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There is a pressing need to improve job satisfaction among child welfare caseworkers given historically high turnover rates that adversely affect family outcomes. Guided by the job demands-resources model, this study examined whether caseworkers' job satisfaction was associated with their quality of interprofessional collaboration (IPC). Linear regression models were estimated using cross-sectional data provided by the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute. The sample included caseworkers (N = 1,489) in two states and one urban county in the United States. Results indicated that caseworker job satisfaction increased as their quality of IPC with service providers and court professionals improved. These findings suggest that agency leaders should foster and support IPC as a means of enhancing caseworker job satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child welfare, state educational, and local educational agencies are mandated to collaborate by (1) the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (FSA) and (2) the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA). A focus of these collaborative partnerships is to promote the educational stability of children in foster care. This paper uses the theory of collaborative advantage to provide a framework for developing and maintaining educational stability collaborations mandated by FSA and ESSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Examined risk/protective factors for homeless young adults on educational outcomes. • Analyzed homeless young adults with and without a history in foster care. • Used a sample from three different cities in Colorado, California, and Texas. • Lower probability of positive educational outcomes for HYA with an arrest history. • Implications for federal and state postsecondary financial aid programs. Homeless young adults (HYA) with and without a history in foster care in the United States experience lower high school graduation rates than young adults in the general population. Few studies examine the risk and resilience factors that promote positive educational outcomes for these subpopulations. This study explores the factors that are associated with positive educational outcomes for HYA with and without a foster care history. This study uses data from a 3-city cross-sectional study of HYA, which included quantitative interviews of HYA between the ages of 18 and 24 (N = 601) in Austin, TX (n = 200), Los Angeles, CA (n = 200), and Denver, CO (n = 201). Positive educational outcomes consisted of HYAs being currently enrolled in or previously attaining a degree from a secondary, postsecondary or technical education program. This study uses two logistic regression models to identify the risk and resilience factors associated with positive educational outcomes for HYA with and without a history in foster care. For HYA with a history in foster care, city was a significant predictor of positive educational outcomes as well as being an older age, formal employment, not having an arrest record, having a lower score of emotional neglect, and having a higher score of physical abuse. For HYA without a history in foster care, significant predictors included not having an arrest record and having a higher score of emotional abuse. Findings highlight the need for an expansion of federal and state postsecondary education financial aid programs for HYA with and without a history in foster care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]