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ABSTRACT
In public child welfare, the acknowledgment of spirituality/religion is ignored in the child welfare research and practice literature. It is believed that for many families, cultural competence requires the acknowledgment and inclusion of spirituality/religion. The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine the role of spirituality/religion in engaging, assessing and intervening with African American families involved in child welfare. This article specifically focuses on key themes expressed by child welfare staff. Key themes include the value of including spirituality/religion in engaging, assessing and intervening with families and the barriers to the inclusion of spirituality/religion in child welfare practice. Implications for policy and practice change and future research in this area are discussed.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
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Laurel E Brown
Laurel E Brown, Ph.D., MSW, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, Azusa Pacific University, Master of Social Work Program. Laurel E. Brown received her Ph.D. in Social Policy and Research from Loma Linda University. Dr. Brown has worked in the area of child welfare services for more than 20 years as a social worker, supervisor, trainer, and administrator. She has been a social work educator for many years, teaching at the undergraduate level at a number of area colleges. Her research interests include child welfare, integrating spirituality in social work practice, community-based service provision, cultural humility in practice, and strategies to combat the generational impact of institutional racism.