Health and community services for trafficked women: an exploratory study of policy and practice

The trafficking of women has attracted considerable international and national policy attention, particularly since the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (2000), of which the Australian Government has been a signatory since 2005. The provision of health and community services for trafficked women is a central feature of this Protocol, but in Australia service provision is made difficult by how trafficked women are understood and treated in policy and legal terms. This study aimed to explore the provision of health and community services for trafficked women in the Greater Sydney region through a series of interviews with government and non‐government organisations. The findings reveal that services have been inaccessible as a result of sparse, uncoordinated, and poorly funded provision. The major obstacle to adequate and appropriate service provision has been a national policy approach focusing on ‘border protection’ and criminalisation rather than on trafficked women and their human rights. We conclude that further policy development needs to focus on the practical implications of how such rights can be translated into the delivery of health and community services that trafficked women can access and be supported by more effectively.     

Tracing Stigma in Long-Term Care Insurance in Israel: Stakeholders’ Views of Policy Implementation

A rapidly expanding number of baby boomers provide care to aging parents. This study examines associations between caregiver status and outcomes related to awareness and anticipation of future long-term care (LTC) needs using 2007 Connecticut Long-Term Care Needs Assessment survey data. Baby boomers who were adult child caregivers (n = 353) versus baby boomers who were not (n = 1242) were more likely to anticipate some future LTC needs and to have considered certain financing strategies. Although baby boomer adult child caregivers more readily anticipate some future LTC needs, they are not taking specific actions. It is important to address the need for public education directed toward those who are currently (or have recently completed) caring for aging parents.     

Family Transitions and Children’s Well-Being During Adolescence

This study used longitudinal prospective data from a representative Canada-wide survey to assess the impact of childhood family experience on well-being during adolescence. First, we constructed family composition profiles to capture the number and type of changes in family structure that occurred in our sample over a 12-year period. Then, we examined links between initial family status, family composition profiles, timing of parental separation, and later behavioral outcomes during adolescence. Marital status at birth, as well as 2 different family transition profiles, were linked to externalized problems during adolescence. Timing of the first family transition suppressed the effect of family transition profiles on adolescent behavioral outcomes.     

Longitudinal Evaluation of a Teenage Pregnancy Case Management Program in Oklahoma

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a school-based case management intervention in reducing teen-pregnancy. A nonrandomized intervention/comparison schools mixed-method evaluation design was employed. Participants included 203 pregnant and parenting teens with annual follow-up over a 3-year period. The results indicated that the time to repeat pregnancy was delayed among pregnant teens, high school drop-out rates were reduced among parenting teens, and pregnant teens were less likely to deliver before 36 weeks in the intervention versus the comparison school. Case management at a school setting is a promising approach to decrease repeat teen pregnancy.     

The Integrated Care Team: A Practice Model in Child and Family Services

The Integrated Care Team brings together representatives from each of Windermere’s service areas to create a group of highly experienced and knowledgeable professionals. This transdisciplinary team aims to provide a cohesive and effective support to service delivery staff working with individuals and families who are experiencing issues across multiple service areas. This support involves sharing of knowledge, contacts, resources and brokerage. Initial evaluation of the Integrated Care Team demonstrates strong positive outcomes for individuals and families with results that could not be so efficiently achieved through standard practice. Positive outcomes occur more quickly, more effectively, with less disruption to individuals and families and with more ease for workers than in standard practice. Workers who utilize the Integrated Care Team and representatives who sit on the Team comment on the efficacy of the approach reinforcing the value of key worker models, transdisciplinary teams, seamless service and breaking down silos between service areas; even within the same agency.     

Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual,and Queer People's Perceptions of the Criminal Justice System: Implications for Social Services

Previous literature has found historically marginalized groups report more negative perceptions of the criminal justice system and lower levels of procedural justice, which then influences their mental health and their willingness to report crimes. While previous research on procedural justice has focused mostly on racial and ethnic minority groups, it is hypothesized that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals would also report negative experiences of the criminal justice system. The current study utilized focus groups with 16 participants who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ), with ages ranging from 26 to 35 years (M = 30.5 years, SD = 3.5). Participants were asked open-ended questions about how they felt about various aspects of the criminal justice system (e.g., police officers, courts, legal processes, etc.). Through the consensual qualitative research (CQR) process, researchers identified five domains that influenced participants’ experiences of the criminal justice system: (a) gender presentation, (b) influences of intersectional identities, (c) systemic and political issues, (d) experiences of discrimination, and (e) help-seeking behaviors and the criminal justice system. Implications for social services are discussed.     

Mexican American and European American Adolescents' Dating Experiences across the Ecosystem: Implications for Healthy Relationships within an Ecodevelopmental Framework

Dating health interventions that target the complex, multi-systemic spheres in which adolescents experience their first romantic relationships are required. This study utilizes an ecodevelopmental approach to better understand Mexican American and European American youths' perceptions of how peers, parents, school, and the media act both independently and collectively to affect their dating lives, also elucidating how such systems are at times in conflict. Seventy-five middle adolescents participated in focus groups divided by gender and ethnicity to uncover differences and similarities within and across groups. Findings underscore the importance and widespread effects of romantic relationships for adolescents' social development and the need for intervention programs that target multiple points of intervention while attending to mesosystemic conflicts across systems.     

Creating “Community”? Preparing for Bushfire in Rural Victoria

The term “community” has a long and contested lineage in social analysis and debate. This lineage, however, is not generally recognized in policy and public debates on community and bushfire in Australia. “Community” is thought to be central to bushfire preparedness in Australia, especially in rural areas, but what “community” actually means in this context is vague at best. There is an ever‐present tension between the use of “community” as a reference to locality, a “sense of community” as experienced by residents, and the use of “community” as a rhetorical tool by governments and state agencies. We argue that a rigorous analysis of the concept of “community” is critical to an understanding of the processes involved in preparing for the challenges associated with disaster, in this case bushfires. These broader issues are supported by research (a series of surveys, interviews, and focus groups) carried out with residents living in (predominantly rural) bushfire‐prone areas in the state of Victoria, Australia. Ultimately, we assert that social participation and social networks are likely to be the crucial aspects of community that play a central role in effective bushfire preparedness.     

“Some of My Children Are Worth More Than Others”: Perceptions of Nonresidential Fathers with Second Families as to the Fairness of the Australian Child Support Agency's Handling of First Family Child Support Financial Arrangements

One in three Australian marriages end in divorce, and over half of such divorces involve children. Research indicates that men tend to repartner within 1 to 2 years of a divorce and women within 3 to 5 years. A significant issue for repartnered men is the provision of financial support for children from both their first and second families. Although only 6% of all Australian first family children spend near/equal time (shared care) after divorce with both parents, fathers in Australia are mandated under child support legislation to provide financial support for their first family children, whether they reside with them or not. However, it is argued by this study's nonresidential fathers that the Child Support Agency, when considering the level of financial support for first family children, tends to overlook the needs of second family children, thus creating an advantaged and disadvantaged set of siblings. This finding is reviewed through a distributive justice theory lens. Finally, some future directions for research aimed at exploring the impact of Child Support Legislation on second families are suggested.