A Coordinated Approach to Improving Outcomes for Substance‐Abusing Families in Juvenile Dependency Court

This paper describes a coordinated approach to providing enhanced services for substance‐abusing families in the juvenile dependency court. The enhanced services consisted of an interagency collaborative model including the Department of Social Services, Court Appointed Special Advocates, Public Health Nurses, and Family Support Specialists. The purpose of the intervention was to increase the likelihood of family reunification. Families were randomly assigned to either the enhanced services (N=48) or to a regular services group (N=41). Variables included social background factors, data related to court hearings and court orders, and final court outcomes regarding placement and custody. Significant factors predicting final placement of the child were completion of court ordered programs, a stable home, and mothers' cooperation and motivation. Families who received the enhanced services had significantly higher rates of reunification of children with parents.     

Helping Families by Maintaining a Strong Well‐Funded Family Court that Encourages Consensual Peacemaking: A Judicial Perspective

This article explores alternatives for the court process that promote a child‐centered approach to resolution of family law issues including a summary of procedures used in Los Angeles County to assist families. The article also explores alternatives to the traditional custody litigation model.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:
• Evaluations and trials are not the only tools available in family law.
• Structured court ordered counseling can provide a meaningful intervention and reduce family conflict.
• Alternative forms of mediation can help families address the “need to be heard” and retain personal autonomy in decision making.
• The court system should help educate families about how to resolve conflict in a safe, effective, and meaningful way.

     

LESSENING THE STING OF ASFA: THE REHABILITATION‐RELAPSE DILEMMA BROUGHT ABOUT BY DRUG ADDICTION AND TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS

Congress passed the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA) as a response to children waiting in foster homes for years without permanent placement. In addressing the problem of permanency, however, Congress set a strict limit on how long a child could be in foster care (15 out of the most recent 22 months) before a state must either commence a proceeding to terminate parental rights or else lose valuable federal funding. Due to health care funding schemes and quality of treatment, this requirement, in particular, negatively impacts parents currently in drug rehabilitation whose parental rights may be permanently terminated before a realistic chance to recover is permitted. Although ASFA requires that states make “reasonable efforts” to keep families united, it does not define “reasonable efforts,” leaving parental rights and family unity subject to a chaotic interpretation of this requirement from state to state. “Reasonable efforts” should be interpreted to take into account current drug addiction and recovery research and drug court programs should be used to facilitate this goal. Research has shown that focusing on adequate treatment saves states money and improves the lives of children and their families, reducing the need for reliance on termination of parental rights.     

Juvenile Transfers to Adult Court: An Examination of the Long‐Term Outcomes of Transferred and Non‐Transferred Juveniles

Juveniles who are transferred to adult court are more likely to recidivate than non‐transferred juveniles, but limited research has examined how transfer can impact other life outcomes like attending college and employment. To examine this issue, data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1997) were analyzed from 1998 to 2011. It was found that court involvement during adolescence does not harm educational attainment. However, prosecution of juveniles in adult court significantly impairs earning potential well into adulthood. The current study provides further evidence of the long‐term harms caused by transfer and demonstrates how transfer further disrupts the desistance process.     

Regulating Complex Contracting: A Socio‐legal Study of Decision‐Making Under EU and UK law

The article evaluates interview data on decision‐making under public procurement law using Halliday's analytical model on compliance with administrative law. In this study, unlike other studies on administrative compliance, the decisions faced by public bodies are not routine; they relate to the award of complex, high‐value contracts. Two contrasting decisions in the procurement process are discussed: the decision over the choice of procedure at the outset of the process, and the decision over the extent to which the public body should negotiate with the winning bidder towards the end of the process. The article considers the rationales behind decisions, and finds that, although public bodies are generally predisposed to comply, legal uncertainty means the relevance of commercial pressures and challenge risk impact heavily on approaches to compliance, even shaping understanding of what compliant behaviour actually is.     

Validation of Half‐Reaction Amplification Using Promega PowerPlex® 16*

Abstract: DNA amplification is a fundamental yet costly process used in DNA analysis. This study evaluated half‐reaction amplification (12.5, 12, and 13 uL) using the Promega Powerplex^® 16 Kit with the hope of reducing sample analysis costs by half. A sensitivity study was completed, along with the testing of various blood stain samples including those with low (<0.40 ng) and high DNA concentrations (>3.0 ng), peak height imbalances, and allelic drop‐out. Also, 467 samples submitted to the MUFSC laboratory for testing were analyzed. Results indicate that half‐reaction amplification produced higher quality profiles than full‐reactions. Average peak heights increased by 85%, peak height imbalances improved, and drop‐out was eliminated in 75.8% of samples. Only eight of 467 case samples required re‐amplification, a success rate of 94% was observed, and the repeat rate decreased significantly. Finally, a DNA input of 0.25–1.0 ng is ideal for half‐reaction amplification.     

Treating Substance‐Abusing Parents: A Study of the Pima County Family Drug Court Approach

A geographical comparison‐group design was used to examine the effectiveness of the Pima County (Arizona) Court Assisted Treatment Services (CATS) program and its drug court intervention. The study compared the summary statistics for the volunteers to the family drug court (n=33) with a treatment‐refusal group (n=42) and a treatment‐as‐usual group (n=45) from a matched geographical area. The findings of this study indicate that the family drug court group had higher engagement and completion rates of residential treatment than was true of the other comparison groups. In addition, the volunteers to the family drug court group had fewer parental rights severed, a higher percentage of permanency decisions reached within one year, earlier permanency decisions, and a higher percentage of children placed with their parents. The implications of this study's findings for future evaluations of the components of a family drug court intervention are discussed.     

Physical and Emotional Well‐Being: Court Performance Measures for Children and Youth in Foster Care

Given that courts have the responsibility to ensure the state is providing proper care to children in its custody, courts need to consider whether those children over whom they have jurisdiction are receiving a quality education and are physically and emotionally healthy. Court well‐being measures were not developed when the safety, permanency, timeliness, and due process measures were established. However, there have been recent efforts to address this void. This article describes the newly developed set of well‐being measures for courts to track success in improving well‐being outcomes in the areas of physical health, mental health, maintaining permanent relationships, transition to adulthood, and enhanced family capacity to provide for their children's needs.     

Detection and Classification of Ignitable Liquid Residues Using a Fluorescence‐Based Vapor‐Sensitive Microsphere Array*

Abstract: This paper describes the application of microsphere vapor sensing arrays to the detection of ignitable liquid (IL) vapors as both pure vapors and as residues (ILRs) on simulated fire debris samples. The temporal fluorescence response profile of the microsphere array generated a reproducible pattern unique to each analyte that could be used to classify subsequent sensor responses. This system, together with a support vector machine pattern recognition algorithm, was used to address several different IL and ILR classification scenarios. High classification accuracy (98%) was maintained over more than 200 vapor responses and the array was able to identify ILs when presented to the pattern classification algorithm within a dataset containing 11 other volatile compounds. Both burned and unburned IL treated samples were classified correctly greater than 97% of the time. These results indicate that microsphere vapor sensing arrays may be useful for the rapid identification of ILs and ILRs.     

Age Estimation in Indians Using Demirjian’s 8‐teeth Method

Abstract: Demirjian’s grading of tooth calcification is widely used to assess age of individuals with developing dentitions. However, its application on numerous populations has resulted in wide variations in age estimates and consequent suggestions for the method’s adaptation to the local sample. Conventionally, Demirjian’s method utilized seven mandibular teeth on the left side. A recent modification incorporated the third molar with a view to apply the method on a wider age‐group. Moreover, the revised method developed regression formulas for assessing age. This paper tested the 8‐teeth method using 547 Indians (348 females, 199 males) aged 7–25 years. Demirjian’s formulas resulted in inferior age prediction in Indians (9.2% misclassification at 99% confidence interval vs. 0% misclassification in the original study); therefore, India‐specific regression formulas were developed, which gave better age estimates (mean absolute error, MAE = 0.87 years) than the original formulas (MAE = 1.29 years). This suggests that Demirjian’s 8‐teeth method also needs adaptation prior to use in diverse populations.     

Post‐Secularism and the European Court of Human Rights: Or How God Never Really Went Away

This article analyses the critical yet elusive notions of state neutrality, secularism and religious coercion under the European Convention in light of the European Court of Human Rights recent decision in Lautsi v Italy. We contend that the real concern in the Italian crucifix case was not the infringement of the school pupils’ religious freedom nor the proselytising or coercive effect of the ‘passive’ religious symbols. Rather, opponents of the longstanding symbols were animated by desire for strict religious equality, a notion that is, correctly in our view, not guaranteed under the Convention. Lautsi has significantly cleared the conceptual undergrowth surrounding state neutrality and the varieties of secularism, reined in the elastic notion of religious coercion and eschewed attempts to squeeze the constitutional diversity of European religion‐state frameworks into a strict American‐style separationist mould. The Convention jurisprudence on freedom of religion has finally come of age.     

Comparative Institutional Analysis,the European Court of Justice and the General Principle of Non‐Discrimination—or—Alternative Tales on Equality Reasoning

The general principle of equality in European law is often held to be inconsistently applied by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and insufficiently supported by methodology. Contrary to this assessment, this paper argues that there is substantial coherence and theoretical underpinning to the court's equality reasoning. First, it shows that the respective case‐law can be subdivided into three groups, depending on the level of scrutiny applied. Second, it establishes that the prevailing accounts have difficulty in explaining the court's choice of scrutiny due to their limited selection of analytical parameters. Third, it concludes that comparative institutional analysis offers an alternative framework to make the ECJ's testing approaches in equality matters more intelligible.     

Bacterial Profiling of Soil Using Genus‐Specific Markers and Multidimensional Scaling*

Abstract: Forensic identification of soil based on microbial DNA fingerprinting has met with mixed success, with research efforts rarely considering temporal variability or local heterogeneity in soil’s microbial makeup. In the research presented, the nitrogen fixing bacteria rhizobia were specifically examined. Soils were collected monthly from five habitats for 1 year, and quarterly in each cardinal direction from the main collection site. When all habitats were compared simultaneously using Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism analysis of the rhizobial recA gene and multidimensional scaling, only two were differentiated over a year’s time, however pairwise comparisons allowed four of five soils to be effectively differentiated. Adding in 10‐foot distant soils as “questioned” samples correctly grouped them in 40–70% of cases, depending on restriction enzyme used. The results indicate that the technique has potential for forensic soil identification, although extensive anthropogenic manipulation of a soil makes such identification much more tentative.     

Law Enforcement Advocate Program: An Interagency Collaboration to Enhance Community‐Police Relations and Improve Outcomes for Substance‐Using Offenders

Justice system involvement is highly correlated with substance‐use issues. Untreated, substance‐using offenders are likely to continue to use drugs, commit crimes, and pose a public safety risk. Strategies to address substance use in the criminal justice system often fall short in terms of integrating services and sustaining engagement among high‐risk adult and juvenile populations. Law enforcement can help to bridge identified gaps by offering a community‐based solution to the interrelated challenges of substance use, crime, and recidivism for offenders. The Law Enforcement Advocate Program has been effective in improving probationer compliance and outcomes, facilitating problem solving and interagency coordination, and improving community‐police relations.     

Identification Using Frontal Sinus by Three‐Dimensional Reconstruction from Computed Tomography*

Abstract: Radiographs and computed tomography (CT) images have been increasingly applied and accepted in forensic sciences. Along with radiographs and CT images, the frontal sinus is often used for the individual identification because of its unique and unchangeable characteristics. The purpose of this study is to define the usefulness of three‐dimensional (3‐D) images of the frontal sinus for identification. CT images from 119 Korean cadavers were built up for 3‐D reconstruction and surveyed with 15 measurements. The total volume of the sinus, some nonmetric characteristics, and the bilateral asymmetry index in men differed significantly from those in women (p < 0.05). The digit codes, six sections and 10‐digit number, were almost able to accurately identify individuals (98%). This study showed a statistical difference between the sexes and classified the fused and prominent middle sinuses for the first time. This proposed method for identification is more accurate than those used in other studies.