Parenting Plans for Special Needs Children: Applying a Risk‐Assessment Model

Family courts are seeing an increasing number of separating or divorced families who have a special needs child. These cases present complex challenges for family law professionals charged with crafting parenting plans based on best interests standards. For many of these children, the typical developmentally based custodial arrangements may not be suitable, given the child's specific symptoms and treatment needs. We present a model for understanding how the general and specific needs of these children, as well as the demands on parents, can be assessed and understood in the context of divorce. This includes an analysis of risk and protective factors that inform timeshare and custodial recommendations and determinations. The risk assessment model is then applied to three of the most commonly occurring childhood neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders likely to be encountered in family court, namely, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, depressive disorders, and autistic spectrum disorders.

Key Points for the Family Court Community
• There has been a dramatic rise in the population of children with neurodevelopmental, psychiatric, and medical syndromes whose parents are disputing custody in the family courts.
• Family law professionals of all disciplines should develop a fundamental knowledge base about the most commonly seen special needs children in family court, such as those with neurodevelopmental conditions like autistic spectrum disorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and severe depressive disorders (especially with teenagers), which may involve suicidal or self‐harming behaviors.
• Commonly recommended parenting plans may be inappropriate for many special needs children, as some function significantly below their chronological age and pose extreme behavioral challenges.
• A systematic analysis of risk and protective factors should inform timeshare arrangements and determinations with this varied population, including the safety of the child and severity of the disorder, parental commitment and availability to pursue medical, educational, and therapeutic services, the parental attunement and insightful about the problem, and the differential parenting skills of each parent.

     

The Coalition and the Politics of the English Question

For much of the 2010–15 Parliament the English Question was not a conspicuous feature of political debate in the UK. However, the issue of English votes for English laws (EvfEl) was thrust to centre stage by Prime Minister David Cameron in the aftermath of the Scottish independence referendum, when he announced that fulfilment of the promise of further devolution to Scotland must be accompanied by an answer to the West Lothian Question at Westminster. This article analyses these events and explores their possible consequences. It argues that a reform of parliamentary procedures along the lines outlined in the report of the McKay Commission looks increasingly likely, but that this will not mark a resolution of the broader English Question, and the future of the Union remains in doubt.     

Public support for European defence: Does strategic culture matter?

This article identifies previously ignored determinants of public support for the European Union's security and defence ambitions. In contrast to public opinion vis‐à‐vis the EU in general, the literature on attitudes towards a putative European army or the existing Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) suggests that the explanatory power of sociodemographic and economic variables is weak, and focuses instead on national identity as the main determinant of one's support. This article explores the possible impact of strategic culture, and argues that preferences vis‐à‐vis the EU's security and defence ambitions are formed in part through pre‐existing social representations of security. To test this proposition, ‘national’ strategic cultures are disaggregated and a typology is produced that contains four strategic postures: pacifism, traditionalism, humanitarianism and globalism. Applying regression analysis on individual‐level Eurobarometer survey data, it is found that strategic postures help explain both the general level of support for CSDP and support for specific Petersberg tasks.     

Local government reforms: between multifunction and single-purpose organisations

The paper argues that, in ‘revisiting’ the referred-to article published back in 2004, the concept then guiding the analysis would need to be modified particularly on three scores. For one, in order to achieve a more adequate comparison the country selection should be expanded beyond the earlier sample (UK, France, Germany and Sweden) to also capture Southern and Central Eastern European countries. Second, the ‘developmental’ (‘over time’) analysis of the pertinent institutional changes should be further accentuated and complemented by proceeding ‘by (developmental)stages’ instead of ‘country by country’. Third, while still deeming the distinction between ‘multifunction’ and ‘single-purpose’ organisations fruitful to guide a ‘government versus governance’ analysis and interpretation, the distinction between ‘political rationality’ and ‘economic rationality’ should be added with the former (ideal-typically) identified with elected (local) government and the latter seen characteristic of many of the actors in the governance-typical actor networks.     

白族“本主崇拜”的定位问题综论

有关白族本主崇拜或本主文化的宗教形态、社会-文化功能等方面的诸多讨论,其关键和焦点都是本主崇拜的定位问题.这个问题既牵涉到宗教学和民族学的理论,又跟民族意识和国家民族政策的实施密切相关,对它的几个重要侧面做深入的定性分析,具有重要的学术意义.     

锦灯笼和枸杞子水提液对乳酸菌的促生作用

目的 研究锦灯笼和枸杞子对乳酸菌的促生作用,为微生态制剂的开发及中药合理使用提供理论依据。方法 将不同浓度的锦灯笼和枸杞子水提液添加到乳酸菌的体外生长培养基中,37 ℃培养48 h,活菌计数。结果 2%和5%的锦灯笼以及0.5%和1%的枸杞子对乳酸菌生长具有明显的促进作用（P<0.01）,5%的锦灯笼促进乳酸菌生长的效果最好,菌数分别是对照组的1.6倍左右,但随着药物浓度的增加,两种药物促乳酸菌生长的作用显著减弱。结论 一定浓度的锦灯笼和枸杞子水提液能够促进乳酸菌的生长。     

马兰多糖的含量测定

目的 测定马兰中多糖含量,为马兰的应用和质量评价提供科学依据。方法 以葡萄糖为对照品,采用苯酚-硫酸比色法,在490 nm波长下测定多糖含量。结果 不同产地、采收时间的马兰多糖含量差异显著。结论 苯酚-硫酸比色法操作简单,重复性好,结果准确可靠,可用于马兰中多糖的含量测定。     

转变运作方式，提高退耕还林（草）的效益

实施西部大开发的重要工程──生态环境建设,应当培养市场主体,使民间组织或企业成为生态建设的主体。改变以往的政府行为为市场行为,以提高退耕还林( 草)的效益。