The United States should recognize and support caregiving youth

In the United States, more than 5.4 million children and adolescents under age 18 provide care for family members who are aging or have chronic illness, disability, or other health conditions that require assistance. In this policy report, we describe youth’s care for the family, and highlight the increasing prevalence, global challenges, and uneven successes of measurement and categorization. We briefly summarize research on how caregiving affects youth’s academic, social, and emotional well-being. Next, we present novel, emerging evidence from the public school-based 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey for the State of Florida, which suggests that as many as 24% of middle school students and 16% of high school students provide at least some care to the family on a regular basis. Drawing on this evidence, we discuss targeted social programs which have been shown to promote the well-being of caregiving youth outside of the United States, as well as a 13-year-old school-based intervention in The School District of Palm Beach County, Florida. We conclude with specific recommendations for a path toward recognizing and supporting caregiving youth via policy and practice in the United States. Our aim is to increase the awareness and feasibility of identifying and supporting caregiving youth and their families via government-organized data collection and targeted social policies.     

Canadian Publications on the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe for 1995

This article seeks to provide a nuanced understanding of why some Russian citizens look upon Josef Stalin respectfully today. Based upon the results of an original nationwide survey conducted by the Levada Analytical Center and supplemented by seventy field interviews, this article posits that a considerable number of Russians view Stalin respectfully on account of three factors. First, Stalin remains a somewhat revered historical figure in part because most Russians harbour no feelings of shame about the Soviet past. Additionally, the tendency of some to rationalize Stalin’s main policies of the 1930s, by claiming that there was no other way for the USSR to industrialize than according to the course adhered to by Stalin, helps to safeguard the former General Secretary’s reputation. That said, the primary reason why some Russians view Stalin respectfully is due to the pervasiveness of nostalgia for the Soviet period, a widespread phenomenon which serves to bolster Stalin’s image as a leader whose contributions led to the realization of great achievements. This article contends that feelings of respect for Stalin are mainly grounded in how Russians evaluate the present ordering of society in comparison to the Soviet past.     

Validation of a Measure of Intimate Partner Abuse With Couples Participating in Divorce Mediation

Critics of court mandated divorce mediation have raised awareness of the need for screening measures to assess intimate partner abuse. This study validates a new instrument that is a revised version of the Partner Abuse Scales developed by Walter Hudson in the 1990s. The Relationship Behavior Rating Scale (RBRS) correlates highly with the original scales and subscales developed from the original and RBRS items have equally high reliability. The new scale is a reliable measure for intimate partner abuse in divorce mediation.     

Development and Evaluation of the Trauma-Informed System Change Instrument: Factorial Validity and Implications for Use

In this paper, we present the process of developing and evaluating an instrument designed to measure the extent to which a complex community system has changed as a result of a community initiative, and for purposes of this research, doing this within the content area of developing local trauma-informed child welfare systems in specific communities in Michigan. The instrument was designed for the Southwest Michigan Children’s Trauma Assessment Center’s (CTAC) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)-funded initiative to bring a trauma-informed perspective to professionals working with children in child welfare. The Trauma Informed System Change Instrument was developed with the input of experts in trauma-informed system change. Two parts of the instrument were analyzed separately using confirmatory factor analysis. A two factor model was fit for Community Characteristics and a three factor model for Individual Characteristics. Although adequate factorial validity was obtained for the instrument, specific items on the instrument that were problematic in fitting the model were identified, and suggestions for revising the instrument for improved functionality are offered, as are other potential uses of the instrument.     

Evaluating multisystemic efforts to impact disproportionality through key decision points

Working in four communities, Casey Foundation/Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) Alliance on Racial Equity (the Alliance) have developed a Racial Equity Scorecard for measuring disproportionality at key decision points for use in impacting disproportionality in the child welfare system. The four communities include King County, Washington; Guilford County, North Carolina; Ramsey County, Minnesota; and Woodbury County, Iowa. Data from one site--Woodbury County, Iowa--are used as an example. This article provides the background and method for identification and measurement of key decision points in the child welfare system to track change effected by multisystemic approaches to reduce disproportionality. Interpretation of the results in the scorecard is provided and recommendations for future interventions based on the data are discussed.