Identifying Barriers to Permanency: The Recruitment,Selection, and Training of Resource Parents

Staff and resource parents in the public child welfare agency and private child care facilities were invited to participate in research in one state to examine the barriers surrounding resource parent recruitment, training and selection, and strategies for achieving more timely permanency. Issues identified included the need for a shared vision among all stakeholders and the need to focus more on developing public and private agency partnerships. Data-driven strategies were then designed to address identified barriers. This process can serve as an example of how systems may use solicited input from the field to develop interventions or modify casework practice in an attempt to improve child and family outcomes as needed.     

Increasing Community College Completion Rates Among Low-Income Students: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluation of a Case-Management Intervention

Community college completion rates are low, especially among low-income students. The existing policy and research attention has primarily focused on academic and financial challenges, but there is ample reason to think that non-academic obstacles might be key drivers of dropout rates for low-income students. This study focuses on the role of “life barriers” and investigates the effectiveness of intensive case-management services for low-income community college students. We evaluate the impact of the Stay the Course (STC) intensive case-management program through a multi-armed randomized controlled trial evaluation conducted between 2013 and 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. Analysis of administrative records indicates that STC significantly increased persistence and degree completion for women; estimates for the full sample are imprecise. The statistically significant estimates for women imply that STC tripled associate's degree receipt by 31.5 percentage points. We find no difference in outcomes between students in an emergency financial assistance (EFA) only treatment arm and the control group. Given program costs of $4,343 per person, the implied cost per additional associate's degree is $27,140. This study complements existing literature on financial and informational interventions designed to increase completion rates and is most closely related to the smaller literature examining coaching and mentoring interventions.     

First degree murder and complicity—conditions for parity of culpability between principal and accomplice

The Law Commission for England and Wales has published for consultation a proposal for an offence of first degree murder. A person found guilty of this offence whether as a principal or an accomplice will receive a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. It is argued that the conditions for liability as an accomplice put forward by the Commission do not fulfil the Commission's aspiration for a "parity of culpability" between principals and accomplices. The discussion has general implications for the reform of complicity laws.

Participation in Youth Programs as a Catalyst for Negotiation of Family Autonomy with Connection

Current research and theory suggest that the healthy path of autonomy development involves gradual negotiation of adolescents’ independence within a context of continued family connection. This theory-generating study examined the role that adolescents’ participation in youth programs plays in these adolescent-parent negotiations. Qualitative data from high-school-aged youth in 12 programs and from a sub-sample of parents were analyzed employing methods of grounded theory. These analyses suggest that program participation provides a pathway of opportunities for youth to exercise individual choice and develop qualities of self-reliance with parental approval. In turn, parents’ observation of self-reliance in the program and youth's demonstration of these qualities in family interactions can lead to changes in adolescent-parent relationships that provide youth greater family autonomy with connection.

Associations between expectancies of alcohol and drug use, severity of partner violence, and posttraumatic stress among women

Women who experience recurrent intimate partner violence (IPV) may use alcohol or drugs because they expect that these substances will help them cope with the negative physical and psychological sequelae of IPV. However, expectancies for alcohol and drug use have not been explored among this population of women. We used the Relaxation and Tension-Reduction Scale, Arousal and Aggression Scale, and Social Assertion Scale of the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire and modified its items to assess both alcohol and drug expectancies of 212 community-based, IPV-exposed women. Results of bivariate correlations showed that greater alcohol and drug expectancies were significantly correlated with greater alcohol problems and greater posttraumatic stress total and symptom severity scores. Results of a multivariate regression model showed that after controlling for demographic characteristics and history of childhood trauma, Relaxation and Tension- Reduction expectancies were associated with number of days of alcohol use, alcohol problems, physical and sexual IPV severity scores, and posttraumatic stress total and reexperiencing symptom severity scores. Expectancies do not significantly moderate the relationships between IPV, posttraumatic stress, and problematic alcohol and drug use. Given the strong relationships of expectancies with IPV severity, posttraumatic stress, and alcohol problems, expectancies may serve as targets for interventions to reduce alcohol use and problems and improve health-related outcomes in IPV-exposed women.     

The Use of Children as a Tactic of Intimate Partner Violence and its Relationship to Survivors’ Mental Health

Journal of Family Violence - Although prior research has established that intimate partner violence (IPV) often leads to increased depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),...