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• Counseling was the primary mental health service provided by school social workers amid COVID-19 school reopening. • Barriers to service delivery included the virtual format of service delivery and emerging experiences of burnout. • Facilitators to providing mental health services included collaboration with school and community-based partners. • Participants wished schools had offered additional in-person mental health services and more professionals. Child and adolescent mental health needs are at unprecedented rates in the continued wake of COVID-19. While prior research has examined school mental health practice during initial COVID-19 school closures, few studies have examined school mental health practice amid COVID-19 school reopening. This exploratory study investigates school social workers' perceptions of their mental health service and support delivery during COVID-19 school reopening as well as the facilitators and barriers they experienced to delivering these supports. This study also examines school social worker's perceptions of the mental health supports they wished were offered. Fifteen current school social workers in one southeastern state who practiced during the first full school year amid COVID-19 school reopening (2020–2021) participated in virtual interviews. Interview data were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis approach. Findings suggest crisis intervention and counseling were primary mental health services provided by school social workers during this time, and barriers to service delivery included the virtual format of service delivery, emerging experiences of burnout, and a lack of mental health providers. Facilitators to providing mental health services included collaboration with school and community-based partners and supervisor support. Participants wished schools had offered additional in-person mental health services and supports and expressed a need for additional school mental health professionals to be hired. Implications are offered for school mental health practice and research with the aim of helping to inform ongoing responses to COVID-19, future crisis response planning, and areas for improvement in current school mental health approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When used appropriately, congregate care placements can provide children in foster care with the structure and treatment services they need. However, children are often placed in congregate care when their needs can be met in family settings, a practice that contradicts the child welfare mandate to place children in the least restrictive environment possible. In 2000, a class action lawsuit filed against the State of Tennessee highlighted that the state routinely placed children in congregate care settings contrary to their best interests. Since then, the state''s Department of Children''s Services (DCS) has been extremely successful in reducing its use of congregate care. This paper presents major findings from a qualitative research study that explored how DCS accomplished this critical system change. Fifty-one Tennessee child welfare stakeholders were interviewed using an open ended protocol. DCS administrative data, performance monitoring data, and official policy documents were also analyzed to provide context for the interviewees'' comments. Analysis of interview transcripts revealed three main change agents that helped set the stage for deinstitutionalization, as well as three types of systemwide reforms that were undertaken to ensure a successful reduction in congregate care use. Implications for jurisdictions embarking on similar reforms are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of low-income youth participation in a summer sport-based positive youth development (PYD) program on individual, parent, family, and community level outcomes. Specific mechanisms that contribute to program outcomes also were explored. Ten parents of youth participating in a summer sport-based PYD program were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. Parents identified key outcomes at the individual, parent, family and community level, such as youth biopsychosocial development and positive changes in affect, parents'' peace of mind due to child involvement, improved family interactions, youth involvement in prosocial activities, and community interaction/support. Key mechanisms contributing to these outcomes point to the importance of program characteristics such as the qualities and roles of counselors, incorporation of lessons for sport and life, opportunities for peer/family interactions, program structure, and the provision of resources. Findings provide qualitative evidence of the value of sport-based PYD summer programs, as well as point to important mechanisms that may guide program design in this emergent field of practice. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• The study sought to understand how youth associations become settings for youth engagement. • Malaysian youth policy acts as a shared belief system for youth associations. • Association leaders engage through social capital and voice in decision-making. • Organizational engagement occurs when members experience safety and growth. • Community engagement results from social capital, support from adults and personal growth. Youth organizations often face challenges in reaching their potential as places of empowerment and engagement for youth development. While evidence-based practices of how organizations foster youth engagement exist, there are few replicable models or conceptual frameworks that cross-cut these different practices. The purpose of this multi-level, mixed methods study was to gain insight into how youth associations become empowering settings for youth engagement. Grounded in the theoretical perspective of empowered community settings, we sought to explore the links between national youth policy, the creation of empowering settings and youth engagement. Our focus was on Malaysia and its national network of youth associations. In Phase 1 of the study, thematic analysis of major policy documents revealed that Malaysian youth policy creates a shared belief system for the country's youth associations according to three core themes: empowerment is intertwined with community capacity building; safety and inclusivity are paramount; and members are expected to be both teachers and learners as 'partners in development'. In Phase 2, in-depth interviews with youth association leaders (N = 22; M age = 28; 68% male) highlighted the importance of a relational environment that includes opportunities to build social capital with adults and peers. The associations' opportunity role structure further allows youth leaders to exercise voice in making decisions that mold the associations' programs and allow the leaders to pass on knowledge and skills to younger members. In Phase 3, building on the findings from the first two study phases, a survey of regular association members (N = 262) indicated that safety and opportunities for personal growth predicted organizational engagement. For community engagement, as members moved outside of the confines of the organization and participated in community work, opportunities for personal growth remained central to engagement with social capital and adult support taking on additional importance. The study provides an initial conceptualization of best practices that link national policy and organizational leadership to participant engagement in youth associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]