Predictors of the Likelihood to Provide Intergenerational Activities in Child and Adult Day Care Centers

Abstract

This study examined the relative contribution of various factors to the likely provision of intergenerational activities in child and adult day care settings. Two hundred and twenty-six administrators rated their: (a) current frequency of contact with children and older adults; (b) current frequency of intergenerational activities in their settings; (c) attitudes toward intergenerational exchanges, using the Inter-generational Exchanges Attitudes Scale; and (d) self-reported likelihood to provide intergenerational activities in the future. As was predicted, attitudes toward intergenerational exchanges accounted for significantly more (p< .0001) of the overall variance in likelihood scores (12.8%) than did either current intergenerational program activity (3.7%) or current intergenerational contact (2.0%).     

中外社区警务计划与实验

自20世纪70年代后期以来,欧美及亚太地区一些国家在致力于社区警务理论研究的同时,也尝试制定社区警务计划,并开展了不同规模、不同形式的实验和交流学习,取得了某些短期效果,积累了一定经验。世纪之交,中国在继承本国治安基层基础工作优良传统和学习国外经验的基础上,也开始步入在社会主义市场经济条件下探索推行社区警务的新阶段。     

SERVING FATHERS WHO LEAVE PRISON

This article describes characteristics, service experiences, and outcomes for 350 ex-offenders with minor-aged children who were served at the John Inman Work and Family Center (WFC), a multiservice program offering assistance with employment, child support, and family reconnection. Following their visit to the WFC, fathers had higher rates of employment and child support payment. They also returned to prison at lower rates than the general offender population. Although the findings suggest that parents who leave prison benefit from a collaborative facility that offers multiple services, more rigorous research over longer periods of time is needed to reliably assess the effectiveness of reentry programs.     

Overcoming Challenges to Using Evidence-Based Interventions in Schools

The Center for School Mental Health Assistance at the University of Maryland recently completed a review of evidence-based prevention and treatment programs that can be used by school mental health clinicians. Based on the review, a school-based program operating in 22 Baltimore City schools has purchased and trained clinicians in a number of protocols for evidence-based interventions. We present findings from this review and make pragmatic recommendations for school mental health programs to overcome the challenges associated with the use of evidence-based interventions.She received her doctorate in childclinical psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her research interests are in the area of the development, prevention, and treatment of juvenile delinquency and youth externalizing disorders.who does research in the area of childrens mental health services and the implementation of wraparound services in real-world settings.University of Maryland School of Medicine. His research is in the area of testing the effectiveness of School Mental Health Programs and the effects of community violence on youth mental health.involved in research related to school mental health, school-based health centers, and prevention of risky behavior among adolescents.Postdoctoral fellow at the time of the study.Postdoctoral fellow at the time of the study.     

IMF program compliance: Aggregate index versus policy specific research strategies

Consensus has grown that the economic reform programs of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have failed to promote economic development. There is little consensus about how IMF programs should be reformed, however, because we do not understand why IMF programs have failed. Some critics contend that the IMF’s austere policy conditions are inappropriate for most program-countries and cause economic crises to deepen. Other critics argue that the policy conditions are actually ignored, and the IMF program loan ends up subsidizing the bad policies that caused the economic crises in the first place. This debate begs the compliance question. Unfortunately, the study of IMF compliance is not straightforward. IMF agreements span many dimensions, and the dimensions vary from agreement to agreement. Even along one dimension, governments are not held to the same standard. Rather than look at aggregate measures of compliance, this article proposes a return to studying specific conditions as was done in the earliest studies on IMF compliance.      

An Intermediate Sanction That Fosters the Mother-Child Bond

Abstract

Summit House is a residential alternative-to-incarceration program in North Carolina that operates in a home-like setting for female offenders and their children; the Program is designated an intermediate sanction. The Program has been recognized by experts in the field as a national model. And, in 1996 and 1998 respectively, it received two national awards-The President's Service Award and The Improvement of Justice Award. Despite national recognition and honor, however, little is known about the process by which the Program assists women in their role as mothers. This paper provides a process evaluation of the Summit House Program. To assess the Program, I reviewed an array of documents (e.g., resident manuals, incident reports, individualized treatment plans) and conducted a total of 44 interviews with administrators, staff, and clients. These individual face-to-face interviews took place in a private setting and averaged an hour in duration. Based on this information, I explain how the Program assists residents in building competency in the relationships they have with their children. The Program's strengths and weaknesses are highlighted and recommendations are offered for improvement.     

Looking for Sustainability in Not‐for‐Profit Program Delivery: An Experiment in Providing Post‐Bushfire Recovery Programs

This article examines an experiment in delivering services and programs in communities that were affected by the 2009 Victorian bushfires. Three not‐for‐profit agencies received funding to develop and deliver programs over a period of three years with the aim of achieving sustainability for the programs thus created. They were not constrained by the requirements of normal government funding, which is short term, subject to competitive tendering and targeted at specific programs and client groups. The nature of the funding allowed the three agencies to introduce innovative programs tailored to the needs of the community and with the aim of building community capacity. However the question of whether the programs are sustainable when existing funding runs out remains open.     

Keeping Families Together: The Importance of Maintaining Mother–Child Contact for Incarcerated Women

Increases in the population of incarcerated women in the United States have resulted in the separation of growing numbers of mothers and children. The negative effects of dividing families have been noted for both the mothers and the children. The current research examines efforts at keeping imprisoned mothers and children connected through a visitation program. Through one-on-one interviews, the women prisoners share their perspectives about how their children are coping with the separation, their concerns for their children, their views of their roles as mothers, and their needs for after release. The women interviewed include participants in a specialized mother– child visitation program and a comparison group of mothers not in the program. The author suggests that keeping mothers and children connected may produce positive behavioral and emotional outcomes for both the mothers and their children that may reduce correctional costs and increase community safety.     

Focusing on Girls and Young Women

Abstract

As part of a nationally-funded effort to examine female delinquency, focus groups with girls and young women involved in the juvenile justice system were conducted in ten California counties. This article presents data from these focus groups and provides a detailed picture of the gendered perspective of these respondents in terms of the individual and social factors that contribute to risky behavior and delinquency among girls and young women. Family problems, including relationships with parents and communication problems, running away, abuse issues and substance use were factors most often discussed. Gang issues and violence were also identified as problems among a minority of girls and young women. Problems with school and the early onset of sexual behavior are also related to high-risk behaviors.     

University Matters: Early Institutional Development of Public Administration Education in Québec

What role do universities play in the early institutional development of public administration education? While related literature aptly describes the role of external influences and demands, universities' influence remains largely unexplored. Using the theory of fields, this article analyzes the role universities of the province of Québec, Canada, had in the early institutional development of public administration education during the 1960s and 1970s. The article shows universities had an impact through academic structures, their positions in different fields of activities, and the profiles of their faculty members. The conclusions of the article are a first step toward an understanding of what universities can do, rather than what they should do, when it comes to educating public servants.