Date of Conferral

9-8-2025

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Cathryn Walker

Abstract

Chafee Independent Living Skills and Goals Program (CILSGP) is a federally mandated program for public child welfare organizations that provide services to adolescents and young adults in the foster care system. The problem that was addressed through this study was that program administrators are unsure of the additional professional development (PD) needs of the social service supervisors at the study site, a foster care independent living program for youth. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to investigate social service supervisors’ perceptions on the PD they receive; the influence the PD has on their self-concept as a learner, their motivation to learn, and their prior experiences; and the learning activities most useful in the PD. The conceptual framework that guided this study is Knowles’s andragogy in practice model. Qualitative web-based surveys were administered to a purposively selected sample of nine social service supervisors. Data were analyzed using a priori and open coding. The study findings revealed that social service supervisors described (a) the absence of systemic PD at the study site to support CILSGP, (b) the motivation to engage in PD to enhance their job performance in delivering CILSGP, and (c) active learning strategies, including collaborative opportunities, and PD content focused on CILSGP independent living as best practices for facilitating their PD. A white paper addresses social service supervisors’ PD needs to deliver foster care independent living skills to strengthen services for youth in the welfare system and promote social change. Strengthening the services for youth could change the life trajectory for young adults transitioning from the foster care system.

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