M E Collins
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 65642 |
|---|---|
| NOME | M E Collins |
| PRENOMES | M E |
| SOBRENOME | Collins |
| ASSINATURA | COLLINS M E |
| AFILIAÇÕES | Boston University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6354-6973 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 69 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 230 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 69 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 1991 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 7 |
Choosing Post-Secondary Vocational Education Pathways
Networks in Motion
Post-secondary vocational education (PSVE) is a viable pathway to financial and professional stability for systems-involved youth, yet the social and structural supports necessary for persistence in these pathways remain understudied. This qualitative study investigates how young adults with histories of child welfare, juvenile justice, or mental health systems involvement navigated their educational trajectories. We conducted initial interviews …
Post‐Secondary Educational Aspirations Among Young Adults With Foster Care Experience
Post‐secondary educational outcomes for young people with care experience are poor. Studies have typically been limited to those who have aged out of care and have typically examined college/university attendance. Non‐college educational options have potential for gaining credentials to secure productive employment, but these options have received less investigation. Using data from the Fostering Healthy Futures (FHF) study, which included a broa…
Key Factors Associated with Connection to School and Work for Emerging Adults Experiencing Low-Incomes
Another Side of Waiver Federalism
Programmatic waivers—which allow states to bypass federal requirements—play an increasingly important role in US federalism, both enabling significant policy experimentation and inviting political controversy. Yet existing scholarship focuses on large and highly salient programs, potentially limiting our understanding of implementation dynamics. This study, by contrast, examines “small” waivers in a low-salience policy context: the Workforce Inno…
Bridging success
The global context of youth engagement
Time has come again” for career pathways
Youth who are not in school and not working may be labeled “disconnected” or “opportunity youth,” and are recognized as a population that requires intervention to establish a trajectory that avoids poverty and leads to economic stability. In this study, we aim to contribute to this discussion by reporting data from two recent studies of workforce development systems’ attention to opportunity youth. We address the question: How do workforce develo…
Extended foster care and homelessness
Post‐secondary vocational education for youth leaving care
Post‐secondary educational outcomes for care‐experienced youth are poor. This has been a consistent finding across studies in many countries. Most studies do not distinguish between different types of post‐secondary educational pathways and outcomes, however. There has been limited attention to the potential for post‐secondary vocational education (PSVE) as a viable educational path that may lead to positive employment and social outcomes. In thi…
Surviving Violence, Ambiguity and Oneself
The challenges of contemporary child welfare practice are well documented in many countries worldwide. The current study enhances this work by reporting the lived experiences of child welfare workers in Chile, who negotiate their practice in a strained political and organisational context. A qualitative methodology was used to understand the complexities of the survival strategies of these workers. Data were collected via multiple individual inte…
Experiences of child care providers serving subsidy-receiving children involved in the child protective services system
Understanding youth circumstances in workforce development programs
Youth who are disconnected from both education and work are at risk for a difficult life trajectory. This population requires policy and practice attention from social work. In this article, we report results from two research studies in the United States focused on the workforce development system serving the disconnected youth population. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 61 respondents in various geographic areas. Findings The focus o…
Family Engagement in Child Welfare System-Level Change
Family engagement is a critical component of child welfare practice. Studies report improved experiences and outcomes when families are involved in decision making. Robust engagement may also serve as a culturally responsive approach to improving outcomes for families. Although practice-level interventions have received attention in the literature, there is a dearth of research on program- and system-level family models. The present study contrib…
Centering race equity within youth workforce development
COVID-19 has exacerbated stark racial and class inequities long present in the United States and other countries. As a field, workforce development supports and serves individuals at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities, with youth being a particularly important target population. The workforce development field can benefit from critically considering how racial equity can be formalized within activities. We offer Critical Race T…
Disconnected Youth in Urban Areas
Covid impacts on U.S. youth workforce system
Youth who are not engaged in school or work face many challenges as they transition into adulthood. In the United States, federal policy provides funding and oversight to a complex, community-based system of workforce development for this youth population, as well as adults with barriers to employment. The COVID-19 pandemic caused extensive disruption to this system, as well as the overall employment and education sectors. This study examines the…
Building policy practice into foundation field placement
Effective engagement in policy practice is a critical component in achieving social justice. Field education settings provide important opportunities for students to learn policy practice skills. This paper describes an initiative aimed at building policy competencies for all foundation students in field education by targeting supports for field instructors to provide guidance to students. Evaluation of the project used three sources of secondary…
Policy development for children in Ethiopia
Ethiopia has made important progress on several measures of child well-being, yet children are still faced with numerous economic and social challenges. In 2017, Ethiopia passed the first national policy in regard to children. Based on our review of this policy we offer thoughts about the next steps for policy development to enhance the well-being of children in Ethiopia. In particular, cultural themes reflect the geographic context of children’s…
Understanding Relations between State-Level Variation in Tanf Spending and Substantiated Child Maltreatment in the USA
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program in the USA is designed to address poverty. Because of the link to poverty, it may indirectly affect child maltreatment outcomes. However, TANF spending by states, which differs by the state’s racial composition, may moderate the effects. This study explores the relationship between states’ TANF spending and child maltreatment outcomes with the states’ Black population concentration as a m…
Borders
Borders play a profound role in human life. In many settings, land borders are highly permeable and provide little barrier to movement, communication and interaction. In other circumstances, borders are highly rigid, difficult to cross and can demarcate vast economic and social disparities. The widely differing circumstances related to border creation and maintenance have deep effects that are worthy of social work attention and engagement. There…
Examining civic engagement opportunities for system-involved youth
Research has demonstrated positive individual and community benefits from youth civic engagement. But not all youth have access to opportunities for engagement. Race and class have been identified as key factors that can influence opportunities. Other factors may also contribute to disproportionality in this important realm. System-involvement, for example, is an important factor requiring focused attention. This paper contributes to the research…
Workforce development systems efforts for system-involved youth
Social Constructions of Children and Youth
Schneider and Ingram's (1993) theory of social construction of target populations has received extensive scholarly attention. It has rarely been applied to populations of children and youth, however. In this article we: (1) describe the original framework; (2) apply each of Schneider and Ingram's four categories to examples relevant to children and youth; (3) identify adjustments to the model to guide further understanding of young people's polic…
Normalcy for children in foster care in the time of coronavirus
Purpose This paper aims to describe how a sense of normalcy for young people in foster care can be critical to their well-being. Design/methodology/approach This paper reports on policy and practice efforts in the USA to promote normalcy for youth in care. The authors review policy that promotes normalcy and report on one organization's efforts to support these goals. Findings COVID-19 has offered profound challenges to the goal of normalcy. Rise…
Enhancing services to youths leaving foster care
Mentoring for Young People Leaving Foster Care
Mentoring for youths transitioning out of the foster care system has been growing in popularity as mentoring programs have enjoyed unprecedented growth in recent years. However, the existing empirical literature on the conditions associated with more effective youth mentoring relationships and the potential for harm in their absence should give us pause, as meeting these conditions may be especially challenging when working with transitioning you…
Youth councils in municipal government
Youth Civic Engagement
Youth engagement in municipal government has the potential to benefit both youth and the community. Yet, some forms of youth civic engagement may be related to social class and race resulting in benefits to select youth and communities, thus perpetuating a longer term trajectory of privilege or marginalization. Informed by theories of social capital and civic engagement, the present study examined how youth councils may reduce or reinforce social…
Macro impacts on caseworker decision-making in child welfare
This paper focuses on the factors impacting on decision-making in child and family social work through a cross-national comparison. In doing so, the larger arena of the political and social contexts of both the United States and Northern Ireland are examined. For each of the countries we describe the historical and political context of child welfare, particularly the tension between child safety and family support, and how children's rights are a…
Engaging Youth in Municipal Government
Youth councils are one mechanism to engage youth in community governance; yet, there is scant research to guide practice. This study examined the extent to which youth are engaged in the origin, structure, and activities of municipal youth councils. Interviews were conducted with 24 adult stakeholders involved in the operations of youth councils. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results demonstrated that youth-centric practice builds u…
She treated us like we bring valid ideas to the table
Child care burden and the risk of child maltreatment among low-income working families
Impacts of policy changes on Care-Leaving Workers in a time of coronavirus
This policy analysis examines the impact of COVID-19 policy guidance on the role of workers who provide outreach to transition-age care leavers. The comparison focuses on four countries (US, England, Canada, Australia) and addresses the question: How do policy changes impact street-level bureaucracy (SLB) discretion, activities, resources, and constraints? A review of policy guidance identifies similar actions across the four countries focused on…
An Ethical Foundation for Social Good
Purpose: Virtue theorists debate qualities of society leading to human flourishing. Thus, aspects of scholarship on virtue theory may refine conceptualization of social good. We focus on the virtue of solidarity and its contributions to the ethical foundations of social good, providing a core connection to macro-level social work interventions and settings. Methods: We first identify a theoretical gap in the conceptual framework of social good, t…
Comparative Analysis of State Policymaking in Child Welfare
Kingdon’s three streams of agenda-setting identified in Agendas, Alternatives and Public Policies, as well as Schneider and Ingram’s social construction framework, set out in the American Political Science Review, are used to compare four US states’ policy responses following fatalities of children in care. Results suggest that tension between the social construction of children as vulnerable dependents and their troubled families as deviants aff…
Linking family engagement with a rights perspective
While child welfare practitioners in many countries are struggling to develop methods of effective family engagement, they operate within different national and cultural contexts that influence, both positively and negatively, the ability to engage with families. Increasingly, international comparisons are necessary to further understanding of the development of social work practice. This is particularly necessary because most countries utilize i…
Services and outcomes for transition-age foster care youth
This article reports findings from a study of 96 former foster youth in one state in the United States regarding the transition-related services they received (both prior to and after age 18 years) and the outcomes achieved since age 18. At the time of the survey, approximately 60% of the sample was in the voluntary care of the state agency. Quantitative data describe the services received and outcomes achieved. Qualitative comments provide furth…
Supported education for individuals with psychiatric disabilities
Research indicates that many individuals with psychiatric disabilities often experience the onset of mental illness in young adulthood. This fact, as well as educational discrimination, unmet needs for support, personal fears of failure, and the cyclical nature of their illness causes many of these individuals not to pursue higher education, despite their intellectual qualifications. Supported education programs have arisen as psychosocial rehabi…
Training as a factor in policy implementation
Effectiveness of Supported Education for Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities
Workforce development systems efforts for system-involved youth
Social Constructions of Children and Youth
Schneider and Ingram's (1993) theory of social construction of target populations has received extensive scholarly attention. It has rarely been applied to populations of children and youth, however. In this article we: (1) describe the original framework; (2) apply each of Schneider and Ingram's four categories to examples relevant to children and youth; (3) identify adjustments to the model to guide further understanding of young people's polic…
Supported Education for Adults with Psychiatric Disabilities
With medications that improve cognition and advances in knowledge of successful rehabilitative approaches, adults with psychiatric disabilities are increasingly able to pursue desired personal and career goals in their communities. This article focuses on supported education (SEd)-one of the newest psychosocial rehabilitation (PSR) models for adults with mental illness. The mission, principles, and service components of SEd are presented, reflect…
Teenage Parents and Welfare Reform
An important component of welfare reform aimed at minor teenage parents is a requirement that the teenager live in an appropriate living situation, typically with a parent or guardian. The State of Massachusetts developed Teen Living Programs as an alternate living arrangement for minor teenage parents receiving welfare who are unable to live with family members. This article reports on a survey of 199 teenage parents who lived in the Teen Living…
We make a direct impact on people's lives”
Participatory budgeting [PB] is a democratic process whereby community members determine how to spend governmental funds. Youth‐led PB is relatively new, occurring in select U.S. cities. During youth‐led PB, youth collect ideas, develop proposals, and advertise community improvement projects for which they, citywide, cast deciding votes. The study examined opportunities for the empowerment youth at each stage of a youth‐led PB project. Data colle…
Compassion in Contemporary Social Policy
Current academic debate in the social sciences and humanities is revisiting the role of virtue in civic life. This debate is relevant to social policy. We argue that virtue is already an implicit component of policy debates, but that the virtue of compassion has not received sufficient emphasis. To support our argument we review classical and contemporary arguments regarding virtue and its linkage to the 'good society'; articulate the necessity o…
University/Agency IV-E Partnerships for Professional Education and Training
Substantial professional education and training are delivered through partnerships between universities (typically schools of social work) and public child welfare agencies. These partnerships resulted from federal legislation that created funding opportunities for training. Most of what is known about these Title IV-E training partnerships is based on the experiences of the academic partners. This article focuses on the perspectives of training …
The policy context of leaving care services
Addressing issues of globalization in the training of public child welfare workers
English This article describes the implementation of a course module devoted to international child welfare for social work students. The module utilized adult learning theory and was guided by three perspectives: an ecological model of practice, social and economic justice, and cultural competence. The article describes successes and challenges and offers guidance to social work educators. French Cet article décrit la mise en oeuvre d’un module …
National survey of professional practice in child sexual abuse
Effectiveness of Supported Education for Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities
Supported education for individuals with psychiatric disabilities
Research indicates that many individuals with psychiatric disabilities often experience the onset of mental illness in young adulthood. This fact, as well as educational discrimination, unmet needs for support, personal fears of failure, and the cyclical nature of their illness causes many of these individuals not to pursue higher education, despite their intellectual qualifications. Supported education programs have arisen as psychosocial rehabi…
Establishing Individualized Goals in a Supported Education Intervention
Objectives: Support for goal-setting and attainment is a frequent component of social work interventions aimed at fostering client growth. This study investigated goal-setting and attainment in the Michigan Supported Education Research Project, an intervention that provides support for adults with psychiatric disabilities to engage in postsecondary education. Method: An experimental design with three conditions was used and data was collected at …
Teenage Parents and Welfare Reform
An important component of welfare reform aimed at minor teenage parents is a requirement that the teenager live in an appropriate living situation, typically with a parent or guardian. The State of Massachusetts developed Teen Living Programs as an alternate living arrangement for minor teenage parents receiving welfare who are unable to live with family members. This article reports on a survey of 199 teenage parents who lived in the Teen Living…
Impact of welfare reform on teenage parent recipients
To assess early effects of welfare reform, administrative data was used to compare prereform and postreform cohorts of teenage parents regarding the impact of reform on welfare enrollments, case closures, child maltreatment, and subsequent births. The relation of mandated living arrangements to outcomes was also examined. Cohort differences were observed in enrollments and reasons for closure, but not in maltreatment or birth rates. Living arrang…
Transition to Adulthood for Vulnerable Youths
Adolescents aging out of the child welfare system are particularly vulnerable to poor health, undereducation, unemployment, and homelessness; yet, they have not received sufficient research or policy attention. This article reviews what is known about these young people and the impact of independent living programming on youth outcomes. It also examines research on life transition, resilience, and social support. This research underscores the imp…
Risk factors for adult imprisonment in a sample of youth released from residential child care
Enhancing services to youths leaving foster care
Supported Education for Adults with Psychiatric Disabilities
With medications that improve cognition and advances in knowledge of successful rehabilitative approaches, adults with psychiatric disabilities are increasingly able to pursue desired personal and career goals in their communities. This article focuses on supported education (SEd)-one of the newest psychosocial rehabilitation (PSR) models for adults with mental illness. The mission, principles, and service components of SEd are presented, reflect…
Higher Education and Psychiatric Disabilities
Students with psychiatric disabilities are an increasing presence on college and university campuses. However, there is little factual information about the services available to these students in campus disability services offices or the extent to which they use these services. This article reports the results of a survey of disability services offices at colleges and universities in 10 states. Data from 275 schools revealed the number of studen…
Understanding the Policy Context for Supporting Students with Psychiatric Disabilities in Higher Education
Training as a factor in policy implementation
The policy context of leaving care services
Addressing issues of globalization in the training of public child welfare workers
English This article describes the implementation of a course module devoted to international child welfare for social work students. The module utilized adult learning theory and was guided by three perspectives: an ecological model of practice, social and economic justice, and cultural competence. The article describes successes and challenges and offers guidance to social work educators. French Cet article décrit la mise en oeuvre d’un module …
The permanence of family ties
Research on the experiences of youth leaving foster care as they enter adulthood has noted that they often reconnect, and sometimes live with, members of their family of origin. This is often thought to be a curious finding because at some earlier point, the families were deemed unsafe, requiring removal of the child to foster care. Although this finding has been consistent, it has not been the central focus of a research study and, therefore, it…
Influencing policy for youth transitioning from care
Toward best practice and innovation in independent living training
Macro impacts on caseworker decision-making in child welfare
This paper focuses on the factors impacting on decision-making in child and family social work through a cross-national comparison. In doing so, the larger arena of the political and social contexts of both the United States and Northern Ireland are examined. For each of the countries we describe the historical and political context of child welfare, particularly the tension between child safety and family support, and how children's rights are a…
Mentoring for Young People Leaving Foster Care
Mentoring for youths transitioning out of the foster care system has been growing in popularity as mentoring programs have enjoyed unprecedented growth in recent years. However, the existing empirical literature on the conditions associated with more effective youth mentoring relationships and the potential for harm in their absence should give us pause, as meeting these conditions may be especially challenging when working with transitioning you…
Services and outcomes for transition-age foster care youth
This article reports findings from a study of 96 former foster youth in one state in the United States regarding the transition-related services they received (both prior to and after age 18 years) and the outcomes achieved since age 18. At the time of the survey, approximately 60% of the sample was in the voluntary care of the state agency. Quantitative data describe the services received and outcomes achieved. Qualitative comments provide furth…
University/Agency IV-E Partnerships for Professional Education and Training
Substantial professional education and training are delivered through partnerships between universities (typically schools of social work) and public child welfare agencies. These partnerships resulted from federal legislation that created funding opportunities for training. Most of what is known about these Title IV-E training partnerships is based on the experiences of the academic partners. This article focuses on the perspectives of training …
Conceptualizing housing careers for vulnerable youth
Research on the experiences of youth leaving foster care as they enter adulthood has identified their risk for homelessness and housing instability. Although this finding has been consistent, it has not received sufficient empirical or conceptual attention. In this article, we (a) review the recent findings on housing outcomes for former foster youth; (b) identify relevant theoretical frameworks to examine housing outcomes for these youth, with s…
Scandalous Politics
Journal Article Scandalous Politics: Child Welfare Policy in the States by Juliet F. Gainsborough Get access Scandalous Politics: Child Welfare Policy in the States by Juliet F. Gainsborough. Washington, DC, Georgetown University Press, 2010. 207 pp. $26.95. Mary Elizabeth Collins Mary Elizabeth Collins Boston University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Political Science Quarterly, Volume 127, Issue 2, Summ…
Compassion in Contemporary Social Policy
Current academic debate in the social sciences and humanities is revisiting the role of virtue in civic life. This debate is relevant to social policy. We argue that virtue is already an implicit component of policy debates, but that the virtue of compassion has not received sufficient emphasis. To support our argument we review classical and contemporary arguments regarding virtue and its linkage to the 'good society'; articulate the necessity o…
Political science (51 obras) · Psychology (41 obras) · Sociology (37 obras) · Medicine (32 obras) · Public relations (28 obras) · Child Welfare and Adoption (20 obras) · Law (18 obras) · Economics (17 obras) · Homelessness and Social Issues (17 obras) · Welfare (16 obras)