Targeted Economic Development: Its Role in Maine Economic Policy

Targeted economic development strategies challenge traditional approaches to economic development by making explicit the recipients of job growth and job creation. They link economic development concerns such as business growth and a positive business climate to often-ignored social criteria that are reflected in the question of who wins and who loses in our present economy. Carla Dickstein brings a practitioner’s perspective to this issue by relating Coastal Enterprises Inc.’s experience in using gap financing programs to link people with low incomes to jobs created through business start-ups or expansions

Subprime and predatory lending in rural America: mortgage lending practices that can trap low-income rural people

This brief examines predatory mortgage loans and the harmful impact they have on rural homeowners and their communities. The report finds that minorities and low-income people are more likely to fall victim to higher-cost loans. The brief includes recommendations for policy changes at the state and federal levels, as well as advice on identifying and avoiding predatory loans

Targeted Economic Development: Its Role in Maine Economic Policy

Editors' Note: Although this article is about targeted economic development in Maine, we feel that its findings are pertinent to conditions here in North Carolina, especially considering the present reality of welfare reform. In the previous article, we considered various approaches to helping people move from public assistance, unemployment, and underemployment to decent jobs. Targeted economic development is another strategy that planners and community and economic developers in North Carolina and other Southeastern states may want to add to their toolbox of job development strategies to help people make these transitions

Subsidized Private Multi-Family Housing in Saint Paul, Minnesota. A Study Based on Resident and Management Attitudes.

Prepared by the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, Office of Planned Residential Development and Housing Research, University of Minnesota, for the Housing and Redevelopment Authority of the City of St. Paul

Irritability in youth: A critical integrative review

Irritability, defined as proneness to anger that may reach an impairing extent, is common in youth. There has been a recent upsurge in relevant research. We combine systematic and narrative review approaches to integrate the latest clinical and translational findings and provide suggestions to address research gaps. Clinicians and researchers should assess irritability routinely; specific assessment tools are now available. Informant effects are prominent, stable, and vary by age and gender. The prevalence of irritability is particularly high in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and mood and anxiety disorders. Irritability is associated with impairment and suicidality risk independent of co-occurring diagnoses. Irritability trajectories have been identified that are differentially associated with clinical outcomes; some begin early in life. Youth irritability is associated with increased risk later in life for anxiety, depression, behavioral problems, and suicidality. Irritability is moderately heritable and genetic associations differ based on age and comorbid illnesses. Parent management training is effective for constructs related to irritability, but its efficacy in irritability should be tested rigorously, as should novel mechanism-informed interventions (e.g., those targeted to frustration exposure). Associations between irritability and suicidality and the impact of cultural context are important, under-researched topics. Large, diverse, longitudinal samples that extend into adulthood are needed. Data from both animal and human research indicate that aberrant responses to frustration and threat are central to the pathophysiology of irritability, thus affording important translational opportunities

THE ROLES OF SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS IN WORKER COOPERATIVE SYSTEMS: A COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY

The importance of cooperative support organizations or shelter organizations in providing resources, advice, and assistance to worker cooperatives has received increasing recognition. This research investigates two types of cooperative support organizations: second degree cooperatives, which are formed when cooperatives join together or federate to undertake common functions; and cooperative development organizations, which are formed externally by government or private sponsors to stimulate cooperative development. Little research has been done on the roles that the newer cooperative development organizations play, or in what ways they are similar or dissimilar to second degree cooperatives. The research focuses on the development organizations: the O&O Investment Fund and the Philadelphia Association of Cooperative Enterprise (PACE), both in Philadelphia; and the cooperative development agencies (CDAs) in Britain. A comparative case study method is used. Comparisons are also made to the second degree cooperatives in Italy, France, Mondragon (Spain), and the kibbutzim in Israel. Support organizations are described and analyzed in terms of their formation, structure, control, financing, and roles as well as how internal interests and environmental conditions interrelated and shape their development. The research shows that cooperative development organizations in both Britain and the United States are forming mainly because external environmental conditions have created opportunities for cooperatives as a cyclical employment strategy rather than because of internal values of cooperation. Development organizations have different structures, sources of financing, and priorities from second degree cooperatives. Second degree cooperatives must respond to the needs of their member cooperatives. Cooperative development organizations, however, tend to precede the cooperatives. They first must create successful models of cooperatives and demonstrate that cooperatives create jobs in order to satisfy their funding sources. Cooperative development organizations have shown that they are a vehicle for accelerating cooperative development. However, the present cultural and economic environment, especially in the United States, is not highly conducive to attracting talented people to cooperatives and sustaining the growth of cooperatives. A key issue for development organizations is how to assist cooperatives in attracting or creating cooperative entrepreneurs and managers

THE ROLES OF SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS IN WORKER COOPERATIVE SYSTEMS: A COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY

The importance of cooperative support organizations or shelter organizations in providing resources, advice, and assistance to worker cooperatives has received increasing recognition. This research investigates two types of cooperative support organizations: second degree cooperatives, which are formed when cooperatives join together or federate to undertake common functions; and cooperative development organizations, which are formed externally by government or private sponsors to stimulate cooperative development. Little research has been done on the roles that the newer cooperative development organizations play, or in what ways they are similar or dissimilar to second degree cooperatives. The research focuses on the development organizations: the O&O Investment Fund and the Philadelphia Association of Cooperative Enterprise (PACE), both in Philadelphia; and the cooperative development agencies (CDAs) in Britain. A comparative case study method is used. Comparisons are also made to the second degree cooperatives in Italy, France, Mondragon (Spain), and the kibbutzim in Israel. Support organizations are described and analyzed in terms of their formation, structure, control, financing, and roles as well as how internal interests and environmental conditions interrelated and shape their development. The research shows that cooperative development organizations in both Britain and the United States are forming mainly because external environmental conditions have created opportunities for cooperatives as a cyclical employment strategy rather than because of internal values of cooperation. Development organizations have different structures, sources of financing, and priorities from second degree cooperatives. Second degree cooperatives must respond to the needs of their member cooperatives. Cooperative development organizations, however, tend to precede the cooperatives. They first must create successful models of cooperatives and demonstrate that cooperatives create jobs in order to satisfy their funding sources. Cooperative development organizations have shown that they are a vehicle for accelerating cooperative development. However, the present cultural and economic environment, especially in the United States, is not highly conducive to attracting talented people to cooperatives and sustaining the growth of cooperatives. A key issue for development organizations is how to assist cooperatives in attracting or creating cooperative entrepreneurs and managers

Crafting Sustainable Development: A Case Study Of Maine's Coastal Enterprises, Inc.

What do community economic development practitioners have to learn from environmentalists? What does environmentalism stand to gain from CED? By implementing a multi-dimensional concept of sustainability, Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (a long-established community development corporation in Maine) has shed new light on the synergy of principles and practice. This case study is also a very good example of CED operating on a regional basis, well beyond the local focus of RESO (Richard, 2004) or the North End of Winnipeg (Colussi and Perry, 2002

Longitudinal Course of Bipolar Disorder in Youth With High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder

ObjectiveTo provide the first longitudinal characterization of mood and psychosocial functioning in youth with comorbid bipolar (BD) and autism spectrum (ASD) disorders.MethodThe Course and Outcome of Bipolar Youth study followed 368 youth (aged 7-17 years) with DSM-IV bipolar I (BP-I), BP-II, or Not Otherwise Specified (NOS) for, on average, 9 years using the Longitudinal Interval Follow-up Evaluation. This subgroup analysis compared youth with and without ASD on clinical presentation, percentage of time with mood symptomatology, and psychosocial functioning.ResultsThirty youth (∼8%) met DSM-IV criteria for Asperger's disorder or pervasive developmental disorder-NOS (referred to here as ASD). Lifetime worst episode severity was similar in both groups, but youth with both BD and ASD (BD+ASD) had elevated rates of comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity and obsessive-compulsive disorders, were younger at intake, and had an earlier onset of mood symptoms. Over time, in both groups, the proportion of predominantly euthymic youth increased, and episode recurrence decreased. Compared to youth with BD, the clinical presentation of youth with BD+ASD more frequently involved distractibility, racing thoughts, depressed mood, social withdrawal, and low reactivity of negative mood states. ASD-related symptomatic differences were generally strongest early and decreased over time. Youth with BD+ASD had significantly greater impairment in friendships throughout follow-up.ConclusionYouth with BD+ASD exhibit typical BD mood symptoms but with earlier onset, mixed symptom presentation, and additive functional impairments. Significant amelioration of clinical symptoms occurred over time, suggesting that early recognition and treatment of mood disorders in youth with ASD may improve clinical outcomes