The Financial Viability of Housing for Mentally Ill Persons

Abstract

Although persons with serious mental illness experience significant unmet housing needs, basic information on how housing is successfully financed, developed, and operated for them is lacking. It is possible that standard housing rules of thumb may not apply to this population. (For example, community opposition may raise development costs.) This lack of information may be a stumbling block to policy makers, planners, and developers.

This article attempts to close the gap by examining the financial profile of 153 properties developed for persons with serious mental illness by five nonprofit housing corporations between 1988 and 1992. Our analysis suggests that although this housing may require more management attention, it is not fundamentally different from market‐rate housing for low‐income tenants. After more than 10 years, the nonprofit housing developers continue to thrive, and virtually all of the properties continue to serve persons with mental illness, demonstrating that such housing can be successfully developed and operated.     

Psychometric Proprieties and Construct Validity of the Brother-Sister Questionnaire in a Sample of Portuguese Adolescents

The Brother-Sister Questionnaire (BSQ; Graham-Bermann and Cutler 1994) is an instrument designed to measure qualities of sibling relationships. Aim: In the present study the main objective was to examine the psychometric properties and validity construct of BSQ - Portuguese version. Data were collected among 197 adolescents. The Cronbach’s alpha of the four domains ranged from .58 to .84. The psychometric characteristics of BSQ Portuguese version were found to be adequate. The results confirm the multi-dimensional model composed of four factors proposed by the authors of this instrument, as well as their suitability to assess quality of Portuguese sibling relationships. The BSQ offers a reliable and valid measure to be used within Portuguese population.     

Predicting Outcomes for Youth Transferred to Adult Court

Extant research regarding juvenile transfer has focused primarily on the negative effects of current policies, with little consistent and rigorous work on the variation among the adolescents transferred to adult court and their later adjustment in the community. Using a sample of 193 transferred youth from Arizona, we consider how certain individual characteristics are related to four post-release outcomes (antisocial activity, re-arrest, re-institutionalization, and gainful activity). We find considerable variability in outcomes, with adjustment significantly and consistently related to certain legal and risk-need factors. These results indicate that some transferred youth may experience negative outcomes, and that refinements to transfer policy may benefit from consideration of these factors in determining which serious adolescent offenders are most appropriate for transfer.     

Access to state-held information

China-EU Law Journal - On the basis of different cases of the ECHR regarding freedom of information and its scope of protection; this article analyses the individual right for access to state-held...     

Brief Research Report: Age Factors Affecting the Believability of Repressed Memories of Child Sexual Assault

Two experiments investigated how mock jurors react to testimony involving claims of a repressed memory in a case involving child sexual assault. Participants read a fictional civil trial summary presented in one of three conditions: (a) immediate condition—the alleged victim testified immediately after the incident; (b) repressed condition—the alleged victim reported the assault 1–39 years later, after remembering it for the first time; or (c) not-repressed condition—the alleged victim reported the assault 1–39 years later, but the memory of the assault had been present for those years. When there was any type of delayed reporting, either the age of the alleged victim at the time of the assault was constant and her age at reporting varied (Experiment 1) or the age of the alleged victim at the time of the assault varied and her age at reporting remained constant (Experiment 2). The results showed that (1) a delay in reporting an incident adversely affected believability of the alleged victim and led to fewer rulings in support of the plaintiff compared to reporting it immediately, (2) longer delays in reporting generally led to lower alleged victim believability and fewer decisions in support of the plaintiff than shorter delays, (3) the age of the alleged victim at the time of the incident was a critical variable in determining belief of the alleged victim, and (4) men generally rated believability of the alleged victim lower and ruled in favor of the plaintiff less often than women. The results are discussed in terms of the psychosocial factors affecting the perception of delayed reporting in a child sexual assault trial.     

Probiotics in Tanzania: a multi-partner development project

This article critically examines an HIV/AIDS development and research project in Mwanza, Tanzania. A group of women produce a type of probiotic yoghurt that has provided evidence of lowering the incidence of HIV infection. The yoghurt is consumed by the women, their family members, and local citizens living with HIV/AIDS; surplus is sold within the community. While the project's multi-partner, multi-disciplinary composition allows for varied expertise and insights, it also requires open and collaborative dialogue. This article discusses the project's challenges, positive outcomes, and some of the socio-cultural issues that need to be addressed if it expands in size and/or scope.