Common Terminology and Acoustic Measures for Human Voice and Birdsong.

Purpose The zebra finch is used as a model to study the neural circuitry of auditory-guided human vocal production. The terminology of birdsong production and acoustic analysis, however, differs from human voice production, making it difficult for voice researchers of either species to navigate the literature from the other. The purpose of this research note is to identify common terminology and measures to better compare information across species.

Inter-rater reliability of the Illinois Structured Decision Support Protocol.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the level of inter-rater reliability of the Illinois Structured Decision Support Protocol by examining the level of Child Protective Services (CPS) caseworkers' agreement regarding state interventions. The Protocol was designed to guide CPS workers to consistent decisions related to the level of state intervention in child maltreatment cases.

Method: Forty-one workers recruited from three CPS field offices in Illinois participated in this study by assessing three cases using the Illinois Structured Decision Support Protocol.

Reducing conflict between child welfare communities.

Conflict is inherent in child welfare practice. This article describes a collaborative project between a public child welfare agency and a school of social work (the UFOCWL) to strengthen and improve the connections between the agency and the larger community. The collaboration focused on identifying and recognizing the diverse roles and responsibilities between the various players in the child welfare system.

The child health and illness profile-adolescent edition: assessing well-being in group homes or institutions.

The Child Health and Illness Profile-Adolescent Edition (CHIP-AE), a new standardized instrument, was administered to 63 adolescents living in group homes or institutions. Youth reported high levels of satisfaction with their physical health, resilience and problem-solving skills, and academic achievement. Youth reported low levels of self-esteem, emotional comfort and psychosocial stability, family involvement, and work performance.

Judges', caseworkers', and substance abuse counselors' indicators of family reunification with substance-affected parents.

The decision to reunify children with their substance-affected parent is highly complex and requires a tremendous amount of work and change on the part of the affected parent. This exploratory study identified indicators for safe reunification of children placed in foster care due to parental substance abuse. Judges who hear juvenile cases, private agency child welfare caseworkers, and substance abuse counselors from a large midwestern state were surveyed using an instrument composed of a preliminary list of indicators identified through focus groups with these professional groups.

Using administrative data to assess child safety in out-of-home care.

This article describes efforts to produce useful safety measures from administrative data. A measure similar to that proposed by the U.S.

Predicting caregiver stress: an ecological perspective.

The family caregiving process for children with severe emotional disorders is conceptualized from an ecological perspective and examined in light of outcomes for caregivers. This study of 259 families assessed the relative importance, individually and in combination, of various clusters of caregiver, child, family, and environmental characteristics and responses as predictors of caregiver stress. Findings raise questions about current practice and policy, and suggest directions for future research.

Families with children with emotional disorders: a review of the literature.

This review identifies and explores a body of literature that correlates a child's emotional or behavioral problems with some aspect of the family and a body of literature that considers a wider ecological perspective. This literature is examined in relation to two questions: (1) What do we know about families with children with emotional disorders? and (2) How does that information help us design social policy and social work interventions for these families and their children? The hope for social work research and practice, as well as program and policy development, lies in expanding the ecological work that considers factors related to children's referral for mental health services, parents' perspectives of what they expect from mental health services, and parents' perspectives of their experiences and needs in relation to their child with emotional or behavioral problems.

Management is performance: strategies for client-centered practice in social service organizations.

The political nature of human services is a given. The multiple constituency dilemma coupled with the retrenchment of the 1970s and 1980s has led to a great gulf separating managers from clients, and managers from front-line personnel. These political factors have been reinforced by management theory and the blind adoption of "state-of-the-art" management technologies developed in business and the military, and the separation has gained legitimacy.

Active surveillance of child abuse fatalities.

Monitoring abuse related deaths of infants and young children yields information necessary to the formulation of sound public policy. Birth and death certificates were correlated with information in the state Child Abuse and Neglect Registry on 104 abuse related fatalities. Significant findings include: very young age of parents at the first pregnancy; high rate of single parenthood; significantly lower educational achievement of victims' mothers; late, inadequate prenatal care; complications during pregnancy; and low birth weight among victims.

Who best represents the interests of the child in court?

Representation of children in judicial proceedings is a matter of public policy, but it is not funded. Court-appointed special advocates (CASA) are a low-cost way of providing this representation. The study reported here compares a CASA program to a staff attorney model, and reveals CASA's assets.

Preventing child abuse and neglect in Texas.

The rising prevalence of child abuse and neglect in Texas underscores the need to encourage innovative programs across the state. Primary prevention efforts catalyzed by the Children's Trust Fund of Texas demonstrate such projects. Specific evaluation techniques are also reviewed with some explanation of why some programs may be more effective than others.

Protection and advocacy for the mentally ill: new hope for emotionally disturbed children?

A study was conducted to ascertain the potential effect of recent federal protection and advocacy legislation (Public Law 99-319) on the lives of mentally ill children. Findings indicate a strong potential, especially regarding efforts to improve community based services. Implications for mental health professionals and CMHCs are examined.

Social support and life stress: a mental health consumers perspective.

This paper presents the results of an exploratory study of the relationship between two conceptualizations of social support and the experience of stress, frustrations and use of leisure time. A correlational study was conducted with over 200 clients of community support services in a large mid-western state. For these mental health consumers, no meaningful relationship was found between social support variables and the criterion variables.

The evaluation of case management services with the chronically mentally ill.

This study reports the results of an experiment comparing a developmental-acquisition model of case management to usual case management services provided through a mental health center. This is the first study of case management with the chronically mentally ill to employ a true experimental design comparing two types of case management service. The statistically significant discriminant functions resulting from the analysis correctly classified 77% of the subjects based on the case manager's assessment of clients' socialization skills, assessment of community living skills by a significant other and the client, the client's tolerance of stress, use of leisure time, community behavior, and vocational training.