Factors Affecting Long-Term Outcomes Following Intensive In-Home Services

Intensive in-home services (IIHS) work with families toward building skills and resources to better manage their children with behavioral difficulties. Factors that impact long-term outcomes following IIHS are not well understood. This study examined the relative importance of youth demographic and clinical characteristics, family history variables, characteristics of program participation, and organizational-level factors in explaining placement stability, educational progress, and contact with legal authorities one year following discharge from IIHS. The sample included all youth who received IIHS, were discharged between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2006, and completed a follow up at one-year post-discharge (n = 2,649) from a large provider of IIHS. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was employed to test the relationship between case characteristics and outcomes, as youth were nested within offices. The non-experimental nature of the study demanded close attention to the issue of response bias. Logistic regression was used to model the probability of responding to the postdischarge survey, with the predicted values used in the HLM analysis to correct for response bias. Adolescent males were found to have significantly lower odds of placement with their family, higher odds of contact with legal authorities and out of home placement, and lower odds of a positive composite outcome than adolescent females. Youth of both genders with antisocial behavior had significantly lower odds of positive outcomes. Length of service was significantly associated with higher odds of negative outcomes for all dependent measures except contact with legal authorities. This last finding was unexpected and may be a function of unmeasured risk factors that affect both length of service and long-term outcome. Office-level characteristics were not found to be significant predictors in most of the models. Recommendations for improvement of the intensive in-home services program included focusing resources on high-risk clinical characteristics rather than changing organizational attributes such as size and turnover. Although a high rate of turnover potentially has other negative consequences, finding more effective ways to treat antisocial behavior, particularly in males ages 10 to 16, may be the activity most likely to secure higher odds of positive outcomes for youth served by the program

Wildlife Disease Concerns in Animal Damage Control

There are many facets to the topic of wildlife disease concerns in animal damage control, but the area that I have chosen to discuss is that of zoonotic disease - diseases which are transmissible in nature between humans and other animals. The list of zoonoses is extensive and in the time available only a few can be reviewed

When Public Institutions Betray Women: News Coverage of Military Sexual Violence Against Women 1991-2013

Women’s movement into sectors of society that have previously excluded them can be a cause of triumph. The institutions that receive them, however, often erect further barriers to their participation. This study of the intersection of two such institutions, the military and journalism, explores the nature of news coverage of sexual violence toward women in the military over a 22 year period

Early Childhood Special Education in a Refugee Resettlement Community: Challenges and Innovative Practices

There has been a significant increase in the number of children who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) who qualify for early childhood special education (ECSE) services (Banerjee & Guiberson, 2012). The current study investigates the challenges and innovative practices in the evaluation and (ECSE) services for preschool aged children who are refugees. Twenty-eight early childhood educators who work in a small refugee resettlement community participated in a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews resulting in themes regarding challenges and innovative practices. Challenges include: lack of validated assessments, wait time for evaluations, different cultural perspectives and family advocacy. Innovative practices include: assessing skills not dependent on language and including caregivers in evaluations. Implications for future research and teacher preparation are discussed

Cultural Humility in Libraries

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to introduce the idea of cultural humility, distinguish it from cultural competence, and argue that it has a role in librarianship. Design/methodology/approach: We use an interdisciplinary exploration of the concept of humility to understand what cultural humility means and how it differs from cultural competence and other approaches to intercultural communication in libraries. Findings: Despite some reservations with the term itself, we find that a practice of cultural humility is more appropriate to front-line interactions in library contexts than cultural competence models. Practical implications: Libraries looking to address issues in intercultural communication and services to multicultural populations will find an approach that may be better suited to their contexts than prevailing models of cultural competency. Social implications: Librarians need to commit to redressing the power imbalances and other structural issues that interfere with library service, for the benefit of the patrons, the library, and librarians themselves. Originality/value: While cultural humility is increasingly being used in librarianship, there has not been a systematic exploration of the concept and how it applies to library contexts

Crowdsourced Delphis: Designing solutions to complex environmental problems with broad stakeholder participation

There is a well-established need for increased stakeholder participation in the generation of adaptive management approaches and specific solutions to complex environmental problems. However, integrating participant feedback into current science, research, and decision-making processes is challenging. This paper presents a novel approach that marries a rigorous Delphi method, borrowed from policy and organizational sciences, with contemporary “crowdsourcing” to address the complex problems of water pollution exacerbated by climate change in the Lake Champlain Basin. In an online Delphi forum that occurred over a six-week period during the Spring of 2014, fifty-three participants proposed and commented on adaptive solutions to address water quality in the context of climate change. In a follow up Multi-Stakeholder workshop, thirty-eight stakeholders participated in refining and synthesizing the results from the forum. To inform modeling and policy dialogue, the resulting list of interventions was analyzed by time horizon, domain, type of adaptation action, and priority level. The interventions suggested by stakeholders within the crowdsourcing forum have contributed to the current policy dialogue in Vermont including legislation to address phosphorus loading to Lake Champlain. This stakeholder approach strengthens traditional modeling scenario development to include solutions and priorities that have been collectively refined and vetted

From the household to watershed: A cross-scale analysis of residential intention to adopt green stormwater infrastructure

Improved stormwater management for the protection of water resources requires bottom-up stewardship from landowners, including adoption of Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI). We use a statewide survey of Vermont paired with a cross-scale and spatial analysis to evaluate the influence of interacting spatial, social, and physical factors on residential intention to adopt GSI across a complex social-ecological landscape. Specifically, we focus on how three GSI practices, (“rain garden (bio retention),” “infiltration trenches,” and “actively divert roof runoff to a rain barrel/lawn/garden instead of the street/sewer”) vary with barriers to adoption, and household attributes across stormwater contexts from the household to watershed scale. Private landowners, who may be motivated more by on-site and neighborhood stormwater problems, may gravitate toward practices like infiltration trenches compared with practices (e.g., rain gardens) perceived to serve stormwater function over larger areas. Diversion of roof runoff was found to be more likely to be a part of a larger assembly of green behaviors. Improved stormwater management outcomes at the watershed, town, neighborhood, and household levels depend on adaptive approaches and adjusting strategies along the rural-urban gradient, across the bio-physical landscape, and according to varying norms and institutional arrangements

Asymptomatic schwannoma of the heart

We present a case of an asymptomatic right atrial mass detected on a screening ECHO. Pre-operative imaging and intraoperative frozen section suggested an atrial myxoma, but the extracardiac nature of the mass and its adherence to the right superior pulmonary vein and interatrial septum were inconsistent with this. Detailed histological assessment confirmed the diagnosis of atrial schwannoma. Limited case reports have shown complete resection is curative