A nation-wide survey of adoption agencies examined policies, practices, and attitudes regarding lesbian/gay prospective adoptive parents. Attitudes and practices were found to vary as a function of agency religious affiliation. Many adoption professionals were willing to work with lesbian/gay prospective parents, and nearly 38 percent of…

Reviews literature about rural and urban social work practice; discusses theory relevant to rural-urban differences, focusing on the organization-in-environment perspective. Highlights statewide survey of Missouri public child welfare employees, which found that rurality was strongly negatively correlated with agency size. Both locale and agency…

Examined whether inclusive practice--involving parental involvement in foster children's (12- and 13-year-olds) lives while in traditional family foster care--was correlated with more frequent visiting and a greater likelihood of reunification. Found that mothers who visited their child and were involved in case reviews and child care activities…

Reviews the preliminary concepts underlying the current movement toward comprehensive school-linked services for children and families in low-income communities and the implications of this movement for school psychologists. Discusses the role of the school psychologist and the possibility of collaborative efforts within a consultation model of…

The Frank J. Manning Certificate Program in Gerontology at the University of Massachusetts Boston was established in 1979 as part of an Administration on Aging (AoA) grant to develop and expand services to the elderly citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The program was designed to implement concepts associated with productive aging…

As mentoring programs have proliferated, considerable variation in approaches to programmatic mentoring has emerged. Concomitant confusion exists about the context, structure, and goals that constitute mentoring as a distinct intervention. This article presents a brief summary of what is currently known about different approaches to mentoring and…

This study investigates contextualization processes in two psychiatric interviews. Specifically, it analyses how different analytical tools--frame and narrative--work to clarify contextual embeddings and story bits. Frame analysis provides a way of looking at local and larger social contexts in talk. Specifically it provides a way of understanding…

A method of case assessment is described. Data from the checklists about client, family, primary institution, and socioeconomic environment are transferred to a summary matrix outline form and causal inferences are given visual representation by vectors between the various system components. (Author/BH)

Argues for the recognition of income maintenance as a specialized form of social service, and calls on the social work profession to assume a major role in its development. Discusses the role and training of the income maintenance worker, and reviews effects of the separation of the two professions. (JAC)

Reviews the results of a shift in the circumstances of the deinstitutionalized mentally ill from care in state hospitals to legal prosecution. Discusses the reasons for this shift and describes a San Francisco program that attempts to deal with the problem. (JAC)

Identifies factors contributing to difficulties involved in developing ethnic sensitivity training for child protective services caseworkers. Examines frameworks for training caseworkers in ethnic sensitivity. Proposes a new approach to improving caseworkers' ability to complete ethnically sensitive assessments and discusses implications of this…

A rural model for preventing and managing secondary health problems involves workshops that empower adults with disabilities to better manage their own health, and the development of supportive community structures. Four Montana case studies suggest that this prevention model may enhance the health and independence of rural adults with…

Client-case manager matches (n=75) from the outpatient services of an urban mental health department were selected to examine case managers' perceived racial sensitivity and its effect on African American clients. Findings demonstrated that case managers were more likely to be perceived as sensitive if they were a minority, female, and a degreed…

Uses focus-group interviews of social work supervisors and caseworkers to explore impact of masters of social work degree obtained in a university/agency partnership on personal behavior, structure, and technological organization. Notes findings including increased worker confidence, changed communication patterns between workers and organization,…

The purpose of this article is to review substantive and methodological advances in interventive research. Three substantive advances are discussed: (a) the growing use of a risk factor perspective, (b) the emergence of practice-relevant micro social theories, and (c) the increased acceptance of structured treatment protocols and manual. In…