Validation and Operationalization of Intensive Family Case Management: A Delphi Study

Few evidence-based methods for case management in child protection and child welfare are available. That is why Youth Protection Amsterdam Area developed a new method, by integrating their best practices: Intensive Family Case Management (IFCM). Because IFCM was developed in practice, clarity about its core elements and behavior acts was lacking. The purpose of this study was to establish a valid operationalization of IFCM used for implementation purposes such as training, clinical supervision and monitoring. A 74-item draft was developed to describe the behavioral acts of IFCM, based on a literature study and analysis of internal documents and training. To ensure content validity, a Delphi study was conducted. Over two rounds, professionals (1) rated the behavioral acts needed in the application of IFCM on a five-point Likert scale and (2) provided their preferred terminology. Items with consensus ratings of 80 % or more were included in the final description. Selected IFCM experts rated the behavior acts over two rounds. The initial list with 74 behavior acts was reduced to 55 acts with a consensus of 80 % or more. Certain behavior acts were combined, others did not lead to consensus. Based on experts’ feedback, the initial terminology of 46 behavior acts was modified. The final 55 acts were categorized in ten core elements. This study explicates the core elements of IFCM and describes the 55 necessary behavior acts in preferred and recognizable terminology. The study describes implications of these findings for the practice and gives recommendations for future research

Reproduction of Blue-black Grassquits in central Brazil

During the reproductive season Blue-black grassquit (Volatinia jacarina) males are found in clusters, wherein they exhibit a distinctive display that consists of repeated, vertical leaps while simultaneously producing a brief vocalization. The main objective of this study was to describe details of the species' reproductive behavior in a "Cerrado" area of central Brazil and compare these data with some studies carried out in other areas. The data obtained concerning different aspects of nesting, laying and hatching were generally similar to those obtained in previous studies in other areas. However, we found that the typical clutch size of two eggs per nest is lower, and egg and nestling mortality rates higher in our area than what has been reported elsewhere. Our results suggest that males differ in time expended with different activities according to their reproductive condition and also provide extensive parental care. We found that display execution rates peak in the early morning and in the late afternoon and are higher in the middle of the breeding season. We also found that there is an inverse relation between the height of the display leap and the height of the perch