Developing the Welfare-to-Work Participation and Employability Appraisal Screening: A Retrospective Study

CalWORKs recipients, unless exempt, are required to participate in welfare-to-work (WTW) program activities as a condition of receiving cash aid. A number of clients, however, may have issues that impede successful engagement in WTW program activities, such as substance abuse, mental health concerns, or domestic violence issues. The Riverside County (California) Department of Mental Health (RCDMH) and the Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) sought to develop a structured case management system to help ensure early identification of WTW customers with barriers to employment and, if necessary, to help facilitate quicker engagement in services to address those barriers and move customers into successful employment. A key component of the structured case management system is an actuarial appraisal screening to help identify those customers most in need of support to make a successful transition to self-sufficiency. This report describes the study conducted by Childrenas Research Center (CRC) to develop an appraisal screening that classifies customers by the likelihood of subsequent WTW program participation and employment. Employment counselors can complete the screening assessment soon after WTW assignment to help identify which customers are in greatest need of additional support and engagement to increase the likelihood of successful program participation

Structuring Decisions in Adult Protective Services

A new NCCD Focus article, "Structuring Decisions in Adult Protective Services," describes the value of structured decision frameworks in the growing field of adult protective services (APS). The article highlights findings on risk factors for future adult maltreatment from research literature as well as NCCD's efforts to develop an actuarial-based risk assessment for APS in partnership with the New Hampshire Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services under a grant from the National Institute of Justice

Genetic Diversity and Potential Function of Microbial Symbionts Associated with Newly Discovered Species of Osedax Polychaete Worms

We investigated the genetic diversity of symbiotic bacteria associated with two newly discovered species of Osedax from Monterey Canyon, CA, at 1,017-m (Osedax Monterey Bay sp. 3 "rosy" [Osedax sp. MB3]) and 381-m (Osedax Monterey Bay sp. 4 "yellow collar") depths. Quantitative PCR and clone libraries of 16S rRNA gene sequences identified differences in the compositions and abundances of bacterial phylotypes associated with the newly discovered host species and permitted comparisons between adult Osedax frankpressi and juveniles that had recently colonized whalebones implanted at 2,891 m. The newly discovered Osedax species hosted Oceanospirillales symbionts that are related to Gammaproteobacteria associated with the previously described O. frankpressi and Osedax rubiplumus (S. K. Goffredi, V. J. Orphan, G. W. Rouse, L. Jahnke, T. Embaye, K. Turk, R. Lee, and R. C. Vrijenhoek, Environ. Microbiol. 7:1369-1378, 2005). In addition, Osedax sp. MB3 hosts a diverse and abundant population of additional bacteria dominated by Epsilonproteobacteria. Ultrastructural analysis of symbiont-bearing root tissues verified the enhanced microbial diversity of Osedax sp. MB3. Root tissues from the newly described host species and O. frankpressi all exhibited collagenolytic enzyme activity, which covaried positively with the abundance of symbiont DNA and negatively with mean adult size of the host species. Members of this unusual genus of bone-eating worms may form variable associations with symbiotic bacteria that allow for the observed differences in colonization and success in whale fall environments throughout the world's oceans

Publicity and the FDA, An Update

Publicity is a powerful tool. A single Food and Drug Administration (FDA) press release announcing the dangers of a product can instantaneously alter the consumption patterns of millions of consumers. During the early 1970's, the FDA's use of publicity became the subject of heightened scrutiny by legal scholars and practitioners, calling for guidelines and judicial review to prevent unwarranted damage from the potent instrument. This paper will reexamine the FDA's use of publicity in light of the past 20 years. Following a general background, the discussion will update the status of agency policy and judicial attitudes towards publicity, highlight current implications, and offer recommendations

Assessing the Come Back to Mānoa Program: Why Seniors Leave and How to Help Them Graduate

This poster shares results of a survey conducted in Summer 2016 to individuals eligible to participate in the Come Back to Mānoa program. In addition to an evaluation of the program itself, the results provide an overview of why seniors left UH Mānoa so close to finishing their degree and their reasons for returning. This poster adds to the extant research, which largely concentrates on first year and sophomore students, by bringing light to senior attrition and how to support those students to persist to degree (Hunt et al., 2012). Practical applications for utilizing the information obtained from the survey in order to help improve the Come Back to Mānoa program are discussed

Harnessing the Expended Labor of Active Learning Exercises

Although many faculty and students agree that engagement and learning are enhanced by using practical, hands-on exercises in the classroom, it is rare that consideration is given to the harnessing of labor expended while transacting active learning in the field of computer programming. Professors expend effort creating programming assignments that are aimed at teaching and practicing core programming concepts, and students expend effort satisfying the assignment to earn points towards a grade for the class. We propose that if secondary school teachers and educators offer up suggestions for new software needed in their classroom the resulting information can be used to create programming assignments that will produce programs satisfying the expressed need. It is in this fashion that the fruitless labor of students in programming classes can be re-purposed to create heuristic tools for use in various areas of study

The Impact of Live Cases on Student Skill Development in Marketing Courses

Live cases, where students work directly with an outside organization to solve real-world problems, can be an immersive learning experience for marketing students. Current scholarship on live case usage in marketing is limited to small samples from a handful of live case devotees. This article draws from a large, international sample of 169 marketing educators to investigate the perceived educational impacts of live cases on student skill development. Specifically, the paper explores student teamwork, conflict handling, time management, presentation, communication, and critical thinking skills. Additionally, the article explores how student skill development is affected by the amount of course time dedicated to the live case as well as faculty experience with live cases

Examining the Relationships among Peer Resentment Messages Overheard, State Guilt, and Employees\u27 Perceived Ability to Use Work/Family Policies

This study sought to determine if frequency of peer resentment messages overheard in organizational settings was associated with employees\u27 perceived ability to use work/family policies. Job burnout and state guilt were also included as potential predictors. In this sample of workers (N = 474), resentment messages, internalized guilt, and burnout were significantly and negatively associated with the likelihood of using work/family policies, accounting for 22% of the variance. An interaction effect was also discovered for burnout and resentment on perceived ability to use work/family policies. This study highlights the importance of understanding the messages embedded within an organization\u27s culture and those messages\u27 impacts on individual decisions to make use of leave policies