Variations in Child Care by Grandparents During the First Three Years

Routine child care by grandparents was examined for 1,229 children who were participants in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care. Four groups were identified: extended full‐time care, extended part‐time care, sporadic care, and no routine care during the first three years. The odds of sporadic child care by grandparents were higher when mothers were relatively young and worked nonstandard hours. The odds of extended full‐time grandparent care versus extended part‐time grandparent care were higher for mothers of color and mothers with more extensive full‐time employment. All types of grandparent care were more likely when a grandparent lived in the household. These findings suggest that grandparent care is heterogeneous and may occur in response to different family circumstances.     

Smoking reduction & cessation: a hospital based survey of outpatients' attitudes

1. Most people with mental illnesses have made at least one attempt to quit smoking on their own. 2. Psychiatric diagnosis and degree of nicotine dependence do not appear to be predictive of ability to quit. 3. People with mental illnesses are aware of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), but do not combine it with a behavioral program, possibly contributing to the higher rates of recidivism in this population. 4. The lack of participation of mental health care providers in promoting smoking cessation is a complex issue.     

The Call-Centre: a child welfare liaison program with immigrant serving agencies

Alberta, Canada, welcomed nearly 16,000 landed immigrants in 2003, of whom more than half came to the Calgary area. Approximately 200,000 immigrants of various ethnic and cultural groups now live in the region. Many of these new arrivals have no natural support networks while struggling with language, cultural, and economic barriers. Recognizing these difficulties, the Calgary and Area Child and Family Services Authority (CFSA) joined with several Immigrant Serving Agencies to develop guidelines and procedures to direct staff working with diverse cultures, including the Call-Centre pilot project, which provided CFSA staff with a one-stop telephone contact for information about an immigrant or refugee family, their culture, and available culturally-appropriate resources. The Call-Centre, which is currently being evaluated by researchers at the University of Calgary, will gradually expand to all CFSA sites in the region. This article describes the Call-Centre and the first phase of the evaluation.     

Family crisis intervention

Family crisis intervention is based on crisis theory and involves the use of individual crisis intervention techniques with one or more family members starting with the person who initiates the request for help. In addition, the relationship between the crises of the individuals involved is formulated and articulated, including the identification of distinct and common hazards and themes. The usual emphasis with children and young adolescents in crisis is on helping their parents to help them. The paper does, however, treat the issue of direct work with children. As in individual crisis intervention, the treatment contact is limited to six weeks, clients are self-selecting, and the goal is the most adaptive resolution of an immediate problem that is possible given the existing inner and outer resources of the family and its members. This implies that the resolution should not impair the functioning or well-being of any individual family member.     

Crisis intervention and social casework: Similarities and differences in problem-solving

Summary The similarities and differences between the traditional psychosocial approach to casework and that of crisis intervention have been discussed with the use of illustrative case material. It is important to recognize that while crisis intervention is justifiably subsumed under the generalist concept of social work theory and practice on the basis of their striking similarities, it is necessary for the sake of professional clarity to differentiate between the two forms of problem-solving treatment methodologies in terms of goals, process, and structure.