The development of a new risk model: The Threat Matrix

The risk assessment of sex offenders has evolved rapidly over a 20‐year period. However, there is still disparity between empirically evaluated approaches and the needs within the applied context. This article discusses the division between the current needs in the applied setting of sex offender risk assessment, and the existing approaches to risk assessment. It highlights key needs that ought to be responded to, to continue the evolution of sex offender risk assessment (i.e., increased automation of processes, additional emphasis on early identification and prevention, and the targeting of resources towards risk). A new risk assessment model termed the Threat Matrix is introduced as a proposed response to these needs. The new model uses information derived from police systems to make proactive assessments of those who may pose a risk of sexual violence, but who have not been convicted of sexual offences. The practical and ethical implications of implementing and testing this model are discussed.     

Effective Implementation Strategies of Differential Response in Child Welfare: A Comparative Case Analysis

Differential response is a growing approach in child welfare that aims to maintain children safely in their homes when possible. This study examined how the implementation of differential response varies between counties with improved child safety outcomes compared to counties with poorer outcomes. Data was collected from nine counties through semi-structured focus groups with workers and interviews with supervisors. Results indicated that counties with improved outcomes had integrated the following implementation strategies: use of comprehensive assessment protocols; integrated supervisory support and on-going coaching of effective practices; and increased mobilization of resources, including enduring supports for parents, supports to help families meet basic needs and culturally responsive services for families.     

Focusing Events and Changes in Ecologies of Policy Games: Evidence from the Paraná River Delta

Solving environmental problems on a regional scale demands joint efforts by multiple stakeholders, but coordinating such efforts can be difficult in complex governance systems. In this article, we combine the literature in Adaptive Governance with the Ecology of Policy Games (EPGs) framework to enhance our understanding of how complex governance systems react to environmental focusing events. We study the EPGs in the Paraná River delta in Argentina following widespread fires caused by slash‐and‐burn practices in 2008, and analyze how new forums created to address the consequences of this event differ from the forums created prior to the event in terms of their capacity to attract stakeholders and to provide higher interconnectivity to the whole governance system. Furthermore, we offer an initial evaluation of the Comprehensive Strategic Plan for the Conservation and Sustainability of the Paraná River delta, the main forum in the EPGs created to address the negative consequences of the focusing event. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for the study of complex governance systems where stakeholders are able to address the management of natural resources at a regional scale.     

Strange bedfellows: Federal systems and performance management

This paper offers the first link between models of the measurement and management of performance and the dimensions of governance arrangements in federal systems. Four ideal type approaches to governance in federal systems are correlated against four ideal types of measuring and managing performance. The paper develops a model that will support empirical research examining reform trajectories where evolving systems of federalism require evolving systems to manage performance in joint arrangements between levels of government.     

Storytelling and corporate social responsibility reporting: A case study commentary on U.K. food retailers

Stories, in one form or another, are probably as old as the human race, but in recent years, businesses have increasingly come to recognise the importance of storytelling. The aim of this paper is to offer an exploratory commentary on how storytelling is employed in the corporate social responsibility reporting process by the leading U.K. food retailers. The paper begins with an outline of the characteristics of storytelling within the corporate world, reviews the ways storytelling is employed by the U.K.'s top 10 food retailers' as part of their corporate social responsibility reporting processes. The paper identifies a number of storytelling formats, including photographs and images, video clips, messages, and cameo case studies, used by the selected U.K. food retailers, and offers some reflections on their current approaches to storytelling. Although the stories employed by the selected retailers often have a strong human impact and can strike emotive chords, the authors would argue that stories can, at least partly, be misleading in that they do not necessarily fully reflect a retailer's corporate social responsibility record.     

Public policy and management issues in Taiwan's development

This symposium examines the experience of Taiwan's development and focuses on the role of government and the importance of public policy and management to the development. The symposium introduction paper consists of three sections addressing the following issues. First, the introduction section offers reasons for studying Taiwan's development experience. The second section provides an overview of the literature related to the relationship between government and economic development. Finally, the last section summarizes the major issues and findings emphasized in each symposium paper.