From charity to social enterprise: the marketization of social care

Purpose In Scotland, the self-directed support (SDS) legislation is a catch-all payment system which brings challenges to local authorities, service delivery organisations and the service users it is intended to empower. Set against a backdrop of cuts to local authorities and third-sector funding, this policy presents third-sector organisations with both the opportunities and challenges of commercialising their activities to become more sustainable. The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence of the challenges faced by one charity as it engages in a process of hybridity to accommodate changes in its funding due to the introduction of SDS. Design/methodology/approach The paper utilises a case study approach. The paper captures the experiences and views of managers, staff and parents advocating for their children through interviews with a purposive sample from each group. The challenges of gathering data and giving a voice to caregivers advocating for children with complex needs are discussed, particularly the difficulties in accessing a hard to reach group. Findings The findings identifies issues which have arisen because of the proposed changed in strategic direction of the organisation due to the introduction of SDS and are all related to hybridity. The findings are arranged in four sub-sections based on the themes that emerged from the qualitative data generated from the interviews: the practical delivery of care; tensions between care and quality, the care workforce, and the parent perspective. Research limitations/implications SDS policy has had unexpected impacts and reactions whilst rolling out across regions in Scotland, but policymakers and those involved in the care sector, including consumers, face significant challenges in gathering evidence not only from the vulnerable populations this policy affects but also from organisations already under pressure from austerity-led cuts. This paper presents the challenges to organisations involved in caring for children with complex needs, who are a particularly neglected group of stakeholders. Practical implications Organically arising barriers to organisational transition from charity to social enterprise are presented, as staff and caregivers react to the prospect of SDS uptake affecting their organisation. Proactive attempts to embrace a hybrid approach by the organisation are analysed. Social implications Understanding how social care organisations and clients are reacting to the implementation of individual payments as opposed to the previous system of block contracts is crucial as the sector faces very real prospects of organisations closing when individuals are able to pick and choose care. A policy based on choice and control for the consumer risks removing choice through a loss of services in the marketplace, leaving vulnerable populations at risk. Originality/value This study is unique. No research has been done exploring the transition of charities servicing children with complex needs in anticipation of self-directed payments creating an open market. The paper further contributes to the existing knowledge regarding hybrid organisations within the third sector. </jats:sec

Avian Ecology During Oak Savanna and Woodland Restoration in the Mid-South

Disturbance-dependent ecosystems in the eastern United States have been declining since European settlement, and, in recent years, early-successional species have followed. My objective for this research was to determine if oak savanna and woodland restoration (i.e., overstory thinning and prescribed fire) was a viable method of recovering declining earlysuccessional species to the landscape of the Mid-South. At 3 sites, Catoosa Wildlife Management Area (CWMA; Tennessee), Green River Game Lands (GRGL; North Carolina), and Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area (LBL; Tennessee), oak savanna and woodland restoration projects were established and maintained. Closed-canopy stands were thinned and a 2-year burn schedule was implemented. In Chapter One, I present on nest- and stand-level vegetation metrics associated with Prairie Warbler (Setophaga discolor) nest survival and nest-site selection at CWMA 7 years after canopy disturbance and consistent burning. In 2015 and 2016, Prairie Warblers had average nest success (0.937 ± 0.007) compared with other studies and selected for increased herbaceous groundcover around the nest compared with available habitat. Nest survival in 2015 was lower than in 2016. A positive trend between groundcover and nest survival was found. In Chapter Two, I describe nest- and stand-level vegetation metrics associated with Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) nest survival and nest-site selection at CWMA 7 years after canopy disturbance and consistent burning. Red-headed Woodpeckers had very high nest success (84.1%) compared with other studies and selected nest sites with greater herbaceous groundcover, dead basal area, and midstory density (in 2016) compared with available habitat. A negative trend was found between nest survival and live basal area. In Chapter Three, I describe vegetation metrics (herbaceous groundcover, live and dead basal area, and midstory density) influencing 28 bird species’ abundances at CWMA, GRGL, and LBL 2010–2012 and 2014–2016. Moderate to high amounts of disturbance were associated with increased populations of early-successional species while low to moderate amounts of disturbance either did not affect or were positively associated with populations of most mature forest species. Oak savanna and woodland restoration is a viable method to increase populations of early-successional bird species while retaining most mature forest species

From Large Urban to Small Rural Schools: An Empirical Study of National Board Certification and Teaching Effectiveness Final Report

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is a professional organization that provides national certification to teachers who apply for and meet the Board's standards of performance for "accomplished" educators. This study responds to a request from the NBPTS to analyze National Board certification among high school teachers in understudied subject areas and locales to help fill gaps in the research literature. The research team selected two new locales for this analysis, the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the Chicago public schools. Chicago, a racially and ethnically diverse city with a population of more than 2.8 million, has one of the largest urban school districts in the country. Kentucky, by contrast, is a largely rural state with some suburban and urban areas, including the Louisville/Jefferson County metro area, population 750,000. Together, these two locales encompass a full range of public school settings

Supporting Sibling Relationships of Children in Permanent Fostering and Adoptive Families

Around 95,000 children were in the care of local authorities in the UK in 2016, most often as a result of traumatic childhood experiences such as abuse and neglect. There is a presumption within the laws of the UK that looked after and accommodated children will be placed with siblings whenever practicable and in the best interests of the child. In practice, however, separation from siblings is a common experience. Previous research has estimated that 70-80% of accommodated children have siblings also in care and around 70% of these experience separation. Where children are placed separately from siblings, they typically express a strong desire to stay in contact with brothers and sisters. Contact arrangements vary in type, frequency, quality and availability of support and sibling contact tends to become less frequent over time. Outcome studies have indicated that separation of siblings is associated with increased placement disruption, poorer child well-being and reduced likelihood of permanence. This study focused on looked-after and accommodated children who were placed permanently away from home and the siblings of these children

Podcast: Therapy dogs in school settings

Can therapy dogs decrease anxiety and stress in students, and improve school attendance? These are just some of the questions Monash University academics Dr Linda Henderson and Dr Christine Grove from the Faculty of Education are trying to answer as they push for more research in this area

Relative strangers: sibling estrangements experienced by children in out-of-home care and moving towards permanence.

Loss of sibling relationships is a common experience across international jurisdictions for children entering public care. This is the case despite statutory guidance that emphasizes the need to place siblings together when in their best interests, and increasingly robust evidence of the protective nature of sibling relationships when children face adversity. Research on the experiences and outcomes of siblings in care has thus far focused predominantly on placement and contact patterns, particularly of siblings in care concurrently. This study extends this research by comprehensively mapping sibling networks both within and outside the care system and measuring sibling estrangement (living apart and lack of contact) over time. Drawing on administrative and case file data within the Children's Hearings System in Scotland, the circumstances of 204 children and young people from 50 sibling networks were examined longitudinally. The study found very high rates of sibling estrangement with seven in 10 relationships between a child in out-of-home care and a sibling classified as estranged and half of all siblings classified as strangers (siblings having never lived together and no record of any communication or meetings between the child and sibling). Moreover, sibling estrangement increased significantly as children moved through the care system. We argue that continued effort is needed to improve the accuracy with which aspects of sibling relationships of children in care are recorded and measured in order to assess the longer-term impact of state interventions on children's lives and the capacity of child welfare agencies to meet policy goals

Sibling birth order, use of statutory measures and patterns of placement for children in public care: implications for international child protection systems and research.

Public care of abused and neglected children is one important element of statutory intervention which aims to address the major global challenge of protecting children from abuse and neglect. Where a child is part of a sibling group, this introduces particular challenges with regard to meeting the needs of all those affected. This paper presents findings from one of the first studies examining birth order effects on statutory intervention patterns for looked-after siblings. The experiences and outcomes of children were compared depending on maternal birth order at the time of data collection. We found strong evidence that the length of time from first referral of a child deemed at risk to first statutory intervention is greater for first-born than for last-born children and firstborn children are significantly older than last-born children when they are first placed on statutory measures. The study concludes that first-born siblings may be particularly vulnerable to delayed statutory intervention and the cumulative effects of harm and certain routes to permanence may be less available to them. We argue for increased focus within international child welfare policy and practice on timely and intensive assessment of first-born children, where risk of maltreatment is identified, in order to address potential inequalities of access to protection. A focus on risk introduced by systemic factors within legal and welfare systems in addition to risk introduced by perpetrators of abuse is needed. We also argue for greater research attention to, and more precise measurement of, birth order as a variable in studies of the looked-after population

Protection of High-Voltage Transformer Bushings and Other Brittle Structures Against Impact

This dissertation contributes unique approaches to improve the fundamental understanding of the impact behavior of porcelain high-voltage (HV) transformer bushings under high-velocity impact, with a focus on their protection with feasible methods which could be quickly applied in service to prevent vandalism and other undesirable impact situations. The bushings are brittle and pressurized; prone to explosive damage when hit by a high-velocity projectile. Damaged bushings can destroy transformers and entire substations in complex fashions. This can put the power grid at risk for cascading failures and electrical blackouts, affecting consumers. Therefore, suggesting practical approaches which could be used to protect the bushings against impact is of paramount importance. Testing of impact protection concepts on a full-scale bushing without exploratory study is expensive. Therefore, this research focused heavily on the development of new laboratory based experimental and numerical approaches for pressurized borosilicate glass cylinders and flat plates using both ballistic and low-velocity impact techniques, to best represent a bushing under high-velocity impact. The laboratory-based testing approaches were further verified by full-scale impact tests with a .308 caliber Winchester rifle cartridge. It was discovered from the laboratory and full-scale tests that an unprotected bushing would display an explosive symmetrical distribution of fragments, potentially destroying transformers, other neighboring equipment, and personnel. It was also demonstrated for the first time that a protective elastomeric coating can be used on the surface of a bushing to absorb an explosive blast from a combined effect of high-velocity impact and internal pressure. Nature was used as a guide to select an appropriate polymer coating for blast mitigation. It turned out that small amounts of Line-X XS-100 applied on the surface of the cylinders, plates, and bushings dramatically changed their failure modes from brittle to ductile. Most importantly, Line-X XS-100 successfully confined fragments on pressurized borosilicate cylinders and full-scale transformer bushings. This research successfully used an extensive combination of engineering and scientific approaches to recommend a solution to a potentially serious engineering problem created by an explosion of an unprotected bushing in the middle of a HV substation