Valuing Families: The State of Oregon's Families

88 pagesThe purpose of this paper is to provide a wide variety of information about families in Oregon. The paper presents data which illuminate important issues affecting Oregon families. We hope this information will assist law and policy makers, family advocates, interested members of the community and scholars to help all Oregon families thrive. The first chapter after this introduction provides information about the diversity of Oregon families. The second part of the paper examines the economic well-being of Oregon families. It begins with a descriptive section about availability and distribution of income, followed by sections on wages, child support for children not living with both parents, the tax burden on families, the incidence of poverty and Oregon's public assistance programs. It concludes with a discussion of access to health insurance, since, for most people, having insurance is essential to obtaining adequate health care. Both employment- based and publicly funded insurance programs are included here

Oregon Families Who Left Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) or Food Stamps: In-Depth Interview Themes and Family Profiles (Vol. 2)

232 pagesThe success and limitations of Oregon’s welfare reform policies are best measured by an examination of the effects of these policies on the economic status and well-being of families whose lives have been most directly affected by those policies. Ironically, the voices of poor people themselves are often neglected in public debates about welfare policy. This report, a companion to Oregon Families Leaving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and Food Stamps: A Study of Economic and Family Well-Being From 1998 to 2000, consists of profiles of seventy-eight families who participated in both telephone surveys and in-person interviews, following them for almost two years after they left or were diverted from Food Stamps or TANF in the first quarter of 1998. Their lives are vivid portraits of families who have to live on incomes that position most of them in or near the bottom quintile (one-fifth) of the economy. The experiences of most of these families do not confirm the stereotypes so often used to characterize the poor. Nor do they speak in one voice about work, family, public assistance, Adult and Family Service programs or the juggling act of daily life. However, they were loud and clear about one point: the vital importance of public assistance programs for their economic survival and family well-being.This project was funded by a contract from Adult and Family Services to the Center for the Study of Women in Society (CSWS) at the University of Oregon. Additional funding was provided by the CSWS Women in the Northwest Research Initiative. AFS staff Sue Smit, Ron Taylor, Elizabeth Lopez and Don Main collaborated with the CSWS Research Team on the formulation of research questions, design of the telephone survey and overall project design. They also did extensive work with the administrative data

Oregon Families Who Left Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) or Food Stamps: A Study of Economic and Family Well-Being From 1998 to 2000 (Vol. 1)

122 pagesWhat happens to families that leave or are diverted from cash assistance or Food Stamps in Oregon? Dramatic reductions in public assistance caseloads after welfare reform have raised public concern about poor families. Our study indicates that the effects of welfare -to-work policies are neither simple nor uniform. The experiences of families suggest that it is unwise to paint a picture of welfare reform without attending to the diversity of families’ experiences and needs. Two years after leaving or being diverted from Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) or Food Stamps, a substantial proportion of respondents are employed. However, their earnings are low and families struggle mightily to make ends meet. Our sample was nearly evenly divided between those with household incomes above and below the federal poverty level. Safety net programs such as Food Stamps, the Oregon Health Plan, housing and child-care assistance and federal and state earned income tax credits are critical for family well-being. These essential resources often disappear before a family’s need for them diminis hes because of income eligibility limits and unaffordable co-payments associated with the programs. Non-employed respondents often live in communities without sufficient good jobs, have chronic health problems or they need job training or education. The state of Oregon, and these families, would be well served by intensified efforts to reduce poverty, sustain and improve safety net programs and foster more living wage jobs across the state.This project was funded by a contract from Adult and Family Services to the Center for the Study of Women in Society at the University of Oregon. Additional funding was provided by the CSWS Women in the Northwest Research Initiative. AFS staff Sue Smit, Ron Taylor, Elizabeth Lopez and Don Main collaborated with the CSWS Welfare Research Team on the formulation of research questions, design of the telephone survey and overall project design. They also did extensive work with the Administrative Record Data

Maternal body mass index, gestational weight gain, and the risk of overweight and obesity across childhood : An individual participant data meta-analysis

Background Maternal obesity and excessive gestational weight gain may have persistent effects on offspring fat development. However, it remains unclear whether these effects differ by severity of obesity, and whether these effects are restricted to the extremes of maternal body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain. We aimed to assess the separate and combined associations of maternal BMI and gestational weight gain with the risk of overweight/obesity throughout childhood, and their population impact. Methods and findings We conducted an individual participant data meta-analysis of data from 162,129 mothers and their children from 37 pregnancy and birth cohort studies from Europe, North America, and Australia. We assessed the individual and combined associations of maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and gestational weight gain, both in clinical categories and across their full ranges, with the risks of overweight/obesity in early (2.0-5.0 years), mid (5.0-10.0 years) and late childhood (10.0-18.0 years), using multilevel binary logistic regression models with a random intercept at cohort level adjusted for maternal sociodemographic and lifestylerelated characteristics. We observed that higher maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and gestational weight gain both in clinical categories and across their full ranges were associated with higher risks of childhood overweight/obesity, with the strongest effects in late childhood (odds ratios [ORs] for overweight/obesity in early, mid, and late childhood, respectively: OR 1.66 [95% CI: 1.56, 1.78], OR 1.91 [95% CI: 1.85, 1.98], and OR 2.28 [95% CI: 2.08, 2.50] for maternal overweight; OR 2.43 [95% CI: 2.24, 2.64], OR 3.12 [95% CI: 2.98, 3.27], and OR 4.47 [95% CI: 3.99, 5.23] for maternal obesity; and OR 1.39 [95% CI: 1.30, 1.49], OR 1.55 [95% CI: 1.49, 1.60], and OR 1.72 [95% CI: 1.56, 1.91] for excessive gestational weight gain). The proportions of childhood overweight/obesity prevalence attributable to maternal overweight, maternal obesity, and excessive gestational weight gain ranged from 10.2% to 21.6%. Relative to the effect of maternal BMI, excessive gestational weight gain only slightly increased the risk of childhood overweight/obesity within each clinical BMI category (p-values for interactions of maternal BMI with gestational weight gain: p = 0.038, p <0.001, and p = 0.637 in early, mid, and late childhood, respectively). Limitations of this study include the self-report of maternal BMI and gestational weight gain for some of the cohorts, and the potential of residual confounding. Also, as this study only included participants from Europe, North America, and Australia, results need to be interpreted with caution with respect to other populations. Conclusions In this study, higher maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and gestational weight gain were associated with an increased risk of childhood overweight/obesity, with the strongest effects at later ages. The additional effect of gestational weight gain in women who are overweight or obese before pregnancy is small. Given the large population impact, future intervention trials aiming to reduce the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity should focus on maternal weight status before pregnancy, in addition to weight gain during pregnancy.Peer reviewe

Pulse Jet Mixing Tests With Noncohesive Solids

This report summarizes results from pulse jet mixing (PJM) tests with noncohesive solids in Newtonian liquid conducted during FY 2007 and 2008 to support the design of mixing systems for the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). Tests were conducted at three geometric scales using noncohesive simulants. The test data were used to independently develop mixing models that can be used to predict full-scale WTP vessel performance and to rate current WTP mixing system designs against two specific performance requirements. One requirement is to ensure that all solids have been disturbed during the mixing action, which is important to release gas from the solids. The second requirement is to maintain a suspended solids concentration below 20 weight percent at the pump inlet. The models predict the height to which solids will be lifted by the PJM action, and the minimum velocity needed to ensure all solids have been lifted from the floor. From the cloud height estimate we can calculate the concentration of solids at the pump inlet. The velocity needed to lift the solids is slightly more demanding than "disturbing" the solids, and is used as a surrogate for this metric. We applied the models to assess WTP mixing vessel performance with respect to the two perform¬ance requirements. Each mixing vessel was evaluated against these two criteria for two defined waste conditions. One of the wastes was defined by design limits and one was derived from Hanford waste characterization reports. The assessment predicts that three vessel types will satisfy the design criteria for all conditions evaluated. Seven vessel types will not satisfy the performance criteria used for any of the conditions evaluated. The remaining three vessel types provide varying assessments when the different particle characteristics are evaluated. The assessment predicts that three vessel types will satisfy the design criteria for all conditions evaluated. Seven vessel types will not satisfy the performance criteria used for any of the conditions evaluated. The remaining three vessel types provide varying assessments when the different particle characteristics are evaluated. The HLP-022 vessel was also evaluated using 12 m/s pulse jet velocity with 6-in. nozzles, and this design also did not satisfy the criteria for all of the conditions evaluated

Maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring overweight : is there a dose–response relationship? An individual patient data meta-analysis

We want to thank the funders of the individual studies: the UK Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust (Grant ref: 102215/2/13/2) and the University of Bristol, the Danish National Research Foundation, Pharmacy Foundation, the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, the Augustinus Foundation, and the Health Foundation, the US NICHD (contracts no. 1-HD-4-2803 and no. 1-HD-1-3127, R01 HD HD034568), the NHMRC, the CNPq (Portuguese acronym for the National Research Council—grant 523474/96-2) and FAPESP (Portuguese acronym for the São Paulo State Research Council—grant 00/0908-7). We would like to thank the participating families of all studies for the use of data. For the ASPAC study, we want to thank the midwives for their help in recruiting families, and the whole ALSPAC team, which includes interviewers, computer and laboratory technicians, clerical workers, research scientists, volunteers, managers, receptionists, and nurses. This work was supported by the Deutschen Forschungsgesellschaft (German Research Foundation, DFG) [KR 1926/9-1, KU1443/4-1]. Dr. Gilman’s contribution was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.Peer reviewedPostprin

The dynamics of cooptation in a feminist health clinic

I examine the process of cooptation in a feminist health clinic, focusing on how the State shapes and absorbs the challenges of grassroots health activism. A familiar picture of organizational change accompanies the clinic's decision to secure State funding: the erosion of collective decision-making, an immersion in service delivery to the exclusion of other activities, and a dependency on continued funding which decreases the political autonomy of the organization. Using Gramsci's analysis of hegemony, I demonstrate how the State's effect on this organization stemmed from both direct pressures for particular changes and the influence of dominant ideology and social relations in structuring the clinic staff's response to those pressures. Additionally, I explore the factors that laid the groundwork for a reversal of cooptive patterns and a revitalization of the clinic's social movement orientation and political goals.