Briefly Noted

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will award 12 grants to form the Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN) to support research on quality addiction treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) in criminal justice settings nationwide, with a total of $155 million from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. One focus will be on finding new medications. There will be 10 research institutions and two centers. JCOIN is part of the NIH HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long‐term) initiative launched last year. Funded institutions and the site locations are: the New York State Psychiatric Institute (New York), Baystate Medical Center (Massachusetts), Friends Research Institute Inc. (Maryland), Texas Christian University (Illinois, New Mexico, Texas), the New York University School of Medicine (Connecticut, Delaware, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon), Brown University (North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island), the University of Chicago (Illinois), Chestnut Health Systems Inc. (Illinois), the University of Kentucky (Kentucky), and Yale University (Connecticut, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Puerto Rico). George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, will serve as the JCOIN coordination and translation center. For more information, go to https://www.nih.gov/research‐training/medical‐research‐initiatives/heal‐initiative/justice‐community‐opioid‐innovation‐network .     

Becoming American/Becoming New Yorkers: Immigrant Incorporation in a Majority Minority City1

Many observers have noted that immigrants to the United States are highly concentrated in the largest metropolitan areas of a relatively few states. Though immigrants diffused into many places that had previously seen relatively few immigrants during the 1990s, as of the 2000 census, 77 percent of the nation's 31.1 million foreign born residents still lived in six states — California, New York, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, and Illinois. According to the 2000 census, the two largest metropolitan areas, Los Angeles and New York, accounted for one third of all immigrants ( http://www.census.gov/Press‐Release/www/2002/demoprofiles.html ). While immigrants moved into many new areas during the 1990s, making the challenge of incorporating their children a national issue, their concentration in our largest cities remained pronounced.     

Acceptability of an Aboriginal Wellbeing Intervention for Supporters of People Using Methamphetamines

Families and workers often suffer significant stress while supporting people who are experiencing problems related to methamphetamine use yet there is little evidence on how best to help. Small pilot studies can provide valuable information about potential ways to intervene. This paper presents a pilot study of an Aboriginal family wellbeing intervention with workers in an Aboriginal health service. The pilot indicated that participation in the intervention improved the psychosocial empowerment and wellbeing of workers, that these workers perceived the program as relevant to families, and that this was an intervention they felt they could deliver to clients themselves.

IMPLICATIONS

• An Aboriginal family wellbeing intervention was piloted and found to improve the empowerment and wellbeing of workers. Participants regarded it as highly relevant for families supporting people using methamphetamines and other drugs.

• This research has added to our knowledge about how to assist those supporting Aboriginal people using methamphetamines and other drugs.

     

The influence of state maternity leave policies on US mothers’ employment

This study examines the influence of variation in state maternity leave policies on mothers’ employment. Data come from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) [U.S. Census Bureau. (2010 U.S. Census Bureau. (2010). America’s families and living arrangements: 2010 [Data file]. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hhfam/cps2010/tabAVG1.xls [Google Scholar]). America’s families and living arrangements: 2010 (Data file). Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hhfam/cps2010/tabAVG1.xls] (n ?=?1380) paired with an assessment of state provisions of expanded family leave. Results from a negative binomial regression show that job-protected leave greater than the 12 weeks provided under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a marginally significant predictor of women spending fewer years out of the workforce following childbirth. Results from a logistic regression reveal that mothers in states with expanded access to job-protected leave are less likely to resign from their jobs within 12 weeks of their first childbirth than are mothers in states with non-expanded FMLA eligibility. These findings decrease the uncertainty about the effects of such legislation on mothers’ labour force participation, and support expansion of eligibility in order to better support working families.     

The Family Team at Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program: an integrated approach to care in outreach settings

Since 1986, the Family Team at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program has implemented an integrated, inter-professional, team-based model of care to serve families experiencing homelessness. The Family Team employs key strategies delineated by the well-established Health Care for the Homeless model, which emphasizes the importance of outreach medicine and a case management “one-stop shop approach”. We include an account of a specific case where the Family Team’s unique model helped a refugee family in Massachusetts access medical and social services otherwise more difficult to obtain. The Family Team’s onsite presence in the hotel-shelter and the team-based approach facilitated diagnosis of and successful treatment for cervical cancer in a mother of eight children. This case report suggests that the Health Care for the Homeless model of care should be more widely adopted in order to best serve homeless families.

Abbreviations: Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP); Emergency Assistance (EA); Health Care for the Homeless (HCH); Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)     

Music in conflict management: Fostering interracial understanding through music

In the last decades Norway has seen substantial immigration into the country, largely from South Asia. In the capital (Oslo) one out of every four school children have foreign roots. This development poses a great challenge to educational policy, and begs for efforts that foster interracial harmony and prevent ethnic conflict. The Norwegian Department of Culture and the Culture Fund in the years 1989‐1992 supported a school research project run by the State agency for music promotion — NorConcert.

Eighteen schools with varying percentages of immigrants and of various location and size were selected to test the effectiveness of an art program rooted in the cultural heritage of the countries of origin. Music, dance and theatre from Asia, Africa and Latin‐America were presented by renowned artists from the countries represented, supported by immigrant teachers and culture workers.

The results of the study revealed significant improvement in the social milieu of participating classes and schools, with a lessening of conflict and harassment. The program was also seen to foster self‐esteem and the development of individuality among immigrant children.

As a result of the project a Norwegian Multicultural Music Centre was established in 1992, and the programming of State supported school concerts was extended in an intercultural direction.     

Briefly Noted

Drug‐Free Communities (DFC), a significant prevention grant program totaling more than $101 million and administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), will be moving to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but the change is mainly one that affects interagency machinations in Washington and not the end recipients of the funding — drug‐free coalitions. The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) will retain the program and policy oversight. The funding will go to the ONDCP, and then be distributed to the CDC instead of to SAMHSA, as it has been in the past. The DFC grant program funds anti‐drug coalitions ‐‐ there are more than 700 across the country. Most are members of Community Anti‐Drug Coalitions of American (CADCA), which has 5,000 members. The CDC will be the new agency that subcontracts with the ONDCP to do the day‐to‐day administration of the DFC program. The change was announced Feb. 4 at CADCA's National Leadership Forum by ONDCP Director James Carroll. For a 2019 fact sheet on DFC, see https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp‐content/uploads/2019/12/FY‐2019‐DFC‐Fact‐Sheet‐20191220‐converted.pdf .     

Worry and rumination: Explanatory roles in the relation between pain and anxiety and depressive symptoms among college students with pain

Objective: Pain affects a significant proportion of college students in the United States and has been linked to anxiety and depressive symptoms. Rumination and worry, two transdiagnostic factors linked to comorbidity, may explain the relationship between pain and mental health symptoms.

Current Study: The current study examined worry and rumination as explanatory factors in the relationship between pain and anxiety and depressive symptoms in a sample of college students with pain (n?=?1,577; 79.9% female).

Results: Results indicated that both rumination and worry explained the relationship between pain and depressive and social anxiety symptoms, while rumination alone explained the relationship between pain and anxious arousal symptoms.

Conclusion: The current study provides novel empirical evidence that worry and rumination each help explain the relationship between pain and anxiety and depressive symptoms among college students with current pain, and college students in pain may benefit from targeted psychosocial strategies aimed at decreasing worry and ruminative responses.     

CARF and ASAM award first 7 level‐of‐care certifications

Under the pilot for its new certification program for substance use disorder treatment, the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) has awarded the first seven certifcaitions. The ASAM level‐of‐care certification was created in partnership with CARF International and announced earlier this year (see “CARF adds OBOT accreditation and ASAM certification,” ADAW, Feb. 4, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.32246 ).     

Table of Contents

State Flexibility, Small Group Plan Would Mean Weak SUD Benefits Men's Extended‐Care Program Sees Benefits of Staying Small NIDA Developing Opioids That Treat Pain but Can't be Abused The 5 Types of Types of Abuse‐Deterrent Formulations EHR Systems and SUD Field: Advice for the Faint of Heart SAMHSA Warns Tenn.: Methadone Detoxes Will Result in Relapses Briefly Noted In the States Coming up     

Marijuana: modern medical chimaera

Marijuana has been used medically since antiquity. In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in medical applications of various cannabis preparations. These drugs have been cited in the medical literature as potential secondary treatment agents for severe pain, muscle spasticity, anorexia, nausea, sleep disturbances, and numerous other uses. This article reviews the research literature related to medical applications of various forms of cannabis. Benefits related to medical use of cannabinoids are examined and a number of potential risks associated with cannabis use, both medical and recreational, are considered. There is a clearly identified need for further research to isolate significant benefits from the medical application of cannabinoids and to establish dosage levels, appropriate delivery mechanisms and formulations, and to determine what role, if any, cannabinoids might play in legitimate medical applications. It is also imperative to determine if reported dangers pose a significant health risks to users.     

Tightening income documentation in a means-tested program: who stays away?

Programs using means tests to identify low-income households face a trade-off between promoting access and ensuring program integrity. The authors use a comparison-district design to estimate the effects of a pilot program to improve the accuracy of the process of certifying students for free or reduced-price meals in the National School Lunch Program. This pilot program required households to provide income documentation with their applications for these benefits. Requiring income documentation did not reduce the proportion of ineligible households getting free or reduced-price meals. Furthermore, this requirement did reduce access to the program among eligible households.     

Briefly Noted

Last week, a letter from Senators Edward J. Markey (D‐Mass.), Elizabeth Warren (D‐Mass.), Jeanne Shaheen (D‐N.H.), Dianne Feinstein (D‐Calif.) and Maggie Hassan (D‐N.H.) asked the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to immediately increase the patient cap — the maximum number of patients a physician can prescribe buprenorphine for — from 275 to 500. In addition, the letter requests that SAMHSA immediately process requests for emergency patient‐limit increases. “You can and should take immediate action to ensure that patients with OUD [opioid use disorder] are not denied the medication they need, do not exacerbate the strain on our nation's emergency departments and hospitals, and, most importantly, are not added to the COVID‐19 death count,” write the senators in their letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar and SAMHSA Assistant Secretary Elinore McCance‐Katz, M.D. “We must empower our heroic health care providers to treat and save as many lives as possible in this time of crisis.” For the letter, go to https://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/HHS%20SAMHSA%20Letter%20re%20Buprenorphine%20Prescriber%20Limits.pdf .     

The KIND Program for Adolescent Family and Dating Violence

Adolescent relational violence has significant and pervasive impacts for young people's current and future relationships. It is known that there is a cross-over between adolescent family violence and other offending behaviour, meaning there is a need for youth justice systems to recognise and respond to these forms of violence. This paper outlines a pilot intervention, the KIND Program, run in Youth Justice South Australia, and aimed at intervening with adolescent family and dating violence. KIND aims to provide tailored systemic intervention to young people and their support network, reducing violence while increasing connection and strength within relationships. The pilot of KIND ran for seven months in 2017, and had eight families participating in the program. Participation in, feedback from, and impact of the program suggest that participation was worthwhile and useful for young people and their families. The KIND Program would benefit from a more extensive pilot period to explore the outcomes of this form of intervention.     

The Meaningful Involvement of Service Users in Social Work Education: Examples from Belgium and The Netherlands

This article links the development of service user involvement championed in the United Kingdom to two examples in Dutch-speaking qualifying social work programmes: one from Belgium and one from the Netherlands. In both projects, a longer lasting cooperation with more marginalised service users was established. The Belgium project highlights social work lecturers and service users living in poverty, working in tandem to deliver a module to social work and socio-educational care work students. The example from the Netherlands involves young people from a homeless shelter as peer-researchers, working together with social work students.

Both projects, one focusing on social work education and on social work research, highlight striking similarities in the positives and challenges of working with service users including how this challenges both groups preconceptions of the other, deepens learning but also creates greater potential for confrontations which need to be managed creatively. The article also identifies the pre-requisites for this to be effective including appropriate resourcing, training, facilitative skills and acknowledges that collaborations can be extremely fragile. However, such projects need further investment, experimentation and implementation on an international scale to share learning and promote creative approaches for the development and learning of social work students.     

Table of Contents

Success Story: Partnership Between TC and Methadone Clinic Counselors — and Management — of Color Needed in Treatment Field OASAS Non‐Discrimination Regulation Meeting Schedule to Introduce Methadone to Palladia Staff Fledgling Day‐Treatment TC in Bulgaria Seabrook House Establishes Self‐Pay Program for Mothers Incarcerating with Treatment, or Treatment as an Alternative Briefly Noted Names in the News Coming Up     

Social Work Research in the Field of Disability in Australia: A Scoping Review*

Although in Australia disability is receiving unprecedented attention with the rollout of major reforms, the body of research on disability to inform policy and practice has been found “not fit for purpose”. This scoping review of empirical research papers published by Australian social work authors between 2007 and 2015 investigated the quantity, nature, and scope of social work research on disability in Australia. We found a steady growth, an annual average of 13.8 papers, and a total of 124. Social work disability research makes a distinctive contribution; it is contextualised in service systems or policy, has a greater focus on community and civic participation and social relationships, and concentrates on adults, with either intellectual disability or traumatic brain injury. These research strengths provide foundations for building the profession’s research capacity and informing its practice and contribution to the multidisciplinary field of disability.

IMPLICATIONS

• Service system reform is increasing engagement of social workers with people with disabilities, yet disability has a low profile in the profession.

• Social work disability research has strengths in understanding service systems, social relationships, and strategies for social and civic participation, particularly with adults with cognitive disabilities.

• Increased attention to disability in qualifying and higher degree programs will better prepare students for complex practice and develop the distinctive contribution of social work research in this interdisciplinary field.

     

Intergenerational Programs Review: Study Design and Characteristics of Intervention,Outcomes, and Effectiveness

There is a growing interest in intergenerational connectivity through intergenerational programs. In this work, a review of intergenerational programs was performed, with focus on the program design and objectives as well as in their outcomes.

We used a systematic review method in which we screened 3,796 articles. After analyzing titles, abstracts, and full paper analysis, 16 articles were retained. Each study was reviewed, and data were extracted related to target population, study design, characteristics of intervention, outcomes, and effectiveness.

Intergenerational programs included educational programs and art, Information technology development, cultural heritage, health education, and therapeutic activities. Most of the programs collected both quantitative and/or qualitative data. Seven studies collected data in the beginning and at the end of the program. Significant diversity in sample size and intervention length was found. Measurement of outcomes was performed in both young and/or elderly group of participants. Programs impact evaluation varied between studies, including validated scales, interviews, observation, focus groups, and conversation analysis, narratives, videotaped sessions, and field notes.

Our study highlighted the diversity in the design of studies and in the program’s effectiveness evaluation. More randomized design studies are required to support researchers and practitioners in the development of future intergenerational programs.     

Experiences of Post‐Qualifying Study in Social Work

This article is based on a research project to explore the experiences of past and current candidates for post‐qualifying awards in social work in England. Also included in the study are the Leads of the post‐qualifying consortia in England. The study used questionnaire survey and nominal group techniques to gather data, which were coded and categorised into themes. The main findings relate to the perceived purposes of post‐qualifying study, motivations for undertaking post‐qualifying study, the factors that sustain and hinder study, the advice that those who have or who are experiencing post‐qualifying study would give to those about to start and future plans and hopes in this area.

Post‐qualifying study is generally valued, especially in relation to the opportunities it provides for professional development. The support of a mentor who has direct experience of the candidate's programme is highly prized, as are clear and consistent guidance from the programme and meaningful study time and workload relief from employers. There are also frustrations for some candidates who do not feel that their post‐qualifying study has stretched them beyond qualifying standards or who experience the teaching as divorced from the realities of daily practice. The appetite for a wider choice of post‐qualifying modules suggests that providers of post‐qualifying study will need to collaborate within and across regions in order to achieve a critical mass of candidates for more specialist or focused learning. The study suggests a need for further research to understand the impact of post‐qualifying study on candidates' social work practice.

The article concludes with two checklists of questions, one for individual candidates and another for agencies and programmes. These questions arise from the findings in the research.     

Implementation of Intercultural Education Programmes based on Cooperative Learning

An intercultural programme must not overlook the elimination of racist attitudes, but should especially promote multicultural and democratic values.

In Spain, one of the most rejected groups is Gypsy people and their schooling is a problematic issue. We believe that intercultural attitude training programmes can be a practical pedagogical answer for promoting acceptance and respect for diversity.

To do this, we have chosen educational strategies of Cooperation in the Classroom, Active Participation and Persuasive Communication. All of them involve a search for new perspectives, the use of sociocognitive conflict as a driving impulse for learning, and an atmosphere of equality, respect and participation in the classroom.

We present in this paper one of the school programmes we have implemented in Valencia. This programme has been designed to be integrated within the ordinary school curriculum and not regarded as an added out‐of‐school activity. In order to implement it, we organised a teacher‐training course to analyse the intercultural model, to show the need for attitude training in education and to offer pedagogical guidance for the implementation of this type of intercultural programme.

The results of the programme show the improvement in pupils ‘ attitudes towards Gypsy people and cultural diversity in general.