Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Paul Terry
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
Area Office on Aging, at-risk families, caregiving support, child placement, child welfare, children, children and families services, collaboration, community needs, community networks, counseling services, family services, grandparents raising grandchildren, kinship care, kinship caregivers, licensure development, noncustodial parents, organizational culture, out-of-home placement, policies and procedures, program development, psychosocial support services, Public Assistance, relative caregivers, resource libraries, service coordination, service development, social marketing, support groups, systems development
Abstract
This applied dissertation was designed to support the development of a comprehensive system of care for grandparents and other relatives raising children, noncustodial parents, and children in out of home placement. The family constellation was changing in the community were the applied dissertation was implemented. Many children were in out of home placement with relative caregivers; there were few resources and no formal system of care designed to respond to the needs of these at risk families. This left many grandparents and other relative caregivers, children, and noncustodial parents without support or access to services.
The problem identified to be solved by this applied dissertation was local children in out of home placement with relatives typically have physical and psychological needs that were going unmet.
The writer was responsible for leading the implementation process and provided direct supervision to program staff during the development of program services for relatives raising children. Responsibilities included the development of the licensure application, program forms, policies and procedures and the social marketing plan. The writer also acted as a liaison at the community level by networking with families; the County Commissioners; the State, Regional, and local offices of Children, Youth and Families; Area Office on Aging; and Public Assistance.
An analysis of the data revealed that the community, local service providers, and program participants recognized that a system of support and services were evolving for families impacted by children in out of home placement with relatives. Data also revealed that there was a much greater community need for service than anticipated, with more than three times the referrals being made to the program in the first year than was initially projected. During the implementation process the first, formal kinship care licensed by the State in a rural county was developed. A host of psychosocial support services were also developed; these included a support group for relative caregivers, a newsletter, a resource library, and counseling services with specialized family, group and individual therapies. A network of community providers and families also came together to focus on the current and ongoing needs of this population.