What new sources did you include in your annotated bibliography?
This week I received two books that I requested through Leatherby Library. The Child's Journey
Through Care and Let's Get This Straight. These were two new sources that added to the information
I have been seeking.
What gaps did they fill in your research?
The first book addressed specific 'stability' in the placement and care planning of youth in the foster
care system. The second book took a look at broader placements and treatment of LGBTQ teens
including adoption and residential placement.
What are three major findings of your research (brief bullet points are appropriate for this post)?
LGBTQ adolescents have different needs
LGBTQ teens are treated differently while in the system of care
The system of care, throughout the world, is lacking in training, information and proper care of this vulnerable population
What aspects of your research question remain unanswered or require further research?
I am fully satisfied that my research question has been answered in its entirety.
RESEARCH QUESTION
Are there different
needs for LGBTQ adolescents in the Foster Care System?
BIBLIOGRAPHY & ANNOTATION
Berrick, Jill Dueer . “Take Me Home.” Protecting America’s Vulnerable Children and
Families
New
York Oxford University Press, 2009.
Jill Berrick is able to delicately,
insightfully and clearly disseminate the key issues that
confront
our children in the welfare system. Take Me Home consists of six easy to read
chapters that take a look at the difficulties
in our nation within this system of foster care.
Reunification is a covered topic and the way
in which the entire system needs an overhaul.
The
information found in this book dove-tailed the prior research and resources
that have
been discovered thus far.
Iwaniec, Dorota. “The Child’s Journey Through Care: Placement Stability, Care Planning, and
Achieving Permanency.” Queen’s University, Balfast. John Wiley &
Sons, Ltd., 2006.
Children’s journeys are followed
throughout the system of care and the problems that
follow these children including behavioral
and emotional problems. The given rights
of
these children while in the care of the state
and the children’s own participation in some
decision-making issues help those who work in
the system as social workers. Experience
in
the court system is a part of the
documentation and the ways in which these children can be
supported while experiencing this additional
arm of transition.
Mallon, Gerald P. “Entering into a Collaborative Search for
Meaning with Gay & Lesbian
Youth in Out of Home Care”, Child
and Adolescent Social Work Journal 14 (1997): 427-
444
This
article offers a ‘model of training’ for child welfare workers using an
empowerment
approach. This model is a three hour training in which
LGBTQ youth experts train the
‘professionals’. The training focuses on the needs of this
population, ways in which to
address these needs and the need for
responding in a more competent manner to these needs
within this population of youth. This article
and the information is dynamic and useful as
those youth in the system of care are the
ones to share and teach from first-hand experience.
Mallon, Gerald P. “Let’s Get
This Straight: A Gay and Lesbian-Affirming Approach to Child
Welfare. New York: Columbia
University Press, 1999.
Child welfare professionals are once
again given ways within their practices to being
effective and affirming to the
adolescents who are in their care and the care of the state.
Ways in which this population has
continuously been ignored, seen as less than
and the
considerably complex situations that arise
while they are in the care of the child welfare
system, are brought forward in a direct manner
through Gerald P. Mallon’s writings,
trainings and expertise in the field of Social
work. This is the third writing of Mr.
Mallon I
have used as a resource. He is ‘spot on’ and, being an expert in his
field, has invalid and
informational examples of the ways in which we
can move forward making a difference in
the lives of these teens.
Mallon, Gerald P. “Sticks and Stones Can Break Your Bones:
Verbal Harassment and Physical
Violence in the Lives of Gay and
Lesbian Youths in Child Welfare Settings.”
Journal of
Gay and Lesbian Social Services 1-2, no.13 (2001):
63-81
Through interviews with
88 child welfare workers/professionals and 54 youth, this is an article
that explores the LGBTQ population of
youths who are in the child welfare system.
The
three cities explored are New York, Los
Angeles, and Toronto. All of these youth
have
experienced and been subjected to both verbal
and physical harassment within these systems
of care. The author, after studying and
hearing the stories of these youth within the system
and families, begins to offer recommendations
to social work practitioners in creating
affirming environments for the LGBTQ
population of youth. Extremely useful
information
from a professional who takes the time to ‘listen’
to the youth who have experienced this
system
of ‘care’.
Nowacki, Katja, and Schoelmerich, Axel. “Growing up in foster families of
institutions:
Attachment representation and psychological
adjustment of young adults.” Attachment and
Human Development 12, no. 6, (2007): 551-566. University
of applied sciences and arts,
Dortmund, Germany (Nowacki, Katja) Ruhr-University
of Bochum, Germany
(Schoelmerich, A).
This is a study that was performed in
Germany on 48 young adults who either grew up in
foster homes or in institutions. The findings show and support that a stable
environment
such as a foster family would be
advantageous in the long run for the psychological
development of a child rather than being
reared in an institution. This study,
though
performed in another country other than the
USA, shows that the basic needs of youth in out
of home care systems, is the same.
