HOW MANY PAYCHECKS? AN EXAMPLE OF A SELF-IMPOSED CONSTRAINT

Many faculty members prefer to receive their salary in twenty-four equal payments over the entire year as opposed to receiving the salary sooner, in eighteen equal payments over the academic year. I consider two explanations for this choice: (1) it is chosen to eliminate transactions costs associated with administering a similar plan oneself, or (2) it is chosen as a self-imposed constraint to insure against one's own potential imprudent behavior. The paper provides a test which clearly supports the second alternative.     

Competencies of a parent educator: what does a parent educator need to know and do?

This article examines efforts by organizations and states to describe the competencies of a parent educator, to explain what parent educators teach parents through parent education, and to show how that informs parent educator competencies. It summarizes examples of certification, licensure, and other accountability programs, and identifies the issues involved, along with ways practitioners can use these identified competencies to assess their level of competency. Finally, the article concludes with a call to continue developing certification and other accountability programs to insure quality in parent education.     

Sex,drugs and matrices: Mathematical prediction of HIV infection

The purpose of this paper is to consider a very simple model of the AIDS epidemic. This model illustrates how the spread of AIDS can be affected by parameters whose values, at the present time, are very imprecise or unknown. Of particular interest are the data related to sexual encounters and practices, data which are often unreliable or ambiguous. In this regard, the present model also suggests that the epidemiology of AIDS is particularly sensitive to the limitations in the assessment of sexuality/drug‐related behavior. Using a system of elementary differential equations, the present paper illustrates (using 3 examples) that depending upon the value of critical parameters, one could predict either very rapid increases of seropositivity or a decreasing rate of seropositivi‐ty. Thus, in order to diminish the ambiguity, it becomes crucial to make careful estimates of the sexual “interaction” coefficients, along with all other parameters, to insure that reasonable predictions can be made.     

The Application of Unisex Annuity Tables to Retirement Plans

Abstract

Protections in pension law meant to increase women's pension income must be reevaluated in light of the increased use of defined contribution plans. One such protection is discussed: the requirement that pension plans use unisex annuity tables in calculating monthly benefits for retirees. Its usefulness is examined when applied to defined contribution plans. Legal reforms necessary to insure the use of unisex annuity tables are examined.     

From child rescue to family protection: The evolution of the child protective movement in the United States

The child protective movement, an offshoot of animal protective work, initially adopted a punitive, law enforcement emphasis. Under the leadership of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, anti-cruelty work took on a broader focus based on prevention rather than punishment. The new approach stressed the need to maintain and enrich family life through broad social supports, relying on family casework and social reform. “Normal family life,” a vaguely denned but firmly middle-class notion, was established as the ideal to which social agencies should subscribe in their drive to protect children and insure an orderly society. Child protection, formerly isolated from the child welfare movement, gradually became a part of it.     

The gatekeeper model: implications for social policy

One of the most important needs of an aging population is to insure that older adults are able to live as independently and safely as possible. The question for social policymakers is how to meet this goal in an era of shrinking resources and growing numbers of older adults. The Gatekeeper Model is highlighted as a method to insure that older adults at risk of problems that impact their ability to live independently can be helped by existing systems of care. The model trains employees of community businesses and corporations who work with the public to serve as community gatekeepers by identifying and referring community-dwelling older adults who may be in need of help. A research project was conducted at Spokane Mental Health, Elder Services Division, where the model was developed. The results indicate that community-based gatekeepers found 40% of clients. Gatekeepers find a distinct population of community-dwelling older adults who are not found by more traditional referral sources. The social policy implications of the Gatekeeper Model are discussed.     

Religion and Incorporation: Islam in France and Germany

This article attempts to examine religion, particularly Islam, as an emergent type of corporate ethnicity in France and Germany and how Islam is represented and recognized in relation to the established principles governing the interaction of church and state both in the histories of each country and in comparison to the United States. Although religion constitutes one element of pluralism and diversity in which Islam would be the “religion of a minority” among other ethnic groups in the United States, in Europe Islam emerges as a “minority religion” in European nation‐states. Such a conceptual difference is reflected in the understandings and applications of multiculturalism and recognition in European countries and the United States. The question then is how to insure a historical continuity between principles and ideals of states on the one hand and how to integrate the religious diversity raised by Islam into the secularism of liberal European societies on the other.     

Pollution insurance: A motivation for environmental responsibility?

The aim of the article is to describe the effects of the evolution of pollution liability and the general idea of environmental responsibility in relation to the insurance industry, and how this influences the relationship between insurers and insured. It addresses the question of whether it is possible to regulate behaviour through insurance practices. A comparison is made of the evolution in the USA and in France. The concept of ‘mutual regulation’ is studied, by looking at the relationship between insurer and insured in these two countries.     

WHO BENEFITS FROM CHILD BENEFIT?

Governments, over much of the developed world, make significant financial transfers to parents with dependent children. For example, in the United States the recently introduced Child Tax Credit (CTC), which goes to almost all children, costs almost $1 billion each week, or about 0.4% of GNP. The United Kingdom has even more generous transfers and spends an average of about $30 a week on each of about 8 million children—about 1% of GNP. The typical rationale given for these transfers is that they are good for our children and here we investigate the effect of such transfers on household spending patterns. In the United Kingdom such transfers, known as Child Benefit (CB), have been simple lump sum universal payments for a continuous period of more than 20 years. We do indeed find that CB is spent differently from other income—paradoxically, it appears to be spent disproportionately on adult-assignable goods. In fact, we estimate that as much as half of a marginal dollar of CB is spent on alcohol. We resolve this puzzle by showing that the effect is confined to unanticipated variation in CB so we infer that parents are sufficiently altruistic toward their children that they completely insure them against shocks.     

Abortion on demand in France? a five-year trial for the "time limit solution"

France's Assemblee Nationale and Senate passed a "time-limit solution" abortion law on December 20, 1974. Abortion is permitted on demand by a physician in a hospital during the 1st 10 weeks of pregnancy. The tone of the law stresses the concept of respect for life and suggests the undesirability of abortion. The developing child is recognized as a human being whose life has begun. The woman herself is responsible for her distress is sufficient to warrant abortion. Further provisions insure that the woman is as well-informed as possible concerning medical risks and possibilities of adoption and requires consultation with an information, consultation, or family counseling service, family planning center, or other social service organization. French scientists, physicians, magistrates, and religious leaders opposed the permissive law. The victory of the proabortionists was created by the political decision of the Socialists and Communists to impose party discipline and to require a unanimous vote for liberalization.     

MANDATORY RETIREMENT AS A CLAUSE IN AN EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE CONTRACT

This paper postulates the existence of an "employment insurance contract" in which firms insure the employment of workers, at a predetermined wage, against potential, age related declines in productivity. To limit its liability the firm establishes an age limit to its promise ––– the mandatory retirement age. It is demonstrated that Pareto-efficient contracts exist which involve mandatory retirement at a specific age. The existence of these contracts, including mandatory retirement, increases workers' life-time utility and encourages the accumulation of human capital. Empirical results are consistent with the predictions of the model.     

Selling EAPs Using Total Quality Management Initiatives

Qualify Management is striving to perform to standard work processes that will achieve the results customers are seeking. EAPs do just that by focusing their performance early in the healthcare delivery process to help insure a healthy and productive workforce. Selling Quality is educating employers, who are wrestling to maintain employee benefits at reasonable costs, to the fact that Quality Management of behavioral healthcare works. Promoting health and wellness at the workplace, intervening early and professionally, and managing care to healthy outcomes is what EAPs and managed care programs are doing today, and convincing employers through their performance that Quality Management works.     

On Home Equity Conversion Mortgages for Elderly Homeowners

Analysis of reverse mortgage plans for elderly homeowners indicates that the compound interest charged by the lenders would capture more than half of the equity of the homeowners. The lenders further ask that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insure them against risks of unexpected longevity of the borrowers, creating an inderterminate risk to FHA.     

The application of unisex annuity tables to retirement plans

Protections in pension law meant to increase women's pension income must be reevaluated in light of the increased use of defined contribution plans. One such protection is discussed: the requirement that pension plans use unisex annuity tables in calculating monthly benefits for retirees. Its usefulness is examined when applied to defined contribution plans. Legal reforms necessary to insure the use of unisex annuity tables are examined.     

The Role of Federal Policies in Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Families

Abstract

Grandparents caring for their grandchildren is among the oldest practices in child rearing with roots embedded in the traditions across many cultures. However, in recent years, the issue of “grandparents raising their grandchildren” has garnered the attention of researchers, advocates, service providers and even the popular press. Dynamic changes in family life, related social trends and child welfare policies in the United States have resulted in dramatic growth of intergenerational care giving among this population. The 2000 United States Census shows that there are 6 million children living in grandparent- and other relative-maintained households, which represents a thirty-percent increase from the last Census. This growth has created the need for effective federal policies that support and insure the well-being of these families.

This paper examines some of the reasons grandparents raising grandchildren are capturing public attention, and the growing needs for effective federal policies that support this burgeoning population. We will (1) provide a brief demographic sketch of grandparent-headed families, (2) identify some of the challenges faced by these families, and (3) explore some of the most effective federal public policies, in particular the new National Family Caregiver Support Program, which are emerging from an intergenerational agenda directed at assisting these families. We conclude by noting that the issue of “grandparents raising their grandchildren” presents a unique opportunity to develop coalitions and policies that cross sometimes rigidly defined age-based policy structures.     

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF NEW DEAL FISCAL FEDERALISM

While the introduction of federal matching grants to finance the New Deal relief programs is usually viewed as a mechanism to insure federal control over state relief spending, a careful study of the New Deal reveals that the reverse was the case: matching grants allowed the states to escape close federal control. The standard economic model of inter-governmental grants reveals that the federal government will, if allowed, prefer to use discretionary rather than matching grants. With discretion, however, came power; power that neither the states nor Congress wished to see concentrated in the Executive branch.     

Assessing Dimensions of Single Parenting:

The role of the parent-child relationship has been shown to be a major determinant of children's post-divorce adjustment. This study reflects an effort to develop and validate an instrument which assesses five dimensions of single parenting. Problem solving skills, parental warmth, discipline procedures, parent rules, enthusiasm for parenting and parent support systems were chosen as factors to be assessed in the Single Parenting Questionnaire because of their demonstrated relationship with child adjustment. Items were purposefully worded to assess these dimensions. Reliability coefficients and scale inter-correlations were calculated based on the responses of two hundred thirty-nine divorced and custodial parents to insure maximum between-scale heterogeneity and maximum within-scale homogeneity. Alpha coefficients ranging from .59 to .85 for the five scales the composite Total scale were demonstrated. Test-retest and inter-rater reliability coefficients ranging from .54 to .71 and .00 to .59 and with means of .59 and .32, respectively, were obtained. Concurrent validity studies indicate that this questionnaire shares significant correlations with the Fisher Divorce Adjustment Scale and the Child Behavior Checklist. The obtained statistical support for the Single Parenting Questionnaire suggests that it may be useful in both clinical and research efforts focusing on children of divorce.     

The conduct of program evaluation reviews in the general accounting office

Professional behavior during the General Accounting Office's (GAO's) present era of oversight can best be understood by reviewing the audit types that populate village life in the GAO and the repertoire the office uses in conducting program evaluation audits. Four types of auditors are present, each of which has a role to play in the audit repertoire. This repertoire focuses on finding faults in government programs in order to catch or sustain congressional interest in GAO's work. The “audit trail” of each report may last up to 3 years and involves considerable organizational strife and conflict with outside groups. To sustain themselves through this arduous auditing process, auditors have developed a creed through which they conceptualize themselves as an elite with a mission to insure good government.     

An overview of and comments on the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)

The authors overview the key components of the ADA in this article. A discussion is offered on why and how persons with disabilities are discriminated against. Critical United States Supreme Court decisions are presented; these decisions have greatly limited the power of the ADA in protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. Even though the United States Supreme Court has narrowed the impact of the ADA in American life, a number of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) cases are presented suggesting this federal agency is attempting to protect persons with disabilities against discrimination. Finally, the authors deal with the topic of advocacy; advocacy may well be one of the most effective tools to help insure that the rights of people with disabilities are protected.     

An Overview of and Comments on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Abstract

The authors overview the key components of the ADA in this article. A discussion is offered on why and how persons with disabilities are discriminated against. Critical United States Supreme Court decisions are presented; these decisions have greatly limited the power of the ADA in protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. Even though the United States Supreme Court has narrowed the impact of the ADA in American life, a number of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) cases are presented suggesting this federal agency is attempting to protect persons with disabilities against discrimination. Finally, the authors deal with the topic of advocacy; advocacy may well be one of the most effective tools to help insure that the rights of people with disabilities are protected.