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This book presents a model of supervision that is based on both contemporary theory and research, which is strongly contextualized to child and family social work. It draws directly from analysis of in-depth interviews with experienced and post graduate qualified supervisors and supervisees about 'what works' in supervision. These findings bring 'news of difference' in relation to social work supervision offering hope, inspiration and a contemporary model of supervisory practice.

A large body of research indicates that child development is sensitive to early‐life environments, so that poor children are at higher risk for poor cognitive and behavioral outcomes. These developmental outcomes are important determinants of success in adulthood. Yet, remarkably little is known about whether poverty‐alleviation programs improve children’s developmental outcomes. We examine how a government‐run cash transfer program for poor mothers in rural Ecuador influenced the development of young children. Random assignment at the parish level is used to identify program effects. Our data include a set of measures of cognitive ability that are not typically included in experimental or quasi‐experimental studies of the impact of cash transfers on child well‐being, as well as a set of physical health measures that may be related to developmental outcomes. The cash transfer program had positive, although modest, effects on the physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development of the poorest children in our sample.

\"In this volume, prominent scholars across multiple disciplines examine how parental incarceration affects children and what can be done to help them. Sociologists, demographers, developmental psychologists, family scientists, and criminologists summarize the strongest research on the consequences of parental incarceration for children, with special attention to mediating and moderating variables. Scholars review policies and interventions that could lessen the likelihood of parental incarceration and/or help children whose parents have been imprisoned or jailed\"-- Provided by publisher.

Psychological research shows that social comparison of individuals with peers or others shapes attitude formation 1 , 2 . Opportunities for such comparisons have increased with global inequality 3 , 4 ; everyday experiences can make economic disparities more salient through signals of social class 5 , 6 . Here we show that, among individuals with a lower socioeconomic status, such local exposure to inequality drives support for the redistribution of wealth. We designed a placebo-controlled field experiment conducted in South African neighbourhoods in which individuals with a low socioeconomic status encountered real-world reminders of inequality through the randomized presence of a high-status car. Pedestrians were asked to sign a petition to increase taxes on wealthy individuals to help with the redistribution of wealth. We found an increase of eleven percentage points in the probability of signing the petition in the presence of inequality, when taking into account the experimental placebo effect. The placebo effect suppresses the probability that an individual signs the petition in general, which is consistent with evidence that upward social comparison reduces political efficacy 4 . Measures of economic inequality were constructed at the neighbourhood level and connected to a survey of individuals with a low socioeconomic status. We found that local exposure to inequality was positively associated with support for a tax on wealthy individuals to address economic disparities. Inequality seems to affect preferences for the redistribution of wealth through local exposure. However, our results indicate that inequality may also suppress participation; the political implications of our findings at regional or country-wide scales therefore remain uncertain. Local exposure to inequality in low-income areas is positively associated with support for a tax on wealthier individuals to address economic disparities.

\"Moving seamlessly between memoir, case law, and film, Dayan takes politics and animal studies in a new direction--one that gives us glimpses of how we can think beyond ourselves and with other beings. Her unconventional perspective raises hard questions and renews what it means for any animal or human to live in the twenty-first century\"-- Provided by publisher.

Residential mobility is one documented stressor contributing to higher delinquency and worse educational outcomes. Sensitive period life course models suggest that certain developmental stages make individuals more susceptible to the effects of an exposure, like residential mobility, on outcomes. However, most prior research is observational, and has not examined heterogeneity across age or gender that may inform sensitive periods, even though it may have important implications for the etiology of adolescent development. Moreover, there are important translational implications for identifying the groups most vulnerable to residential mobility to inform how to buffer adverse effects of moving. In this study, low-income families were randomized to residential mobility out of public housing into lower poverty neighborhoods using a rental subsidy voucher (“experimental voucher condition”), and were compared to control families remaining in public housing. The sample was comprised of 2829 youth (51% female; 62% Non-Hispanic Black, 31% Hispanic, 7% other race). At baseline, youth ranged from 5 to 16 years old. This study hypothesized that random assignment to the housing voucher condition would generate harmful effects on delinquency and educational problems, compared to the control group, among boys who were older at baseline. The results confirmed this hypothesis: random assignment to the experimental voucher condition generating residential mobility caused higher delinquency among boys who were 13–16 years old at baseline, compared to same-age, in-place public housing controls. However, residential mobility did not affect delinquency among girls regardless of age, or among boys who were 5–12 years old at baseline. The pattern of results for educational problems was similar but weaker. Families with teenage boys are particularly vulnerable to residential transitions. Incorporating additional supports into housing programs may help low-income, urban families to successfully transition to lower poverty neighborhoods.

\"The hallmarks of America's War on Terror have been repeated long deployments and a high percentage of troops returning with psychological problems. Family members of combat veterans are at a higher risk of potentially lethal domestic violence than almost any other demographic; it's estimated that one in four children of active-duty service members have symptoms of depression; and nearly one million veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan require increased care due to physical or psychological trauma. But, despite these staggering trends, civilian America has not been mobilized to take care of the families left behind; the American homefront, which traditionally has been rallied to support the nation's war efforts, has disappeared. In Homefront 911 Stacy Bannerman, a nationally-recognized advocate for military families, provides an insider's view of how more than a decade of war has contributed to the emerging crisis we are experiencing in today's military and veteran families as they battle with overwhelmed VA offices, a public they feel doesn't understand their sacrifices, and a nation that still isn't fully prepared to help those who have given so much. Bannerman, whose husband served in Iraq, describes how extended deployments cause cumulative, long-lasting strain on families who may not see their parent, child, or spouse for months on end. She goes on to share the tools she and others have found to begin to heal their families, and advocates policies for advancing programs, services, and civilian support, all to help repair the broken agreement that the nation will care for its returning soldiers and their families\"-- Provided by publisher.

Background This study examined the outcomes of a vocational rehabilitation program (The Job Management Program, JUMP) for persons with psychotic disorders based on close collaboration between health and welfare services. Methods Participants ( N  = 148) with broad schizophrenia spectrum disorders (age 18–65) were recruited from six counties in Norway. Three counties were randomized to vocational rehabilitation augmented with cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), while the remaining three counties were randomized to vocational rehabilitation augmented with cognitive remediation (CR). This paper compares the vocational activity of the total group of JUMP participants with a treatment as usual group ( N  = 341), and further examines differences between the two JUMP interventions. Employment status (working/not working) was registered at the time of inclusion and at the end of the intervention period. Results The total number of JUMP participants in any kind of vocational activity increased from 17 to 77% during the intervention. Of these, 8% had competitive employment, 36% had work placements in ordinary workplaces with social security benefits as their income, and 33% had sheltered work. The total number of working participants in the TAU group increased from 15.5 to 18.2%. The JUMP group showed significant improvements of positive ( t  = −2.33, p  = 0.02) and general ( t  = −2.75, p  = 0.007) symptoms of psychosis. Significant differences between the CBT and CR interventions were not demonstrated. Conclusions The study supports existing evidence that the majority of persons with broad schizophrenia spectrum disorders can cope with some kind of work, given that internal and external barriers are reduced. Those who wish to work should be offered vocational rehabilitation. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01139502 . Registered on 6 February 2010.

Background Families with children under age six participating in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF) must participate in work-related activities for 20 h per week. However, due to financial hardship, poor health, and exposure to violence and adversity, families may experience great difficulty in reaching self-sufficiency. The purpose of this report is to describe study design and baseline findings of a trauma-informed financial empowerment and peer support intervention meant to mitigate these hardships. Methods We conducted a randomized controlled trial of a 28-week intervention called Building Wealth and Health Network to improve financial security and maternal and child health among caregivers participating in TANF. Participants, recruited from County Assistance offices in Philadelphia, PA, were randomized into two intervention groups (partial and full) and one control group. Participants completed questionnaires at baseline to assess career readiness, economic hardship, health and wellbeing, exposure to adversity and violence, and interaction with criminal justice systems. Results Baseline characteristics demonstrate that among 103 participants, there were no significant differences by group. Mean age of participants was 25 years, and youngest child was 30 months. The majority of participants were women (94.2 %), never married (83.5 %), unemployed (94.2 %), and without a bank account (66.0 %). Many reported economic hardship (32.0 % very low household food secure, 65.0 % housing insecure, and 31.1 % severe energy insecure), and depression (57.3 %). Exposure to adversity was prevalent, where 38.8 % reported four or more Adverse Childhood Experiences including abuse, neglect and household dysfunction. In terms of community violence, 64.7 % saw a seriously wounded person after an incident of violence, and 27.2 % had seen someone killed. Finally, 14.6 % spent time in an adult correctional institution, and 48.5 % of the fathers of the youngest child spent time in prison. Conclusions Baseline findings demonstrate that caregivers participating in TANF have suffered significant childhood adversity, adult violence exposure, and poverty-related stressors that can limit workforce success. High prevalence of housing and food insecurity, exposure to adversity, violence and criminal justice systems demands comprehensive programming to support families. Trauma-informed approaches to career readiness such as the Building Wealth and Health Network offer opportunities for potential success in the workforce. Trial registration This study is retrospectively registered with ClinicalTrials.gov The Identifier is: NCT02577705 The Registration date is October 13, 2015

Little is known about the effects of the most recent welfare reform initiatives-which include work mandates, time limits, and enhanced earnings disregards-on children's outcomes. This is partly because the ways in which maternal employment and income affect children more generally are not well understood. This article describes the effects on child development of the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP), a welfare program that began prior to 1996 federal welfare reform legislation. The present study utilized MFIP's unique, three-group research design to untangle the effects of different components of the program, and, in turn, discover how each component's effects on parents' income or employment affected children's development. This study's findings showed that MFIP increased employment rates and decreased poverty and, according to reports from mothers, children were less likely to exhibit problem behaviors and more likely to perform better and be more highly engaged in school. These findings, based on a total of 879 participants, bolster the long-standing literature that has associated poverty with worse outcomes for children by confirming, in a rigorous experiment, that incremental increases in income for working poor parents bring benefits to children.