Sivistyksen ja soten yhteistyö kunnissa

Service integration has become essential way of the production of customer friendly and cost-effective municipal services. Recently, there has been also endeavors to extend service integration from social and health sectors to the education sector. This study pursues to increase the general understanding of the expanded service integration and to develop a framework that can be used in evaluating its nature and depth. The empirical data of the study comes from a survey targeted to the leaders in the health, social and education sectors. The focus is on child and family services. While on the general level the analysis indicates a deepening integration of services, the historical boundaries between the different sectors make the service integration difficult. The managers from the health and social sectors hold a more positive view of the current situation compared to their colleagues in education, which reflects longer experience of service integration in these sectors

MacKillop Family Services’ Family Preservation and Reunification Response for Vulnerable Families—Protocol for an Effectiveness-Implementation Study

International evidence supports the effect of intensive family preservation and reunification services in preventing children’s placement in out-of-home care (OOHC). Evidence within Australia is scarce. This protocol paper describes a hybrid effectiveness-implementation evaluation of the Victorian Family Preservation and Reunification (FPR) Response implemented by MacKillop Family Services. Participants include families engaged in the program and staff involved in program delivery. A pre-post study design will be used to assess the effectiveness of the FPR in improving family outcomes from intake to closure, including: (i) parenting knowledge, skills, and capability; (ii) family safety and home environment; (iii) child development, adolescent behaviour, education attendance and attachment; (iv) connection to services; and (v) prevention of children from entering or re-entering OOHC. Interviews and focus groups will be conducted with staff to evaluate the program’s fidelity, reach, feasibility, acceptability, and enablers and barriers to implementation. Quantitative data will be analysed using descriptive statistics and a series of paired-samples t-tests and F tests to examine changes in outcomes over time; thematic analysis will be used for qualitative data. If the FPR can yield significant improvements in families’ outcomes, this would provide strong support for its scale-up across Australia, to better support vulnerable families.

Development and Evaluation of an Innovative Web-based Training, Learning, and Sharing (i-TLS) Platform for Social Workers: Hong Kong Jockey Club SMART Family-Link Project (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Information and communication technology (ICT) use may enhance social work practice and continuous professional development. Under the Hong Kong Jockey Club SMART Family-Link project, we developed an innovative web-based training, learning, and sharing (i-TLS) platform to support ICT and other learning needs of Hong Kong social workers in family services. OBJECTIVE We developed i-TLS with 3 major components (i-Training, i-Learning, and i-Sharing) and assessed the acceptability and impact on facilitating ICT use in family services. METHODS We described i-TLS development based on a 4-phase model from platform design, development, implementation to maintenance. We evaluated i-TLS via platform database, Google Analytics, a self-administered survey, and individual phone interviews 1 year after launching. RESULTS i-TLS was launched to 26 Integrated Family Service Centers (IFSCs) and Integrated Services Centers (ISCs) operated by 12 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on 1 July 2019. The outbreak of COVID-19 started in December 2019 limited face-to-face services, which catalyzed the urgent needs of digital transformation in social work practice. By 31 July 2020, 313 social workers (23 supervisors, 290 frontline workers) had registered with i-TLS. The platform database showed 79.6% (249/313) users accessed i-TLS at least once in the last 28 days, with on average 3.2 platform visits per day viewing 4.8 pages per visit. i-Training provided 41 training mini-modules in applying ICT to family services from counseling, program design, implementation to evaluation. Of 730 enrolments in total, 70.0% (511/730) completed the mini-modules and were awarded digital mini-certificates. i-Learning provided 112 items of learning resources centered around ICT use and family services and had nearly 4000 page views recorded from Google Analytics. i-Sharing had a total of 25 discussion threads with 59 posts. 53.7% (168/313) users completed the 1-year evaluation survey, including 12 who participated in the phone interviews. The mean i-TLS satisfaction score (out of 10) increased from light (4.99) to occasional (6.15) and frequent (6.31) users. Frequent users showed higher scores (out of 10) than light users for an increase in knowledge (5.84 versus 4.09; P<.001), self-efficacy (5.23 versus 3.96; P=.02), and knowledge application (6.46 versus 1.91; P<.001). From the phone interviews, users reported increased ICT use in family services, despite some practical barriers. i-TLS was perceived as an acceptable and supportive tool for learning and practice in family services, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSIONS We have first reported the development and evaluation of a newly developed web-based learning platform (i-TLS) for social workers in family services. The results provided preliminary evidence of using i-TLS to support social workers’ continuous learning and ICT-enhanced services. Accessibility to self-directed and collaborative learning is essential for optimizing social workers’ learning. Further research on enhancing web-based platforms is needed to expand participation and capacity building of social workers and other related professionals. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04034420; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04034420

Looking back- Looking forward: messages from experienced social workers for the recently qualified

This paper first briefly scopes what is known about social workers who make a long-term commitment to working within child and family services, and possible explanations why some choose to remain long-term within this service setting. It then reports on the response of 32 long-serving social workers from 9 countries to an open-questions survey about the messages they would want to pass on to beginning social workers. The thematic analysis seeks to tease out the motivations, rewards and strategies that are associated with those who, in different country contexts, remain committed to and find satisfaction in child and family work. Whilst identifying similar themes to those reported in earlier publications on why some social workers leave and others stay, it adds to the still comparatively limited literature reporting on career-long child and family social workers.

Perceptions of family acceptance into the military community among U.S. LGBT service members: A mixed-methods study

Lay Summary There are approximately 16,000 families of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) service members in the U.S. military, but very little is known about how accepted they feel in the communities in which they live. This study begins to address this question by considering the perspectives of LGBT service members, which they shared both in response to an online survey and in interviews. Findings suggest that many service members believe their spouses and families are accepted by their chain of command. However, a smaller but important group continued to express concerns about their family being accepted in their military community. Many service members appear concerned that family services available to them through the military are not appropriate for LGBT families. Altogether, this article highlights the need for more research to understand the well-being and needs of this group.

‘You withhold what you are feeling so you can have a family’: Latinas’ perceptions on community values and postpartum depression

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to explore the postpartum depression (PPD) beliefs and experiences of mothers who access local community faith-based organisations providing family services to low-income, predominantly immigrant Latino populations.DesignUsing a qualitative research design, we conducted 18 focus groups with Latina mothers to inquire about their community values and beliefs of PPD. All groups were conducted in Spanish.SettingAn academic research team located in Houston, Texas, USA, partnered with six faith-based organisations in five cities to recruit and host focus groups at the site of the organisation.ParticipantsOne hundred and thirty-three women participated in the focus groups across all sites. Thirty-seven of them (27.8%) had given birth to a child in less than 1 year. Inclusion criteria included mothers 18 years and older and Latino ethnicity.ResultsA six-step process was used to apply thematic analysis to sort data into the themes. All mothers had heard of depression after childbirth, some had experienced it and most remarked that the personal experience and community acceptance of it vary by family. The main findings suggest that mothers take pride in parenting by instilling values to support family and the value of relying on family for emotional support. Findings reveal that many mothers suffer and sacrifice for their children, they feel judged and feel they must hide their emotions. Factors such as birth and postpartum customs from a native country, gender roles and beliefs of what a good mother shape their beliefs and messages about PPD.ConclusionOur findings indicate that programme developers should consider family and community focused education and intervention efforts to help decrease stigma and increase understanding of PPD.

Separated Minors In Ontario: The ONes Who Fall Between Laws

With Canada becoming more accessible due to travel, the number of separated minors fleeing to Ontario is increasing. Under provincial legislation Child and Family Services Act, Ontario’s child protection system unfortunately only has an age of protection up to 16 years. Consequently any separated minor arriving in Ontario who is 16 or 17 years old is left unprotected and alone. This paper will explore the settlement experiences of these specific separated minors through two perspectives. The opinions and criticisms of associates who work with Ontario’s protection system and with separated minors will be explored, as well as the lived experiences of separated minors settling in Ontario will be examined. Ultimately this paper will highlight the importance of protection for all minors up to the age of 18.

Separated Minors In Ontario: The ONes Who Fall Between Laws

With Canada becoming more accessible due to travel, the number of separated minors fleeing to Ontario is increasing. Under provincial legislation Child and Family Services Act, Ontario’s child protection system unfortunately only has an age of protection up to 16 years. Consequently any separated minor arriving in Ontario who is 16 or 17 years old is left unprotected and alone. This paper will explore the settlement experiences of these specific separated minors through two perspectives. The opinions and criticisms of associates who work with Ontario’s protection system and with separated minors will be explored, as well as the lived experiences of separated minors settling in Ontario will be examined. Ultimately this paper will highlight the importance of protection for all minors up to the age of 18.