Use of Evidence-based Practice to Enhance Decision-Making in Rural Child Welfare PracticeUse of Evidence-based Practice to Enhance Decision-Making in Rural Child Welfare Practice

Child welfare practitioners need to ensure they employ effective decision-making when implementing services to families at risk for abuse and/or neglect of their children. Utilizing a structured decision making process, specifically an evidence-based process, may enhance case outcomes (Hagermoser-Sanetti, & Kratochwill, 2009). Evidence-based practice is an attempt to bridge the gap between research and practice (Hagell, & Spencer, 2004). Evidence-based practice (EBP) is defined as a “process that blends current best evidence, community values and preferences, and agency, societal, and political considerations in order to establish programs and policies that are effective and contextualized” (Regehr, Stern, & Shlonsky, 2007, p. 410), which is crucial when working in rural communities (Belanger & Stone, 2008; Landsman, 2012; Saltman, Gumpert, Allen-Kelly, Zubrzycki, 200X). In most developed countries, use of EBP is the goal of public services (Nutley, Walter, & Davies, 2009). In the past two decades, there has been a more conscientious attempt to use EBP in various social work settings including child welfare, employment, health, juvenile justice, mental health, and substance abuse (Fixsen, Blase, Naoom, & Wallace, 2009)

Hydrogeology and Hydrochemistry of Springs in Mantua Valley and Vicinity, North-Central Utah

Chemical and tritium analyses of groundwater, precipitation and discharge records, fracture orientations, lineaments, and structural, stratigraphic, and topographic relationships have been used to describe the groundwater systems of Mantua Valley, north-central Utah. Groundwater flows through fractured Paleozoic quartzites and carbonate rocks and discharges from eleven perennial springs in Mantua Valley. Permeability in quartzites is the result of intense faulting and jointing. Groundwater in carbonate aquifers flows through fractures and/or fractures modified by solution and discharges as relatively large springs (up to 227 liters per second). Neogene normal faulting, rather than extensive karst processes, has produced valleys which are closed or nearly closed to surface-water drainage. Groundwater in the area has relatively low total dissolved solids, is warmer than the mean annual air temperature, and is of the calcium-magnesium-bicarbonate type. Temperatures of the groundwater suggest circulation depths in excess of 10 to 185 meters. Intermittent turbidity and fluctuations in calcite and dolomite saturation indices and in groundwater temperatures suggest that springs may be supplied by mixtures of shallow and deeper groundwater flow. With the methods used here, a water budget analysis of the area indicates that recharge to the groundwater systems is approximately 49% of mean annual precipitation. Annual recharge and average discharge of the springs were used to calculate recharge areas, which range from 3.0 km2 to 18 km2. Tritium analyses of two of the springs suggest mean residence times of less than ten years

Through Their Eyes: Using Photography with Youth Who Experienced Trauma

Adolescent youth in foster care are often exposed to multiple traumas and often leave the child welfare system without processing thoughts, feelings, or plans for the future. This study employed photo elicitation with a group of adolescent youth in foster care to discover what is important to them. Eight themes emerged. Family and friends, or the need to have someone who is always there for them was the most frequent theme photographed. Utilizing photo elicitation with youth who have been abused and/or neglected is an engaging and empowering method as it allows for individualized case planning that is guided by the wants and needs of the youth themselves