An Inside Scoop on Scopes: An Overview of the Laws and Policies Governing the Scopes of Trade Remedy Orders

The globalization of supply and processing chains has led to an increase in the complexity of international trade laws and the necessity for the United States Department of Commerce to provide clarity in the enforcement of trade remedy orders and procedures. It is therefore no surprise that over the past few years, Commerce has experienced a surge in requests for rulings on whether or not certain imported products are covered by the scope of antidumping and countervailing duty orders. Furthermore, Commerce has conducted several inquiries to determine if imported products which are outside the scope of an antidumping or countervailing duty order are, in fact, circumventing those orders through such means as third country processing or minor alterations. These proceedings have brought to light how important it is for domestic producers, injured by dumped or subsidized merchandise and filing a petition for a trade remedy investigation, to propose definitions of the scopes of their suggested orders that are clear, administrable, and prevent the possibility of evasion. This paper on the “Inside Scoop on Scopes” is a timely overview of the various laws and policies covering Commerce’s definition of the scopes of its trade remedy orders, its subsequent interpretation of those scopes, and its expansion of those scopes through circumvention determinations, when necessary. Furthermore, it addresses key holdings by the Court of International Trade and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit with respect to these types of proceedings

Leveraging the Power of Relationships: A Case Analysis of the City of Tuscaloosa and the American Red Cross' Response to the April 27, 2011 Tornado

On April 27, 2011, an EF-4 tornado, larger than a mile wide in diameter, touched down in Tuscaloosa, Alabama resulting in 53 fatalities, 1,200 injuries and widespread damage and destruction throughout the city. In less than six minutes, the storm destroyed over 12 percent of the city and left 7,000 people unemployed. This study is a comprehensive case analysis that investigates the role interorganizational relationships played between the City of Tuscaloosa and the American Red Cross during the pre-crisis, crisis, and post-crisis phases of the disaster response.Master of Art

The population impact of common mental disorders and long-term physical conditions on disability and hospital admission

Background: Long-term physical conditions (LTCs) consume the largest share of healthcare budgets. Although common mental disorders (CMDs) and LTCs often co-occur, the potential impact of improved mental health treatment on severe disability and hospital admissions for physical health problems remains unknown. Method: A cross-sectional study of 7403 adults aged 16–95 years living in private households in England was performed. LTCs were ascertained by prompted self-report. CMDs were ascertained by structured clinical interview. Disability was assessed using questions about problems with activities of daily living. Population impact and potential preventive gain were estimated using population-attributable fraction (PAF), and conservative estimates were obtained using ‘treated non-cases’ as the reference group. Results: Of the respondents, 20.7% reported at least one LTC. The prevalence of CMDs increased with the number of LTCs, but over two-thirds (71.2%) of CMD cases in people with LTCs were untreated. Statistically significant PAFs were found for CMDs and recent hospital admission [13.5%, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 6.6–20.0] and severe disability (31.3%, 95% CI 27.1–35.2) after adjusting for LTCs and other confounders. Only the latter remained significant when using the most conservative estimate of PAF (21.8%, 95% CI 14.0–28.9), and this was reduced only slightly when considering only participants with LTCs (18.5%, 95% CI 7.9–27.9). Conclusions: Better treatments for CMDs in people with LTCs could achieve almost the same population health gain in terms of reducing severe disability as those targeted at the entire population. Interventions to reduce the prevalence of CMDs among people with LTCs should be part of routine medical care

Variation in compulsory psychiatric inpatient admission in England:a cross-sectional, multilevel analysis

Background: Rates of compulsory admission have increased in England in recent decades, and this trend is accelerating. Studying variation in rates between people and places can help identify modifiable causes. Objectives: To quantify and model variances in the rate of compulsory admission in England at different spatial levels and to assess the extent to which this was explained by characteristics of people and places. Design: Cross-sectional analysis using multilevel statistical modelling. Setting: England, including 98% of Census lower layer super output areas (LSOAs), 95% of primary care trusts (PCTs), 93% of general practices and all 69 NHS providers of specialist mental health services. Participants: 1,287,730 patients. Main outcome measure: The study outcome was compulsory admission, defined as time spent in an inpatient mental illness bed subject to the Mental Health Act (2007) in 2010/11. We excluded patients detained under sections applying to emergency assessment only (including those in places of safety), guardianship or supervision of community treatment. The control group comprised all other users of specialist mental health services during the same period. Data sources: The Mental Health Minimum Data Set (MHMDS). Data on explanatory variables, characterising each of the spatial levels in the data set, were obtained from a wide range of sources, and were linked using MHMDS identifiers. Results: A total of 3.5% of patients had at least one compulsory admission in 2010/11. Of (unexplained) variance in the null model, 84.5% occurred between individuals. Statistically significant variance occurred between LSOAs [6.7%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 6.2% to 7.2%] and provider trusts (6.9%, 95% CI 4.3% to 9.5%). Variances at these higher levels remained statistically significant even after adjusting for a large number of explanatory variables, which together explained only 10.2% of variance in the study outcome. The number of provider trusts whose observed rate of compulsory admission differed from the model average to a statistically significant extent fell from 45 in the null model to 20 in the fully adjusted model. We found statistically significant associations between compulsory admission and age, gender, ethnicity, local area deprivation and ethnic density. There was a small but statistically significant association between (higher) bed occupancy and compulsory admission, but this was subsequently confounded by other covariates. Adjusting for PCT investment in mental health services did not improve model fit in the fully adjusted models. Conclusions: This was the largest study of compulsory admissions in England. While 85% of the variance in this outcome occurred between individuals, statistically significant variance (around 7% each) occurred between places (LSOAs) and provider trusts. This higher-level variance in compulsory admission remained largely unchanged even after adjusting for a large number of explanatory variables. We were constrained by data available to us, and therefore our results must be interpreted with caution. We were also unable to consider many hypotheses suggested by the service users, carers and professionals who we consulted. There is an imperative to develop and evaluate interventions to reduce compulsory admission rates. This requires further research to extend our understanding of the reasons why these rates remain so high. Funding: The National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme

Community Perspectives on COVID-19 Recovery: A Report on 2021 Community Conversations

As Chicago works to come back from the pandemic, years of disinvestment and structural racism have made economic recovery harder for some communities than others. To have a truly equitable recovery, it's important to understand the on-going impact the pandemic has had on Black and Latinx communities hit hard by job loss, sickness, and death. In collaboration with The Chicago Community Trust and We Rise Together: For an Equitable and Just Recovery, New America Chicago commissioned a report from BECOME to learn more about how these communities were recovering and what is still needed from local and federal policymakers for these communities to not just recover but thrive.We Rise Together is a coalition of corporate and philanthropic funders working with the community to accelerate equitable economic recovery in the Chicago region. Housed at The Chicago Community Trust, We Rise Together is increasing employment opportunities for Black and Latinx workers, strengthening businesses of color, and spurring investment in disinvested neighborhoods. Because We Rise Together is committed to grounding the initiative's efforts in the lived experiences of Chicago's most marginalized communities, the decision was made to host Community Conversations across Chicago neighborhoods that have been hardest hit by the pandemic.  A team from BECOME worked with New America Chicago, The Trust, and We Rise Together to plan seven Community Conversations in collaboration with nonprofits from each neighborhood. Participants had strong recommendations for support and resources to help their neighborhoods recover economically from the pandemic. Consistently, across all neighborhoods, we heard that people struggled and continue to struggle economically and emotionally as a result of the pandemic. Still, most found unexpected positives in the midst of the pandemic