How Can Missouri Protect the Best Interests of the Child When a Parent is Incarcerated?

This brief builds upon information presented to and gathered by the Missouri Children's Services Commission to assess the impact of parental incarceration on both their children and society as a whole. The first section identifies the needs of children who have an incarcerated mother or father. The next section describes current Missouri initiatives to protect the best interests of these children. The final section suggests what more should be done to protect the children.Includes bibliographical reference

Moving around to get by and try to get ahead : immigration experiences in new settlement communities of the Midwest

The study is part of a three-year project to understand how Latino immigrants get by and get ahead in three new settlement communities in the Midwestern United States. In the last decade, immigrants have spread out from their traditional settlement areas along the southwestern region, as well as Florida, New York, California, and Chicago. While migrant labor has long been an element of the rural agricultural economy, the increasing number of meat and poultry processing plants has attracted newcomers to rural, newsettlement communities, places which had not previously experienced an influx of foreign-born workers. Many of these newcomers are Latino, particularly of Mexican origin.Includes bibliographical references

Metro and nonmetro youth: Evaluating differential pathways to delinquency

Abstract only availableAlthough much research has been conducted on risk factors and behaviors of delinquent youth, little is known about the nonmetro population and how they may differ from their metro counterparts. The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that metro and nonmetro youth experience significant differences in risk factors, behaviors, and experiences leading to delinquency. The findings are the result of a multi method approach incorporating both quantitative and qualitative analysis. An assessment of a pre-existing data set of 1706 delinquents identified initial differences between metro and nonmetro delinquents. Major risk factors between the two groups were then identified through a literature review. Next, to identify nonmetro pathways to delinquency a content analysis was performed on interview transcripts of 28 youth recently housed in Missouri Division of Youth Services Treatment Facilities. The above hypothesis was supported as several themes appeared. Significant differences were found in parent attributes between the two groups as well as how the youth experience and respond to parenting. Nonmetro youth were found to be referred for the first time at an earlier age and their referral was predicted by more and different variables than that of metro youth. A difference in resources and services along with diminished social support due to community size affect how nonmetro youth cope with fewer economic opportunities as well as greater poverty rates. Although more study is needed, this research improves our understanding of metro and nonmetro differences in delinquency and can be used to develop prevention and intervention strategies specific to nonmetro youth.MU Undergraduate Research Scholars Progra

Reducing racial and ethnic disparities in the Juenile Justice System: A blueprint for community engagement and action

Presentation made at Latinos in the Heartland (10th : 2012 : Kansas City, Mo.) and published in the annual conference proceedings.This presentation will discuss the approach we have taken as part of a statewide initiative to reduce Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) in the Missouri Juvenile Justice System. DMC looks at the experiences of minority youth compared to Caucasian youth at all stages of the Juvenile Justice System (referrals, detention, petitions, probation, transfers to adult courts, etc.). African American and Latino youth in Missouri are almost twice as likely to be referred to the juvenile office as Caucasian youth. By working intensively in three counties, we have built community teams to analyze local policies, practices, and procedures that produce these disparities. We will discuss how and why we formed local teams, the data analysis process, and lessons learned through our experiences working with these communities. Finally, we will discuss the solutions proposed by the three communities, the successes those communities have experienced, and the challenges they face in striving to reduce disparities

Self-Represented Litigants and Civil Case Dispositions in Missouri: An Impact Analysis

Access to justice is an important issue for the Missouri judiciary as it is for many other states. The issue fostered several recent national initiatives,1 including a 2010 Department of Justice Access to Justice Initiative.2 Part of the agenda for that initiative involves identifying ways to ensure fair and just outcomes for all parties to a case. Some observers of the judicial system have expressed concern that self-represented litigants may not experience fair and just outcomes. As part of Missouri’s own access-to-justice initiatives, this study was undertaken to understand how self-representation impacts outcomes in civil cases. About half the cases filed in any given year in circuit (general jurisdiction) courts involve civil matters. To access the courts for resolution of problems with a legal nature, citizens generally need adequate financial resources to pay for legal representation and court costs. The financial crisis of 2007 to 2008 and the ensuing economic downturn created new groups of individuals facing difficult circumstances and reinforced the vulnerabilities of some groups who historically lived in impoverished conditions.3 The challenge for the courts in these times has been to provide access to justice when citizens have inadequate financial resources or, for other reasons, a lack of the legal resources needed to resolve their problems in court

Asset accumulation strategies in 3 new settlement Missouri communities

"'Recent developments in the cultural identity literature can help us to move beyond a deficits approach to viewing culture not an obstacle but as a resource from which individuals draw to create strategies to function in various domains in society (Berry 2003). This approach shifts our attention to looking at what the newcomers offer and leads us to ponder how we can engage them in the future development and prosperity of the new settlement communities.' (Asset Accumulation Strategies, 2006) Vision - Newcomers and their families integrated to their new settlement communities; Thriving communities; Pluralism"--Premise.Includes bibliographical references

Engaging the resources of new immigrants : social relationships that contribute to community integration

"Conducted 7 focus groups: one for men and one for women in each community with one extra group of men included in one community, questions addressed economic, social and cultural integration. Sessions facilitated in Spanish by a doctoral student."--Procedures

Asset accumulation strategies in 3 new settlement communities : a new approach to understanding immigration processes

The purpose of this research is to examine the strategies newcomers employ to accumulate assets, minimize their vulnerability to risk exposure and become part of their new communities. “Getting by and getting ahead”. The following questions guide the study: What are the strategies Latino immigrants use to integrate into communities and lead sustainable, high quality lives? What factors facilitate or impede their economic integration

Measuring the social and cultural contributions of immigrants to their integration efforts in rural communities

The purpose of this research is to examine the strategies newcomers employ to accumulate assets, minimize their vulnerability to risk exposure and become part of their new communities. “Getting by and getting ahead”. The following questions are guiding the study: 1. What are the strategies Latino immigrants use to integrate into communities and lead sustainable, high quality lives? 2. What factors facilitate or impede their economic integration?Includes bibliographical references

Asset accumulation strategies research project report

The purpose of this research is to examine the strategies newcomers employ to accumulate assets, minimize their vulnerability to risk exposure and become part of their new communities. “Getting by and getting ahead”. The following questions are guiding the study: 1. What are the strategies Latino immigrants use to integrate into communities and lead sustainable, high quality lives? 2. What factors facilitate or impede their economic integration?Includes bibliographical references