Research
Proposal: What are the effects of parents who were involved in child welfare as
children on recidivism for children currently in foster care?
Kimberly
Owens and Madison Nadler
University
of Oregon
FHS
420: Research in Human Services
10 March
2011
Abstract
The problem under investigation is whether or not parents whose children
are now involved with child welfare have once themselves been apart of the
foster care system. In this quantitative
and qualitative research study, participation will be voluntary and it is
intended to formulate findings that are generalizable and specific, as well as
construct theories based on the results.
Current caseworkers will include the questionnaire separately along with
the ICWA forms so that clients may independently decide whether or not to participate. The population for the study is parents who
are current clients of the Department of Human Services in Lane County, Oregon.
The questionnaire will be anonymous, as the identities of participants are not
a focus of the study. Sampling includes
five caseworkers will hand out questionnaires as their clients complete
paperwork. In order to maintain a large
diverse population, two of five caseworkers will be bilingual. Each caseworker
has approximately sixteen to eighteen cases at a time, and this study will be
evaluated at six months to make adjustments and then continue on for another
six months. The implications of this
study vary considering the vulnerability of the population and the reliability
of responses due to social bias and stigma. However, it can be implied that
there is a high correlation between the recidivism rates between parents who
have once been apart of the foster care system and their children entering the
system.
Introduction
The problem that this research
study is rooted and thus addresses are the various types of child abuse,
including, but not limited to, physical abuse, sexual abuse, drug/alcohol
abuse, behavioral problems, inadequate housing, abandonment, and/or neglect by
parents, relatives, or others. With a staggering amount of children in today’s
foster care system, it is necessary for agencies and
policymakers to research and evaluate the effectiveness of the system to
nurture healthy children and adults (Williams et al., 2006). This research study is designed to portray
the current system and where it is failing to nurture healthy adults after
experiencing the foster care system. The
government exerts a fair amount of time and energy into direct services for
children in foster care, however, the government can use this study to decipher
the needs of long term services and support for children exiting the system. Child
Welfare Information Gateway (2008) estimated approximately one-third of abused
and neglected children will eventually victimize their own children creating a
vicious cycle of abuse. Unfortunately, a
substantial number of foster youth have troubles transitioning to adulthood
because of the effects of child maltreatment, frequent changes in foster homes
and school systems, and lack of life skill preparation services (Williams et
al., 2006). The lack of life skills
preparation causes difficulty in a smooth transition, especially into
parenthood. The
Midwest Evaluation of Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth (2009) study
interviewed adults who were removed from unsafe homes as children and were
placed permanently in foster care. The data concluded that these adults were
most likely to identify their biological mother as the main source of their
information and understanding of good parenting. As children model after
their parents, living in an abusive environment deters healthy patterns later
on. As former foster care youth transition into adulthood and become parents
themselves they may lack experience of living and functioning in a healthy and
safe family. As former foster care youth
continue on to have families of their own, this study will provide policy
makers an idea of what needs to be done to help former foster care youth long term,
as they leave the system and transition into adulthood. Long life span studies will gain a more
comprehensive understanding of the relationship between parents formally in
foster care and their children who are currently in foster care. However, due to monetary constraints, it can
be difficult to conduct highly reliable and valid studies that have a long life
span. Our study will be conducted over one
year, with a review and evaluation at the six-month mark. It is evident that reliable and valid research
in this area is key to improving our ability to protect children in generations
to come (Fluke, 2008). Considering the
vicious cycle is what continues the generations to be negatively effected, this
research study will provide insight and hopefully gain awareness for the
government to pay closer attention in improving long term service and support
for people affected by the foster care system.
Child protective service (CPS) agencies, law enforcement, and the
dependency court are the systems within the United States, which mandate and
protect children from harm. When
children are removed from their homes they are often placed into foster care
which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2009) defines as
any “24 hour substitute care for children outside their own homes.” The overall
goal of the child welfare is to keep the child in foster care for a limited
time to enable the agency to work with the family to reestablish a stable and
safe home in order to reunify the child and the parent(s). Addressing sensitive and personal family
issues, how do communities measure the effectiveness of the agencies
responsible for uniting families and raising children? Long-term social science research and study
offers insight and answers to such a question, “What are the effects of
parents who were in foster care as children on recidivism for children
currently in foster care?”
Literature Review
Critical issues
The research question attempts to examine
recidivism of the rate of children in foster care now whose parents had
also previously been in foster care as children. Abusive parents often have
experienced abuse during their own childhoods. Many of the children in foster
care are raised in unsafe, abusive, and/or neglectful household environments.
Once child welfare removes a child from a home, children often lack stability
and face difficulty establishing positive long-term relationships with adults. Values, attitudes, and behaviors of parents are
transmitted to their children through the parenting process. Without proper
intervention the learned unhealthy parenting behavior can continue to cycle
through the generations. Research supports a need for policies and practices,
which give efficient preparation prior to reunification (Johnson-Reid, 2003). Follow-up
studies are necessary to assess the efficacy of foster care in how well these
agencies have prepared youth for adulthood (Williams et al., 2006). Without
studying the long-term adult development outcomes and recidivism rates we
severely compromises our ability to know how much benefit child welfare has
provided (Kerman et al., 2002). This literature review will synthesize previous
peer reviewed studies relating to the adult outcomes of foster care. By
reviewing the work of past studies we will gain vital knowledge necessary to
develop a more effective research proposal.
Strongly supported conclusions
It is essential to review literature of
previous research in order to understand the most recent findings and insure
the reliability and validity for your study (Rubin & Babbie, 2010). There
are many prominent and consistent conclusions throughout recent research. A
fundamental assumption is that examining the adult outcomes of children in
foster care will help gain vital information regarding the effectiveness of
current interventions (Litrownik et al., 2003). Repeated involvement with child
welfare is a legitimate concern to agencies, government, and communities. The
reduction in all aspects of repeated involvement with child welfare would be a
positive development for these agencies (DePanfilis & Zuravin, 2002). A very prevalent finding is the connection
between children who come from maltreating homes developing aggressive
behaviors throughout life. The Midwest Evaluation of Adult Functioning of
Former Foster Youth (2009) study interviewed adults who were removed from
unsafe homes as children and were placed permanently in foster care. The data
concluded that these adults were most likely to identify their biological
mother as the main source of their information and understanding of good
parenting. These findings seem to “give off the impression” that parenting
techniques and behaviors are passed on to children from the beginning of their
development. Outcomes for Youth Adults Who Experienced Foster Care (2002)
concluded similar findings. In this study children who had unstable and
unhealthy relationships with their parents before foster care continued to have
unstable relationships through adulthood even while protective factors such as
residence, school, peer group, and neighborhood changed. Another significant conclusion throughout
previous research studies showed that long-term developmental outcomes were
influenced by various factors. Some of these complex differences include the
age that the child entered foster care, the length of time spent in foster
care, the interventions that each child received, and the ending placement of
the child into permanent foster care or reunification to parents (Rusby, 2010).
An underlying conclusion among all of the previous research is that within this
work there are many complex factors to consider. The previous research stressed
the importance of maintaining detailed and in depth measurements in order to
gain the most reliable and valid results as possible.
Research evidence that is inclusive or contradictory
Finding peer reviewed research that was
directly relevant to the research question was a difficult task and had some
inconclusive findings. As previously mentioned there are many different factors
that influence the development into adulthood. Creating a study that is
comprehensive and multifaceted is a difficult task. Another factor contributing
to inconclusive research is the complexity of studying long-term outcomes (McDonald,
1996). External validity is limited in these studies for multiple reasons.
Child welfare agencies have different laws and systems for recording
information from state to state. Also long term studies need people to follow
through and continue to participate to the end of the study. Studies from one state whose sample size
greatly decreases overtime have limited external validity in a national
perspective. Some of the research findings concluded that the child welfare
agencies are not effectively assisting their clients. The Midwest Evaluation of
the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth (2009) found that foster youth are
not acquiring the life skills needed to become productive adults. Overall the
literature brought awareness to the complexity long-term studies of foster care
recidivism.
Strengths in research methodology
Previous studies recognized the complexity
of research methodology and attempted to retrieve data in the most reliable
valid way. The Effect of Services on Research on the Reoccurrence of Child
Maltreatment (2002) used a coding system to record data from child welfare
records. All of the people coding were trained together and each case would be
coded by one person and then edited by a second coder. When discrepancies
appeared between coders the project director would decide it. Another method to
help the effectiveness of a long-term study is to start the research with
children who are aging out of foster care right now. The Enhancing Validity of
Foster Care Follow- Up Studies (2006) recommended finding a large sample size
of participants who agree to continue through the long study. By starting off
with a large sample size there is room for people to drop out without a
significant impact on the study. In order to maintain contact with the
participants, this study would send out birthday cards once a year. These
birthday cards would also ask the client to respond back to verify their
address and contact information. Previous research has attempted to develop
methodology that addresses the reality of the complex difficulties while still
effectively gaining reliable and valid data.
Weakness in research methodology
The long-term study of foster care
recidivism is complex leading to flaws in the methodology of the previous
research. A common weakness in methodology is the wide range of factors that
influence development into adulthood that has been mentioned throughout this
paper. Age of placement, interventions, and length of time in foster care are
just some examples of data collection. Trying to get random sample sizes is
also difficult because it is hard to locate adults who were formally in foster
care. As children many of these people came from low socioeconomic backgrounds.
As children they might have not had a steady cell phone number or a steady
address to contact. Over time many of these people will have changed their residence
location, moved out of state, and gone through periods of homelessness. As
adults some people will have changed their last names. It can be extremely
difficult to find a sample size of adults that reflects the randomly selected
variety of clients when they were children. A huge discrepancy with this
research is the different methods used to collect the data. Depending on the
specific research question at hand each study used different quantitative and
qualitative methods. Some studies used state wide automated systems that take
case files and organize them in qualitative categories. Other studies used
coding and quantitative methods for data collection by assigning numbers to
represent different levels of their variables. Other studies preferred to do
structured qualitative interviews with the adults. Chi-squared analyses were
popular ways to analyze the data. Every study’s methodology was different and
addressed their research question as effectively as possible. The wide range of
the data collection process and analysis limits the external validity of
comparing all of these studies. Although there were flaws in the research
methodology, the intent is not to be overly critical but to show that creating
a reliable and valid method of data collection is difficult to accomplish.
Implication or needs for additional research
Previous studies on the recidivism of
foster care all express the need for additional research. Child welfare
agencies work with extremely diverse populations and social science research is
always important to continue measuring agencies’ effectiveness. Most of the
research on adults formally in foster care is limited to a short time period
after foster care. This tactic is less costly than long term follow up studies,
which are more difficult to fund and complete effectively. It is extremely
important that research on adults formally in foster care continue in order to
stop any patterns of recidivism. Long life span studies will gain a more
comprehensive understanding of the relationship between parents formally in
foster care and their children who are currently in foster care. It is evident
that reliable and valid research in this area is key to improving our ability
to protect children in generations to come (Fluke, 2008).\
Research that
supports the research question
Recidivism of foster care placement
through generations raises questions about the effectiveness of the services
that are currently being implemented. By indicating patterns of repeat
involvement, human service professionals can improve services to gain more
positive results. There are so many different factors involved in development
from a child to an adult and all of the previous studies recognize the
importance of long-term research of recidivism.
Research that is inconclusive or contradictory to the
research question
The majority of the studies relating to
the topic of foster care recidivism focus on adulthood for a short time after
exiting foster care. The results and data from these studies are somewhere
inconclusive because they fall short of observing the long term affects. The
chronosystem from the ecological model focuses on how a person’s different
systems change over time. The social service field is lacking a study of the
life span development of formally placed foster adults. Child welfare agencies
today implement many types of intervention that attempt to make safe and
healthy families for children and parents. Unfortunately there has not been a
comprehensive study to truly evaluate the long-term consequences of all of
these interventions. Also the complexity and money needed for funding creates
conflicts in creating reliable and valid methodologies. Recent studies give
important insight to the research question, but are also inconclusive in the external
validity of long-term studies.
Additional research to answer the research question
“The importance of research
lies not only in describing the youth served, the services and care they
received, where they went at case closure, and what happened after exiting
care, but also in identifying which factors and program components are
associated with successful outcomes” (Williams et al., 2006). A study
must examine all aspects of their development from the exiting stage all the
way to parenthood. Our general ignorance on long-term adult
developmental outcomes severely compromises our ability to know the
generational benefits child welfare has provided. Studying the effects
of parents who were in foster care as children on recidivism for children currently
in foster care will show effectiveness as well as provide data for further
improvement and development of child welfare services.
Proposed Methodology
Research Design
The
knowledge of past studies is used to create the most reliable and valid methodology
for the research. It is important to create a research design that addresses
the research question directly while being respectful to this vulnerable
population. Every aspect of the research design helps explore the topic so we
can better understand any patterns of recidivism within foster care. The
population that we are researching includes all parents within Lane County that
have an open case with the Child Welfare Department. These parents who have
children that are ward of the state of Oregon are the overall sample population
we are examining. Our study hopes to assess the community’s needs by conducting
a careful large-scale survey of these parents. The sample will then hopefully
represent the overall population so we can assess patterns and correlations
that relate to that specific community. The research design is quantitative and
qualitative in order to give the research a wide perspective looking into this
multifaceted issue.
Quantitative
The
first part of the research will be quantitative in order to produce a general
finding that is precise and specific. The main part of the study is to sample
parents in foster care and find out if they were foster care as children. In
order to study this properly the immediate question is yes or no, were you in
involved with child welfare as a child? We could record this research by
administer the number 0 to someone who said they were never involved with child
welfare and then we would administer a 1 to someone who says they were
involved. By using a nominal categorical variable we give each of the answers a
number and are more easily able assess the results. When we record the number
of our sample and then compute the number of people who answered yes, we can
clearly see the number of people in comparison to the overall sample size. The
reason it is important to ask an immediate quantitative question is to see if a
pattern truly exists. Recidivism and repetition of violence and neglect in what
we are trying to study. The first part of that is to see if there is any
correlation or relationship between violence and repeat offenses. By asking a
quantitative question we can easily determine if there is a large group of
recidivism. If there seems to be a pattern, like past studies on this topic
would lead us to believe, then it would be crucial to have the participant also
fill out a qualitative questionnaire to address all of the aspects of this
relationship. We understand that there every case is different and we
acknowledge the importance of looking at all of these factors, but first we
must focus on the quantitative question. The research is designed to have the
parent answer yes or no about whether they were ever involved with Child
Welfare as children. The hard part about this question is that many different
concerns can come up trying to answer that one question. What if a child was
too young to remember or what does being “involved with Child Welfare” mean to
that person? We recognize that the question is not perfectly clear so we would
tell the participants that they should mark yes if they at all remember any
type of involvement with child welfare for them or their family. Once the
question is answered there will be a follow up set of questions, but these next
questions will only need to be answered if the participant says yes that they
have been in foster care as a child. The next set of questions will address
qualitative information, but only for the individuals who apply which is why it
is necessary to ask the primary quantitative question.
Qualitative
Past
social science research as concluded that violence and abuse is something that
seems to repeat and pass down through generations. Cycle of abuse and violence
continue to be a problem in society making it very hard to effectively study its
complexities. Prior studies lead us to believe that we will find a high number
of parents who were previously in foster care. If the initial question
concludes this information the next question is to find the patterns and
factors that are most influential. Qualitative studies are designed to be more
comprehensive in order to gain a deeper understanding of the question. The
second part of the questionnaire will include more specific questions regarding
their time in foster care as a child. The questionnaire will ask questions
about date of involvement, county and state, period of removal, reason for
removal, type of foster care home, and end placement. These questions will give
us a deeper understanding of the background behind each of these cases and will
give us an opportunity to see any patterns or similarities. The questions will
be asked with lines underneath for room to write. We think it is important for
the survey to let them explain the story their own way instead of marking
pre-made options. It is important to remember that there are different
circumstances for every person and they need the opportunity to explain their
own story.
The
most effective qualitative questionnaire would with the use contingency
questions. A contingent question is one that is asked only if the individual
answers yes to the previous question.
This would be the most effective way to deal with the population because
the parents would not have to waste any extra time reading the questions that apply.
If an individual begins by saying they were never involved with Child Welfare
as a kid then they do not have to continue on and answer the other questions.
We believe this is an effective way to make sure our clients aren’t bothered
any more than they would be. Organizing questions into a contingency format
makes it more clear for the participant. In order to gain the most reliable and
valid data that addresses all aspects of recidivism, it is necessary to have
both a quantitative and qualitative questionnaire.
Research Design and Research
Question
The
research design is meant to most effectively answer out research question, what
are the effects of parents who were involved in child welfare as children on
recidivism for children currently in foster care? The independent variable is
the demographic factor that is being studied. In our research question the
independent variable is parents who were involved with child welfare as
children. The dependent variable is the outcome that we are measuring in the
study and the factor that is being affected. The dependent variable in our
question is recidivism rates, or more specifically the repeat offense of
violence, neglect, and abuse. The population we are studying is the children
who are currently involved with Child Welfare Services in Lane County. We start
with this population and the study goes on to research the past experiences of
these children’s parents. When we deal with any group it is important to
understand the population and all their different characteristics. Information
that should also be recorded during the study includes the age, sex, gender
identity, ethnicity, education level, SES, disability, and language of the
participants. It is crucial to recognize these individual differences, which
help gain a better understanding of the participants, and gives more areas to
recognize patterns.
Cultural Competency
Acting
as ethical human service professionals, it is important to address the cultural
competencies for the population of this study.
The people who will be surveyed include parents Lane County. There are
many cultural factors to consider when dealing with this population such as any
language barrier, gender, family system, SES, country of origin, state of
origin, age, ethnicity, gang affiliation, past criminal history, drug use,
education level, income, and of course past child welfare involvement. As
researchers we need to facilitate a study that is culturally acceptable and
does not do damage or harm to the participants. Our questionnaire will be
written in both English and Spanish so the clients can answer on the survey
they understand the best. This study will ultimately be voluntary so if any
clients have a personal problem with the task at hand, they can choose not to
do it at all. We are researching a vulnerable population who could have extreme
emotional triggers towards any involvement with Child Welfare. The research
design is meant to be culturally and emotionally competent for the best
interests of the children and parents.
Sampling
The
sample population we are examining is children who currently have an open case
with Lane County Department of Human Services Child Welfare. The questionnaire
and study will look at this population by having their parents/guardians fill
out a questionnaire. Our research group will get into contact with the Lane
County Department of Human Services and ask to work with 5 -10 caseworkers. Out
of the multiple DHS offices we find case workers that are willing to have their
clients fill out our questionnaire. We have decided to make it optional for the
parents to fill out the form because we do not feel it is ethical to force this
upon a vulnerable population. It is mandatory for case workers to have the
parents fill out certain documents such as Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA)
form. When the case worker hands them the forms to fill out they will also
include our questionnaire with it. At the top of the form it will say
“optional” and give every parent the opportunity to choose if they want to
participate. We think this style of sampling will produce a large number of
participants because they will already be filling out forms and answering
questions to break the ice. We would ask the case workers to explain to the
parents that by helping fill out the questionnaire they would be aiding
research for DHS. I think parents would want to fill out the survey because it
would be an example of them making responsible and helpful effort for DHS. I
think parents might also feel empowered to be given a chance to tell a little
about their past and their history. The research design is planned as a one
time questionnaire so there is no problem with retention and repeat
involvement. Once a parent fills out the survey we do not need to contact them
again. This will make the study much easier to collect data.
The
goal with the research design is to create a study that can most effectively
answer our research question. There will always be limitations such as problems
receiving enough participants through a voluntary questionnaire. We might also
come across problems for people who do not read English or Spanish. There are
limitations with every study, but we have tried to address them to make the
research as reliable and valid as possible. It is important to take the time to
understand past research on the topic and the current cultural competencies of
the population. After examining those factors we decided to implement both a
quantitative and qualitative study. In order to address all the aspects of
recidivism we will pursue both types of research in our research design.
Proposed Instrumentation
Data Collection
The first step of research methodology and data collection is to obtain
data that will accurately and effectively answer the research question. We want
to examine the recidivism in foster care and see if there is a patter of this
violence throughout generations. We want to address a cycle to we have decided
to collect data from parents, or the people who could have potentially been in
foster care as children. The most effective method to collect this data is to
work with the Lane County Department of Human Services because they are in
direct contact with the parents involved with Child Welfare. Our method is to
have caseworkers give the questionnaire to the parents they are working with.
When any child has an open case with DHS the caseworker remains in contact with
the parent/guardian who are almost always the perpetrator of the violence. We
have decided to develop our own method and instrumentation in order to
effectively research these parents. The caseworker will administer a
questionnaire that first asks the yes or no question of whether this parents
was every previously involved with Child Welfare before the age of 18. We
understand this is a vague question, but if the parents answers yes then they continue
on to answer the other questions. By collecting data on a questionnaire it will
be easier to assess and analyze the data. Using quantitative questions makes it
easy to collect the data in a nominal category which will make it easier to
share the data. We can continue to gain a deeper understanding through
the qualitative questions that are also asked. We will have the caseworkers
administer these surveys to all of the parents in their cases for a period of
six months. Every month the researchers will pick up the caseworkers filled out
questionnaires and record the data. When the researchers first give the
caseworkers the surveys they will also explain to the caseworker what
information we are really looking for.
Reliability
This
study is created to ensure reliability to attempt to minimize the amount of
random error during research. The more reliable a study is, the more likely
that if it was repeated it would once again yield the same results. We have
attempted to make the research design as reliable as possible by asking both
quantitative and qualitative questions. We understand the benefit of multiple
perspectives and detailed data that is found why implementing both types of
research. This research study is designed as a quantitative and a qualitative
study. Each participant fills out the
same questionnaire to maintain consistency.
The case workers are the ones administering the questionnaire and thus
have a professional barrier and separation of power. This would hopefully induce a sense of trust
between the case worker and client. The
client’s understanding of the confidentiality of the questionnaire would
hopefully encourage participation. The
research study proposed is also reliable because it is relying on multiple
people and asking a large sample size, which helps eliminate random error. The
reliability of this study is ensured because it reaches the population of the
research question in Lane County in order to generalize the outcome.
Validity
While it is crucial to develop a reliable study, it is essential to also
have strong validity. The term validity is meant to make sure that the research
design is adequately reflecting and concluding the answer to the research question
as well as using the correct measure.
The first part of the questionnaire is quantitative and answers the
rates and detects existing patterns.
However, the qualitative portion of the questionnaire explores the
theory behind the research question and encourages more in-depth responses from
the participants if they choose.
Considering that the qualitative portion of the study can disclose
generational patterns of the foster care cycle, the study will provide useful
insight to future intervention programs.
Proposed Data Analysis
This quantitative and qualitative research proposal will analyze data
using a self-reporting questionnaire.
The questions will be prepared and administered formally. The percentages of the results will be
analyzed to determine the correlation between parents who have been involved with
child welfare and their children now in foster care. A random sample will be accomplished by
selecting five random case workers, two who are bilingual, and then using their
current cases.
Predicted Findings
The predicted findings
to our research study question is a positive relationship between the
independent variable, the parents in child welfare as children, and the
dependent variable, recidivism rates, for children currently in foster
care. The fact of the parent being
placed in foster care as a child increases the chance of their child being
placed in the foster care system. It is
a positive relationship because the two variables move in the same direction. For the quantitative section of the
questionnaire, it will depict the likelihood of the cycling continuing through
generations. For the qualitative
section, that provides participants the opportunity to disclose more details
about their situation. We predict to
find that the vicious cycle that the literature mentioned, does in fact exist
and it is difficult to break the cycle from generation to generation. We predict that incidents in which parents
are placed in the foster care system, as children will be more likely to have
their children placed in the foster care system. We expect to find that when parents were
involved with child welfare as children effects the recidivism rates which in turn
increase the rates of children being placed in foster care.
Proposed Timeline
One of the first steps of the
research process is to get our research proposal approved by Institutional
Review Board. It is crucial to submit our research proposal to IRB as soon pas
possible to give time for the committee to review and clear our study. The
purpose of the University of Oregon Committee for the Protection of Human
Subjects reviews all of the studies. This IRB board safeguards the rights and
welfare of human subjects who participate in research or other projects
conducted by people affiliated with the University of Oregon. We want the IRB
committee to make sure our study is ethical, consensual, and the participants
clearly understand the consequences and expectations. The subjects of this
study are adults and parents so there is not trouble with consent from minors.
Also we have chosen a study that is optional so no participants will feel
obligated or forced to participate. The IRB process can take months of time to
be reviewed so we would submit it immediately, get the study reviewed, and make
and edit any changes necessary.
Training of data collectors
The data collectors in this specific research study are the caseworkers
at the Department of Human Services of Lane County in Oregon. There will not be any subsequent training to
conduct the research study because the clients are handed a questionnaire to
complete. For the qualitative succeeding
questions of the survey, the clients will determine whether or not to answer
and how much information they willingly share.
For this reason, the data received will be specific and thus training to
interpret the results is not necessary.
Data collection
The caseworks who will collect the data, provide each new client a
questionnaire to voluntarily fill out and turn back in. The collection of data will be strictly
confidential and used for the purpose of this study only.
Data Analysis
The data will be collected from the questionnaires during a six-month
period. The five case workers will include the questionnaire as part of the
paperwork upon the client’s first interaction with Department of Human
Services. At six-months, the data intake
will be reevaluated and we will implement adjustments as necessary.
Reporting
When this research study is completed, the general public will be
informed in a few different ways. The
Lane County Department of Human Services will first be notified to decipher
specific parts of the research study to share with the public in order to
inform and educate community members, as well as heighten the awareness. Once this is determined, the research study
will be published in the Daily Emerald newspaper. In order to create awareness in the community,
the results need to be broadcasted especially in places that access a large,
diverse population such as newspapers.
The research study group will submit their proposal to peer reviewed
journals, including the Social Services Abstract database.
Cross-sectional study
This study is an explanatory cross-sectional study because it requires
the participant to complete a questionnaire upon their first contact with the
Department of Human Services. This is
explanatory because it attempts to test the hypothesis that there is a
correlation between recidivism rates of parents who were involved with child
welfare and children now in the foster care system.
References
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