Repositioning prevention in child protection using performance indicators

ABSTRACT

Performance indicators have both technical and value dimensions, capable of providing data for monitoring and reporting in addition to framing policy problems and their solutions. This paper considers the performance indicators proposed in a recent child protection inquiry in Australia that recommended ‘decreasing the numbers of children in the child protection system’ as a primary policy objective. The paper examines the context in which the indicators were set, the values and theories they endorse, and how they position stakeholders. The analysis shows how the indicators communicate that child protection services should be only for the most serious cases of child maltreatment, and the reach of statutory services should be curtailed. Children who have been maltreated or who are at risk of harm from abuse or neglect should be diverted from the child protection system (positioned as bad) to the family support system (positioned as good), and at the same time from the state to the nongovernment sector. The shifting relations between government, service providers, and families signified by the indicators can be seen in a broader international context of tightening the boundaries around child protection and concurrently advancing concepts of compliance within family support.     

Exploring the Relationship Between Trust in Government and the Provision of Social Services in Countries of the Global South: The Case of Palestine

ABSTRACT

Using a data set combining two surveys that were conducted by Birzeit University in Palestine, the study investigates the role that trust in government plays in the provision of social services in Palestine (N= 1,314). The relationship between trust in government and selected sociodemographic characteristics is also explored. Results from the bivariate and regression analyses performed reveal that perceived trust in government is significantly related to government performance and a respondent's gender, income, education, and political affiliation. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Performing the state: the socio-political dimensions of performance measurement in policy and public services

ABSTRACT

This opening paper outlines the rise of public sector performance measurement and performance governance from New Public Management, its trajectory from an administrative tool for organisational monitoring and management, to its insertion into service performance and accountability, to a policy tool defining policy itself. Four key conceptual ways of approaching public sector performance measurement are outlined, and the significance of understanding performance measurement as a socio-technical policy instrument is argued. The paper thematically reviews the papers that follow and how they demonstrate new points of critical analysis in policy studies, including the multiple, mixed and sometimes contradictory purposes for performance measurement, the formation of performance measurement tools, the linkages of performance numbers and governance structures from macro to micro, and the reconfigured roles of professionals in public service delivery. The paper issues a clear challenge to policy researchers to take performance measurement more seriously in understanding the dynamics of policy performance, the achievement of policy objectives, the reframing of policy and the experience of citizens.     

Financial Crisis and Sustainability of US Fiscal Deficit: Indicators or Tests?

Whether or not budgetary policies are sustainable and can be conducted without creating the potential for government bankruptcy is a central question for macroeconomic analysis. In this paper, we show that indicators and tests to assess government solvency should not be used alternatively. We lay out a simple and intuitive procedure to integrate simultaneously the results from the two approaches to fiscal sustainability. Indicators are forward looking, for they are based on published forecasts, thus reacting to a set of current and expected future conditions in fiscal-policy making. Tests, by contrast, are backward looking, for they are based on a sample of past data. In the event of conflicting results, indicators may signal the occurrence of a structural change in policy, which may reverse the predictions of tests. Whether the results from indicators or from tests should be given priority in the assessment of the sustainability of public debt will thus depend on the structural stability of the historical data generating process of the primary surplus. Only in the absence of a structural break in the stance of fiscal policy, the potential warning predictions of fiscal indicators should be interpreted as merely reflecting transitory factors to be eventually reversed. An application to U.S. post-World War II historical data, from 1948 to 2016, and forecasts, from 2017 to 2027, demonstrates the empirical relevance of the proposed comprehensive approach and helps add new insights to the evaluation of the U.S. fiscal position. In particular, our results suggest that the potentially unsustainable course of U.S. fiscal policy from 2008 onwards, advocated by the use of fiscal indicators, reflects systematic—not cyclical—factors. The main policy implication is that deficit increases in the U.S. from 2008 onwards cannot be regarded as a transitory phenomenon and hence do entail an urgent need for a structural change in the future stance of budgetary policy.     

Practice Evaluation of Community Initiatives for Social Service Delivery in a Deprived Neighborhood in Scotland

ABSTRACT

Improving social service in local communities is a complex undertaking. Over the past few decades, the performance and sustainability of community initiatives have been questioned, while such factors as a lack of funding, insufficient community involvement, unsatisfactory community service, and lack of awareness of the impact of community initiatives have restricted community development. From a case study of community operations in Scotland, this article provides insights into how social service delivery is organized in the absence of public capital. This study utilized data from semi-structured in-depth interviews with a sample of 76 participants from a deprived area in Scotland, including community management team members (n = 6), local residents (n = 52) and community partners (n = 18). The findings illustrated how participants of all ages, local organizations, policy makers, funders and media came together to create a cohesive and responsive community environment. Residents' needs and funders' demands were identified. Results further revealed that a Community Partnership Mechanism helped strengthen the social service network and create flexible social services. Service benefits included improved resident wellbeing in the context of less government intervention. Future implications include suggestions for government and other stakeholders involved in community reform to focus on service recipient skill building and tracking changes between the indicators and service provision.     

Partnership and Performance of Community-Based Organizations: A Social Network Study of Taiwan

ABSTRACT

Community-based organizations (CBOs) generally face challenges of meeting clients’ complex needs with limited resources. Partnership development can be a strategy for the CBOs to expand capacity and improve performance. However, relevant evidence is scant and tends to lack a theoretical base. This study examines the relation between networking and performance of a CBO from the perspective of social network analysis. The sample consists of 15 CBOs relying on volunteers to provide primary care services for older adults in a suburban area of Taiwan. Data analyzed include an expert evaluation record, a sociomatrix data set denoting the CBOs’ relationships, and a focus group of the social workers supporting the CBOs’ services. The breadth, brokerage, and embeddedness of networking are measured by centrality indicators and are hypothesized as being beneficial for service performance in terms of effectiveness and innovation. The study reveals that brokerage and embeddedness of networking are positively associated with effectiveness. A CBO may enhance its performance by bridging less connected organizations that need the relationship or by partnering with other organizations that bring in information from many others, but a wide social network is not necessarily helpful. Future studies can strengthen the findings by employing large samples and advanced statistical methods.     

Engaging the public in policy development: The national bioethics advisory commission report on research involving persons with mental disorders that may affect decisionmaking capacity

U.S. bioethics commissions have used a variety of methods to involve the public. All share a common requirement: as federal advisory committees they are required to comply with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the federal law established during the Nixon administration which provides the public with an assurance that groups established by the government to advise the government should be publicly accountable. This paper will describe some of the ways the National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC) sought to involve the public in its report on Research Involving Persons with Mental Disorders that May Affect Decisionmaking Capacity.     

A Qualitative Exploratory Study on the Service Delivery System for the New Long-Term Care Insurance System in Korea

ABSTRACT

To cope with the rapid growth in its aging population, the Korean government introduced a new social long-term care insurance (LTCI) system for elderly people beginning in July 2008. This study aims to understand how National Health Insurance Corporation (NHIC) staff and home-visiting service providers experienced and evaluated the new service delivery system. A total of 26 semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with NHIC staff primarily responsible for the functional assessment of the elderly and the home-visiting service providers responsible for providing direct services to elderly clients. In summary, interviewees had negative experiences with the new service delivery system such as difficulties in carrying out their roles. The findings suggest that Korea's new LTCI service delivery system faces challenges and that a more active role for the Korean government, especially regarding the introduction of a proper care management system, is needed to address the issues. Future research with larger sample sizes is needed to examine and understand the issues in detail.     

The social condition of the New Zealand people: a pre-election review of social indicator information

ABSTRACT

Many social commentators have considered that alongside the fiscal transparency enjoined by contemporary New Zealand governments, there should be a complementary social responsibility reporting. This task is usually assigned to social indicator frameworks. However, at present (as the 2017 election looms) there is a faltering in the provision of social indicators which have been in place in New Zealand for almost two decades, with the exception of the recent 2016 survey data from Statistics New Zealand and Ministry of Social Development that were made available within a month of writing this article. Having commented on the current status of the New Zealand social indicator system, we present data from the General Social Survey and the Quality of Life survey to at least convey recent trends in subjective social well-being and reported behaviours and experiences. References are also made to the accumulating literature on social well-being in New Zealand, followed by suggestions for more systematic indicator development and underpinning research.     

The Scale of Government‐financed Persons in China and the Variables Affecting It: The Experience of the Last Ten Years of Institutional Reform

财政供养人员是政府的行政之基,其规模大小直接影响政府效能与社会和谐。1998年以来的政府机构改革,有效地抑制了财政供养规模的膨胀,中国当前的财政供养规模总体上处于安全水平、受控状态,但在优化财政供养人员的结构与功能方面仍然面临巨大挑战。中国的财政供养问题绝非是一个孤立的问题,而是与更深层的政府体制改革息息相关。财政供养问题其实是中国政府体制改革的一个缩影,政府体制很多深层次的问题都会在财政供养问题中得到集中反映,而财政供养存在的各种现实问题,也只有通过政府体制改革才能够从根本上解决。

关键词: 财政供养?机构改革?政府规模

Government‐financed persons (GFPs) form the basis of government administration and the number of the GFPs has a direct bearing on government efficiency and social harmony. Government restructuring since 1998 has effectively curbed inflation in the number of the GFPs, which at present remains at a safe overall level and under control. However, optimizing the structure and functions of GFPs still poses a huge challenge to the central government. The issue of GFPs is by no means an isolated one, but is closely related to government restructuring at a deeper level. In a real sense, the issue of GFPs is a microcosm of China's government restructuring and many of the underlying problems in the government system find a concentrated reflection in the question of GFPs. Conversely, many of the real problems in GFPs can only be thoroughly resolved by government restructuring.     

Population health performance as primary healthcare governance in Australia: professionals and the politics of performance

ABSTRACT

A range of institutional and financial instruments has been used to drive population health outcomes in primary health care in Australia. However, GP sovereignty and the corporatized nature of general practice have generated major challenges. The core of government reform strategy since 1992 has been the creation and financing of Primary HealthCare Organizations (PHCOs), in various forms, to provide an organizational basis to connect GPs to population health performance, and a closer link between the state and GPs. The shift from Divisions of General Practice, the first PHCO, to Medicare Locals (MLs) in 2011 was notable. The latter constructed the object of performance as a raft of broader population health goals, which were framed in terms of accountability to communities through public reporting. Drawing on interviews with Federal government, health professional associations, ML executives and GPs, this paper examines the ways in which such performance instruments were imagined and understood, and areas of contestation. The findings show the different rationalities at play and how different actors seek control of the policy space. They also demonstrate the political precariousness of PHCOs, and the wider difficulty of steering market-based professionals in the achievement of population health objectives.     

Contextualizing Performance of Coordinated Care Network of Veteran Services in Virginia

Abstract

Coordinated care network is an approach to human service delivery that is recognized to improve client outcomes at a reduced cost. However, general mixed findings on the effectiveness of coordinated care networks warrant research contextualization. This article seeks to discover factors influencing the performance of a coordinated care network delivering social services to veterans and their families. The study provides a contextual analysis of a coordinated care network launched in 2016 in southeastern Virginia for two samples of 1,512 and 375 veterans and their families. Results of the regression analyses indicate that initial progress has been made both in efficiency measured as the amount of days a client’s case is open and effectiveness measured as the recorded outcome of a client’s case. However, performance was affected by both client’s characteristics and types of services requested. Therefore, performance was not uniform across the network of providers. Further, indicators could be enhanced to better capture areas of the network needing improvement. Future research may consider adding performance measures and track it over time and across contextual attributes to confirm the effectiveness and efficiency performance of a coordinated care network.     

Rebuilding Communities After Natural Disasters: The 2009 Bushfires in Southeastern Australia

ABSTRACT

Through nonrandom purposive sampling, this article examines the ways three Catholic agencies offered bushfire recovery assistance after the 2009 bushfires in the Australian state of Victoria. Participants from Catholic welfare agencies (29), local and state government (8), international recovery agencies (2), and others such as clergy, church, and medical (6) were selected, and senior managers, middle managers, and workers on the ground were interviewed up to 3 times during a 3-year period. The forty-five people were interviewed a total of 74 times. Study results illustrate the importance of adaptability, flexibility, and preplanning as the core of recovery assistance. Linking with local and state government disaster management plans and developing mechanisms to inform other groups as to the services that new agencies could provide were essential for filling gaps in services and establishing cooperative ventures. Recommendations are provided but more research is needed on how other agencies can benefit from the knowledge gained in this study.     

Checking for errors in calculations and software: Dimensional balance and conformance of units

Although there has always been a general awareness that mathematical expressions must make dimensional sense in terms of the units involved, it is very easy to make simple mistakes in quantitative work that result in profound and potentially dangerous errors. Such errors are ubiquitous in modern research, as can be seen by reviewing government publications where dimensional errors persist despite peer and public review. Software methods have recently become available for checking calculations, equations, algorithms and programs for dimensional soundness. Correctness depends on conformance at two levels: balance of dimensions and agreement among units. Error at either level can now be detected automatically by software. Disagreement among units can even be automatically corrected by software procedures. These software tools can be used to check for errors in calculations and software source code in a way that is similar to using a spelling or grammar checker for text.     

Institution and Change of the Public Economy: A New Interpretation of Early Modern Civilization Evolution

Abstract

The causes of the evolution of human civilization have drawn much attention among social scientists. The new institutional economics (NIE) and its model of property rights explain the rise of the West Europe, but not the Industrial Revolution itself; nor have they addressed the causes for the rise and fall of civilizations in the East. By defining human civilization within the context of the public economic institution, we interpret this change in the public economic institution using swings in the demand structure of public goods. We see these swings as a contributing cause of the evolution of human civilization from traditional to modern. Our conclusions show that the shifts of public economic institutions between the mass democratic one and the elite constitutional one contributes to the current modern economic crisis and the stagnancy of modern civilization.     

The Relationship between Government on One Side and the Market and Society on the Other in China's Agricultural and Rural Development: An Analytical Framework

统筹城乡发展要求政府承担促进农业农村发展的责任。我国政府以国家干预、政 府主导为特征的农业农村政策,在农业发展、农民增收和城乡协调发展等方面都已取 得较大进展,但现有农业政策在提高农业生产率方面的限度日益显现。有鉴于此,急 需构建一个政府调控和引导农业农村发展的新的分析框架,在其中,政府需要界分与 市场、农村社会组织之间的行为边界,在充分尊重市场配置资源的基础性作用、尊 重农村社会自主管理的基础上,体现政府职能的“兜底”特征;而且,政府在构建市 场/社会运行的基本制度、匡正和补充市场/社会失灵、培育市场/社会主体等职能中需 要进行逻辑先后排序。应用这一新分析框架,加强和改善政府对农业农村发展的调控 和引导,就需要基于农业市场化取向改革农村基本经营制度和农业支持保护体系,注 重对农业生产市场主体的培育;需要以政府为主体构建城乡一体化的基本公共服务体 系,创新农村社会管理体制,充分调动社会力量参与公共事务治理;需要基于城乡一 体化要求重构政府行政管理体制,确保农业农村发展政策的落实。

关键词: 统筹城乡发展?政府?市场?社会

The integrated development of urban and rural areas requires that the government take responsibility for the overall development of the countryside. Chinese agricultural and rural policies characterized by state intervention and government leadership have played an important role in promoting agricultural development and increasing farmers' incomes as well as balancing development in urban and rural areas. However, the effectiveness of current agricultural policies in promoting agricultural productivity is now clearly leveling off. Given this situation, the authors argue that it is imperative to construct a new analytical framework featuring government regulation and guidance of agricultural and rural development. In this framework, the government must clearly define the boundaries between its activities and those of the market and rural social organizations. While fully respecting the fundamental role of the market in allocation of resources and rural self‐management, the government should exercise its power as a backstop. Further, the government needs to establish a logical sequence for government functions such as formulating the basic operating system of the market and society, correcting market failure and social dysfunction and cultivating market/social entities. To use this new analytical framework to strengthen and improve its regulation and guidance of agricultural and rural development, the government needs to reform the basic rural management and agricultural support and protection systems and to pay attention to the cultivation of market entities in agricultural production on the basis of agricultural marketization. Furthermore, it needs to construct a basic urban‐rural integrated public service system with the government as the leading actor, carry out innovations in the management system of rural society and fully mobilize the social forces to take part in the administration of public affairs. It also needs to reconstruct the system of government administration and management to ensure the thorough implementation of agricultural and rural development policies.     

Parents’ verbal communications with schizophrenic offspring∗

Abstract

Current research findings as well as both public protests and lawsuits by parent groups demonstrate the increasing dissatisfaction with prevailing approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of the syndrome termed “childhood hyperactivity.” First, this study summarizes a comprehensive review of research about the syndrome, and elaborates the research and practice issues that give rise to the contemporary controversy. Then, a promising, comprehensive new theory of child development, psychopathology, and treatment — intrapsychic humanism — is applied to the psychosocial treatment of children labelled hyperactive and their families in mental health, educational, and child welfare settings.     

Learning (to) taste: food,aesthetics, and education in early modern France

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the intersection between taste and education in the early modern period. The first part investigates the close connection between the sense of taste and the sin of gluttony, highlighting taste’s close association with food disorders in the late Middle Ages and early modernity. Silencing taste was by then a key aspect of the education of the body, which needed to be learned from the earliest age, at home as well as at school. The second part charts the rise of a moderate and honest gourmandise from the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries onward, accompanied by the invention of the polite bon goût and later the aesthetic taste of beauty, which contributed to a new social valorization of taste, while also complicating contemporary practices of learning (to) taste. Using a wide variety of early modern printed sources, including conduct books, religious and moral treatises, books of emblems, and treatises on the senses and on taste in particular, as well as aesthetic works, this paper sheds light on the multiple ways in which taste – of the body as much as of the mind – was used, learned, and displayed, hence revealing a transformation of the experience and understanding of taste throughout the early modern period, as well as its impact on educational practices.     

From Baltimore to Bell Labs: Reflections on Two Decades of Debate about Scientific Misconduct

This essay proposes a new definition of scientific "misconduct," which is broader than the definition recently adopted by the U.S. government. According to the proposed definition, misconduct is a serious and intentional violation of accepted scientific practices, commonsense ethical norms, or research regulations in proposing, designing, conducting, reviewing, or reporting research. Punishable misconduct includes fabrication of data or experiments, falsification of data, plagiarism, or interference with a misconduct investigation. Misconduct does not include honest errors, differences of opinion, or ethically questionable research practices.     

The Influence of Performance Measurement on Child Welfare Policy and Practice

Correspondence to Clare Tilbury, School of Social Work and Applied Human Sciences, University of Queensland Q 4072, Australia. E-mail: c.tilbury{at}social.uq.edu.au Summary The increasing use of performance measurement in child welfarepromises to have significant consequences. Performance indicatorsare not neutral or merely technical—they represent viewpointsand values that may influence policy and practice. This three-partarticle examines how this may occur. The first part outlinesa theoretical approach to understanding the policy significanceof performance indicators. As they become part of the frameworkwithin which policy debates occur, indicators may frame policyissues, create boundaries around options for solutions, definestandards for evaluating results, and set the terms of publicdiscourse. The second part discusses the background to the developmentof performance measurement in child welfare in Britain, theUSA and Australia, locating it as integral to contemporary approachesto public sector management. The third part examines the performanceindicators used in these jurisdictions-aspects of performancemeasured, underlying assumptions about ‘good’ performance,and how they construct child welfare. Existing indicators narrowlyconstruct child welfare in terms of investigations and out-of-homecare, whereas the child welfare literature suggests a broaderapproach with more attention to family support. The articleargues that there is space to negotiate on the new managerialistterrain, developing an approach to performance measurement thatcontributes to better services and outcomes for children andfamilies.