Emancipated Foster Care Youths’ Romantic Relationships as Observed by Social Workers

Past research has revealed that emancipated foster care youth are struggling as they leave care and enter into adulthood. Among other issues, this population is impacted by high rates of mental illness, substance abuse, pregnancy, and domestic violence. On top of these struggles they are also under-supported in their transition to adulthood and lack meaningful connections to the adult world and their communities. This research focuses on the romantic relationships of emancipated foster care youth as they attempt to make this difficult transition. The research question asks: what is the observed experience of emancipated foster care youth with romantic relationships as they enter into adulthood? Due to a lack of past research on the topic, exploratory qualitative research methods were chosen to answer the question posed for this study. Ten social workers who worked closely with emancipated foster care youth took part in an individual semi-structured interview process. Thematic Clustering was used in analysis of the interviews and revealed four major themes. These themes included: belonging, stability, and security; early pregnancy and domestic violence; influence of the past on current relationships; and life goals versus romantic relationships. The research also found that social workers believed emancipated foster care youth, compared to their peers, were less likely to view romantic relationships positively, more likely to be in a romantic relationship and to cohabitate with their partner, and equally likely to marry by the age of 21. Research also revealed that while there is support available for youth in the area of romantic relationships, knowledge of the availability of these resources was not equal among the social workers that were interviewed and in-depth assistance and support was limited

Emancipated Foster Care Youths’ Romantic Relationships as Observed by Social Workers

Past research has revealed that emancipated foster care youth are struggling as they leave care and enter into adulthood. Among other issues, this population is impacted by high rates of mental illness, substance abuse, pregnancy, and domestic violence. On top of these struggles they are also under-supported in their transition to adulthood and lack meaningful connections to the adult world and their communities. This research focuses on the romantic relationships of emancipated foster care youth as they attempt to make this difficult transition. The research question asks: what is the observed experience of emancipated foster care youth with romantic relationships as they enter into adulthood? Due to a lack of past research on the topic, exploratory qualitative research methods were chosen to answer the question posed for this study. Ten social workers who worked closely with emancipated foster care youth took part in an individual semi-structured interview process. Thematic Clustering was used in analysis of the interviews and revealed four major themes. These themes included: belonging, stability, and security; early pregnancy and domestic violence; influence of the past on current relationships; and life goals versus romantic relationships. The research also found that social workers believed emancipated foster care youth, compared to their peers, were less likely to view romantic relationships positively, more likely to be in a romantic relationship and to cohabitate with their partner, and equally likely to marry by the age of 21. Research also revealed that while there is support available for youth in the area of romantic relationships, knowledge of the availability of these resources was not equal among the social workers that were interviewed and in-depth assistance and support was limited

Open source and accessibility: advantages and limitations

In this paper we discuss the open source process as it relates to accessibility software. Open source is a development model that has shown considerable benefits in a number of application areas. However the nature of accessibility tools and the intended users of such software products raise issues that must be addressed by the developer before users encounter the tools in real world contexts. In this paper we discuss the nature of the open source process, how it functions, and the motivations with regards to participation that developers self-report. We then explain the impact of these elements of the open source process as they relate to adaptive accessibility software. We use some specific examples of issues raised from the adoption of open source via a discussion of the ACCESS Framework, an accessibility engine designed to provide cross-platform accessibility support through plug-ins

A representative sample of Be stars III: H band spectroscopy

We present H band (1.53 - 1.69 micron) spectra of 57 isolated Be stars of spectral types O9-B9 and luminosity classes III,IV & V. The HI Brackett (n-4) series is seen in emission from Br 11-18, and FeII emission is also apparent for a subset of those stars with HI emission. No emission from species with a higher excitation temperature, such as He II or CIII is seen, and no forbidden line emission is present. A subset of 12 stars show no evidence for emission from any species; these stars appear indistinguishable from normal B stars of a comparable spectral type. In general the line ratios constructed from the transitions in the range Br 11-18 do not fit case B recombination theory particularly well. Strong correlations between the line ratios with Br-gamma and spectral type are found. These results most likely represent systematic variations in the temperature and ionization of the circumstellar disc with spectral type. Weak correlations between the line widths and projected rotational velocity of the stars are observed; however no systematic trend for increasing line width through the Brackett series is observed.Comment: accepted for publication in A&A (this version correctly formatted

Performance testing of bulls for body composition in dual purpose cattle breeds

International audienc

On the constrained structure of duality symmetric Maxwell theory

The constrained structure of the duality invariant form of Maxwell theory is considered in the Hamiltonian formulation of Dirac as well as from the symplectic viewpoint. Compared to the former the latter approach is found to be more economical and elegant. Distinctions from the constrained analysis of the usual Maxwell theory are pointed out and their implications are also discussed.Comment: Latex, 12 page