Implementing Welfare-to-Work Services: A Study of Staff Decision-Making

Copyright 2006 Alliance for Children and FamiliesIn the post-welfare reform era, increased discretion has been given to frontline staff for day-today welfare policy implementation. To determine how frontline staff address the complex needs of welfare program participants in this new policy environment, the decision-making processes of welfare staff (N = 52) in 11 San Francisco Bay Area county social service agencies were assessed through a case vignette using a Web-based survey design. We examined staff decision making in four areas: problem recognition, goal formulation, information search processes, and evaluation. The results suggest that the high level o f staff discretion apparent in the day-to-day implementation of welfare policy may have important implications for participants. Several recommendations for policy, practice, and future research are presented

Possible mineral contributions to the diet and health of wild chimpanzees in three East African forests

For financial support, the authors acknowledge the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund grant numbers 0925272, 10251055, 11252562, 12254904, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, the Leverhulme Trust grant number ECF‐2013‐507, and the Boise Fund.We present new data on the ingestion of minerals from termite mound soil by East African chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) living in the Budongo Forest Reserve, Uganda, the Gombe National Park and the Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania. Termite mound soil is here shown to be a rich source of minerals, containing high concentrations of iron and aluminum. Termite mound soil is not, however, a source of sodium. The concentrations of iron and aluminum are the highest yet found in any of the mineral sources consumed. Levels of manganese and copper, though not so high as for iron and aluminum, are also higher than in other dietary sources. We focus on the contribution of termite mound soil to other known sources of mineral elements consumed by these apes, and compare the mineral content of termite soil with that of control forest soil, decaying wood, clay, and the normal plant‐based chimpanzee diet at Budongo. Samples obtained from Mahale Mountains National Park and Gombe National Park, both in Tanzania, show similar mineral distribution across sources. We suggest three distinct but related mechanisms by which minerals may come to be concentrated in the above‐mentioned sources, serving as potentially important sources of essential minerals in the chimpanzee diet.PostprintPeer reviewe

Modeling the Afferent Dynamics of the Baroreflex Control System

In this study we develop a modeling framework for predicting baroreceptor firing rate as a function of blood pressure. We test models within this framework both quantitatively and qualitatively using data from rats. The models describe three components: arterial wall deformation, stimulation of mechanoreceptors located in the BR nerve-endings, and modulation of the action potential frequency. The three sub-systems are modeled individually following well-established biological principles. The first submodel, predicting arterial wall deformation, uses blood pressure as an input and outputs circumferential strain. The mechanoreceptor stimulation model, uses circumferential strain as an input, predicting receptor deformation as an output. Finally, the neural model takes receptor deformation as an input predicting the BR firing rate as an output. Our results show that nonlinear dependence of firing rate on pressure can be accounted for by taking into account the nonlinear elastic properties of the artery wall. This was observed when testing the models using multiple experiments with a single set of parameters. We find that to model the response to a square pressure stimulus, giving rise to post-excitatory depression, it is necessary to include an integrate-and-fire model, which allows the firing rate to cease when the stimulus falls below a given threshold. We show that our modeling framework in combination with sensitivity analysis and parameter estimation can be used to test and compare models. Finally, we demonstrate that our preferred model can exhibit all known dynamics and that it is advantageous to combine qualitative and quantitative analysis methods

Comparative microbial analysis and clay mineralogy of soils eaten by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in Tanzania

Abstract The abundance of culturable microorganisms in Tanzanian termite mound soils similar to those eaten by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) was compared with corresponding non-eaten soils using a serial dilution plating method. Additionally, the particle size distribution and clay mineralogy of the soils were examined. The microbiology of these soils was examined as a preliminary step to investigate the hypothesis that this behaviour relates to self-medication with antibiotics. Signi®cantly higher P 0:037 numbers of ®lamentous bacteria (actinomycetes), were detected in termite mound soils relative to control soils, but numbers of non-®lamentous bacteria and fungi did not differ between the two groups. The clay content was signi®cantly higher P 0:007 in eaten soils, but the mineralogy of the less than 2 mm fraction was similar for all soils. This study suggests that if chimpanzees selectively consume soils based on their content characteristics, the importance of the type of clay minerals may be secondary to the overall clay content.

Delivering Welfare-to-Work Services in County Social Service Organizations: An Exploratory Study of Staff Perspectives

There is a limited body of knowledge on the role of staff in the implementation of welfare policy, especially how frontline staff members perceive an array of organizational factors and how these factors affect their ability to serve clients. This exploratory study builds upon this limited body of research by capturing staff perceptions of the personal and community resources that are needed to help TANF participants move from welfare to work in California's CalWORKs program. It is based on staff perceptions of welfare-to-work services (from orientation to post-employment services) during the first five years of implementing welfare reform in eleven California county social service agencies (1998-2002). Data were collected from a sample of 292 welfare-to-work staff (line staff, specialists, and supervisors) through the use of a Web-based survey. The findings suggest that several factors impact service delivery, including the work environment, resources, characteristics of program participants, staff control over service provision, and staff knowledge and skills. The implications for practice and future research are identified