WHEN JAIL FAILS: AMENDING THE ASFA TO REDUCE ITS NEGATIVE IMPACT ON CHILDREN OF INCARCERATED PARENTS

The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) requires states begin termination proceedings when a child resides in foster care for fifteen out of the last twenty‐two months. Many states interpret this to mean that an incarcerated parent is unfit when they leave their child in foster care just because they are separated from their children. Parents and children can still have meaningful relationships even when separated. Thus, parental unfitness should depend on many factors such as the relationship with the child, age of the child, and ability to provide support for the child—not just the time spent away from the child. This Note advocates for the amendment of ASFA to include factors courts should consider when terminating the parental rights of incarcerated parents and encouraged states to focus not on a time frame for termination, but rather consideration of circumstances relevant to each individual family. States should incorporate the factors into their state laws. Further, states should actively work with prisoners and their children to help maintain contact and if possible, reunify families after incarcerations. These services will help prevent the need for termination after a parent completes their sentence and will help to reduce recidivism.     

Impact of emergency department intimate partner violence intervention

The objective of the study is to assess the impact of emergency department (ED) intimate partner violence (IPV) counseling and resource referrals on patient-perceived safety and safety planning. ED patients with risk factors were offered consultation with trained IPV advocacy counselors who completed safety assessments, provided resource referrals, and helped patients develop safety plans. Patients were contacted after ED intervention to assess progress and further assist in IPV counseling. Over 96% of patients perceived an increase in their safety after the intervention, and approximately 50% had completed a portion of their safety plan. Legal assistance and/or law enforcement were considered the most beneficial resource referrals. Although follow-up was limited, this study appears to demonstrate that an ED IPV intervention program may be useful in helping IPV victims achieve safer living environments and access local resources.     

Rent-seeking and pesticide legislation

This paper provides a test of the Appelbaum and Katz (1987) rent-seeking model, in which rents are endogenous. The Appelbaum-Katz model is theoretically modified to correspond to our empirical application, in which rent-seeking and rent-avoiding coalitions are attempting to influence legislators' votes on pesticide regulations. Probit estimations are used to analyze the legislators' votes on two bills to amend pesticide legislation (a proxy for rent). Empirical results generally support the rent-seeking determinants identified in the model. Tobit estimation is used to investigate campaign contributions by the coalitions to the legislators. These contributions are a proxy for rent-seeking activities. Again, the model is supported.     

A simple technique for imaging the human skeleton using a flatbed scanner

A simple technique for imaging the human skeleton with a flatbed scanner is presented using the auricular surface of the ilium as an example. A flatbed scanner with resolution capabilities of 600 dpi or greater allows for images of human bones. The auricular surface of the ilium was selected to demonstrate this technique as it is a fairly three-dimensional area that can be difficult to record photographically. Fifty left ilia of various ages at death from the Athens Collection were selected from which three observers (SCF, CE, and IM) scored the morphology of the auricular surface using a well-established aging method. Observations were taken of the dry bone, of digital photographs of the bone, and of scanned images of the bone, and in that sequence. Results indicate that scores of scanned images are equivalent or better than digital images of the same ilia. This technique allows for sharing data electronically with ease.     

Sustaining active-living communities over the decades: lessons from a 1930s Greenbelt town

Greendale, Wisconsin, was intentionally created with many of the design and planning principles that active-living advocates promote today. This case study examines the processes behind sustaining these particular planning and design principles over time in light of economic and regional challenges that have faced not just Greendale but most town centers over the last fifty years. Despite these challenges, the walkable nature of Greendale's center remains strong today, in terms of both activity and community identity. While many circumstances are specific to this particular town, useful lessons can be drawn for those new urbanist (NU) communities being developed in greenfields and suburbs today, many of which are strikingly similar to Greendale - relatively small, low density, and located within metropolitan areas. Greendale's success resulted from (1) attending to the retail/commercial product mix; (2) attracting nonresidents to use the community's retail and public space; and (3) capitalizing on community investment not simply from residents' organizing efforts but, more important in this case, from corporate community involvement by a Greendale business firm whose interests and values coincided with those of the community.     

Does state AFDC generosity affect child SSI participation?

This article examines the extent of interactions or spillovers between the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) programs for children. In the early 1990s, the Social Security Administration substantially relaxed child eligibility criteria for SSI benefits. Since the changes, the number of U.S. children receiving cash and medical benefits through SSI tripled to nearly 1 million. The article describes a family's decision to participate in SSI and/or AFDC, and uses state‐level data for three years before, and three years after, the Zebley decision to estimate the effect of state program generosity on child program participation. The expansions in child SSI eligibility increased child SSI participation and contributed to increased total program participation by children in the early 1990s. Child SSI participation increased more in states with lower AFDC payments and higher state SSI supplementation payments. These results suggest that families use SSI and AFDC as substitutes. At least 32 percent of the Zebley increase in SSI is likely attributable to the SSI–AFDC benefit gap for the median AFDC benefit state. © 2000 by the Association for Public Policy and Management.