Why is it taking so long to move down the road?: Creating a regional border agreement in the DMV as an alternative for the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children

The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) is an agreement between all 50 states and the District of Columbia governing the process of placing a foster child out of state. Notorious for its long wait times and system backlog, the ICPC presents a host of problems for children attempting to move mere minutes across state lines to be with a relative or kin placement instead of state foster care. In an effort to make this process smoother, 18 different “border agreements” have been adopted by several neighboring states across the U.S. Such border agreements give temporary placement licenses to relatives and kin while the ICPC process is ongoing. While this is a good start towards a solution, the ICPC could be further streamlined if border agreements were used more widely, especially in regional contexts. This article considers the possibility of such a regional agreement between the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Northern Virginia (known as the “DMV”). By comparing and contrasting two existing border agreements in these three jurisdictions, a regional DMV border agreement can be created implementing the best terms of both agreements.     

孤残儿童救助制度的问题及其对策

兰考火灾事件等一系列惨剧的接连发生,凸显了我国孤残儿童救助制度存在的诸多问题.本文从孤残儿童救助制度的历史演进和现状出发,分析目前我国孤残儿童救助制度在救助政策和机构职能等方面存在的诸多问题,并提出了完善我国孤残儿童救助制度的对策和建议.     

Service Management Perspective into Welfare Services: A Study of Two Swedish Cases

The article investigates organizational solutions in welfare services, from a service management perspective. The aim is to highlight important factors in solutions leading to improved efficiency. The empirical material consists of case studies that deal with work on children who have multiple problems and mental illness. Factors behind the increased efficiency include staff coordinating their efforts into a cohesive service process based on both the day-to-day life and the life situation of the child and his/her family. They act in such a way that the child and family receive support enabling them to utilize their own capacity during value creation.     

From Affinity to Embedment: Relations between Social Work and the Development of Charity

In recent years, social work and charity have been gradually considered as an important part in developing the social welfare system. The social work in western countries originated in the English and American charity, and was introduced into China by missionaries and church organizations during the period of Republic of China, giving birth to localized social work under the influence of the local charity at that time. Currently, given the lack of attention to their relations in policy making, theory studies and practices, it is crucial to review and examine the development relations in affinity between the social work and charity when originated in the West and in China. Either in the present or in the future, their close relations should not be alienated but built into embedment relations in terms of policy, theory and practices. An integration of their strengths and resources is needed for a win-win promotion of building the general social welfare system in China.     

Family Income Tests of Child Welfare in Canada and Australia and the Research Enlightenment

There is an increasing trend in western countries that income security is used as a tool to provide child welfare for low income families. As in Canada and Australia, where universal child welfare is turning to be more selective, family income tests set up the major thresholds for deciding the levels and the amount of child welfare that each family can enjoy. The experiences from both countries shed light on China’s development of a moderate general child welfare system, enhancing precise targeting for effective welfare distribution.     

Building organisation–public relationships: Towards an understanding of the challenges facing public relations

Abstract

The main aim of this article is to investigate the challenges facing public relations professionals in building organisation–public relationships (OPRs), by means of an overview of related modernistic literature, mainly within a modernistic paradigm. Dominant business developments have historically impacted the broader role of public relations in organisations and society, and it is maintained that the change in the domain of public relations to a relational perspective is yet again a consequence of the efforts by business to survive in the new millennium. There can be no doubt about the strategic importance of relationships to the survival of organisations and to public relations. A relational approach to public relations has major strategic value, and embracing its challenges is vital for the profession. The relational approach offers a two-fold opportunity to public relations professionals, namely to confirm their contribution to achieving organisational goals through the measurement of their relationship-building efforts, and the prospect of realigning themselves with other business functions in the organisation. The main objective of this article is to review the change in the domain of public relations to a relational perspective, and to investigate the current challenges facing public relations professionals in building mutually beneficial OPRs on the basis of the relational perspective of public relations.     

我国城市贫困儿童福利研究：回顾与展望

近年来，理论界围绕我国城市贫困儿童福利政策与福利服务展开一系列研究，有关福利政策、教育救助与最低生活保障制度是大多数学者们关注的焦点，而有关福利服务方面的研究则较少。后续研究有望在研究角度、研究内容与对象、研究方法等方面有所突破。     

The welfare systems of the Baltic states following the recent financial crisis of 2008–2010: expansion or retrenchment?

ABSTRACT

This article aims to uncover major social security system reforms that were implemented following the recent financial and economic crisis of 2008–2010 and the post crisis period. Additionally, it explores the dynamics of the socioeconomic situation during the last 10 years, looking at how Baltic states compare with each other and how they compare with other central and eastern European countries in the EU. The findings show that retrenchment is difficult even during times of crisis. Although the Baltic states were affected by the crisis, especially Latvia and Lithuania, their social security institutions did not experience any structural shift.     

老年社会福利事业发展的分析与思考

从上海、广州来看,绝大多数老年人还是自食其力或靠子女供养来维持其基本生活的,且实际生活水平差异较大.目前,我国的老年保障机制还处在初级阶段,亟待完善.老年福利的发展面临许多问题,可以借鉴国外的经验教训,以促进我国老年福利事业的发展.