Taylor Dowdy-Hazlett

• PhD
• Assistant professor at University of Kentucky

Scholarship has suggested that compassion is the foundation of quality social work practice. However, research exploring specific ways in which social workers utilize compassion is limited. Therefore, this qualitative study examined how social workers actualize compassion in practice. Semi-structured interviews were completed with 12 social workers...

COVID-19 mandates required residential youth care providers to quickly adapt services while adhering to state and local mandates, impacting family visitation, stress, and potential disruption to reunification efforts. This mixed-methods study utilized data from a larger study of residential group homes in one southeastern state, utilizing the Quali...

While scholarship exploring well-being outcomes among child welfare workers is burgeoning, few studies have examined predictors of well-being among foster parents. Utilizing the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) Scale, this study examined factors associated with foster parent burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction. Res...

Traumatic events are becoming more prevalent in youth, especially considering the increase in disaster exposure, impacting the wellbeing and mental health of youth. Youth in rural communities are more adversely impacted due to a lack of access to available support and services. Interventions geared toward treating traumatic stress are needed for yo...

Purpose: Evidence establishing the importance of compassion in the context of social work practice is emerging. Compassion, stemming from the Latin words com and pati, means to suffer with. Given the proximity social workers have to vast experiences of suffering, compassion may play a central role in providing meaningful care to individuals, commu...

Foster parents serve a critical role in the child welfare system; however, many report being dissatisfied with their role. As such, dissatisfied foster parents are at risk of disruption and turnover, ultimately resulting in placement moves for youth in care. Placement moves have negative impacts on youth well-being, prompting a need to explore issu...

Although most youth served in residential group care are adolescents, empirical theories indicate that youth needs vary at different stages of adolescent development. These differences likely impact adolescents’ experiences and, ultimately, responses to treatment; a neglected research topic that may have implications for residential placement and s...

In this study the relation between familial risk factors and maltreatment types and mental health diagnoses among youth in residential care were examined. Using data from a larger study, six separate hierarchical logistic regression models were specified using family risk factors and maltreatment type to predict risk for attention deficit hyperacti...

Current trauma measures for youth are lacking psychometric properties, ability for use with refugees, measurement of both exposure and symptomology of trauma, and are outdated with current DSM-V criterion. The Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen (CATS) is a measure that has been developed to fill this gap in both research and clinical practice. This...

In the past 2 decades, social work education has increasingly advocated for inclusion of trauma-related content in educational programming. Yet, to date, little is known about the current state of trauma education and training in social work programs. The aim of this study is to describe trauma education and training in accredited, North American s...