When homeless youth turn 26 years of age many of the organizations and resources they have been utilizing for survival, such as food and shelter, become unavailable as many organizations no longer consider them youth. The purpose of this study is to identify gaps in the transition period for homeless youth moving towards adulthood to explore ways to make the transition more efficient and accessible. I conducted a systematic literature review among databases and ten studies are included. Restrictions on studies included were publication dates after the year 2000, publications in English only and studies done in the United States. This study includes data from both currently and previously homeless youth from ages 18 to 30. Several areas are identified as gaps that affect the ease of transition for homeless youth including lack of consistent support in case management or mentorship, preparing the youth ahead of time for exit out of youth programs, housing models being utilized at time youth are aging-out at twenty-six years old, and how the youth values themselves. Recommendations for programs such as a housing first model that collaborates with mentoring and community support and youth preparation programs that begin at least a year before a youth turns 26 years old are discussed in this study.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our society in a rapid, lasting way. In March 2020, a national state of emergency was declared, and restrictions began to be put in place to stop the spread of the virus such as stay-at-home orders, social distancing guidelines, and mask mandates. These restrictions caused a whole host of serious changes to daily life and culture bringing an onslaught of mass death; school and business closures; financial stress/instability; cancellation of important events and milestones; and more. These changes could have potentially put adolescents in a particularly unique, unprecedented, and vulnerable state as they are in a crucial developmental period marked with a newfound drive for independence and various hormonal, cognitive, and behavioral changes that was then disrupted in multiple intersecting ways. For youth in the Black community, who has been affected disproportionately by all aspects of the pandemic, these changes could represent an even greater risk factor for poor mental or socio-emotional health. I conducted a systematic literature review in order to identify and analyze how different aspects of life during the COVID-19 pandemic (mentioned above) have affected Black adolescent mental and socio-emotional health in the U.S. through development of mental disorders, changes in socialization patterns/desires, general psychological affect, etc. This research fills many gaps in the literature, as currently it mainly focuses on the physical disease of COVID-19 with majority non-Latino white participants. This research has implications in demonstrating the intrinsic role of the social determinants of health in the lives of Black Americans; proving the importance of schools as safe spaces and resource centers for adolescents; building our knowledge and evidence base to create interventions to support Black youth; and advancing knowledge on how crisis situations affect adolescents- specifically COVID-19, which has effectively changed our society for the foreseeable future.

The National Institute of Health reports that 11 million family members and other unpaid caregivers provide an estimated 16 billion hours of care to people with Alzheimer's or related dementia each year. This vulnerable population struggles to manage their caregiving responsibilities and daily life, yet these unsung heroes persevere in providing care day-in day-out. The COVID-19 pandemic adds another hurdle for caregivers of people with dementia as they give care and attempt to keep their loved ones safe from illness. To examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on informal caregivers of people with dementia in the United States, I conducted a systematic literature review that looks at studies published since the onset of the pandemic. This examination reveals scant attention paid to the experiences of these informal caregivers. These findings are futher bolstered by my interviews with professional social workers working in direct practice with caregivers and people with dementia. The findings confirm the deleterious impact of increased isolation and reduced support options for these caregivers and the subsequent diminished quality of life fo the people with dementia in their care. Further research is needed to explore the plight of this group and to develop and assess the efficacy of potential interventions proposed by the social workders interviewed for this study. 

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is an Obama-era executive action that grants certain undocumented youth temporary relief from deportation and work authorization, renewable every two years. It allows undocumented youth to further their education, obtain jobs, and health insurance with a peace of mind that they can work toward building their future in the U.S. The limitations of this administrative policy is that it benefits a small segment of a much larger undocumented population and it does not provide a pathway toward citizenship. Termination of the program will have devastating consequences on the wellbeing of DACA recipients and their families. I conducted a systematic literature review to identify the effects of politics on the lives of DACA recipients and to determine the types of psychological distress they have experienced due to the temporary status of the administrative policy. Preliminary results range from findings suggesting DACA beneficiaries seemed optimistic about changes, citing financial stability, access to education and resources like drivers’ licenses and reduced/fear/greater freedom to increased fear and anxiety that a family member will be detained or deported by local authorities or immigration even if an individual does not have a personal hardship as a result of immigration policies and enforcement strategies (including DACA). This research fills many gaps in the literature that did not consider the transition from the Trump administration to the Biden administration on this administrative policy and the decisions that individuals had to take due to these changes/or lack of. This research has suggestions in furthering research on the psychological impacts of policies that pertain to immigration and the ways that DACA beneficiaries handle the uncertainties surrounding DACA.

Refugee resettlement job training programs do not necessarily offer positive long-term economic outcomes. I have discovered a gap in peer-reviewed articles about the flaws within the existing resettlement employment services. The problem is that there are two types of employable refugees with distinct needs: (1) Refugees who already have professional credentials who need their credentials officially recognized so they may continue their chosen profession and (2) Refugees who need professional development that will connect them to sustainable paid employment. I have performed a systematic literature review that focuses on factors that contribute to the economic stability of the adult refugee population during their resettlement period in the United States. The selection criteria materials have been retrieved from the University of Washington Library Search and Web of Science including search terms related to refugee resettlement services that focus on the refugee population in the United States with referenced English language peer-reviewed scholarly articles published within the last five years. The overall findings show that refugees are to acquire basic job skills within the first six months of their resettlement as they are provided funding and housing during this short window of time. My research reveals that established programs only offer short-term solutions thus the significance of this problem is that the current system focuses refugees on survival employment with low paying jobs that do not necessarily match their qualifications. Refugees who are highly skilled and overqualified face insurmountable obstacles for credential recognition in the United States and are grossly underemployed, unable to sustain a livable wage. The implications of this have prevented both sets of refugees from reaching sustainable economic equity and have generational impacts on the livelihood of refugees in the country.

Religion and spirituality (R/S) may shape individual's conceptualizations of, goals for, and experiences with behavioral health and treatment, coping, healing, growth, and empowerment. However, client R/S is often an underutilized facet of the environment in U.S. behavioral health care, due in part to a lack of training on how to effectively engage client R/S. To investigate the benefits of engaging client R/S in behavioral health care, I conducted a systematic search of the literature from the last 20 years on behavioral health engagement with client R/S, using three databases (APA PsycINFO, CINAHL Complete, and MEDLINE). This returned 82 unique results from which I systematically selected 12 studies for analysis by applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. Additionally, I identified several key informants and created an interview protocol. Interview transcript analysis can lead to a more nuanced understanding of factors related to engaging client R/S in behavioral health care. This review reveals that limited research - particularly, few empirical studies - from the past 20 years exists on engaging client R/S in behavioral health care. However, all findings on engagement with client R/S describe a variety of positive impacts. Additional studies, particularly on engaging client systems with forms of R/S besides Christianity, are needed to strengthen training in culturally responsive practice, which includes engagement with client R/S. Better engagement may improve service utilization and client outcomes.