Young disabled people moving into adulthood in Scotland

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation recently published a Foundations (Morris, 2002) reviewing research, policy and practice relating to young disabled people moving into adulthood in England. This Foundations reviews the situation in Scotland which, increasingly, has its own distinct legal and policy framework. A few, but not many, Scottish studies have explored young disabled people's transition to adulthood: not surprisingly, these indicate that young people's aspirations and experiences are very similar to those of their peers south of the border. A number of official documents have identified difficulties around the move into adulthood for young disabled people and a major policy initiative relating to transition, the implementation of the Beattie report Implementing inclusiveness - realising potential, is now under way

Protecting Migrant Workers: Governance of Labour Migration in Asia and the Pacific

[Excerpt] Since the 1980s, the number of Asians migrating for employment has tripled to more than three million annually. This large flow of workers has enormous consequences for the migrants and their countries of origin and destination. Migrants achieve dramatic boosts in their incomes, and their home countries benefit from remittances, which amount to billions of dollars for the region as a whole, and in many countries dwarf official development assistance and foreign direct investment. At the same time, destination countries’ economies are boosted by the arrival of hardworking and flexible labour forces. However, migration also has costs. Migrant workers can be exposed to exploitation and discrimination – especially the increasing numbers of women migrants who are vulnerable to labour trafficking. For source countries, the income from remittances has to be offset against the departure of many of their most energetic and skilled workers who could be contributing to national development. How can the Asia-Pacific region maximize the benefits of labour migration and minimize the costs? The International Labour Organization (ILO), the only international body with a specific mandate for international labour migration, can assist countries in their efforts to create more orderly and equitable migration systems. This booklet and the accompanying CDROM offer an introduction to the services that ILO can offer. We hope that they will be of use to government policy makers and also to our many partners among employers associations and trade unions in the region – indicating how better governance of labour migration can create benefits for all

Supporting disabled children and their families in Scotland: A review of policy and research

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has been supporting research about disabled children and their families for a number of years. An earlier Foundations covering the messages from these projects has already been published (1). This Foundations places the messages from that work into the Scottish context. It gives an overview of current policies affecting disabled children and their families in Scotland and draws on research carried out north of the border

Rights and responsibilities: The Disability Discrimination Act (1995) and adults with learning disabilities

The purpose of this research is to examine Part III (access to goods, facilities and services) of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 in relation to people with learning disabilities. Very little previous research has been done on this topic. The study aims, firstly, to explore how far people with learning disabilities, family carers and service providers are aware of their rights and responsibilities under the Act; secondly, to examine what legal action has been taken by people with learning disabilities and thirdly, to identify any barriers associated with the Act and how these might be overcome

Understanding and Preventing Employee Turnover

Child welfare agencies have identified worker turnover as a particularly problematic organizational issue. In children’s mental health agencies, turnover also seems to be an issue for residential care services. Do people voluntarily leave child welfare and children\u27s mental health organizations because of the work itself, because of the workload, or because they find “success” difficult to experience? These are often given as reasons by departing employees, but to develop a comprehensive understanding why turnover takes place in these organizations, this paper looks at the research on turnover in organizations generally and in child welfare and children\u27s mental health organizations specifically. Research on unwanted employee turnover has produced thousands of articles. We begin by exploring the major themes in this literature and then relate these themes to research done in human services organizations, and child welfare and children\u27s mental health organizations specifically. We conclude with a list of research questions to pursue in our study of workers’ experiences in the workplace

Through the eye of a needle: the story of two academics' use of fabric crafts to make defiant messages.

This paper is the result of our joint reflections on our experiences of creating 'quilts' for the January 2007 New Zealand Quilt Symposium, their acceptance in the 'Human Rights (HR) Challenge' (Bella) and the 'Thinking Outside the Square Challenge' (Joyce). In July, Bella, with grace and good humour, succumbed to an aggressive form of cancer. She was adamant that these stories needed to be told and Bella's story is presented below in the original. When seen through the eye of her now stilled needle, her words seem particularly wise and insightful

Professional Burnout in Social Service Organizations: A Review of Theory, Research and Prevention

This paper provides an overview of research on burnout in human service workers, with an emphasis on findings relevant to social workers and other professionals in child welfare and children’s mental health and the organizations that employ them. It is intended to inform the reader about the developments in burnout research since the phenomenon was initially described, and to identify some issues and questions that need further study. Part one of the paper begins with a discussion of several definitions of burnout and its components. Part two outlines the variables that have been identified by research as antecedent to burnout, and as consequences of burnout. Part three describes several theoretical models that have been used to explain the causes of burnout and its relationship to other forms of stress, coping and organizational processes. Part four reviews and critiques some prevention literature, and offers additional thoughts for consideration when intervention is planned