This article reports the results of a mixed-method study that examined processes and outcomes of parent-worker engagement in child welfare. Knowledge gained from a qualitative exploration of engagement at one neighborhood-based child welfare agency informed the gathering of quantitative data from 74 different parent-worker dyads in this sequential exploratory design. Seven themes instrumental to engagement emerged: (a) clear, collaborative goal setting; (b) hopefulness; (c) parent acknowledgment of their situations; (d) motivation; (e) respect for cultural differences; (f) honest and straightforward communication; and (g) persistent and timely efforts by all. Quantitative analyses yielded little relationship between engagement and either visitation rate or case disposition by 9 months post placement. Although these data provide support for the clinical benefits of working to improve parent-worker engagement in child welfare services, they fail to provide evidence of a relationship between engagement and improved case outcomes.

People exposed to parental divorce experience a number of relational and attitudinal effects. One such effect, the inter-generational transmission of divorce, involves a greater risk for divorce among those adult children whose parents were divorced. Social cognitive theory would explain many of the outcomes of parental divorce as inhibitory or disinhibitory effects learned through vicarious experience. Predictions from social cognitive theory were tested on a community-based sample of 821 adults. Results replicated the intergenerational transmission of divorce as well as higher family conflict, more negative attitudes toward marriage, greater likelihood of marriage to a previously divorced person, and a decreased likelihood of currently being in a close relationship as a function of parental divorce. Either family-of-origin conflict or negative marital attitudes mediated many of these effects. In other words, it is not parental divorce that is entirely responsible for certain relational and attitudinal effects.

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Decisions of nonvoluntary clients regarding whether to accept or decline agency-initiated social services were examined in this exploratory study. A qualitative research approach was used to collect and analyze data from 20 potential participants in an early-intervention program for high-risk (child abuse) families. Each was queried as to their decision-making rationale when confronted with an offer of services. Five themes across the participant decision-making category emerged: need, fit, efficacy, cost/benefit, and choice. Practice implications are discussed, with an emphasis on the importance of seeking and respecting clients' perspectives in the offer of service delivery. Note. This paper is based on work funded by the Fahs-Beck Fund for Research and Experimentation and also supported by a Dissertation Fellowship Award from the