Accessing substance abuse treatment: issues for parents involved with child welfare services.

The complex issues associated with barriers to treatment entry for parents who are involved with child welfare has not been well explored. Accessing timely treatment is now critical for these parents since the introduction of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, limiting the time until a permanency decision is made. Using a longitudinal, qualitative approach, substance-abusing parents from 15 families, their relevant family members, and service providers were interviewed approximately every 3 months over an 18-month period.

Development and initial testing of a measure of person-directed care.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to empirically test items of a new measure designed to assess person-directed care (PDC) practices in long-term care.

Design And Methods: After reviewing the literature, we identified five areas related to PDC: personhood, comfort care, autonomy, knowing the person, and support for relationships. We also identified an additional component of environmental support.