HEAR MY VOICE—PERSPECTIVES OF CURRENT AND FORMER FOSTER YOUTH

The youth participation movement begins with the basic premise that, without hearing and heeding the voices of those affected by the policies and practices we create, our efforts to improve the systems designed to help them are doomed to failure. This article provides accounts by court‐involved youth and emerging adults of their frustrations and successes and firsthand perspectives on the nature of the challenges confronting them. These interviews, narratives, and poems provide the fundamental context for the incisive and thought‐provoking articles that follow.     

County impact fee adoptions as policy innovations: a search for theory

This study documents the importance of employing an integrated model to explain innovative policy making among county governments in Florida. Specifically, it suggests that both internal determinants and regional diffusion factors influence the adoption of county impact fees. While rapid growth and impending county commission elections appear to be factors motivating adoption, the tendency to adopt can be offset by a substantial low-income population. Nevertheless, obstacles to adoption can be overcome where cities within the county have previously adopted an impact fee.     

Opposition research: some theories and practice

Abstract. An institution unique to parliamentary systems of government oper-ates within the Canadian House of Commons: a set of research offices serving each of the major opposition party caucuses but financed by public funds under the government's control, The writer, who was the organizing director of the largest of these 'counter-bureaucracies, examines the origins of the institution, delineates the competing role definitions considered for adoption, recounts operating difficulties, and tries to analyse some of the traceable conse- quences for the conduct of parliamentary business and party affairs. While the Research Office makes a discernible impact in a number of secondary dimen- sions, the characteristics of the members of the opposition and of their leader are found to be the major determinants of their parliamentary performance. Sommaire. Une institution qui est unique parmi les systèmes parlementaires de gouvernement fonctionne au sein de la chambre des communes. Il s'agit de bureaux de recherche au service des principaux partis en opposition, mais financés par les fonds publics sous le contrôle du gouvernement. L'auteur qui était directeur-organisateur de la plus grande de ces « bureaucraties parallèes » examine les origines de cette institution, expose les définitions du rôle compétitif considérées pour adoption, explique les difficdtés pratiques et essaie d'analyser quelques-unes des conséquences certaines sur la conduite des affaires parlementaires et de celles des partis. Bien que le bureau de recherche ait une influence indéniable sur un certain nombre de décisions secondaires, c'est le caractère particulier des membres de l'opposition et de leurs chefs qui est I'élément détenninant de leur comportement parlementaire.     

Reliability and validity of the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version in Dutch female adolescents

In the present study, the reliability and construct validity of the Dutch version of the Psychopathy Check List: Youth Version (Psychopathie Checklist: Jeugd Versie; De Ruiter, Kuin, De Vries & Das, 2002) were examined in a sample of female adolescents admitted to a secure treatment institution (N=67). The study provides mixed support for the internal reliability of the PCL:YV in female adolescents. Interrater reliability was found to be adequate at the level of factor and total PCL:YV scores. Poor reliability was demonstrated for the behavioral items of the PCL:YV in particular. Finally, the construct validity of the PCL:YV total and factor scores was supported by theoretically meaningful and significant associations with scores on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Interpersonal Checklist-Revised (ICL-R). The applicability of PCL:YV items to female adolescents is discussed.     

Predictive validity of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) during residential treatment

This prospective study examines the predictive validity of the Dutch version of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) by examining relationships between SAVRY scores and various types of disruptive behavior during residential treatment. The SAVRY, a risk assessment instrument, was coded for 66 male adolescents on the basis of file information and interviews. The adolescents were referred to Rentray, a juvenile correctional and treatment facility, by the Dutch juvenile courts because of severe behavioral problems or serious offenses. Institutional infractions were retrieved from incident registration files, which included acts of physical violence, verbal threat, verbal abuse, and violation of institutional rules. The interrater reliability of the SAVRY scores was good. The predictive validity of the SAVRY for physical violence against persons was excellent (Risk Total: AUC=.80, r =.33; Summery Risk Rating: AUC =.86, r =.48). The SAVRY also had good predictive validity for violence against objects, verbal threats and violations of rules, but not for verbal abuse. Implications for assessment and management of violent behavior among adolescents in residential treatment are discussed.