The Role of Interagency Collaboration for Substance- Abusing Families Involved with Child Welfare

Meeting the needs of families involved with the child welfare system because of a substance abuse issue remains a challenge for child welfare practitioners. In order to improve services to these families, there has been an increasing focus on improving collaboration between child welfare, treatment providers, and the court systems. This paper presents the results from qualitative interviews with 104 representatives of these three systems that explore how the collaborative process works to benefit families, as well as the barriers and supports for building successful collaborations. Results indicate that collaboration has at least three major functions: building shared value systems, improving communication, and providing a team of support. Each of these leads to different kinds of benefits for families as well as providers and has different implications for building successful collaborative interventions. Despite these putative benefits, providers within each system, however, continue to struggle to build effective collaborations, and they face such issues as deeply ingrained mistrust and continued lack of understanding of other systems\u27 values, goals, and perspectives. Challenges that remain for successful collaborations are discussed

Kids in Transition to School (KITS)

During the summer and fall of 2016, children and families in 16 schools in Lane County participated in the Kids in Transition to School (KITS) Program. KITS includes 16 weeks of group-based child classes and 12 weeks of parenting workshops, using an evidence-based curriculum designed to improve school readiness skills and parenting. To learn more about the KITS program from the perspective of participating families, four focus groups were held with parents who participated in KITS. A total of 44 parents participated in the groups, which were located in four different schools (two small, rural locations and two larger more urban school districts). Focus groups were conducted in English, and 3 Spanish-speaking parents participated in 2 of the groups. Translation was provided for Spanish speaking parents who participated. Groups were facilitated by members of the KITS evaluation team from the Center for Improvement of Child and Family Services at Portland State University. Participants reported mixed experiences prior to KITS in terms of children’s experience with preschool, with about half reporting that their child had been to preschool and about half indicating no prior group-based experiences. Focus group questions were designed to learn more about families’ experience with the KITS program (e.g., the enrollment process, attendance supports, etc.), about the benefits of the program for parents and children, and about any challenges encountered with the program. Focus group questions were designed to learn more about families’ experience with the KITS program (e.g., the enrollment process, attendance supports, etc.), about the benefits of the program for parents and children, and about any challenges encountered with the program. Focus group discussions were transcribed and analyzed by the senior researcher to identify key themes. These themes and findings were then reviewed by the other team members and by the focus group facilitators to confirm and clarify findings

Prenatal to Grade 3 Alignment Initiative

The purpose of this project is to create stronger connections between elementary schools & providers of early childhood care/education programs; and between schools & parents of young children in 10 grantee communities across Oregon. The evaluation team developed data collection tools and is currently providing data collection and utilization training and technical assistance, and conducting systems evaluation data collection and analysis

Getting Your Money\u27s Worth: What Early Childhood Directors Should Know About Working with Mental Health Professionals

The increasing numbers of young children with challenging behaviors and emotional problems have led many child care providers and early childhood education programs to employ or contract with mental health professionals (Lavigne et al., 1996). Head Start Programs, for example, are required by federal performance standards to utilize services of mental health professionals that are sufficient to meet the needs of children and families. However, there has been little research to help program managers make informed choices about who might provide the best services, what services are most important to support staff and families, and how to make the best use of limited program resources

A Framework for Deepening Racial Equity in Prenatal-Grade Three Systems: Lessons From a 10-Year Reflective Case Study

This paper uses a reflective, retrospective case study methodology to analyze data from a 10-year University-Community partnership focused on supporting implementation and improvement of a Prenatal-Grade 3 (P3) system in an elementary school. Using a framework for centering equity in Collective Impact approaches, we analyze the steps we took as research partners/program evaluators to address racial and other inequities while highlighting missed opportunities to better center racial equity in the evaluation and P3 Initiative work. Through our analysis, we seek to identify where and how racial inequities surfaced, to describe how systemic racism influenced the evaluation and P3 Initiative process, and how this served to perpetuate the status quo and prevent transformative systems change. Results speak to opportunities for researchers, funders, and policymakers to identify and disrupt conventionally-accepted approaches to educational research and to work more effectively to advance educational equity for children and their families

Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS)

With funding from the Race-to-the-Top grant, we are working with Oregon State University researchers to conduct a validation study to support the state’s Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS). The QRIS provides technical assistance to child care facilities to improve quality, as well as ratings for child care facilities to help parents in decision-making. Center staff are collecting standardized observational measures of child care quality statewide to assess the extent to which QRIS ratings correspond to observed quality

Supporting Resource Equity for Oregon’s Home Visiting Workforce: Exploring Racial, Ethnic & Linguistic Differences

Home visitors of color—those whose lived experience and background reflect the cultural, racial and linguistic diversity of so many Oregon families—cope with compounding stressors related to structural racism, bias and documented pay inequities. This learning brief is the first in a series to share findings from a 2023 statewide survey of Oregon’s home visiting workforce. This study has provided a wealth of information about this workforce and how to improve and support its well-being and retention, with a focus on the needs and experiences of home visitors of color and those who speak languages other than English

Supporting Resource Equity for Oregon’s Home Visiting Workforce: Exploring Program Model and Regional Differences

Prenatal and early childhood home visiting is an effective strategy for promoting positive birth outcomes, improving family well-being and preventing child abuse and neglect. One key to successful services is having a strong, well-supported home visiting workforce. In Oregon and nationally, this critical workforce is facing a crisis as programs struggle to hire and retain skilled home visitors, and workers face low pay, difficult working conditions and high job stress. This learning brief is the second in a series to share findings from a 2023 survey of Oregon’s home visiting workforce, which provides a wealth of information about how to improve and support workforce well-being and retention, with a focus on the needs and experiences of home visitors of color and those who speak languages other than English

Environmental exposures during windows of susceptibility for breast cancer: a framework for prevention research.

BackgroundThe long time from exposure to potentially harmful chemicals until breast cancer occurrence poses challenges for designing etiologic studies and for implementing successful prevention programs. Growing evidence from animal and human studies indicates that distinct time periods of heightened susceptibility to endocrine disruptors exist throughout the life course. The influence of environmental chemicals on breast cancer risk may be greater during several windows of susceptibility (WOS) in a woman's life, including prenatal development, puberty, pregnancy, and the menopausal transition. These time windows are considered as specific periods of susceptibility for breast cancer because significant structural and functional changes occur in the mammary gland, as well as alterations in the mammary micro-environment and hormone signaling that may influence risk. Breast cancer research focused on these breast cancer WOS will accelerate understanding of disease etiology and prevention.Main textDespite the plausible heightened mechanistic influences of environmental chemicals on breast cancer risk during time periods of change in the mammary gland's structure and function, most human studies of environmental chemicals are not focused on specific WOS. This article reviews studies conducted over the past few decades that have specifically addressed the effect of environmental chemicals and metals on breast cancer risk during at least one of these WOS. In addition to summarizing the broader evidence-base specific to WOS, we include discussion of the NIH-funded Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program (BCERP) which included population-based and basic science research focused on specific WOS to evaluate associations between breast cancer risk and particular classes of endocrine-disrupting chemicals-including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, perfluorinated compounds, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and phenols-and metals. We outline ways in which ongoing transdisciplinary BCERP projects incorporate animal research and human epidemiologic studies in close partnership with community organizations and communication scientists to identify research priorities and effectively translate evidence-based findings to the public and policy makers.ConclusionsAn integrative model of breast cancer research is needed to determine the impact and mechanisms of action of endocrine disruptors at different WOS. By focusing on environmental chemical exposure during specific WOS, scientists and their community partners may identify when prevention efforts are likely to be most effective