This article calls for research on the expertise of youth development practitioners. We argue for studies focused on understanding youth practice from practitioners' points of view--as they experience and enact it--with the aim of contributing findings and frameworks that are helpful to their work and learning. To improve youth programs, first, it…

For many years, schools of social work have engaged in partnerships, especially with public child welfare agencies, to prepare a competent and professional child welfare workforce through the mechanism of Title IV-E training. In 2008 the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI) established an additional resource for preparing students in…

Single Stop U.S.A.'s Community College Initiative was designed to improve the well-being of low-income communities by connecting individuals to public benefits and other institutional and community resources to address nonacademic barriers to college completion. Through offices located on community college campuses, Single Stop provides students…

Extended-stay hotels are housing solutions for some older adults on the fringe of street homelessness. Research indicates that these environments can produce negative health outcomes for older adults. Strategies for managing negative environmental conditions must be identified to help older adults manage health outcomes. This paper describes a…

While high school graduation rates are on the rise nationwide, too many students still never reach that milestone, with 7,000 on average dropping out every day. Recognizing that many students need additional support to succeed in school, Communities In Schools (CIS) works to provide and connect students with integrated support services to keep…

The Teaching-Family Model was one of the earliest approaches to be supported by an extensive research base. As it has evolved over four decades, it retains the focus on teaching and learning but incorporates a strength- and relationship-based orientation. The model is also unique in gathering ongoing practice-based evidence to insure quality.

A formidable body of recent literature advocates the incorporation of spirituality into the bio-psycho-social framework of social work education and practice. No consistent conceptualization of spirituality has been developed, however, that can be used with all clients and that is fully consonant with social work values as taught in schools of…

The sociopolitical movement to enhance youth workers' occupational status and related emoluments strategically links this goal to competency-based assessment. While the goals of improved conditions, remuneration, and career opportunities for workers is supported, the joining of those goals to both professionalization and in turn competency-based…

Medical and technological advances in neonatology have prompted the initiation and expansion of developmentally supportive services for newborns and have incorporated rehabilitation professionals into the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) multidisciplinary team. Availability of therapists specialized in the care of neonates, the roles of…

Across the United States, researchers and youth workers alike have identified an increasing number of civically engaged youth who are organizing to improve their communities and schools. By taking an action-oriented approach, these youth are speaking back to the notion that they are uninvolved in society. This interview-based study explores the…

Approximately 20% of children in the United States experience significant mental, emotional, or behavioral symptoms that would qualify them for a psychiatric diagnosis (Burns et al., 1995; Costello et al., 2003). Unfortunately, only 15%-30% of these children receive any type of help or support (Ringel & Sturm, 2001; United States Public Health…

The volume of minority students entering colleges and universities will increase significantly over the next thirty-five years. Many of these students are statistically under-prepared both academically and socially for the higher education environment. To meet the needs of current and future minority students, particularly those from African…

Too many students drop out and never earn their high school diploma. For students at risk of dropping out, academic, social, and other supports may help. "Communities In Schools" seeks to organize and provide these supports to at-risk students in the nation's poorest-performing schools, including through "case-managed"…

Case management is a functional area in higher education and student affairs that emerged after the mass shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007. Although new to higher education, case management emerged from established social work practice. This article compares social work theory and case management standards with a new case management model for…

School social workers approach their direct practice from ecological systems and justice-oriented perspectives. As such, they may hold a critical role in providing needed sexual health and dating education and services to adolescents with disabilities. Thirteen high school social workers who work closely with adolescents with disabilities were…