This year we have celebrated an enormous landmark for the social care sector as, for the first time, thousands of social workers across the country are now registered professionals; trained, checked, and held accountable for their work. The year ended with the implementation of protection of title, a legal restriction to protect the title ‘social worker’, and to ensure only those who are registered as social workers can practise as and use this title. By the 1 April 2005 deadline the GSCC had received more than 60,000 applications to register. The publication of the Green Paper, “Independence, Well-being and Choice: Our vision for the future of Social Care for Adults in England”, in March 2005, emphasised the important and changing role of social workers, as they became the first group to join the first ever Social Care Register and as the title ‘social worker’ became protected. This is a chance to rejuvenate the social work profession and rebuild public confidence in its important contribution to people’s lives.

This report presents national data about child abuse and neglect known to child protective services (CPS) agencies in the United States during Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2004. The data were collected and analyzed through the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) by the Children's Bureau, Administration on Children, Youth and Families in the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The department is considering the issue of new site design guidance, for local housing and planning authorities, registered social landlords, private developers and managers of sites for the gypsy and traveller communities. The new guidance will ensure that developers of new sites, or those upgrading existing sites, are able to benefit from experience of what works well in gypsy and traveller site design elsewhere.

The Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) are measures which summarise a range of socio-economic variables associated with disadvantage. These indexes are compiled at the Census Collection District (CD) level, and may be used to rank CDs according to the general socio-economic well-being of residents. In this paper we discuss three important features of SEIFA. First, SEIFA scores are a measure of relative disadvantage. Second, SEIFA scores are areal level indexes and should not be presumed to apply to all individuals living within the area. Third, SEIFA scores are calculated at the CD level and great care is required when interpreting scores which have been aggregated to larger geographical areas. We provide examples of the use of SEIFA to analyse the distribution of relative disadvantage within larger areas. Using data from the National Health Survey 2004-05, we also show that SEIFA scores correlate with the proportion of people living in an area who report poor health, obesity and other health risk factors

Geographic Mobility: 2005 More than 39 million Americans, or about 14 percent of the population, changed addresses last year. A series of tables show characteristics of these movers, such as by race and Hispanic origin, age, marital status, educational attainment, labor force status, occupation and industry group, income and poverty status and reason for moving.

Through much of the 20th century, the juvenile court was the primary legal forum to respond to children who broke the criminal laws. With the rise in youth crime beginning in the late 1970s, legislators and commentators spoke ominously of a nation under siege by a rising generation of violent young criminals. These fears led many Americans to blame the juvenile court and demand that legislators “get tough” with violent and chronic young offenders. In response to recurring epidemics of youth violence over the past three decades, 46 states made significant changes in laws that lowered the age and broadened the circumstances under which young defendants could be prosecuted in the criminal courts. Prosecution in the criminal court was designed to punish young offenders more harshly and for longer periods of time, thereby deterring them and other youths from further crimes. But have these efforts been effective? Does the prospect of harsher sentences and adult time deter youth from committing crimes? Although there are strong proponents on each side of the argument, new evidence has raised questions about the effectiveness of the new laws.

Objectives: The RTI International−University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Evidence-based Practice Center (RTI-UNC EPC) systematically reviewed the evidence on (a) the effectiveness of community- and population-based interventions to prevent tobacco use and to increase consumer demand for and implementation of effective cessation interventions; (b) the impacts of smokeless tobacco marketing on smoking, use of those products, and population harm; and (c) the directions for future research.

The first American Indian Day was celebrated in May 1916 in New York. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed a joint congressional resolution designating November 1990 as “National American Indian Heritage Month.” Similar proclamations have been issued every year since 1994.

Population
4.5 million
As of July 1, 2005, the estimated population of American Indians and Alaska Natives, including those of more than one race. They made up 1.5 percent of the total population.

Advanced, flexible and more efficient measures to prevent unsuitable people working with children and protected adults are among the provisions set out today in the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Bill. The Bill extends the protection afforded to Scotland's children and introduces new protections for adults at vulnerable points in their lives by taking forward the key recommendation of Sir Michael Bichard's report following the Soham tragedy.

This article provides a brief overview of the health of older people in Australia, defined in this article as people aged 65 years and over, which represents a span of over 40 years. This article presents some data by age groups to explore differences within the age structure. Some comparisons are also provided with the younger population. Older people represent an increasing proportion of the Australian population, with this increase projected to continue until at least 2051.

Forum representing ethnic minority staff in housing is a good practice initiative that aims to change the culture of organisations. Its key role is to drive the development of black and minority ethnic (BME) leadership and to provide a stronger voice for BME leaders and managers in the Housing Corporation.

The purpose of the Report to Congress is to provide information that may lead to improved outcomes for children and families served by the Nation's child welfare system by informing Congress, the States, and the public about State performance on key child welfare outcomes and change in performance over time. To this end, the Report to Congress presents data for each State regarding the following: (1) 12 measures developed to assess the national outcomes listed above, and (2) contextual factors regarding the number and characteristics of children who are the subject of substantiated child abuse or neglect reports and of children in the State's foster care system. The report also presents key findings across States on the relationship between contextual factors and State performance on the outcome measures. Data pertaining to the measures and the contextual factors come from the Federal Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) and the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS).

GAO is recommending that FEMA address the potential for fraud and abuse in the IHP by ensuring that payments go to recipients at valid addresses; establishing procedures to avoid duplicate lodging payments; increasing accountability over debit cards; and identifying and recouping payments based on improper and potentially fraudulent applications. FEMA substantially agreed with our recommendations; however DHS disagreed with our estimate of the extent of improper and potentially fraudulent payments.

Psychopath. The word alone evokes powerful emotions and images. Attaching that label to a juvenile offender is a serious charge, and should be done so with caution, especially given that the standard assessment tools for psychopathy were originally developed for adults, not juveniles. As the MacArthur Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice has shown, and as the U.S. juvenile justice system recognizes, adolescent offenders are different from adults in important ways. Therefore, simply applying adult measures of psychopathy to juveniles may overlook important aspects of their developmental stage. Gaining a better understanding of juvenile psychopathy is imperative given that judges are facing increasing pressures from burgeoning caseloads and shifting public policies to waive juveniles to adult courts. In making their determinations of whether youth should be tried as adults, judges often consider potential for future violence and amenability to treatment in the juvenile system. To help them in their decision-making, judges often rely on the results of psychological assessments. For adults suspected of psychopathic tendencies, the most highly regarded assessment tool is Hare’s Revised Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R). Given its effectiveness in predicting tendencies toward future violence, the PCL-R has been adapted, with only slight modifications, for youth.

This study was carried out as part of the evaluation of New Deal for Disabled People, which is an employment programme that aims to help disabled people and people with health conditions who want to work to move from economic inactivity into sustained employment. The programme, which is voluntary, is delivered by a range of public, private and voluntary sector Job Broker organisations.

This annual survey of employers provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage, including changes in premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing policies, and other relevant information. This year the survey also documented the prevalence of high-deductible health plans associated with a savings option, including the percentage of employers offering these plan types and the percentage of workers covered by them. The 2006 survey included 3,159 randomly selected public and private firms with three or more employees (2,122 of which responded to the full survey and 1,037 of which responded to an additional question about offering coverage). Researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation, The Center for Studying Health System Change and Health Research and Educational Trust designed and analyzed the survey.

The Statutory Code of Practice on Racial Equality in Housing aims to explain the provisions of the Race Relations Act 1976 that are relevant to the provision of housing in England, Scotland and Wales. It aims to set standards for achieving racial equality; and provide practical guidance that will help organisations and individuals involved in all areas of housing to avoid unlawful racial discrimination and harassment, promote equal opportunities for all, and encourage good race relations.

Over the past few decades, a steady and dramatic increase in obesity has occurred throughout the entire U.S. population, particularly among children and youth. Currently, one third of American children and youth are either obese or at risk of becoming obese. Over the past 30 years, the obesity rate has nearly tripled for children ages 2–5 years (from 5 to 14 percent) and youth ages 12–19 years (from 5 to 17 percent), and quadrupled for children ages 6–11 years (from 4 to 19 percent). The country is beginning to recognize childhood obesity as a major public health epidemic that will incur substantial costs to the nation. However, the current level of investment by the public and private sectors still does not match the extent of the problem. There is a substantial underinvestment of resources to adequately address the scope of the obesity crisis when compared to the expressed concern for and commitment to possible infectious disease outbreaks or bioterrorism events.

An estimated 13 million people worldwide inject drugs. Of those, 78 percent live in developing or transitional countries. The sharing of contaminated injecting equipment has become a major driving force of the global AIDS pandemic, and is the primary mode of HIV transmission in many countries throughout Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and significant parts of Asia. In some cases, HIV is spreading rapidly from injecting drug users to their partners through sexual transmission, and from injecting drug users and their partners to newborns. Reversing the rise of HIV infection among injecting drug users in these “high-risk” countries has thus become an urgent global public health challenge—one that remains largely unmet. In response to this crisis, in 2005 the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation commissioned the Institute of Medicine to evaluate strategies for preventing HIV transmission through contaminated injecting equipment.

As the nation begins the demographic shift of boomers moving towards retirement the population over age 65 will climb from just over 13 percent to nearly 22 percent. This shift will bring with it a progressive increase in attention to issues related to delaying retirement, retiree health availability and affordability, long term care, and how to produce income in retirement. There will be a tendency to rely upon generalizations or hypotheticals as opposed to detailed analysis. This report is intended to show the inherent risk in not undertaking detailed analysis for concerned parties. In Chapter 2 we review the current retirement income sources and provide detailed analysis of both the incidence and relative amounts. In addition to looking at merely the income levels currently generated, we summarize our previous simulation work projecting both retirement income and basic retirement expenses and potential uncovered health care costs in retirement. The primary objective of this analysis is to combine the simulated retirement income and wealth with the simulated retiree expenditures to determine how much each family unit would need to save today (as percentage of their current wages) to maintain a prespecified “comfort level” (i.e., confidence level) that they will be able to able to afford the simulated expenses for the remainder of the lifetime of the family unit (i.e., death of second spouse in a family). We find that if the status quo is not modified, the results are extremely depressing for those close to retirement age, especially single women.

The clearance and demolition of homes and the relocation of affected residents raise considerable challenges for local communities and Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders. This study, by researchers at Sheffield Hallam University, examined the support and financial assistance packages being provided to residents during clearance and demolition. It also explored how the Pathfinders are addressing housing affordability issues facing relocating households.

In 2005, in a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty for offenders who were younger than 18 when they committed their crimes. The ruling centered on the issue of culpability, or criminal blameworthiness. Unlike competence, which concerns an individual’s ability to serve as a defendant during trial or adjudication, culpability turns on the offender’s state of mind at the time of the offense, including factors that would mitigate, or lessen, the degree of responsibility. The Court’s ruling, which cited the Network’s work, ran counter to a nationwide trend toward harsher sentences for juveniles. Over the preceding decade, as serious crime rose and public safety became a focus of concern, legislators in virtually every state had enacted laws lowering the age at which juveniles could be tried and punished as adults for a broad range of crimes. This and other changes have resulted in the trial of more than 200,000 youths in the adult criminal system each year.

hough international nonprofits are just 2 percent of the U.S. charitable nonprofit sector, they have continued to grow in size and scope to meet pressing demands around the world. International organizations are a growing part of the U.S. nonprofit sector and play a vital role here and abroad, connecting Americans to the world and the world to Americans. Whether arranging international student exchanges, assisting victims of foreign disasters, or influencing policy between nations, U.S.-based international nonprofits are expanding the interactions that Americans have with people, places, and ideas from around the world. They contribute to, and are shaped by, the globalization that is redefining the world in which we live. Despite their increasing importance, these organizations have largely been understudied as a subsector of U.S. nonprofits. Newly available data from the Urban Institute's National Center for Charitable Statistics/GuideStar database make it possible to profile important characteristics of this set of organizations, as a whole and by major subgroups. The data consist of information that 501(c)(3) organizations, with $25,000 or more in annual revenue, have filed on Forms 990 with the Internal Revenue Service. Information gathered represents the most comprehensive nonprofit data yet assembled on the U.S. international nonprofit sector.

Preliminary FY 2004 Estimates as of June 2006

How many children were in foster care on September 30, 2004? 517,000

Suicide is a major public health problem in the United States. In 2003, suicide was the 11th leading cause of death among adults and accounted for 30,559 deaths among people aged 18 or older. Suicide rates vary across demographic groups, with some of the highest rates occurring among males, whites, and the older population. Suicide also is strongly associated with mental illness and substance use disorders. Individuals who die from suicide, however, represent a fraction of those who consider or attempt suicide. In 2003, there were 348,830 nonfatal emergency department (ED) visits by adults aged 18 or older who had harmed themselves. Research suggests that there may be between 8 and 25 attempted suicides for every suicide death. As with suicide completions, risk factors for attempted suicide in adults include depression and substance use.

More than three quarters of today's workers (77%) expect to work for pay even after they retire, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Of those who feel this way, most say it's because they'll want to, not because they'll have to. But whatever the motivation, these expectations are dramatically out of step with the experiences of people who are already retired – just 12% of whom are currently working for pay (either part or full time), according to the Pew survey, and just 27% of whom have ever worked for pay while in retirement, according to a survey this year by another research organization.

View image - Working After Retirement: Have to or Want to?

Many college students may be left ill-informed about safer sex and more at risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancies because of a lack of access to information about sexual health and availability of condoms at some schools, according to the Trojan Sexual Health Report Card – released today from the makers of Trojan brand condoms and Sperling’s Best Places – which is the first survey that grades the sexual health of colleges and universities across the country and ranks them. Despite this, many schools were found to do a good job of providing essential information about sexual health to students, which put them at the top of the list.

Each year, more than 650,000 prisoners are released from state and federal prisons, and more than 12 million cycle through local jails (Harrison and Beck 2005; Beck 2006). Taken together, this large volume of people moving in and out of correctional institutions impacts public safety, public health, family networks and community well-being—especially in disadvantaged neighborhoods already affected by crime, unemployment, and other factors (Travis et al, 2001). Coalitions across the country are developing innovative strategies to address the challenges of prisoner reentry. In order to understand the extent to which Weed and Seed sites are engaged in prisoner reentry efforts—and to foster peer-to-peer support among sites—the Department of Justice's Community Capacity Development Office, the Center for Community Safety of Winston-Salem State University, and the Urban Institute surveyed Weed and Seed sites around the country. This report summarizes the responses from the survey, illustrating the various ways that Weed and Seed sites are focusing on prisoner reentry and working with partner organizations to reduce recidivism and create safer, healthier communities.

For many decades, the number of households has been growing much more quickly than the number of people. Since 1971, the number of households in Great Britain has risen 35%, from 181/2 million to 25 million in 2006. Over the same period, the population has risen just 8%, from 541/2 million to 581/2 million. These trends are forecast by the Government to continue. These very different rates of growth are due to a big rise in the number of single-adult households, particularly among those of working age. The question of what has happened to the number of households compared with the number of dwellings is at the very heart of housing policy. Over the post-war decades to 1981, the number of dwellings grew a little ahead of household growth. In the 1980s, the rate of new building fell behind household growth.

When the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) established the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit, it defined a standard benefit that includes a gap in coverage as a way of limiting federal spending. When beneficiaries fall into this so-called doughnut hole, they are responsible for the full cost of their prescription drugs plus they must continue paying their Part D premiums even though they are not receiving benefits. Under the standard benefit in the MMA, Medicare Part D beneficiaries are responsible for a $250 yearly deductible and then 25 percent – or $500 – of the next $2,000 in covered drug costs, while their private plans pay 75 percent – or $1500 – of the $2,000. Once a total of $2,250 has been spent on drugs, beneficiaries fall into the doughnut hole; prescription drug coverage stops but monthly Part D premiums must still be paid. Many beneficiaries are shocked at how quickly they reach the coverage gap because they don’t realize the $2,250 spending limit includes both the money they spend out of their own pockets as well as the portion of drug costs paid by their private plan. Beneficiaries in the doughnut hole are responsible for paying the next $2,850 of drug costs out-of-pocket – bringing total spending to $5,100 – before they are entitled to catastrophic coverage.

It is a sad fact that most of the people who die or are seriously injured by fires in the home are already known to various providers of social care. Some are vulnerable due to residing with lower socio-economic groups whilst others are at increased risk due to being isolated and/or elderly.

The American Health Information Community (AHIC), a recently formed federal commission, identified secure online communication between physicians and patients—especially those with chronic conditions—as one of a limited number of “breakthrough” information technologies targeted for rapid development.1 Moreover, public opinion polls show that 80 percent of online Americans would like to communicate with their doctors via e-mail. Nevertheless, physician adoption of patient e-mail is growing slowly and remains low. Only about one in four physicians (24%) reported that e-mail was used in their practice to communicate clinical issues with patients in 2004-05, up from one in five physicians in 2000-01, according to HSC’s nationally representative Community Tracking Study (CTS) Physician Survey . . . The 20 percent growth in physician-patient e-mail between 2000-01 and 2004-05 lagged growth in access to IT for other clinical activities, such as writing prescriptions and accessing patient notes.

Serious juvenile offenders, those who commit the crimes most feared by the public, such as assaults or other violent crimes, are often sent to secure juvenile institutions or given adult sentences and sent to adult prisons. In the public’s mind, these youth are often unlikely to reform, and the juvenile court, with its emphasis on rehabilitation, is often too lenient. But are they immune to reform? Adolescence is a time of rapid change and maturation, and as the Pathways to Desistance Study1, underway as an offshoot of the MacArthur Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice, is finding, many of even the most serious offenders make the transition to early adulthood with fewer problems than might be anticipated. The study, which is following 1,355 serious offenders aged 14 to 17 in two cities, finds that a majority of the adolescents report little or no involvement in antisocial activities three years after their involvement with the court. Moreover, a sizable group—about 15%—go from a very high level of involvement to almost none. This brief presents findings from several ongoing analyses of the Pathways data.

There is a growing interest in understanding the prevalence, correlation and treatment options of adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Recent studies indicate that between 30 to 70% of children with ADHD continue to exhibitsymptoms in their adult years. Much remains unknown regarding who is affected by ADHD and its effect on employment, productivity and social interaction. The Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA), a nonprofit organization established in 1989 to provide information, resources and networking to adults with ADHD and to the professionals who work with them, established September 20, 2006as “National ADHD Awareness Day” (U.S. Senate Resolution 544). On this occasion, and in support of ADDA’smost recent initiative to increase recognition of the disorder among employees and employers, the “ADHD in the Workplace” survey was conducted to correlate ADHD prevalence to specific professions/occupations and other demographic categories.

Clinical practice related to sleep problems and sleep disorders has been expanding rapidly in the last few years, but scientific research is not keeping pace. Sleep apnea, insomnia, and restless legs syndrome are three examples of very common disorders for which we have little biological information. This new book cuts across a variety of medical disciplines such as neurology, pulmonology, pediatrics, internal medicine, psychiatry, psychology, otolaryngology, and nursing, as well as other medical practices with an interest in the management of sleep pathology. This area of research is not limited to very young and old patients sleep disorders reach across all ages and ethnicities. Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation presents a structured analysis that explores the following:
- Improving awareness among the general public and health care professionals.
- Increasing investment in interdisciplinary somnology and sleep medicine research training and mentoring activities.
- Validating and developing new and existing technologies for diagnosis and treatment. This book will be of interest to those looking to learn more about the enormous public health burden of sleep disorders and sleep deprivation and the strikingly limited capacity of the health care enterprise to identify and treat the majority of individuals suffering from sleep problems.

The number of U.S. immigrants has more than tripled over the past 35 years, as has the number of children with immigrant parents. The share of children under age 18 with at least one immigrant parent was only 6 percent in 1970; today it is over 20 percent. Many U.S. child and family policies were designed during the 1960s—the Great Society era and a time of relatively low immigration. The characteristics of low-income families today are markedly different than they were when Great Society programs were enacted. A large and growing share of low-income children lives in immigrant families. These families are mostly two-parent families and generally have at least one working parent; a significant share of immigrant parents, however, is undocumented with limited formal education and English skills. Thus, while low-income immigrant families with children are mostly working families, the low-skilled jobs in which the parents work result in high poverty and hardship rates for these children. This report assesses how the changing demographics of the low-income child population are affecting child and family policies in the United States.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, passed in 2002 following widely publicized governance scandals at corporations such as Enron, was intended to deter fraud in publicly traded corporations. The Act extended boards' financial oversight responsibilities and imposed new financial disclosure requirements. Only two of these provisions applied to nonprofits. Its passage nonetheless quickly sparked discussions about nonprofit accountability and whether nonprofits should adhere to certain provisions of the Act, either on a voluntary or mandatory basis. In 2004, for instance, the Senate Finance Committee issued a draft paper calling for stronger nonprofit governance, and various proposals continue to be debated. Several states have proposed or passed regulations that extend some provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to nonprofit organizations. For instance, the California Nonprofit Integrity Act of 2004 requires charities with gross revenues of $2 million or more to have an audit committee. Some nonprofits have voluntarily adopted practices provided for by the Act. At the same time, efforts to extend provisions of the Act to nonprofits have been met with objections and concerns about the impact on smaller nonprofits. The recent Urban Institute National Survey of Nonprofit Governance provides new insights into the potential impact of extending some provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to nonprofit organizations.

Since its inception under the mandate of the Poverty Reduction Board (PRB) in 1997, the Poverty Reduction Group (PRMPR) in the PREM anchor has assisted country teams in sharpening the poverty focus of CASs, analytical work and lending operations and has supported senior management in addressing the overall corporate agenda on poverty reduction. Following its merger with the PRS unit in 2000, the Poverty Reduction Group also became the institutional focal point for the PRS process. The Group’s work on PRS-related issues provided an operational focus, but it came at the cost of heavy reporting requirements to senior management and the Board, limiting the availability of resources to work on issues relevant to middle income countries (MICs) or to provide direct support to country teams. With the mainstreaming of the PRS approach in the Bank and a large decline in corporate requirements, there is now an opportunity for the unit to provide more services in response to client demand, address poverty related issues that are of special relevance to MICs, and contribute to other emerging priorities in PREM and the Bank.

By 2003, the uninsured rate for Hispanics in new growth communities rose to a level equal to that of Hispanics in major centers. However, less than half (43%) of the Hispanic population in new growth communities live within five miles of a community health center compared to 71% of the population in major centers. Additionally, only half of the new growth community Hispanics live within 10 miles of a safety-net hospital compared to 82% of Hispanics in major centers.

One of the pillars of the American justice system is the assurance that those who stand accused of crimes be mentally competent to understand and participate in their trials. The conventional standard for competence has typically focused on the effects of mental illness or mental retardation on individuals’ capacities to grasp the nature of their trials or their abilities to decide how to plead. Yet as the courts, both juvenile and adult, see increasingly younger defendants some argue that the law should also take into account adolescents’ lesser capacities owing to emotional and psychological immaturity. This brief details findings from the first comprehensive assessment of juvenile capacities to participate in criminal proceedings using measures of both trial-related abilities and developmental maturity.

The Child Trust Fund is an initiative designed to strengthen the saving habit of future generations and ensure that at age 18 every child will have access to a financial asset. This document outlines the progress that has been made in the first year of the scheme.

This document is aimed at parents and carers of Year 9 students, but also looks at career choices facing Year 11 students. The booklet looks to help parents and carers work through the careers and learning options open to their teenagers and complements the Which Way Now? booklet. The document includes quotes from students and parents who give advice on how they made their choices. Stress is laid upon the idea that choices made in Year 9 should not be made in isolation and that future potential careers should be taken into account. All the options that are open to Year 9 and Year 11 students are looked at in detail to help students make informed decisions.

This publication presents information on persons in custody and community-based corrections. The statistics are derived from information provided to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) from administrative records held by corrective services agencies in each state and territory, and from the Australian Government Attorney-General's Department for details on federal prisoners. Details are provided for each state and territory on: prisoner numbers and imprisonment rates by type of custody (i.e. open or secure custody or periodic detention); prisoner numbers by legal status (sentenced or unsentenced) for all prisoners and for Indigenous prisoners; the number of sentenced receptions into custody; the number of federal prisoners; and the numbers and rates of persons serving community-based corrections orders.

Quarterly estimates of total population for states, territories and Australia. Includes the most recent estimates of the population in five-year age groups; numbers (and some rates) of births, deaths, infant deaths, interstate and overseas movements. Quarterly and/or annual time series tables throughout. Also includes population projections and estimated resident households for states, territories and Australia.

This guide addresses the problem of clandestine methamphetamine labs. U.S. state and local police report that methamphetamine trafficking and abuse has become their most pressing illegal drug problem in recent years, surpassing even crack cocaine. . . . This guide does not provide technical details on all the aspects of clandestine methamphetamine labs.§§ Rather, it provides a general overview of the problem and of responses to it. It begins by describing the problem and reviewing factors that increase the risks of it. It then identifies a series of questions to help you analyze your local problem. Finally, it reviews responses to the problem and what is known about them from evaluative research and practice.

Personal computers, mobile communication, DVD players – new technologies are changing the ways people conduct virtually every aspect of their lives. With an aging population creating new challenges and opportunities for societies, many leaders in business, government and non-profits are beginning to focus on how these same life-changing technologies can play a role in transforming and improving the aging experience.

HHS’s Child Care Bureau (CCB) did not have information on the total enrollment in CCDF programs of children whose parents had limited English proficiency, but data collected by its Office of Head Start in 2003 showed that about 13 percent of parents whose children were in Head Start reported having limited English proficiency. The most recent (1998) national survey data showed that children of parents with limited English proficiency were less likely than other children to receive financial assistance for child care from a social service or welfare agency or to be in Head Start, after controlling for selected characteristics. Eighty-eight percent of these children were Hispanic, and their results differed from Asian children.

The papers in this pamphlet were presented at a joint End Child Poverty/ippr seminar, which explored the merits of an asset-based approach to tackling child poverty. Asset-based welfare is a new but growing area of debate in British welfare policy. At its core is the view that people’s welfare is best understood by measuring income and assets. The Labour Government has announced two explicit assetbased policies: the Child Trust Fund, better known as the ‘baby-bond’, and the Saving Gateway, which is currently being piloted. Though very different in structure, these policies have the common aim of allowing more and ultimately all people to accumulate a financial asset. The contributions to this publication offer a range of different perspectives on the importance of asset-building and its relevance to an anti-poverty strategy. Three of the chapters are broadly supportive of asset-based welfare, while two are more sceptical.

Providing high-quality, affordable long-term care (LTC) for older people is a policy challenge for many nations. Growing numbers of older people and extended longevity in the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) are increasing the demand for LTC. As major payers for LTC services and regulators for quality of care, governments are grappling with how to fund and deliver these services so that people can age with independence, dignity, and quality of life. . . . The European Commission and the AARP Global Aging Program are hosting a joint conference to help policy-makers, researchers, providers, and advocates meet the challenge of planning and preparing for the needs of an ageing population. Delegates to this international conference include high-level representatives, senior officials from the EU and US and researchers. The conference and this background paper are intended to highlight common challenges and opportunities with the aim of developing a platform for exchange and dialogue on important policy issues facing ageing societies.

Family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) child care is a widely used form of care for young children in the United States, particularly for children birth through age 2. It accounts for 46 percent of the hours these youngest children spend in nonparental care. Thirty-three experts from a range of research, policy, and practice organizations came together for a symposium on FFN care on November 2, 2005 entitled: Improving Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care: Toward a National Strategy. This symposium report outlines the picture of current FFN research, practice, and policy that emerged and identifies next steps to strengthen all three areas. A major step that would support practice, policy, and research alike is to increase public awareness of the widespread use of FFN care by families of all economic levels and ethnicities.

Presents estimates of national levels and rates of personal and property victimization for the year 2005. Rates and levels are provided for personal and property victimization by victim characteristics, type of crime, victim-offender relationship, use of weapons, and reporting to police. Annual average victimization rates for 2004-05 are compared with those of the previous two years, 2002-03. A section is devoted to trends in victimization from 1993 to 2005. Estimates are from data collected using the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), an ongoing survey of households that interviews about 134,000 persons in 77,200 households annually. Violent crimes included in the report are rape/sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault and simple assault (from the NCVS), and homicide (from the FBI's UCR program). Property crimes examined are burglary, motor vehicle theft, and property theft.

The assessment of trends in crime and criminal justice has been a permanent concern of the Council of Europe and other international organizations. Due to ongoing developments in Greater Europe and the ensuing enlargement of the membership of the Council of Europe, the necessity for such periodic assessment and comparison in the above mentioned areas had become even more apparent.

Presents estimates of the prevalence of mental health problems among prison and jail inmates using self-reported data on recent history and symptoms of mental disorders. The report compares the characteristics of offenders with a mental health problem to those without, including current offense, criminal record, sentence length, time expected to be served, co-occurring substance dependence or abuse, family background, and facility conduct since current admission. It presents measures of mental health problems by gender, race, Hispanic origin, and age. The report describes mental health problems and mental health treatment among inmates since admission to jail or prison. Findings are based on the Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 2004, and the Survey of Inmates in Local Jails, 2002.

This series of surveys of age 42+ Americans explores their opinions regarding issues that AARP members have indicated they want to hear discussed in the national and state public discourse leading up to the 2006 midterm elections. A different issue is featured in each of the surveys along with consistent weekly tracking of changes in voters’ interest levels and opinions.

Over the last several decades, obesity has been increasing globally in virtually all population groups.1-7 The growth in the population fraction with unhealthy body weight was particularly high in the US, although it has reached worrisome proportions in other developed and developing countries as well. About two-thirds of US adults aged 20 years and older is now either overweight or obese (defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 25 kg/m2 and above) and about 30% of US adults are obese (BMI>30 kg/m2).2 On the global scale, more than one billion adults are estimated to be overweight with at least 300 million of them qualifying as obese.

The U.S. Census Bureau released new data showing that in 2005, the child poverty rate in the U.S. remained at 18%. The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) is deeply troubled that despite economic growth, the overall trend since 2000 has been a dramatic increase in the number of children living in poverty—there were 1.3 million more poor children in 2005 compared to 2000. As we mark the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina—and subsequent empty promises to confront poverty with bold action—NCCP urges policymakers to make a commitment to improving the lives of our nation’s youngest citizens. Despite growth in the economy in recent years, the new Census data reveal that many Americans have not benefited from the recovery. American workers and their families are simply not getting ahead—the New York Times reports this week that the inflation-adjusted median hourly wage has declined since 2003.

This Action Plan examines the reasons why, despite the huge progress we have made, there are still individuals and families who are cut off. About 2.5 per cent of every generation seem to be stuck in a lifetime of disadvantage. Their problems are multiple, entrenched and often passed down through generations. But the message in this Plan is an overwhelmingly positive one. We believe it is possible to extend opportunity to the least advantaged so that they enjoy more of the choices, chances and power that the rest of society takes for granted. To achieve this, we need a radical revision of our methods for tackling social exclusion. This Plan is guided by five principles: early intervention; systematically identifying what works; better co-ordination of the many separate agencies; personal rights and responsibilities; and intolerance of poor performance.

In 2004, work started on the development of an Integration Monitor. The Integration Monitor is a project that is being implemented by the Ministry of Justice Research and Documentation Centre (WODC) [Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek- en Documentatiecentrum] of the Ministry of Justice in collaboration with Statistics Netherlands [Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek]. The object is to develop a tool that can be used to monitor the integration, over a period of time, of first and second-generation individuals from ethnic minorities as objectively as possible. Alongside information from other sources, a monitoring tool of this nature can contribute to a better understanding of how and the rate at which the various ethnic minority groups are able to gain a place for themselves in Dutch society.

The HIV treatments introduced during the last five years of the 20th century are extending the lifespan of HIV-positive patients and increasing their quality of life. But the value of these treatments is limited if the people who need them most cannot or do not avail themselves of them. For example, most HIV-positive persons should receive highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) — the most up-to-date and effective treatment for HIV — as well as supportive services to assist with the other problems HIV can create and the same kinds of health care that everyone else needs.

This report provides an overview of the main results from Social Care Institute for Excellence’s (SCIE’s) first systematic map. The background and aims of the map topic are discussed followed by an explanation of the methodology behind the systematic mapping. The report then focuses on the flow of literature found in the map and the main results. Finally, there is a discussion of the findings and wider implications of the map for carrying out systematic reviews and various types of other work.

When predicting the future income security of retirees, researchers typically focus on measures concerned with retirees’ accumulated financial assets, particularly within tax-qualified retirement plans
(e.g., 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs)), and coverage by supplemental health insurance to Medicare provided through a former employer. However, any debt that a near-elderly or elderly family has accrued going into retirement or during retirement is likely to offset its asset accumulations, resulting in a lower level of retirement income security. As described in more detail below, debt levels of the elderly and near-elderly are heading up: Among elderly families—and especially among the oldest elderly—both housing debt and consumer debt levels are rising, for some cohorts to levels beyond the threshold considered perilous.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has recently conducted a project entitled “What will it take to end child poverty?”, and wanted to ensure that the research was grounded in reality, reflecting people’s real experience of living in poverty, so a series of feedback events were held across the UK. The observations and suggestions that were made at the feedback events were fed back into the JRF’s report, published at the same time as Unequal Choices. In this record of the feedback events, people experiencing poverty speak passionately about the impact that it has on their daily lives, on the choices they make and the services they receive.

Today, women constitute almost half of all international migrants worldwide—95 million. Yet, despite contributions to poverty reduction and struggling economies, it is only recently that the international community has begun to grasp the significance of what migrant women have to offer. And it is only recently that policymakers are acknowledging the particular challenges and risks women confront when venturing into new lands. Every year millions of women working millions of jobs overseas send hundreds of millions of dollars in remittance funds back to their homes and communities. These funds go to fill hungry bellies, clothe and educate children, provide health care and generally improve living standards for loved ones left behind. For host countries, the labour of migrant women is so embedded into the very fabric of society that it goes virtually unnoticed. Migrant women toil in the households of working families, soothe the sick and comfort the elderly. They contribute their technical and professional expertise, pay taxes and quietly support a quality of life that many take for granted.

London is an extraordinary city. Its prestigious heritage, dynamic economy and multicultural population mark it out as one of the most successful cities in the world. But despite being home to some of the country’s greatest wealth and prosperity, the capital also has very high levels of deprivation. A generation of children in London is growing up in poverty. According to the latest figures some 656,000 children are living in poverty – 41 per cent of all children in the capital. The situation is particularly bad in Inner London: here the child poverty rate is 51 per cent. In Outer London the rate is lower at 34 per cent, but rising. Overall, children living the capital face nearly twice the risk of living in poverty as those living elsewhere in the country; the national rate is 28 per cent.

The number of teen mothers in the United States is on the decline. The downward trend in adolescent motherhood is evident in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as for White, Black, Asian, American Indian, and Hispanic teens. Despite the good news, it is important to note that U.S. teen birth rates remain higher than those of other industrialized countries. Teen birth rates in the United States remain particularly high for teens of color and those living in low-income communities. Many of these teens have grown up in poverty, and are vulnerable – along with their children – to further disadvantage and disconnection from society.

Childcare is a crucial part of any child poverty strategy. Early years services play an important role in tackling poverty, enhancing attainment and promoting well-being among children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Government’s anti-poverty strategy has focused on improving opportunities for parents to take and remain in work, providing assistance with moving ‘from welfare to work’, ensuring that paid work provides higher income than not working (‘making work pay’) and on providing security for those who cannot work. This makes childcare a central part of the government’s social and economic policies.

Welcome to the Parental Mental Health and Child Welfare Network website. The network is for social care and health workers who work with parents with a mental health problem or their children. It has been set up to promote joint working between adult mental health and children's services. This sub site of the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) website includes information about the network, links to key resources in adult mental health and children's services, and information about network and related events.

During the last century, the average life span of Americans nearly doubled, from just 49 years in 1900 to nearly 80 years in 2000. Americans today can expect longer and healthier lives, but most of them will spend their last few years living with disabilities or chronic illnesses. These changes are straining the U.S. health care system, which did not develop in the context of needing to serve large numbers of chronically ill and disabled elderly individuals.

For decades, “replacement rates” have been the primary measure used in the retirement planning process. This is defined as the annual amount of an individual’s retirement income, divided by his or her yearly earnings just prior to retiring. For instance, someone who retires from a job with a $100,000 annual salary and has $75,000 a year in retirement income has a “replacement rate” of 75 percent. A “Part 1” article by EBRI (VanDerhei, EBRI Notes, September 2004) reviewed how these rates have traditionally been used to establish minimum targets for future retirees by calculating the amount needed to provide the same amount of after-tax income in retirement as that received prior to retirement after adjusting for differences in savings, age, and work-related expenses. Results from one of the most commonly cited studies indicated that for a one wage-earner family retiring at 65 with a spouse age 62, the target replacement rates were between 75–89 percent (depending on income) in 2004 (Alford, Farnen, and Schachet, 2004).

This summer, more than 26,000 women took the time to respond to the 2006 AFL-CIO and Working Women online survey, “Ask a Working Woman.” The results, tallied in August, were remarkably similar among women across the board – that this country is not moving in the right direction and we must do something about it.

Significant funding is being injected into capacity building initiatives but there has been little shared learning about concepts and models, practical implementation or effectiveness. A pilot programme to deliver capacity building to black and minority ethnic organisations across London offers lessons about building the capacity of voluntary organisations to flourish within the new environment by adopting more businesslike approaches and becoming more outward-looking.

The DRC, the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, National Institute for Mental Health in England and other mental health and employment experts have compiled a list of good practice resources and useful information for employers about mental health. The document aims to enable employers to improve their policies and practices around recruiting and retaining staff with mental health problems.

This guide focuses on how managers and practitioners in social care can initiate and sustain the participation of children and young people in developing their services. The guide proposes that organisations adopt a whole systems approach to participation. In applying this approach, the four parts of service development that need to be considered are culture, structure, practice and review. The guide includes key messages from practice (including case studies) and gives details of some of the resources available about participation.

There is increasing government interest in promoting positive parent-child relationships as one means of improving outcomes for children. More generally, debates continue about the role of fathers, parenting in single-parent families, and what helps or hinders good parent-child relationships. A team from the University of Sussex sought to address some of these issues by examining the parent-child relationships for 346 children in 173 families with at least two children between the ages of 4 - 8 years. The families were diverse in terms of socio-economic background, and included two-parent as well as single-mother families.

Drug use in Europe has been expanding over the past three decades. More people experiment with drugs and more people become regular users, with all the problems this entails for already strained national health systems. There are thus suggestions, at the European level, that drug policies have failed to contain a widespread problem. Sweden is a notable exception. Drug use levels among students are lower than in the early 1970s. Life-time prevalence and regular drug use among students and among the general population are considerably lower than in the rest of Europe. In addition, bucking the general trend in Europe, drug abuse has actually declined in Sweden over the last five years. This is an achievement that deserves recognition. I am personally convinced that the key to the Swedish success is that the Government has taken the drug problem seriously and has pursued policies adequate to address it. Both demand reduction and supply reduction policies play an important role in Sweden. In addition, the Government monitors the drug situation, examines the policy from time to time and makes adjustments where they are needed.

Reforms passed in 1996 ended welfare as we knew it. Individuals no longer have an entitlement to welfare, and states have changed how they administer cash assistance. Most states actively discourage welfare entry and aggressively require new entrants to pursue paid work. Numerous other safety net programs also changed, as the 1996 legislation limited immigrant eligibility for food stamps, scaled back children's eligibility for disability benefits, increased federal money for child care, and placed greater demands on states' child support enforcement systems. States were given incentives to encourage marriage and the formation of two-parent families and to reduce out-of-wedlock child bearing. The dramatic decline in welfare caseloads represents the most stunning post-reform outcome. Caseloads declined by over 50 percent in just a few years. Numerous studies attempt to explain caseload decline and how families fared. Scholars generally agree that the strong economy, work supports such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, and welfare reform all encouraged a shift from welfare to work, especially among single mothers. Scholars disagree about the relative importance of each of these factors. The National Survey of America's Families (NSAF), conducted by the Urban Institute as part of its Assessing the New Federalism project, documented changes in low-income families' circumstances at the national level over the 1996 to 2002 period.

The Social Work Inspection Agency's (SWIA's) Extraordinary Lives report, a review of services for looked after children in Scotland, was published today to coincide with the Time to Care Conference in Glasgow. It concludes that too many looked after children are disadvantaged and too often they are denied opportunities for a stable home life and access to good health and education services. However, with the right support, looked after children can overcome childhood adversity and lead successful lives, particularly where they are supported by adults who believe in them and have the skills to help them.Around 200 young people and adults with first-hand experience of the care system were consulted during the review, which is part of SWIA's programme of thematic inspections.

Though international nonprofits are just 2 percent of the U.S. charitable nonprofit sector, they have continued to grow in size and scope to meet pressing demands around the world. International organizations are a growing part of the U.S. nonprofit sector and play a vital role here and abroad, connecting Americans to the world and the world to Americans. Whether arranging international student exchanges, assisting victims of foreign disasters, or influencing policy between nations, U.S.-based international nonprofits are expanding the interactions that Americans have with people, places, and ideas from around the world. They contribute to, and are shaped by, the globalization that is redefining the world in which we live. Despite their increasing importance, these organizations have largely been understudied as a subsector of U.S. nonprofits. Newly available data from the Urban Institute's National Center for Charitable Statistics/GuideStar database make it possible to profile important characteristics of this set of organizations, as a whole and by major subgroups. The data consist of information that 501(c)(3) organizations, with $25,000 or more in annual revenue, have filed on Forms 990 with the Internal Revenue Service. Information gathered represents the most comprehensive nonprofit data yet assembled on the U.S. international nonprofit sector. This policy brief provides a snapshot of the international subsector through an analysis of trends in their size, resources, and scope from FY 2001 to FY 2003 in three major areas of operation: international development and relief assistance, international understanding (e.g., educational exchanges), and international affairs.

This research brief documents preliminary findings from phase two, the original data collection effort, and describes the experiences of prisoners returning to the Cleveland area in the first few months after release. A previous research brief entitled Ohio Prisoners' Reflections on Returning Home described the prerelease experiences and expectations of prisoners in our sample (Visher, Baer, and Naser 2006). This research brief expands on that information by comparing the prerelease experiences of those prisoners with their experiences after release. We present key findings on a range of reentry challenges and describe factors likely related to postrelease success or failure, such as employment, substance use, attitudes and beliefs, health challenges, criminal histories, and family and community environments. This research brief is intended to serve as a foundation for policy discussions about how released prisoners can successfully reintegrate into their communities, whether in Cleveland or in similar cities around the country.

The document sets out how this strategy needs to develop to take account of the growing body of evidence of what is working in areas with sharply declining rates, and to reflect new analysis on the underlying causes of teenage pregnancy.

This study, by The Open University, examines the importance of markets as social spaces in towns and cities in England. Fieldwork and observation in eight markets across the country were used to: examine the key factors that make markets work well as social, vibrant public spaces for different groups in the community; identify the main users of markets as social spaces in different contexts; and examine the different kinds of social activity in markets.

This briefing provides a summary of the September 2006 homelessness statistics and introduces 'Preventing Homelessness: A Strategy Health Check', which is a self-assessment toolkit to help local housing authorities review their homelessness strategy and establish how effective their services are in tackling and preventing homelessness.

Since 1965, the federal Head Start program has provided low-income 3- and 4-year-old children and their families with comprehensive early education and support services. Head Start programs focus on the “whole child” and include early education that addresses cognitive, developmental, and socioemotional needs; medical and dental screenings and referrals; nutritional services; parental involvement activities and referrals to social service providers for the entire family; and mental health services.1 In 1994, policymakers authorized the Early Head Start program to address the needs of children under age 3 and pregnant women.

The Disaster Psychiatry page was developed by the APA Committee on Psychiatric Dimensions of Disaster to provide information useful to psychiatrists in preparing for and responding to disasters and other traumatic events. It features several publications on disaster psychiatry as well as recommendations for broader involvement of psychiatrists in disaster work developed during conferences sponsored by the Emergency Services and Disaster Relief Branch, Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the America Psychiatric Foundation.

Changing demographic and immigration patterns in the United States have produced a growing number of people who cannot easily access basic health services because they cannot adequately speak or understand English. Limited English proficiency (LEP) thus contributes to racial and ethnic disparities in health. The use of trained interpreters in health care encounters can significantly improve access to high-quality care by facilitating accurate diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. Because LEP is more predominant among people with low incomes, their need for interpreter services is particularly acute. . . . This report summarizes analyses that calculate the size of the limited English proficient population within Connecticut’s Medicaid program. It also estimates the cost of providing these enrollees with face-to-face interpreters in compliance with federal laws and guidelines.

Statehealthfacts.org, from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, provides free, up-to-date, and easy-to-use health and health policy data on all 50 states. Statehealthfacts.org has data on more than 500 health topics including Medicaid and SCHIP, Medicare, health coverage and the uninsured, health costs and budgets, providers and service use, minority health, women’s health, and HIV/AIDS.

There is increasing government interest in promoting positive parent-child relationships as one means of improving outcomes for children. More generally, debates continue about the role of fathers, parenting in single-parent families, and what helps or hinders good parent-child relationships. A team from the University of Sussex sought to address some of these issues by examining the parent-child relationships for 346 children in 173 families with at least two children between the ages of 4 - 8 years. The families were diverse in terms of socio-economic background, and included two-parent as well as single-mother families.

From 2006 all European Union countries, including the UK, will produce an annual national report on strategies for social protection and social inclusion. The first report is due to be delivered to the European Commission by 15 September 2006. This report outlines the most important social policy issues for the UK from 2006-08.

Indexing currently plays a key role in determining Social Security’s benefits and revenues, and is a central element of many proposals to reform the program. The current indexing provisions that affect most workers and beneficiaries relate to (1) benefit calculations for new beneficiaries, (2) the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for existing beneficiaries, and (3) the cap on taxable earnings. Some reform proposals would slow benefit growth by indexing the initial benefit formula to changes in prices or life expectancy rather than wages. Some would revise the COLA under the premise that it currently overstates inflation, and some would increase the cap on taxable earnings. National pension reforms in other countries have used indexing in various ways. In countries with high contribution rates that need to address solvency issues, recent changes have generally focused on reducing benefits. Although most Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries compute retirement benefits using wage indexing, some have moved to price indexing, or a mix of both. Some countries reflect improvements in life expectancy in computing initial benefits. Reforms in other countries that include indexing changes sometimes affect both current and future retirees.

According to the latest Census statistics, nearly 70 percent of Americans now own their homes—the highest homeownership rate on record. However, a closer look at the numbers over the last 25 years suggests that homeownership rates among Working Families with Children were actually lower in 2003 than they were in 1978 and that the share of America’s children living in owner-occupied units has also declined. In 1978, about 65 percent of all US households owned their homes. While the overall homeownership rate declined in the 1980s, it rebounded sharply by the 1990s, rising to 68 percent by 2001, and then increasing to its current high. In contrast, the homeownership rate of low- to moderate-income Working Families with Children (those with incomes between full-time minimum wage work and 120 percent of local area median income) has never fully recovered. In 1978, 62.5 percent of all such families owned their homes. As of 2001, their homeownership stood at just 56.7 percent.

The use of anabolic steroids (1) is becoming mainstream as young men turn to the drugs to boost self-confidence and improve body image, a survey of 20 UK towns and cities by Druglink magazine, published by the drugs charity DrugScope, has found. Traditionally used primarily by elite athletes and bodybuilders, the popularity of anabolic steroids has grown dramatically on the UK drugs scene, with 11 out of the 20 areas surveyed reporting a significant steroid presence in their drug market. Drug workers are seeing young professionals, building site workers and students, aged between 16 and 25, using steroids for purely aesthetic reasons – a shortcut to the muscled, toned physique of their sporting heroes. Supply of the Class C drug, a human growth hormone, is illegal, but possession is not. Side effects of steroid misuse in men include reduced sperm count, kidney and liver problems, high blood pressure and increased aggression. Injectors risk contracting viruses such as HIV, hepatitis B and C.

The Health Literacy of America’s Adults is the first release of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) health literacy results. The results are based on assessment tasks designed specifically to measure the health literacy of adults living in the United States. Health literacy was reported using four performance levels: Below Basic, Basic, Intermediate, and Proficient. The majority of adults (53 percent) had Intermediate health literacy. About 22 percent had Basic and 14 percent had Below Basic health literacy. Relationships between health literacy and background variables (such as educational attainment, age, race/ethnicity, where adults get information about health issues, and health insurance coverage) were also examined and reported. For example, adults with Below Basic or Basic health literacy were less likely than adults with higher health literacy to get information about health issues from written sources (newspapers, magazines, books, brochures, or the Internet) and more likely than adults with higher health literacy to get a lot of information about health issues from radio and television.

The purpose of this minimum standard protocol is to
· Improve the implementation of the DIP pathway between prisons/community for clients
· Assist prisons/community to work in partnership more effectively
The commitments included in this protocol have been agreed in partnership between prisons/community at 3 pan London forums held between July and November 2005. All those involved in the pathway will endeavour to meet these commitments. The protocol will be reviewed and developed during pan London forums to be held during 2006.

Leaving a will is the best way to ensure heirs or descendants may inherit from your estate. Issues of property distribution may arise when a birth parent or adoptive parent dies without making a valid will or without naming an heir to particular property (referred to as “intestacy”). In these cases, State law determines who may inherit from whom. Laws in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands specify an adopted child’s rights of inheritance from and through the adoptive and birth parents.

America is a major contributor to these global changes. When ranked with other countries in the world, the U.S. is a leader – not only in Gross National Product, per capita income, and many health and educational standards but also in other, more dubious, ways. The U.S. population also has the largest “ecological footprint” in the world, with greater impact on many of the planet’s resources and ecosystems than any other nation on Earth. . . . But, exactly how is the American “population” – its growth, density, movement, composition and resource consumption – linked to environmental impacts in the nation, and around the world? And, how do we reconcile America’s comparatively large per-capita ecological footprint on the planet with its responsibility to address it, both in the country where it occurs, and internationally, where the effects are also felt? This report helps us to address these issues by outlining the basic
challenges we face.

Duty of Scottish Ministers and of education authorities to promote involvement of parents in school education etc:
(1) It is the duty of the Scottish Ministers to promote the involvement of the parents of pupils in attendance at public schools in the education provided to those pupils by the schools.
(2) It is the duty of an education authority to promote the involvement of the parents of a pupil in attendance at a public school in the authority's area in the education provided by the school.

After nearly a decade of decline, the number of children living in low-income families has been steadily increasing, a pattern that began in 2000. This data book provides national and 50-state trend data on the characteristics of low-income children over the past decade: parental education, parental employment, marital status, family structure, race and ethnicity, age distribution, parental nativity, home ownership, residential mobility, type of residential area, and region of residence.

More anti-sectarian teaching tools for teachers and youth workers were unveiled today. A training DVD, Challenging Sectarianism: anti-sectarian education in practice, and a revamped website offer new sources of materials to be used in working with youngsters on issues surrounding sectarianism. The new-look website has been designed to be more user-friendly and now includes a section on Islam and Islamaphobia, as well as more school case studies.

This paper examines the core analytic elements of randomized experiments for social research. Its goal is to provide a compact discussion for faculty members, graduate students, and applied researchers of the design and analysis of randomized experiments for measuring the impacts of social or educational interventions. Design issues considered include choosing the size of a study sample and its allocation to experimental groups, using covariates or blocking to improve the precision of impact estimates, and randomizing intact groups instead of individuals. Analysis issues considered include estimating impacts when not all sample members comply with their assigned treatment and estimating impacts when groups are randomized.

About one-third of the nation’s adult homeless population are veterans, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Many of these veterans have experienced substance abuse, mental illness, or both. The VA’s Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem (GPD) program, which is up for reauthorization, provides transitional housing to help veterans prepare for permanent housing. As requested, GAO reviewed (1) VA homeless veterans estimates and the number of transitional housing beds, (2) the extent of collaboration involved in the provision of GPD and related services, and (3) VA’s assessment of GPD program performance. GAO analyzed VA data and methods used for the homeless estimates and performance assessment, and visited selected GPD providers in four states to observe the extent of collaboration.

The Foundation for Development for Needy Communities (FDNC), was formed in May 1996 by concerned, development oriented people who felt the need to work in line with government efforts to create jobs, raise incomes and increase investment and possible opportunities for sustainable development in Uganda. . . . The struggle against poor living conditions and all its related evils is a challenge to us all. Over the years, FDNC has responded at the local level by coordinating a range of efforts within the most needy and underserved communities in Eastern Uganda. Programmes address the critical needs for primary health care, education and training, and income-generation, with an eye towards self-reliance and sustainability.

The report provides individual profiles on 118 independent countries and a summary report on 19 non-independent countries and territories designated as GSP beneficiaries and/or beneficiaries under the ATPA/ATPDEA, CBTPA, and AGOA. Wherever possible, these profiles focus on the worst forms of child labor, rather than on child work in general. However, data and information on the incidence of the worst forms of child labor are often unavailable, due to the hidden nature of such activities. Therefore, the report presents as complete a picture as possible of the child labor situation in a country or territory. Each of the profiles consists of a textbox and three written sections: incidence and nature of child labor; child labor laws and enforcement; and current government policies and programs to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.

At midyear 2005 more than half of all prison and jail inmates had a mental health problem, including 705,600 inmates in State prisons, 70,200 in Federal prisons, and 479,900 in local jails. These estimates represented 56% of State prisoners, 45% of Federal prisoners, and 64% of jail inmates. The findings in this report were based on data from personal interviews with State and Federal prisoners in 2004 and local jail inmates in 2002. Mental health problems were defined by two measures: a recent history or symptoms of a mental health problem. They must have occurred in the 12 months prior to the interview. A recent history of mental health problems included a clinical diagnosis or treatment by a mental health professional. Symptoms of a mental disorder were based on criteria specified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV).

Child welfare professionals require ready access to State laws and regulations regarding child protection, foster care, and adoption. This publication provides
web addresses for State statutes websites and lists the parts of the code for each State and territory that contain the laws addressing child protection, adoption, and child welfare. It also provides web addresses for State regulation and policy websites and lists other resources that explain States’ policies and procedures.

This report addresses the market for “formal childcare”. This encompasses the market for formal, non-parental supervision of children as purchased by parents or other responsible adults and as provided by schools, local authority nurseries and the private, voluntary and independent sectors (PVI). This is one of five reports that informs the development of targeted DfES policies in respect of four children's services markets: Childcare, Positive Activities for Young People, Parental and Family Services, and Residential Homes/Fostering).

The DfES wishes to develop an evidence-based strategy for developing the market in children’s services, which are identified as education, social care, health and other services for children, young people and families, including parents. The research specification for each market was different, and the research findings are contained in four separate reports. This overarching report draws together the themes from the four reports.

The term child abuse refers to the act of physically, psychologically or sexually harming a child under the age of 18. Neglect refers to inadequately meeting a child’s needs. This includes a failure to provide needed, age-appropriate care although financially able to do so or offered the financial means to do so. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) of 1974 set forth the federal definition for child abuse and neglect. It is “any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm” to a child under age 18.2 State statutes, though, take the federal definition and expand upon it creating variations across the states.

This bulletin on Scottish prison statistics forms part of The Scottish Executive Justice Department series of bulletins on aspects of the criminal justice system. We have continued to present figures on a financial year basis, going back to April 1996 when computerised records became available. The figures on the average daily population of prisoners and the number of receptions are disaggregated by age, gender, sentence type, sentence length and main crime. Some new tables have been introduced that show information on religion of prisoners in custody and population and liberations by community justice authorities ( CJA). Details on these changes are included in the Annex.

How many infants and toddlers in the United States live in low-income families?
There are more than 12 million infants and toddlers in the United States.
 44%—5.3 million—live in low-income families.
 21%—2.6 million—live in poor families.

Combining the perspectives of parents and young children aged 4-8 in a range of families, this study explores how family members get on together, what affects family life both in and outside the home, and the role family relationships play in children’s developing well-being. The study provides comparisons between mothers and fathers as well as between mothers in different family types (both lone-mother and two-parent households).

This report documents critical issues in children’s mental health policy and service delivery from the perspective of stakeholders in the family and youth movement. The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) convened the meeting that this report summarizes, Best Practices in Policy for Children’s Mental Health Consultation Meeting with Stakeholders: Family and Youth Perspectives. It was designed to solicit guidance from families and youth involved in the child mental health field to support a research study entitled Unclaimed Children Revisited. Among the key findings of the meeting was that through a family and youth lens, many effective practices, some with supporting policy, have emerged but not been taken to scale. Another set of core findings was that family members and youth acknowledged the gains made in children’s mental health but cited obstacles to improved outcomes for children and families, such as service limitations, provider attitudes and training, lack of services integration, fiscal constraints, a weak infrastructure, and a sparse array of services. The report describes participants’ perspectives on the status of family and youth support and advocacy systems. It also highlights selected current innovative interventions directed or heavily influenced by parents, youth, and community advocates that strengthen family and youth influence in mental health policy and service planning and advance improved mental health outcomes for children, youth, and families.

The paper starts with a short description of the interview process employed in the early stages of the project (pages 5-6) then with a brief review of some definitions, terms and concepts used throughout the text e.g. what is meant by “the sector”, “lobbying,” “public-policy advocacy,” “policy development” and “influencing decisions of government” (pages 7-10).It is then followed by a narrative (pages 11-17) that presents a series of observations and analyses, objectives, strategic considerations and premises that form the basis of the recommendations presented. The paper recognizes the administrative and financial challenge that undertakings such as those proposed in this paper present and that they may be beyond the ability of any one organization to devel