Scott D Ryan
Biographic Data
| ID | 5823508 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Scott D Ryan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Scott D |
| FAMILY NAME | Ryan |
| SIGNATURE | RYAN S D |
| AFFILIATIONS | Florida State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4339-0857 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 30 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 128 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 30 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Investing in the Child Welfare System Through the Workforce: Lessons Learned from a Title IV-E Child Welfare Stipend Program
The child welfare system is designed to promote child safety, well-being, and permanency, but the high stress and intensity of cases require a specialized workforce. Using a qualitative case study design, this study explored the perspectives of current and former Title IV-E stipend recipients on their preparation and readiness to actively participate in the child welfare workforce. The research team conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 in…
Examining a decade of Title IV-E outcomes: A scoping review
Title IV-E stipend programs are critical in developing a skilled and stable child welfare workforce These programs aim to improve service delivery and outcomes for children and families within the child welfare system. However, research on the broader impact of Title IV-E programs remains limited. This scoping review synthesizes 21 studies from 2014–2023, assessing caseworker, child, and family outcomes. The review identifies methodological chall…
“Wind Therapy” Motorcycling by U.S. Veterans During Covid-19: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis
Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, U.S. Veterans struggling with posttraumatic stress found symptom relief outside traditional therapies through participation in therapeutic motorcycling (anecdotally known as “wind therapy”) in the form of solo and group participation. Purpose: We conducted an interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore and understand the healing aspects of “wind therapy” (i.e., therapeutic motorcycling) …
Why do child welfare supervisors leave their jobs: Pathways to supervisors’ resignation behavior
State investment in Title IV-E stipend programs and child length of stay in foster care: A national study
Informational justice, job autonomy, and child welfare workers’ intention to stay
Sinking or swimming: Perspectives of the children without placement crisis
Recently, there have been reports of children without placement (CWOP) in foster care, often resulting in youth sleeping in hotels or child protective service offices. This study explored perspectives of the current crisis among child welfare practitioners who managed CWOP cases. We conducted interviews with 11 child welfare practitioners who had graduated from two universities in a Southern state. Themes aligned with the trauma-informed framewor…
Post-Adoption Contact Experiences of Birth Mothers
This research examines the post-adoption experiences of 223 birth mothers who relinquished a child for adoption in the United States post-1989. This analysis relied on quantitative data collected for a larger mixed-methods study that sought to understand the pre- and post-adoption experiences of birth mothers. Results of the current analysis found that more than two-thirds (n = 155, 69.5%) of birth mothers in the study reported current contact wi…
Racial Matching in Foster Care Placements and Subsequent Placement Stability: A National Study
Adoptive Parents’ Attitudes Towards Gay and Lesbian Adoption
Using a cross-sectional sample, this study examined 776 adoptive parents’ attitudes toward gay and lesbian adoption. Analysis was conducted on three subgroups: married fathers, married mothers, and single mothers. Findings include that for married fathers older age, a lower level of education, a Christian religious denomination, higher levels of religiosity, and a conservative political ideology were all factors in a more negative attitude toward…
Open Adoptions in Child Welfare: Social Worker and Foster/Adoptive Parent Attitudes
This exploratory study assessed caseworkers' and foster parents' experience, training, and attitudes related to youth's post-adoption contact with birth family members. The Open Adoption Scale, a validated instrument, was used to measure the attitudes of 122 caseworkers and 127 foster parents toward post-adoption contact. Only 7.4% of caseworkers and 26.8% of foster parents received “thorough” training in post-adoption contact. Caseworkers were m…
Direct and modifying influences of selected risk factors on children's pre-adoption functioning and post-adoption adjustment
Kin adopting kin: In the best interest of the children
An Evaluation of Gay/Lesbian and Heterosexual Adoption
Many experts in the helping professions have agreed that there is no scientific credence to support a gay and lesbian adoption ban.Nevertheless, there continues to be persistent mythology pertaining to outcomes for children adopted by gay and lesbian parents.This position may be somewhat due to the dearth of research that compares heterosexual and homosexual parenting outcomes with adopted children.To respond to this gap in the literature, this s…
The Experiences of Gay Men and Lesbians in Becoming and Being Adoptive Parents
The purpose of this study was to explore the adoption and parenting experiences of lesbian and gay (LG) adoptive parents. Data for the present study are from a larger national cross-sectional survey of LG adoptive parents. Participants were recruited through advertisements placed in metropolitan LG newspapers, Web sites, and organizations across the country that serve LG individuals. This paper presents an analysis of the qualitative data gathere…
Examining the facilitators and barriers faced by adoptive professionals delivering post-placement services
Childhood Sexual Abuse and the Impact on Postadoptive Child and Family Functioning: A Systematic Synthesis of the Research Literature
The Influence of Gender on the Placement of Children with Gay or Lesbian Adoptive Parents
This study examines the opinions of men and women from a random phone sample of super voters (those persons voting in the last three out of four possible elections) in Florida (N = 413) toward gay men and/or lesbians as adoptive parents. The survey gathered information on whether the respondents would place boys or girls available for adoption with gay men or lesbians. Controlling for various demographic variables, bivariate logistic regressions …
Parent-Child Interaction Styles Between Gay and Lesbian Parents and Their Adopted Children
While myths exist that call into question the parenting ability of gay and lesbian parents as well as the impact of such parenting on children in their care, there is an ever increasing body of literature that clearly demonstrates the capabilities of these parents with their birth children. However, there continues to be a dearth of research on gay and lesbian adoptive parents and their children. To address this deficiency in the literature, this…
Initial Validation of the Open Adoption Scale: Measuring the Influence of Adoption Myths on Attitudes Toward Open Adoption
All adoptions, including those facilitated by public agencies, should be evaluated for openness. Although there are no national figures related to openness in public welfare, there are indications that it is not considered in all cases. Adoption myths may be one of the reasons that adoption workers do not always assess a family's ability to maintain a more open adoption arrangement. The following study is the initial validation of a multidimensio…
Becoming Parents: Lesbian Mothers' Adoption Experience
Ninety-six lesbian adoptive parents were part of a cross-sectional study to explore their adoption experiences, specifically focusing on their sources of consultation/information and possible bias, adoption timeframes and costs, and their satisfaction with the adoption experience. Questions within each of these domains were tested for significant differences across international, private domestic and child welfare adoption venues. While their ove…
Where Are We Now: A Post-Asfa Examination of Adoption Disruption
Little research on adoption disruption has been conducted in recent years, particularly with large populations and multivariate methods. Utilizing administrative data on 15,947 children, this study examines adoption disruption in a large state child welfare system in the United States in the three years leading up to and the three years following the passage of ASFA (Adoption and Safe Families Act), a federal law that mandates speedier movement t…
Bilingual Validation of the Family Responsibility Scale: Assessing Stress Among HIV + Heads of Household
In the context of the HIV pandemic, infected persons in the United States are increasingly poor women of color, many of whom are single parent heads of household with responsibilities for caring for another ill family member. A significant proportion of such persons are recent immigrants, and many do not speak English as a primary language. Responding to the lack of cross-cultural instruments suitable for assessment and research in such populatio…
Risk assessments: Empirically supported or values driven
A Comparative Study of Child Welfare Adoptions with Other Types of Adopted Children and Birth Children
Through parent surveys, the level of adjustment in home, school, health, mental health, and community of children from three types of adoptive and from birth families was compared. The sample groups include: child welfare adoptions (1340), domestic infant adoptions (481), international adoptions (89), and birth families (175). On most measures, particularly in relation to school functioning, adopted children were rated by their parents as having …
Where Are We Now: A Post-Asfa Examination of Adoption Disruption
Little research on adoption disruption has been conducted in recent years, particularly with large populations and multivariate methods. Utilizing administrative data on 15,947 children, this study examines adoption disruption in a large state child welfare system in the United States in the three years leading up to and the three years following the passage of ASFA (Adoption and Safe Families Act), a federal law that mandates speedier movement t…
The Experiences of Gay Men and Lesbians in Becoming and Being Adoptive Parents
The purpose of this study was to explore the adoption and parenting experiences of lesbian and gay (LG) adoptive parents. Data for the present study are from a larger national cross-sectional survey of LG adoptive parents. Participants were recruited through advertisements placed in metropolitan LG newspapers, Web sites, and organizations across the country that serve LG individuals. This paper presents an analysis of the qualitative data gathere…
A Comparative Study of Child Welfare Adoptions with Other Types of Adopted Children and Birth Children
Through parent surveys, the level of adjustment in home, school, health, mental health, and community of children from three types of adoptive and from birth families was compared. The sample groups include: child welfare adoptions (1340), domestic infant adoptions (481), international adoptions (89), and birth families (175). On most measures, particularly in relation to school functioning, adopted children were rated by their parents as having …
Coming Out of the Closet: Opening Agencies to Gay and Lesbian Adoptive Parents
Gay men and lesbians often encounter barriers when they pursue adoption. Adoption workers are expected to make decisions regarding child placement using the best interest standard. However, this decision-making model does not adequately consider intrapersonal, interpersonal, and organizational factors that affect the use of the standard. This article examines the best interest standard and makes practice recommendations to increase the accessibil…
Becoming Parents: Lesbian Mothers' Adoption Experience
Ninety-six lesbian adoptive parents were part of a cross-sectional study to explore their adoption experiences, specifically focusing on their sources of consultation/information and possible bias, adoption timeframes and costs, and their satisfaction with the adoption experience. Questions within each of these domains were tested for significant differences across international, private domestic and child welfare adoption venues. While their ove…
An Evaluation of Gay/Lesbian and Heterosexual Adoption
Many experts in the helping professions have agreed that there is no scientific credence to support a gay and lesbian adoption ban.Nevertheless, there continues to be persistent mythology pertaining to outcomes for children adopted by gay and lesbian parents.This position may be somewhat due to the dearth of research that compares heterosexual and homosexual parenting outcomes with adopted children.To respond to this gap in the literature, this s…
Romanian Adoptees: A Cross-National Comparison
Two groups of children are described, some adopted out of their country of origin and some adopted in their own country. Utilizing a family systems model adaptable across countries, the impact of institutionalization on later child behavior is examined. Results will assist practitioners to develop a protocol to assess the family and the child at various ages, regardless of country of origin
Kin adopting kin: In the best interest of the children
Direct and modifying influences of selected risk factors on children's pre-adoption functioning and post-adoption adjustment
Initial Validation of the Open Adoption Scale: Measuring the Influence of Adoption Myths on Attitudes Toward Open Adoption
All adoptions, including those facilitated by public agencies, should be evaluated for openness. Although there are no national figures related to openness in public welfare, there are indications that it is not considered in all cases. Adoption myths may be one of the reasons that adoption workers do not always assess a family's ability to maintain a more open adoption arrangement. The following study is the initial validation of a multidimensio…
Examining the facilitators and barriers faced by adoptive professionals delivering post-placement services
Risk assessments: Empirically supported or values driven
Institutionalization, Behavior and International Adoption: Predictors of Behavior Problems
Adopted Children: Who Do They Turn to for Help and Why
The overwhelming majority of adoption studies have focused on adoptive parents' perceptions and feelings about post-adoption services and resources. Perhaps unintentionally, the adoption community has neglected the personal experiences of adoption told from the point of view of adopted children. This pilot study attempted to close this gap in the research literature by asking a sample of adopted children to describe their challenges vis-à-vis ado…
A Comparative Study of Child Welfare Adoptions with Other Types of Adopted Children and Birth Children
Through parent surveys, the level of adjustment in home, school, health, mental health, and community of children from three types of adoptive and from birth families was compared. The sample groups include: child welfare adoptions (1340), domestic infant adoptions (481), international adoptions (89), and birth families (175). On most measures, particularly in relation to school functioning, adopted children were rated by their parents as having …
Product Review: The Smith Family
Coming Out of the Closet: Opening Agencies to Gay and Lesbian Adoptive Parents
Gay men and lesbians often encounter barriers when they pursue adoption. Adoption workers are expected to make decisions regarding child placement using the best interest standard. However, this decision-making model does not adequately consider intrapersonal, interpersonal, and organizational factors that affect the use of the standard. This article examines the best interest standard and makes practice recommendations to increase the accessibil…
Romanian Adoptees: A Cross-National Comparison
Two groups of children are described, some adopted out of their country of origin and some adopted in their own country. Utilizing a family systems model adaptable across countries, the impact of institutionalization on later child behavior is examined. Results will assist practitioners to develop a protocol to assess the family and the child at various ages, regardless of country of origin
Risk assessments: Empirically supported or values driven
Where Are We Now: A Post-Asfa Examination of Adoption Disruption
Little research on adoption disruption has been conducted in recent years, particularly with large populations and multivariate methods. Utilizing administrative data on 15,947 children, this study examines adoption disruption in a large state child welfare system in the United States in the three years leading up to and the three years following the passage of ASFA (Adoption and Safe Families Act), a federal law that mandates speedier movement t…
Bilingual Validation of the Family Responsibility Scale: Assessing Stress Among HIV + Heads of Household
In the context of the HIV pandemic, infected persons in the United States are increasingly poor women of color, many of whom are single parent heads of household with responsibilities for caring for another ill family member. A significant proportion of such persons are recent immigrants, and many do not speak English as a primary language. Responding to the lack of cross-cultural instruments suitable for assessment and research in such populatio…
The Influence of Gender on the Placement of Children with Gay or Lesbian Adoptive Parents
This study examines the opinions of men and women from a random phone sample of super voters (those persons voting in the last three out of four possible elections) in Florida (N = 413) toward gay men and/or lesbians as adoptive parents. The survey gathered information on whether the respondents would place boys or girls available for adoption with gay men or lesbians. Controlling for various demographic variables, bivariate logistic regressions …
Parent-Child Interaction Styles Between Gay and Lesbian Parents and Their Adopted Children
While myths exist that call into question the parenting ability of gay and lesbian parents as well as the impact of such parenting on children in their care, there is an ever increasing body of literature that clearly demonstrates the capabilities of these parents with their birth children. However, there continues to be a dearth of research on gay and lesbian adoptive parents and their children. To address this deficiency in the literature, this…
Initial Validation of the Open Adoption Scale: Measuring the Influence of Adoption Myths on Attitudes Toward Open Adoption
All adoptions, including those facilitated by public agencies, should be evaluated for openness. Although there are no national figures related to openness in public welfare, there are indications that it is not considered in all cases. Adoption myths may be one of the reasons that adoption workers do not always assess a family's ability to maintain a more open adoption arrangement. The following study is the initial validation of a multidimensio…
Becoming Parents: Lesbian Mothers' Adoption Experience
Ninety-six lesbian adoptive parents were part of a cross-sectional study to explore their adoption experiences, specifically focusing on their sources of consultation/information and possible bias, adoption timeframes and costs, and their satisfaction with the adoption experience. Questions within each of these domains were tested for significant differences across international, private domestic and child welfare adoption venues. While their ove…
Childhood Sexual Abuse and the Impact on Postadoptive Child and Family Functioning: A Systematic Synthesis of the Research Literature
An Evaluation of Gay/Lesbian and Heterosexual Adoption
Many experts in the helping professions have agreed that there is no scientific credence to support a gay and lesbian adoption ban.Nevertheless, there continues to be persistent mythology pertaining to outcomes for children adopted by gay and lesbian parents.This position may be somewhat due to the dearth of research that compares heterosexual and homosexual parenting outcomes with adopted children.To respond to this gap in the literature, this s…
The Experiences of Gay Men and Lesbians in Becoming and Being Adoptive Parents
The purpose of this study was to explore the adoption and parenting experiences of lesbian and gay (LG) adoptive parents. Data for the present study are from a larger national cross-sectional survey of LG adoptive parents. Participants were recruited through advertisements placed in metropolitan LG newspapers, Web sites, and organizations across the country that serve LG individuals. This paper presents an analysis of the qualitative data gathere…
Examining the facilitators and barriers faced by adoptive professionals delivering post-placement services
Kin adopting kin: In the best interest of the children
Adoptive Parents’ Attitudes Towards Gay and Lesbian Adoption
Using a cross-sectional sample, this study examined 776 adoptive parents’ attitudes toward gay and lesbian adoption. Analysis was conducted on three subgroups: married fathers, married mothers, and single mothers. Findings include that for married fathers older age, a lower level of education, a Christian religious denomination, higher levels of religiosity, and a conservative political ideology were all factors in a more negative attitude toward…
Open Adoptions in Child Welfare: Social Worker and Foster/Adoptive Parent Attitudes
This exploratory study assessed caseworkers' and foster parents' experience, training, and attitudes related to youth's post-adoption contact with birth family members. The Open Adoption Scale, a validated instrument, was used to measure the attitudes of 122 caseworkers and 127 foster parents toward post-adoption contact. Only 7.4% of caseworkers and 26.8% of foster parents received “thorough” training in post-adoption contact. Caseworkers were m…
Direct and modifying influences of selected risk factors on children's pre-adoption functioning and post-adoption adjustment
Racial Matching in Foster Care Placements and Subsequent Placement Stability: A National Study
Sinking or swimming: Perspectives of the children without placement crisis
Recently, there have been reports of children without placement (CWOP) in foster care, often resulting in youth sleeping in hotels or child protective service offices. This study explored perspectives of the current crisis among child welfare practitioners who managed CWOP cases. We conducted interviews with 11 child welfare practitioners who had graduated from two universities in a Southern state. Themes aligned with the trauma-informed framewor…
Post-Adoption Contact Experiences of Birth Mothers
This research examines the post-adoption experiences of 223 birth mothers who relinquished a child for adoption in the United States post-1989. This analysis relied on quantitative data collected for a larger mixed-methods study that sought to understand the pre- and post-adoption experiences of birth mothers. Results of the current analysis found that more than two-thirds (n = 155, 69.5%) of birth mothers in the study reported current contact wi…
Informational justice, job autonomy, and child welfare workers’ intention to stay
Psychology (28 works) · Child Welfare and Adoption (21 works) · Political science (16 works) · Medicine (15 works) · Social Psychology (13 works) · Social Psychology (11 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Welfare (11 works) · Developmental psychology (10 works) · Nursing (10 works)