The mixed-population issue in state-subsidized elderly housing: management problems posed by nonelderly and elderly tenants.

The management experiences of all Local Housing Authorities (LHAs) in Connecticut were investigated concerning younger disabled tenants in state-subsidized elderly housing. While as a group younger disabled tenants were more likely to violate the terms of their lease, including disrupting other tenants' enjoyment of their homes, management problems with younger disabled tenants were not reported by all LHAs. In general, serious, recurrent problems involving younger disabled tenants were concentrated among a relatively small group of LHAs. Emphasizing the diversity that characterizes the experiences of LHAs, the discussion emphasizes the need for caution in drawing conclusions about the issue of a mixed population. It also focuses on examples of how some LHAs have addressed the integration of younger disabled tenants in senior housing and proposes recommendations for viewing the issue in the broader context of public policy.     

Bringing together housing and aging services: the experiences of area agencies on aging

Aging organizations generally do not consider housing issues as an important priority. Research suggests that lack of knowledge may be a significant barrier that prevents their involvement in housing-related activities. This article reports on a study that examined the extent and level of AAAs' involvement in housing-related activities with particular attention to instances of cooperation and collaboration between AAAs and housing agencies. It employed a national survey of Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs). Further, since the lack of knowledge about housing is a barrier to involvement, the study examined the role of a housing specialist in motivating higher levels of activity. Though there is no single overall indicator of activities to do with housing, the results indicate a range of activities pursued by AAAs. The presence of a housing specialist within the AAA generally served as a catalyst, motivating higher levels of this kind of activity. The importance of housing as a component of a comprehensive long-term care continuum is also discussed.     

Reciprocal Peer Dislike and Psychosocial Adjustment in Childhood

Reciprocal peer dislike was examined as a predictor of school adjustment and social relationship quality. One hundred and fifty‐one [69 male and 74 female, mean (M)_age = 9.53, standard deviation (SD)_age = .63 years] children completed measures of school liking, loneliness, and friendship quality twice over three months. From ratings of the amount of time participants liked to spend with individual classmates, social network analyses were used to determine reciprocal peer dislike. Curvilinear regression analyses revealed that reciprocal peer dislike at Time 1 predicted changes in the children's loneliness and friendship quality assessed as help, security, and closeness over three months. The findings support the conclusion that reciprocal peer dislike predicts aspects of school adjustment and social relationship qualities.     

What has happened to Australia's public housing? Thirty years of policy and outcomes, 1981 to 2011

This paper uses the release of the 2011 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) census results and other recent and historical data sets to explore how Australian public housing has changed over the period 1981–2011. It summarises the contextual factors that have influenced housing provision and consumption in Australia over the past thirty years. The overall supply trends by tenure for Australia and each capital city are set out, followed by analysis of the demographics of public housing tenants, including age, household type, income, mobility, and workforce participation. Issues identified in the paper include insufficient stock and increasingly targeted households, representing a social and financial problem for housing agencies. The current stock is ill‐adapted to tenants' needs; if housing agencies re‐profile the housing to meet such needs, then they risk creating inflexible stock. The paper concludes with reflection on the future of public housing in Australia.     

Benzene Inhalation by Parts Washers: New Estimates Based on Measures of Occupational Exposure to Solvent Coaromatics

Questions persist regarding assessment of workers’ exposures to products containing low levels of benzene, such as mineral spirit solvent (MSS). This study summarizes previously unpublished data for parts‐washing activities, and evaluates potential daily and lifetime cumulative benzene exposures incurred by workers who used historical and current formulations of a recycled mineral spirits solvent in manual parts washers. Measured benzene concentrations in historical samples from parts‐washing operations were frequently below analytical detection limits. To better assess benzene exposure among these workers, air‐to‐solvent concentration ratios measured for toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (TEX) were used to predict those for benzene based on a statistical model, conditional on physical‐chemical theory supported by new thermodynamic calculations of TEX and benzene activity coefficients in a modeled MSS‐type solvent. Using probabilistic methods, the distributions of benzene concentrations were then combined with distributions of other exposure parameters to estimate eight‐hour time‐weighted average (TWA) exposure concentration distributions and corresponding daily respiratory dose distributions for workers using these solvents in parts washers. The estimated 50th (95th) percentile of the daily respiratory dose and corresponding eight‐hour TWA air concentration for workers performing parts washing are 0.079 (0.77) mg and 0.0030 (0.028) parts per million by volume (ppm) for historical solvent, and 0.020 (0.20) mg and 0.00078 (0.0075) ppm for current solvent, respectively. Both 95th percentile eight‐hour TWA respiratory exposure estimates for solvent formulations are less than 10% of the current Occupational Safety and Health Administration permissible exposure limit of 1.0 ppm for benzene.     

Fathers who use domestic violence: Organisational capacity building and practice development

It is well established in the literature that fathers who use violence harm women and children. Statutory child protection workers and other human service professionals now face strong injunctions to work with these men. However, insufficient attention has been given to considering the processes for intervening with fathers who use violence and the organisational context to support workers in refocusing their practice. Workers lack clear guidance, and organisations lack specific understandings of how to support workers in this complex area of practice. Australian research used co‐design with professionals in Communities of Practice supported by the Safe & Together Institute to explore the organisational context required to work with fathers who use violence. This paper presents findings of qualitative data gathered from surveys, focus groups, and ethnographic notes of 30 Community of Practice sessions. Working together, practitioners and researchers identified four essential elements to support organisational development and improve practice: leadership by senior managers; recognition that domestic violence work needs to strengthen collaborative working; extensive training, supervising, and coaching; and enhanced worker safety. Worker perspectives are critical in developing practice principles and identifying organisational mechanisms that support practitioners to work safely and effectively with fathers who use violence.     

国家开放与优秀领导力

When I was growing up in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, the country was full of optimism about the future. We were building a magnificent infrastructure of roads, airports, railroads and seaports that would link each part of the country for commerce and tourism. We all believed in President John F. Kennedy when he challenged the country to land a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. The first jumbo jet, the Boeing 747, was a product of this belief in the future.