Child Welfare Professionals’ Perspectives on Managing Dually Involved African American Female Youth
Date of Conferral
10-16-2023
Degree
Ph.D.
School
Public Policy and Administration
Advisor
Karel Kurst-Swanger
Abstract
Dually involved are youth who have experienced some type of child abuse (physical, emotional, sexual, and/or neglect) and have engaged in delinquency. This study was conducted to understand child welfare professionals’ experiences and perspectives of the out-of-home placement decision-making process for dually involved African American female youth and impacts to the developmental process of this population. In this qualitative study, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory was used to identify the developmental levels of these disruptions and served as the theoretical framework. In this research, data were collected through semistructured interviews with 11 child welfare professionals from public and private child welfare agencies in the southern region of the state of Illinois. All participants were child welfare professionals with experience in making out-of-home placement decisions for dually involved Black girls. Thematic analysis approaches were used to identify themes and subthemes from the data. The findings identified several themes related to placement decisions, stability and disruptions, including barriers (e.g., school disruptions) and disruptions to development (e.g., bias, stereotype), and systemic barriers (e.g., lack of resources). Distinct themes were also identified related to the placement decisions, placement stability and development. Child welfare professionals also described multiple types of barriers that impacted the decision-making process. The findings of this study have potential implications for positive social change by providing child welfare policy makers with data and recommendations to improve the out-of-home placement decision-making processes and to improve system outcomes for dually involved youth.
Recommended Citation
Burris, Tracey Ann, "Child Welfare Professionals’ Perspectives on Managing Dually Involved African American Female Youth" (2023). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 14973.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/14973
