Mental Health Treatment Experiences and Expectations in Foster Care: A Qualitative Investigation

This study explores perspectives on mental health treatment experiences and expectations for youth in foster care and their foster parents. In-depth interviews were conducted and identified for major themes: (1) the dual stigma of foster care and mental health care; (2) the lack of engagement in mental health therapy; (3) trust issues with the therapist and other individuals; and (4) the desire to integrate mental health services with primary care services. These results have implications for mental health service delivery and suggest opportunities to improve mental health treatment through an integrated care approach.     

Development and Initial Findings of an Implementation Process Measure for Child Welfare System Change

This article describes a new measure designed to examine the process of implementation of child welfare systems change. The measure was developed to document the status of the interventions and strategies that are being implemented and the drivers that are being installed to achieve sustainable changes in systems. The measure was used in a Children's Bureau-supported national effort to assess the ongoing implementation of 24 systems-change projects in child welfare jurisdictions across the country. The article describes the process for measure development, method of administration and data collection, and quantitative and qualitative findings.     

Recidivism and the Availability of Health Care Organizations

Incarceration has been identified as a cause of poor health in current and formerly incarcerated individuals. Given the high likelihood of being in poor health when exiting prison, it is plausible that health impacts recidivism. Furthermore, ex-prisoners cluster in disadvantaged neighborhoods that are unlikely to have decent health services. Currently, there is insufficient research to examine this relationship at an ecological level. In this study, we investigate the relationship between the availability of health care organizations (HCOs) and their changes over time with neighborhood level recidivism, and how these relationships may be moderated by neighborhood disadvantage. We determine that the effect of HCOs on recidivism is indeed moderated through disadvantage: as disadvantage increases, the negative effect of losing significant amounts of HCOs on recidivism accelerates. Our results suggest that while increasing HCOs in disadvantaged neighborhoods is important, keeping HCOs in place is equally important for moderating negative neighborhood level outcomes.     

社会组织管理体制:内在逻辑与发展趋势

本文认为:改革开放以来,与我国社会组织的蓬勃发展相适应,我国社会组织的管理体制经历并正在经历着重大的制度创新。这个主要表现为强制性制度变迁的历史过程,背后存在三种不同的战略思路,一为发展型战略,二为控制型战略,三为规范型战略。三大战略形成了三种不同的力量,彼此互动和博弈,推进着整个社会组织管理体制的发展演进,随着法治国家的建设和社会管理创新的实践,这三种力量既相互促进又相互消融,共同推动着我国社会组织管理体制朝着有利于社会组织积极作用发挥、有利于整个社会和谐的方向发展。     

基层群众性自治组织法人制度三论

基层群众性自治组织法人虽在《民法典》中被定位为特别法人,但性质上应属公法人,一是其成立的主要依据是《宪法》《村民委员会组织法》《城市居民委员会组织法》;二是通过履行一系列管理职能以实现“服务于公益”这一职能目的;三是财产来源的公共性。其章程不同于营利法人和非营利法人,而实际法律化为《村民委员会组织法》《城市居民委员会组织法》,即为法律性章程,主要原因在于《村民委员会组织法》《城市居民委员会组织法》的规定已经涵盖了村(居)民委员会法人章程所需内容,实质上成了村(居)民委员会法人的章程;同时,法律性章程比一般私法人章程多了“强制力”这一执行力保障,能确保基层群众性自治组织功能的实现;而且,只有法律性章程才能解决基层群众性自治组织法人在自治过程中遇到的诸多问题,克服自治性章程的固有弊端。基层群众性自治组织法人的民事能力受其“职能”的限制,主要体现为财产支配和交换能力、侵权责任能力、劳动合同能力与监护人能力;不能以自己的名义为交易行为,也不宜被赋予破产能力,除依法代行村集体经济组织职能的村民委员会外,不能为他人提供担保。     

The Role of Civil Society Organizations in Monitoring Elections: Lessons Learned for the New Egypt

The purpose of this research article is to contribute to a better future for a New Egypt, after the January 25, Revolution of 2011, by focusing on how best to monitor elections by domestic civil society organizations (CSOs) through adopting an output, outcome, and impact model. It assesses comparatively the role of CSOs in monitoring elections in Ethiopia, Ukraine, and Nigeria, and derives lessons learned for Egypt. Through analyzing Egyptian CSOs websites and qualitative discussions and surveys with activists, proposed strategies for enhancing effectiveness are identified, including building wider coalitions and more use of new technology.     

Talking the Talk of Public Service Motivation: How Public Organization Logics Matter for Employees' Expressions of PSM

This article aims to move beyond the public-private dichotomy in studying public service motivation (PSM) by showing how organizational logics matter for the type of PSM (instrumental, normative, or affective) that employees express. Using data from 50 interviews in police stations, prisons, hospitals, municipalities, and schools, we show that differences in service logic (the user's feeling of the desirability of a service) and user logic (people-changing or people-processing services) matter for employees’ expressions of PSM in that this results in different emphases within public service motivation. We conclude that institutions such as organizational logics matter for PSM expressions and that research on PSM should account for differences between public service-providing organizations.     

Corporatized Public Land Development Bodies in Australia: Who Are the Stakeholders and Why Are They Important?

This study examines post-corporatization activities of public sector organizations, which are expected to act according to commercial principles, but, at times, are also asked to undertake projects that are not profitable: community service obligations (CSOs). Managers of government-owned corporatized entities in land development are interviewed, and a focus group at a state Treasury department conducted. We determine, when undertaking CSOs, who are the stakeholders, as perceived by management, and why they are considered important. The stakeholders are government, community, treasury (as separate from government) and the relevant private sector. Values, in addition to power, urgency and legitimacy, influence stakeholder prioritization.     

Conceptualizing racialized black political activity within European spaces: a political opportunities approach

African presence in Europe can be traced back to Roman times, yet African peoples within European spaces are continually perceived and often treated as new migrants with no sense of an historical attachment to European soil. This paper seeks to understand and challenge this conception of black migrants to Europe by focusing on the community and political activities of black subjects in European spaces. Using Britain as a primary reference point, the paper argues that the unfolding nature of black political activity in European spaces emerges as a result of dynamic interactions between black protagonists and the state. The nature of these interactions it is argued are racialized in character and that black community organizations and individuals play a crucial role in determining the forms and nature of political activity and outcomes that operate under the guise of minority ethnic mobilization. This paper argues a point that is often overlooked in the literature that focuses on African and other immigrants to Europe as recent migrants with problems. The paper uses a refined political opportunities approach and focuses on state practices and black community organizational practices between the First and Second World Wars to outline the varied nature of black community and political activity in an era of state antagonism towards black populations at home and abroad. The paper argues that context, state power and action, and the activities and ideas of black community organizations interact in dynamic ways to account for the changing nature of black political activity in European spaces.