Effective Implementation Strategies of Differential Response in Child Welfare: A Comparative Case Analysis

Differential response is a growing approach in child welfare that aims to maintain children safely in their homes when possible. This study examined how the implementation of differential response varies between counties with improved child safety outcomes compared to counties with poorer outcomes. Data was collected from nine counties through semi-structured focus groups with workers and interviews with supervisors. Results indicated that counties with improved outcomes had integrated the following implementation strategies: use of comprehensive assessment protocols; integrated supervisory support and on-going coaching of effective practices; and increased mobilization of resources, including enduring supports for parents, supports to help families meet basic needs and culturally responsive services for families.     

Performance Management in the Public Sector

There has been a great deal of work undertaken on employee performance management with the Australian Public Service (APS) over the last 4 years. The objective has been to focus upon achieving high performance rather than merely preventing poor performance. This refocus was adopted to reflect the increasing complexity of the work, a rise in the need for knowledge work, and escalations in the speed and frequency of change; all this within a context requiring a reduction in costs while still meeting the growing expectations of the public and government. This pair of papers reflects on where employee performance management has got to as a result of the work. Dr. Damian West from the Australian Public Service Commission identifies the continuing importance of effective employee performance management to the APS and public sectors more widely. He highlights the progress that has been made so far, demonstrating the importance of implementation of the process. He suggests that, now that a framework for assessing the potential for employee performance management processes has been established, accountability of the system implementation and adoption will become paramount. Professor Deborah Blackman, whilst echoing the real progress that has been made, suggests that for real improvement in performance management outcomes there needs to be a fundamental shift in thinking; not in terms of the processes or of ensuring compliance, but rather that organizations undertaking performance management need to be much clear as to the strategic direction such a process is going to support. She suggests that there has been too much emphasis on having a system and not enough on determining what such a system is for. When the papers are combined, it can be seen that much progress has been made in terms of the reorientation towards high performance and how to support organizations to work towards this. The next step, for there to be real outcome improvements, is for organizations to be more overt in determining what high performance will look like in their context, then clarifying that to all those involved in developing performance management so that accountabilities at all levels can be agreed, supported, and effective.     

Opportunities to enhance relational wellbeing through the National Disability Insurance Scheme: Implications from research on relationships and a content analysis of NDIS documentation

Interpersonal relationships are critically important to ensuring that people with disability can access the benefits of individual funding models such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). The NDIS aims to enhance participants’ self‐determination of supports and social and economic participation, but the emerging evidence indicates that achieving these policy outcomes requires stronger recognition of participants’ relational context, even in a system focused on individual choice and control. This paper reports on a content analysis of the NDIS Act, NDIS Rules, Operational Guidelines, and Price Guide to examine the extent to which the scheme's conceptual foundations and funded supports in individual plans enable it to support relationships. Implications are drawn from this analysis and theory and evidence about the importance of relationships for disability policy and practice. The paper outlines three areas where the approach of the NDIS to relationships is limited and can be improved: first, by conceptualizing relationships as relationships rather than simply sources of informal support; second, through provisions to actively support relationships; and third, by considering the relational appropriateness of support provided by family, carers, and friends. It concludes with suggestions for how relational considerations can be enhanced, including implications for government in administering the scheme.     

Pedagogy of regulation: Strategies and instruments to supervise learning from adverse events

Diverse scholars have argued that standards and performance measurements are “instruments of control” that have a profound influence on the day‐to‐day lives of individuals and organizations, causing constitutive effects. Regulatory bodies increasingly use standards to oversee and monitor the regulated. This paper discusses the Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate's use of both standards and a performance measurement system introduced to monitor how Dutch hospitals investigate and learn from serious adverse events. Rather than focusing on how standards affect regulated practices and organizations, our study examines how the use of these instruments affects the standard maker, that is, the Inspectorate. We explore how the Inspectorate's work practices, standards, and coupled performance measurement system influence its regulatory pedagogy, reviewing practices, and decisionmaking. We conclude that standards and performance measurement systems are not by definition “instruments of control” as their constitutive effects are (under)determined by the relationships in which they are enacted.     

集体协商制度效果分析——以浙江省企业职工抽样调查为例

通过对建立集体协商制度与未建立集体协商制度企业职工的问卷统计比较分析可以得出结论：在就业稳定性、劳动者话语权、劳动条件改善、工资收入状况、企业管理改进、对政府评价等指标上，建立集体协商制度的企业均优于未建立集体协商制度的企业。     

传统文化对行政法实施效果的影响

法律作为一种文化现象,其实施效果与一个社会中的文化特点、公民偏好与取向直接相关.传统文化中的差序文化传统、权力善属性、青天情结与“无讼”思想对平等精神、权力制约、程序正义与行政诉讼等行政法基本内容产生了一定的制约和阻碍,一定程度上影响了行政法在中国的实施效果.这是中国行政法实施效果存在赤字的法律文化原因.     

乡村关系的民主效应分析

我国＂乡政村治＂格局下的乡村关系主要表现为乡镇政府与村委会之间的关系,实践中存在着＂行政化＂和＂放任型＂两种非正常、异化的乡村关系,影响了村民自治的实现。因此,有必要基于民主的视角,客观评价和分析上述两种乡村关系的正负效应,旨在提高其正效应,降低或避免其负效应,尽快建立法律文本设计的健康、理想的乡村关系,推进农村基层民主建设。     

论和解合同的效力

虽然和解合同在我国实践中被广泛应用，但是我国立法中并没有对其做出可操作性的规定，而且关于和解合同的研究也一直是目前国内法学研究的薄弱环节。本文拟参考各国成熟的立法体例，借鉴我国台湾地区民法学界的研究成果，通过对和解合同的概念、要件等基本问题的考察和梳理，以期获得对和解合同的效力较为全面的认识。     

阻却违法性事由错误的重新定性——以“假想防卫”为例

阻却违法性事由错误的问题在我国刑法通说上一直被简单地按照事实认识错误的原则来处理的,但是对于这个似乎没有太大争议的观念下依然有着一些值得我们重新思考的问题,比如关于阻却违法性事由的错误到底是否属于事实错误,以及直接按照事实错误的原则来处理是否真正合理。事实上这无法解决关于阻却违法性事由错误行为的恶意的共犯问题。以假想防卫为例借鉴"法律效果的限制责任理论",可以重新认识和解决阻却违法性事由的错误问题。