reunify % within Children Need to with their biological Reunify with their biological Parents Parents 85.2% 14.8% 100.0%

% within Gender of Participants 80.7% 72.7% 79.4%

% of Total 67.6% 11.8% 79.4% Disagree Count 11 3 14 % within Children Need to Reunify with their biological Parents 78.6% 21.4% 100.0%

% within Gender of Participants

19.3% 27.3% 20.6%

% of Total 4.4% 20.6% 16.2% Total Count 57 11 69 % within Children Need to Reunify with their biological 83.8% 16.2% 100.0% Parents % within Gender of Participants 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

% of Total 83.8% 16.2% 100.0%

Table 13

Reporting to Dependency Court on Theory vs. Age

Social Workers should report to the Dependency Court on the theoretical concepts applied in the reunification process. Agree Disagree Total Age of 18-25 Count 18 2 20 Participants % within Age of Participants 90% 10.0% 100.0%

% within Social Workers should report to the Dependency Court on the 31.6% 22.2% 30.3% theoretical concepts applied in the reunification process. % of Total 27.3% 3.0% 30.3% 26 Count 39 7 46 and % within Age of Participants Over 84.8% 15.2% 100.0% % within Social Workers should report to the Dependency Court on the 68.4% 77.8% 69.7% theoretical concepts applied in the reunification process. % of Total 10.6% 69.7% 59.1% Total Count 57 9 66 % within Age of Participants 86.4% 13.6% 100.0%

% within Social Workers should report to the Dependency Court on the 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% theoretical concepts applied in the reunification process. % of Total 86.4% 13.6% 100.0%

Table 14

18 Months is Enough to Reunify vs. Ethnicity

Ethnicity of Participants White/Eur opean Other Total 18 months is more than Agree Count 11 15 26 enough time for parents to % within 18 months is more address reunification than enough time for parents issues. to address reunification 42.3% 57.7% 100.0% issues.

% within Ethnicity of Participants 45.8% 34.1% 38.2%

% of Total 16.2% 22.1% 38.2% Disag Count 13 29 42 ree % within 18 months is more than enough time for parents to address reunification 31.0% 69.0% 100.0% issues.

% within Ethnicity of Participants 54.2% 65.9% 61.8%

% of Total 42.6% 61.8% 19.1% Total Count 24 44 68 % within 18 months is more than enough time for parents to address reunification 35.3% 64.7% 100.0% issues.

% within Ethnicity of Participants 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

% of Total 35.3% 64.7% 100.0%

Summary

This chapter examined the relationships between different survey items that

measured the perspectives of MSW students at California State University, Sacramento

on the reunification of children with their families. Demographic information on

participants was presented as well as Chi-square tests were conducted between different variables and displayed in table format. The next chapter will discuss the research findings and conclude the current study. Implications for the field of social work will be explored in the next chapter along with recommendations for future studies as well as the limitations of this current research.

Chapter 5

CONCLUSION

In chapter five, the main findings of this research project will be explored, summarized, and concluded. Implications for how the findings can be applied in social work practice at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels will also be discussed as well as recommendation for future social workers, educators, students, researchers, and legislative bodies. To conclude, the limitations of this study will be presented.

Summary of Findings

The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of MSW students on the reunification of children with their families. This researcher surveyed MSW students at

California State University, Sacramento to gain insight into how MSW students view the different factors and other considerations common to the reunification of children with their families. Demographic data was collected on the study participants, including age, ethnicity, and gender. The data previously presented in chapter four analyzed the relationship between responses to different survey items as well as the demographics data gathered. The research results acquired from this research study are important and worthy of attention as there is currently a lack of insight into the perspectives of MSW students on the topic of reunification. This research did not provide many significant correlations between variables; however, a lot of insight and knowledge was acquired regarding

MSW student’s positions on several Child Welfare variables.

The results of the chi-square tests disclosed that only two out of thirteen dependent variable cross tabulations tests resulted in a significant statistical association

77 between variables. The chi-square test also revealed that there was no association between the demographic background of participants and their responses to multiple survey items. Finally, the frequency distribution of responses to the various survey statements shows that there is room for growth, education, and awareness regarding the topic of reunification. MSW student’s responses did not have an aggregate cohesive stance in their perspectives as at times there was contradictions in their responses.

The research found that MSW student perspectives regarding reunification varied.

Four-Fifths (80.3%) of MSW students believe that children need to reunify with their parents; however, other data contradicted that statement because 86.1% of MSW students also agreed that children can thrive just as well with non-related care takers as with their family of origin. Additionally, MSW students were nearly evenly (56.2%) split regarding giving parents a second opportunity to reunify in the case of a relapse or “slip up” in the end of their reunification.

MSW students agree with more intensive interventions for returning CPS clients, housing required in order to reunify, and no drug use at a 50/50 split. Three-fifths (62%) of MSW students also agree to an extent that parents caring for their children is a right not a privilege.

Data further showed that near three-fourth (69.7%) of MSW students to some extent agree with placing children outside of their County of origin while at the same time agreeing to support providing more than 18 months for the family to reunify, especially for families with children above the age of 10 years old. Additionally, MSW student’s perspectives placed importance in a social worker’s cultural competence as

87.7% of MSW students agree that if a worker is not culturally competent, it will lead to disproportionate numbers of minority youth in the child welfare system.

Despite MSW student’s belief and value of cultural competence, MSW students did not feel that the quality of the social worker/client relationship had a connection with the reunification results of a case. In other words, MSW students believe that the outcome of the reunification case is due to the personal resilience of the CPS client. Additionally,

MSW students agree that children are better off staying with family when entering foster care, and are lenient with allowing family/kin of youth with non-violent crimes to foster for their kin.

With regards to case plan completion, MSW student’s perspectives were okay with reunifying a child, even if only one of the parents completed his reunification plan.

After reunifying a child, MSW students agreed that reintegrating a child back into his family of origin would pose issues.

MSW students agreed that client and worker contact is beneficial during reunification and after reunification. Furthermore, MSW students are in favor of CPS social workers presenting to child Dependency Court on the theoretical basis applied in their reunification efforts with their families.

Discussion

The findings gave a lot of insight into MSW student’s perspectives. There are currently three MSW concentrations at Sacramento State, those being health and aging, behavioral health, and children and families. This researcher expected at least one third or

33% of the participants to answer survey questions according to the most up to date

79 research based answer, as those engaged in a children and families’ concentration would have more exposure to CPS issues and the CPS reunification process. Despite this researcher’s expectations, this researcher found that the perspectives of MSW students were not really predictable. For example, this researcher did not expect MSW students to agree that CPS social workers should report to dependency court on the theoretical concepts applied during the reunification process. Additionally, this researcher did not expect MSW students to be okay with placing children outside of their County of origin.

More so, this researcher did not expect MSW students to be advocates for longer reunification periods. Berrick (2009), as cited in Austin, Carnochan, and Lee (2013), notes that the probability of successful family reunification drops significantly after a child has been in care for only 6 months.

Furthermore, the sampling size, age of participants, and sampling method were all influencers that impacted the variability of the data gathered. There were also confounding variables that could have created inconsistencies in the way participants answered the survey questions. For example, the survey statement saying that parents should still be able to reunify if they relapse at the end of their reunification process, depending on the interpretation of the definition of “relapse” or the lack of further explanation could have created a discord in how different participants responded to the question. For example, research participants could have understood the word relapse as a slip up that was addressed, or others could have taken it as a full blown relapse that went back to pre-treatment use. The answers and opinions shared would have been different depending on the interpretation of the given information and the missing information or

lack of explanation. It is also important to remember that research participant’s opinions

were influenced by their culture as it relates to family, socio economic class, personal

upbringing, personal values and beliefs, which all came together to provide the variety of

data received. The data is representative of a sample of 73 conveniently chosen sample

group.

The research findings of this research were both congruent and incongruent with

the findings presented in the literature review, for example D’Andrade (2017) states that

when a child is in a CPS case, a father's involvement and financial help has been

positively connected to higher reunification rates. The research findings however state

that 86.1% of MSW students agree that a child can thrive just as well with a non-related

caretaker as with a family of origin. Additionally, according to Cheryl and Ayon (2004),

the client and counselor relationship is one of the most important factors that will

determine the future success of a case; however, MSW students disagreed at a rate of

94.4% that failed reunification is representative of the quality of the social worker client relationship. The data results were also congruent with the literature review. For example, when Maiter, Palmer & Manji (2006) state that skills in direct practice have yielded a difference in client outcomes and that the work in child welfare be conducted by someone trained to handle human interactions that are potentially explosive and may have lasting traumatic effects. The data confirmed the literature review as 87.7 of MSW participants agreed that lack of a Social Worker’s cultural competence will lead to disproportionate minority youth in Child Welfare Systems. The data confirmed portions of

the literature review but contradicted other portions as shown above. The reason for this

81 could be the difference in population characteristics, assessment instrument, independent variables, the research design, and the procedures followed for the research. This research fills in a gap as there is a vast amount of literature about reunification, but little is known about reunification perspectives specific to MSW students.

The research results reinforce and implement literature review data, as perspectives of MSW students were at times congruent with research results from literature review. For example, Madden et al. (2012), states that in 2005, about half of all children ages 2-14 that were involved with CPS had clinically significant mental health needs. This was congruent with research results stating the MSW students believe that reintegrating a child back into a family of origin would bring many challenges, one of them being mental health issues. A child experiencing the removal from his/her parents is a traumatic experience; therefore, it is rational that children would not be able reintegrate with ease.

On another note, the research data attained in instances contradicted the literature review. The research data stated that MSW students did not believe that reunification results were representative of the worker/client relationship; however, according to

Cheryl and Ayon (2004), the client and counselor relationship is one of the most important factors that will determine the future success of a case. In this example, MSW students appear to embody the pull yourself up by the boot strap idea where success is one’s own to reach. Additionally, this researcher found that MSW students disagree with the statement that having children is a privilege that can be lost. The majority of MSW students at 61.2% disagreed with the literature review findings detailing the amount of

82 investment and necessity that child protection is in the Unites States. According to the

State Policy Advocacy and Reform Center (SPARK) (2017) in 2010, the United States spent 29.4 billion dollars on its child welfare programs. The research data further shows that MSW students believe that parents should have more time to reunify yet, be responsible, not use drugs, pay child support, and intensify services as necessary.

With regards to parent’s engagement, the research finding support the notion that a father’s involvement has been positively connected to higher reunification rates.

Likewise, the research findings show that three-fourths (73.6%) of MSW students are in favor of reunifying a child as long as one of the parents completes the reunification plan.

In the case of government oversight, the literature review shows that the US

President’s fiscal year 2019 budget request estimates Title IV-E foster care maintenance and administrative costs will be at $5.329 billion dollars (Presidents Fiscal Report, 2019).

The research results state that MSW students are in favor of CPS social workers reporting on the theories applied with their individual families in the reunification process. The literature review shows that social workers performances are monitored by AFCARS and

CFSR (Child and family Services Review Team, 2017) but this researcher did not expect

MSW students to support further court oversight of the work with clients. Workers practicing in child welfare may not appreciate having to report on theoretical perspective in court reports, but MSW students in aggregate agree that it is a good idea.

Overall, the research findings show that MSW students agree with regards to the length of services and reinforce some of the present literature review such as the Office of Applied Studies, 2003 as cited in Child Welfare Information Gateway (CWIG), states

that children coming from AOD homes are more likely to experience some type of abuse

or neglect. This literature was reinforced by MSW students being nearly 50/50 split with

agreeing/disagreeing with reunification in the case of a relapse, or being divided in

agreeing/disagreeing that a parent could use drugs and appropriately parent their children.

Implications for Social Work Practice and Policy

Research finding in this area of child protective services work will aid and further enhance the fields understanding of the perspectives of MSW students. MSWs will be qualified candidates to work for Child Protective Services, which makes this a great opportunity for the responsibility of educating, enlightening and sharing these findings with MSW students, CPS employees, and educational staff that influences what MSW students are taught in their programs. The research finding show that there are areas where MSW student’s perspectives are congruent with current literature review, and there are areas where the research findings are against the literature presented. With information that is congruent with current literature review, it serves that it strengthens the field of study in reapplying already assumed knowledge. Furthermore, this research has important implications at the micro, mezzo, and macro level.

At the micro level of social work, this research informs incoming and seasoned

MSW social workers in creating awareness and more empathy on the responsibilities and reunification obstacles that parents engaged in reunification are asked to complete, the goal would be to enhance reunification results by creating a collaborative relationship as

there is a need to increase client power within the client worker relationship as a balance

of power between the client and worker has been deemed integral to the helping

84 relationship (Maiter, Palmer & Manji, 2006). MSW students now have a better feel and consideration of what is being asked of parents, while having the pressure of losing their child’s parental rights. This will in turn inform MSW students and CPS workers and those engaging in work with foster children the need to be aware of their clients need for guidance. This research highlights that the worker client relationship is very important in producing positive reunification results which will impact both micro and mezzo level practice.

This research has implications at the mezzo level of social work practice in that

MSW students, and other social workers working in this field, will have a better understanding when working with families in the reunification process. An implication at the mezzo level is how MSW students are now aware that the placement of a child, or the unforgiven “relapse” will affect the family as the goal within child welfare is to help parents establish a stable and secure parenting relationship where, according to federal and state statutes, reunification, as the most desirable form of permanency, could be established (Child Welfare Council, 2018). By having more knowledge regarding our own personal attitudes and biases, the focus goal of reuniting families will be more in focus which will in turn improve the fields practice with its families.

Data was presented in the research that calls for implications at the macro level of

Social Work practice and policy. Research findings share how MSW students agree that

18 months is not enough time for families to reunify. Furthermore, there was the cohesive

agreement for non-violent family members to be able to foster for their kin. In the end, these issues could only be solved at the macro level with changes in current policy. This

research calls for advocacy at the macro level and informs on possible barriers to reunification, those being a timeline to reunify, non-violent criminal offenders’ inability

to care for their kin, and child placements away from their County of origin. This

research can help create social policy change, which refers to ways of reducing inequalities in access to services for social groups defined by socio-economic status, race,

ethnicity, migration status, gender, sexual orientation, disability and age (Platt, 2019).

Recommendations

There is a vast amount of data related to the reunification of children with their families. This data is special in that it focused on exploring the perspectives of MSW students, who are for the most part yet to experience the process of reunification as reunification case managers. This research was conducted in a quantitative format which limited the amount of information and intricate thought that research participants could express. In order to fill in gaps of this research, this researcher has recommendations associated with future research methods, other populations that could benefit from this research, and other independent and dependent variables that could be explored.

Social Workers

This research has provided a lot of data that can be analyzed and further dissected.

This data was accumulated at one point and time with no pretest or posttest. It is recommended for practicing social workers and aspiring social workers to continue to monitor biases, best practices, and feelings regarding the work they engage. Competency

Four of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW 2017), states that we should always continue to engage in practice informed research and research informed practice.

The work and recommendations made in Juvenile Dependency Court can have negative impacts for the clients being provided services, if the workers biases and personal counter transferences are left unchecked.

Future Research Methods

This researcher recommends that future research on this topic be done in a mixed qualitative and quantitative format so that generalizability of the findings, and conclusions can be explained and more generalizable to greater populations.

Additionally, it is recommended that future research be conducted on a test sample from more than one MSW program so that generalizability is further improved.

Variables

In this study the independent variable was the use and research of the reunification of children with their families. The various attitudes, outlooks, and perspectives that MSW students express regarding this topic constituted the dependent variable. This author is recommending that other variables are explored such as: what are the perspectives of reunification workers on the reunification of children with their families? That change up in research would provide the next step and instead of getting insight into possible future CPS employee candidates, the research would be gathered from the actual CPS Social Workers making the recommendations of reunification or non-reunification. Additionally, instead of perspectives, future research could explore the practices of CPS reunification Social Workers. This recommended research would provide great implications for policy, practice, and compounding beneficial research that would have great potential to improve practice and reunification results.

Other Populations

Aside from working with social workers or MSW students, future research could be redirected at study participants including foster parents, parents having experienced reunification, adults who at one point were engaged in reunification as children, or even reunification social workers who left the reunification social worker position. There are a vast amount of perspectives that can be explored related to the reunification of children with their parents. All of these perspectives when explored would help grow and transform social work practice, theory, and policy related to the reunification of children with their families.

Limitations

The study that this researcher conducted contained several limitations. First of the most notable limitations is that this researcher only analyzed data by cross tabulating variables in pairs related to topics, whereas, there is more room for continued cross tabulations that could potentially have resulted in more statistically significant data.

Additionally, this researcher analyzed the surveys quantitatively, without getting any insight to the rationale for the individually chosen answers, which would have been addressed via a qualitative style interview.

This research is further limited in that the study was done in survey and research participants did not have the option of remaining neutral in their answers. Furthermore, the sampling method applied in this research study was convenient so it limits the generalizability of the findings to Sacramento State MSW student’s demographics.

The method of study was quantitative so this research is limited in the answers

that participants were able to give. The answers to choose from were agree or disagree at

two levels of intensity so there was no room for in between answers or longer more

intricate explanations. This researcher focused on factors related to the reunification of

children with their parents, which limited the research coverage to the width of the topics

that this researcher felt applicable. The topic of reunification of children with their

families is a very intricate and complicated topic with many factors that could have been

included or interchanged. For example, the topic of homelessness was not explored more

in depth, all that was asked was regarding housing as a requirement for reunification.

Additionally, the sample size was 73 participants, with some participants exercising their

right to skip question, to generalize to the greater population, and to influence policy, the

number would have to be much greater, and would have to encompass MSW students

from many geographical locations.

On another note, the validity of the research data may have been affected as research participant’s operationalization and construct of definitions may have effected

their answers and the reliability of the research. As so, the internal validity of the research data may have been effected as this researcher was likely to increase the internal validity

of the research depending on the operationalization of this researcher’s definitions and analysis.

Conclusion

The purpose of this exploratory research study was to explore the perspectives of

MSW students in the reunification of children with their families. It was this author’s

89 intention to uncover or discover trends, congruencies in perspectives, and new research data that would benefit the goal and purpose of reunifying children with their families.

The study findings demonstrate a variety of MSW student’s perspectives regarding the reunification of children with their families. The perspectives of MSW students appear to either impede or benefit the reunification of children with their families. Additionally, there appears to be data that will at times contradict each other which could be due to the difficulty of making decisions that will impact the lives of individuals. The field of child welfare, and the reunification of children with their families is comprised of factors that are often interrelated and do not work alone. A primary implication addressed was that

MSW students should be aware of their perspectives related to child welfare, as negative biases can negatively impact their practice and the decisions or recommendations they make when working with children and families. Despite this study being limited to MSW students from Sacramento State, the study has offered insight into the perspectives of an educated population as it relates to the reunification of children with their families. This insight has the potential to improve practice, education, and future research.

APPENDIX A Research Instrument

Perspectives of MSW students in the reunification of children with their families. The following were terms and definitions used in the survey: -Reunification: When an offending parent/caretaker has his children successfully returned to his care. -Permanency: Branch of CPS responsible for the reunification services ordered by the court. -CWS: Child Welfare Services. -Caseload: Amount of cases that a Social Worker is responsible for managing. -Kin: Ones family and relations. -Dependency Court: The dependency court intervenes on a child's behalf if they are abused or neglected. Background Questions (Circle One) 1. Gender Identity: Female Male Transgender QueerGender Other 2. Ethnicity (circle more than one if applicable) Hispanic/Latino/a Asian Black White/European Other 3. Age: 18-25 26-35 36-55 56 or older Circle the response that most closely matches your opinion or experience: 4. Children need to reunify with their biological parents. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 5. Children can thrive just as well with non-related caretakers as with a family of origin. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 6. Failed reunification is representative of the quality of the social worker client relationship. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

7. 18 months is more than enough time for parents to address reunification issues. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 8. Families with children above 10 years old should have more than 18 months to reunify. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 9. Family members with non-violent crimes should be allowed to be foster parents for their kin. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 10. A relapse near the end of reunification services should not prevent a family from reunifying. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 11. Parents with a CWS case history should have more intensive services the second time engaged in services. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 12. It should not be allowed for children to be placed with caregivers outside of their County of origin. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 13. Youth in juvenile correction facilities should be allowed to participate in reunification services despite having been detained. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 14. Lack of a social worker’s cultural competence will lead to disproportionate numbers of minority youth in the child welfare system. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 15. Children removed from a family can be re-integrated back at any time without an issue. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

16. Once a family has reunified, the family should stop contact with Child Welfare

agencies. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 17. Reunification social workers should have some type of communication with a

reunifying parent at least once a week. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 18. Social Workers should report to Dependency Court on the theoretical concepts applied in the reunification process with their individual families. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 19. Parents in reunification should not have to pay child support money. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 20. It is possible for parents to use drugs and appropriately parent their children. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 21. Children engaged with child welfare agencies come from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 22. Parents caring for their children is a right, not a privilege. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 23. It is reasonable to ask parents to have housing while completing reunification services. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 24. Children should be able to reunify with their parents/family members as long as one of the caretakers completes their reunification plan. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

APPENDIX B Letter of Informed Consent STUDY TITLE: Perspectives of MSW students in the reunification of children with their families. My name is Juan Carlos Vega and I am a second year graduate student in the Division of Social Work program at California State University, Sacramento. I am also a student in the Title IV-E program and my interest is in child welfare. I would like for you to participate in this research study because you have a very unique and important position and your thoughts and experiences are important. The objective and purpose of this study is to gain a good understanding of the thoughts and perspectives of MSW students with regards to reunification. If you decide to participate in this study, please complete the following survey. This survey shouldn’t take more than 15-20 minutes to complete. There are no direct benefits or incentives for your participation in this study. However, knowledge gained from this study will contribute to the general understanding and awareness on reunification and the perspectives of MSW students on the topic of reunification. There are no know sociological or economic risks associated with your participation in this study. The questions in the survey ask about your opinions, experiences, and perspectives on the topic of reunification. There is a minimal risk that you may not feel comfortable in answering the questions on the topic of reunification. You may skip any questions that you do not feel comfortable answering. Because you will be submitting this survey in paper around other MSW students, there is a possibility that someone may see your answers, which in turn could compromise your confidentiality. Your identity will remain anonymous to the researchers and your survey answers will be kept confidential at all times. Any data collected will only be reported in a collective overall manner. Other measures taken to ensure confidentiality include keeping all collected surveys locked in a safe secure location in the home of the researcher. Additionally, any electronic data will be kept encrypted with a password to maintain the highest level of confidentiality. All tangible descriptive data will be destroyed by or before the date of August 31 2019. You are free to withdraw your consent or participation in this study at any time. You may skip any questions that make you feel uncomfortable. By you choosing to complete and turn in this survey, you are giving us your implied consent therefore agreeing to participate in this study. You are highly appreciated for taking the time to complete this survey. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, my email is [email protected] and my phone number is (xxx) xxx-xxxx. You may also contact Maria Dinis, Ph. D., MSW, the project advisor/chair, at (916) 278-7167, or [email protected]. For questions about your rights as a participant in this research study, please call the Office of Research Affairs, California State University, Sacramento, (916) 278-5674, or email [email protected].

I have read the descriptive information on the Research participant cover letter. I understand that my participation is completely voluntary. My completion of the survey and handing it into the researchers implies that I am agreeing to participate in the above named study. I have the option of keeping this copy of the Research Participation cover letter for my records.

APPENDIX C Email to Professors

Dear Professor ______,

My name is Juan Carlos Vega and I am an MSW II student working on my thesis. I am a title IV-E student and for my research question I am exploring “What are the perspectives of MSW students on the reunification of children with their parents?”. My research consists of a 24 questions survey that is to be completed by MSW students of Sacramento State. I am humbly asking for your cooperation and permission in allowing me to inform your students of the opportunity to participate in my research at the end of your class period. The students that chose to participate may stay a few extra minutes once class is over. The completion of this survey will take no longer that 10-15 minutes. If a few minutes at the end of your class time is an inconvenience I am offering to provide you the surveys so that you may hand them out to your students to be completed on their own time and to be turned in outside of Professor Dini’s office in Mariposa Hall #4021. Attached in this email you will find the survey and letter of informed consent that will be handed out.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. My personal cellphone number is XXX-XXX-XXXX and my email is [email protected]. My thesis advisor on this project is Maria Dinis who may be contacted at (916) 278-7167, or [email protected].

Sincerely, Juan Carlos Vega

APPENDIX D Human Subjects Committee Approval Letter

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO DIVISION OF SOCIAL WORK

To: Juan Carlos Vega Date: January 3, 2018

From: Research Review Committee

RE: HUMAN SUBJECTS APPLICATION

Your Human Subjects application for your proposed study, “Perspectives of MSW Students on the reunification of children with their parents”, is Approved as Exempt. Discuss your next steps with your thesis/project Advisor.

Your human subjects Protocol # is: 18-19-056. Please use this number in all official correspondence and written materials relative to your study. Your file will be shredded three years from this approval date. Approval carries with it that you will inform the Committee promptly should an adverse reaction occur, and that you will make no modification in the protocol without prior approval of the Committee.

The committee wishes you the best in your research.

Research Review Committee members Professors Maria Dinis, Serge Lee, Kisun Nam, Francis Yuen, Jennifer Wolf, Arturo Baiocchi, Teiahsha Bankhead

Cc: Dinis

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