EMPLOYMENT AID FOR YOUTH AGING OUT OF FOSTER CARE: EXTENDING ONE-STOP CAREER CENTERS TO INCLUDE A DIVISION FOR FOSTER CARE YOUTH

Every year thousands of children are discharged from the foster care system and find themselves ill prepared for the responsibility of adulthood. Providing enhanced employment opportunities to both current and former foster care youth will allow them to become economically self-sufficient and therefore have an improved transition from foster care. This Note proposes that states incorporate a foster youth employment program in the one-stop career centers mandated by the Workforce Investment Act. Through this program, foster youth will be provided with the tools they need for success while maintaining control over their own future.     

现行民法对亲子关系外部调整的缺失与建构

随着社会的发展,人们越来越重视对人身权的保护,对亲子关系的研究和保护也逐渐受到关注。诱拐儿童、错抱子女、探望权纠纷等都属于第三人侵害亲子关系的行为,但我国现行《婚姻法》仅仅涉及对亲子关系的内部调整,整个民法都欠缺对亲子关系的外部调整,造成第三人侵害亲子关系的行为无法得到有效的制约。从私法保护的角度出发,对第三人侵害亲子关系的行为宜明确规定"父母照顾权"、构建以"请求权"为核心的二元保护模式、重视精神损害赔偿。     

Elevated morphine concentrations determined during infant death investigations: artifacts of withdrawal of care

Abstract:  Three cases are reported of elevated postmortem blood morphine concentrations (189–3036 ng/mL) that were observed during the course of death investigations involving three children ranging in age from 1 week to 2 years, all of whom underwent withdrawal of life support. In all three cases, the presence of opiates in postmortem blood was indicated by immunoassay (ELISA) and quantitative confirmatory analysis of free morphine concentrations in postmortem blood was performed by solid-phase extraction followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) in the selected ion monitoring mode. While the practice of withdrawing life support from terminally ill patients, with the accompanying administration of narcotics/analgesics has been reported in the medical literature, it has not been adequately described in the forensic literature. The implications of this practice on the forensic toxicological interpretation of morphine findings are discussed. To our knowledge, this is the first report of postmortem morphine concentrations arising directly from administration in conjunction with withdrawal of care in pediatric patients.     

农村留守儿童的心理健康:一个生态学的视角

农村留守儿童的心理健康是人们关注农民工问题的一个视角。性格缺陷与行为偏差、人生观与价值观偏移等是留守儿童常见的心理健康问题。社会工作生态学理论强调“环境中的人”的理念,其中的“社会环境”、“事件与能量”、“适应与应对”、“互相依赖”等理论视角对留守儿童心理健康问题产生的原因提供了解释。同时,以生态学理论为依据,社会工作在应对问题的策略选择上,也更注重学校、社区、社会政策等环境因素的不断改善以适应留守儿童健康成长的需要。     

全面二孩政策背景下婴幼儿照料对女性工资收入的影响研究

照料孩子往往使职业女性遭受"生育工资惩罚",全面二孩政策是否会加重这种"惩罚"?研究基于广东省的问卷数据,得出如下结论:在孩子0—3岁时母亲的照料时间付出会对其工资产生负向影响;相比于一孩母亲,照料孩子的时间付出对二孩母亲工资的负向影响更强;对婴幼儿照料的支持有助于提高母亲的工资;综合考量规模优势、幼儿早教、健康卫生等因素,托幼机构照料是几种照料方式中最优的。为降低母亲照料孩子的代价并提高全面二孩政策的实施效果,研究建议:政府应大力发展低龄幼儿托育机构,建立托育服务基本保障体系,并出台政策支持不同社会主体提供多层次的托育服务,以满足家庭不断增长的托育需求。     

美国管理式医疗的发展历程及对国内医保的借鉴

从理论和实证的研究表明,管理式医疗曾被当作美国医疗保险改革的典范,甚至有人尊其为有效降低医疗费用和成本的灵丹妙药。在有效控制节节攀升的医疗服务费用方面,管理式医疗确实达到了非常好的效果。但是,医疗服务需要关注的不仅是费用,还有医疗服务的质量、服务的可及性以及临床医疗的长远发展等方面。而美国管理式医疗的发展历程生动地诠释了普通民众需要的不仅仅是廉价的医疗服务这一现实。     

OECD 国家和中国生育产假政策的比较

生育保护假期制度是保障育龄妇女权益的重要手段,OECD国家将产假期限、工作保护和津贴补助三者有机结合,创设的陪产假和育婴假制度极大地促进了性别平等,帮助受雇者平衡工作与家庭的冲突,提升了生育保护水平。当前中国面临着二孩政策全面放开后生育率不如预期乐观的情况,如何走出低生育率陷阱成为亟需解决的问题。通过对OECD国家和中国现有的产假制度进行比较,研究为完善我国生育产假政策提供建议。     

Evaluation and applicability of Alere iCup DX 14 for rapid postmortem urine drug screening at autopsy

Performing point‐of‐care urine drug screen testing at autopsy by a forensic pathologist may provide an early indication of the presence of analytes of interest during autopsy. An evaluation for the screening of 14 classes of common drugs of abuse in postmortem urine by the point‐of‐care screening device, Alere iCup DX 14, is presented. One hundred ninety postmortem urine samples were screened with the iCup occurring at autopsy by the forensic pathologist. Positive and negative results obtained from the screening kit were evaluated against confirmatory test results obtained using routine forensic toxicology analyses that employed LC‐MS/MS and GC‐MS to detect a combination of over 85 common drugs of abuse and medications. Sensitivity for each respective iCup drug class ranged from 66% (buprenorphine) to 100% (methadone, tricyclic antidepressants). Specificity for each respective iCup drug class ranged from 89% (benzodiazepines) to 100% (amphetamines, barbiturates, buprenorphine, 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine, methadone). Positive predictive values ranged from 44% (benzodiazepines) to 100% (amphetamines, barbiturates, buprenorphine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine, methadone), while negative predictive values ranged from 96% (methamphetamine) to 100% (barbiturates, methadone, tricyclic antidepressants). A high false‐positive rate was yielded by the benzodiazepine class. The lack of fentanyl screening in the point‐of‐care device is a significant limitation considering its prolific prevalence in forensic casework. The results obtained in the study should be acknowledged when considering the use of the Alere iCup DX 14 in the context of postmortem casework to help indicate potential drug use contemporaneously with autopsy and when requiring such preliminary results prior to the release of a final forensic toxicology report.     

Coping Alone: Examining the Prospects of Adolescent Victims of Child Abuse Placed in Foster Care

The ability of a young person to cope effectively with stressful life events appears to be associated with their previous experiences and relationships. Young people in foster care who have histories of child abuse, therefore, may find they cannot cope effectively with the situation they find themselves in. This paper attempts to highlight the problems they face. A group of 21 young people were interviewed and were asked to complete the Frydenberg and Lewis Adolescent Coping Scales. Their social workers provided information on their past history both in care and prior to coming in to care. It emerged that the young people who had experienced physical and/or sexual abuse were significantly (p < 0.02) more likely to be/have been involved in problem, or Crisis, foster placements. Additionally these young people displayed less adaptive coping strategies than the young people who had not been abused. The most significant differences indicated that the victims of abuse were more likely to try and cope with stressful situations by themselves, while the other foster adolescents were significantly (p < 0.004) more likely to find support from their friends. Case studies, with reference to the teenager's own accounts, help to illustrate how a history of abuse can complicate the already difficult fostering processes, and can also affect the long-term coping abilities of the victims. The consequences of these issues are discussed.     

Equity,access, and outcomes: The status of the art

A rationale for including analyses of outcome in evaluation of the impact and equity of changes in health care policy for the poor is presented. We first discuss problems in defining equity in and access to health care. Equity in access to health care requires equality of access only to those services that are believed to be efficacious. Three cost-containment strategies (restrictions in eligibility, coinsurance, and capitation) are then examined, and their limitations are discussed. Finally, directions for future research focusing on outcomes are suggested. Rather than using access to care to assess outcome, outcome is viewed as the framework for assessing access and equity.