Biomedical subjects

R P Barth

Publications and source records attributed to R P Barth.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Placement stability for children in out-of-home care: a longitudinal analysis.

This study examines the number of placement moves experienced over an eight-year period by 5,557 children in one state who first entered out-of-home care between birth and age six. This group comprised 28% of all young children who entered care during this period. Nearly 30% of children in kinship care and 52% of children in nonrelative care experienced placement instability (defined as three or more moves after the first year in care). Children in kinship care, regardless of age, had fewer placement moves than those in nonkinship care. A multivariate analysis found that children who had more than one placement move during their first year of care were more likely to experience placement instability in long-term out-of-home care than if they did not move or were moved only once during their first year in care.

California↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Research outcomes of prenatal substance exposure and the need to review policies and procedures regarding child abuse reporting.

Research on the outcomes of drug-exposed children evinces elevated developmental risks from the interaction of subtle biological vulnerabilities and compromised parenting. States, however, have generally not reviewed the procedures and policies they developed in the early 1990s when there was less research and experience with these children. At that time the gravest risks related to perinatal substance exposure seemed to be excessively punitive treatment of mothers by over-zealous criminal justice prosecutors. This article clarifies policy options for reporting and serving children who are born testing positive for controlled substances and also calls for strengthening existing state policies regarding child abuse reporting and response.

Child Abuse↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Reducing the risk: impact of a new curriculum on sexual risk-taking.

Reducing the Risk is a new sexuality education curriculum, based on social learning theory, social inoculation theory and cognitive-behavioral theory and employing explicit norms against unprotected sexual intercourse. In a quasi-experimental evaluation, this curriculum was implemented at 13 California high schools; 758 high school students assigned to treatment and control groups were surveyed before their exposure to the curriculum, immediately afterwards, six months later, and 18 months later. Among all participants, the program significantly increased participants' knowledge and parent-child communication about abstinence and contraception. Among students who had not initiated intercourse prior to the pretest, the curriculum significantly reduced the likelihood that they would have had intercourse by 18 months later. Reducing the Risk did not significantly affect frequency of sexual intercourse or use of birth control among sexually experienced students. Among all lower risk youths and among all students who had not initiated intercourse prior to their exposure to the curriculum, the curriculum appears to have significantly reduced unprotected intercourse, either by delaying the onset of intercourse, either by delaying the onset of intercourse or by increasing the use of contraceptives. Among the students not sexually active before participation in the program, effects seem to have extended across a variety of subgroups, including both whites and Latinos and lower risk and higher risk youths, but were particularly strong among lower risk youths and females.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A study of disrupted adoptive placements of adolescents.

This article draws upon a subsample of adoptive placements of adolescents (mean age 13.9 years in 1988) derived from a larger survey of older-child adoptions in 13 countries of northern and central California. The articles offers a mine of information to enrich the field's as-yet sparse research of a part of the work in adoption that is growing in attention as the number of adolescents in foster care increases.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Learning the hard way: a pilot permanency planning program.

California's Family Protection Act (FPA) is a forerunner of Public Law 96-272 and of the state's permanency planning efforts. The mechanisms for implementing judicial and administrative review and delivering new contract and in-agency services are discussed, as well as the criteria for receipt of services and the changing use of preventive services and foster care. The original implications of the chosen mechanisms and their evolution across seven years of permanency planning are reviewed.

Adoption↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Contributors to disruption and dissolution of older-child adoptions.

According to recent evidence, adoptive placements that do not work out are increasingly common. This article reviews research on rates of, and contributors to, adoption and "foster-adoption" disruptions and dissolutions. Implications for practice are included.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Self-control training with maltreating parents.

Seeking a method of intervention based on research about correlates of child maltreatment, the authors find that small-group, short-term training in self-control and child management skills gives parents the tools to better handle family stress and develop supportive social networks.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Adoption research: building blocks for the next decade.

Basic national and state adoption indicators are now unavailable and must await future data collection efforts. The focus of future efforts on the adoption of children in foster care is appropriate. Case-level adoption data with unique child indicators must be developed to advance the field and further clarify the odds of adoption and disruption. Available psychosocial research clearly indicates that adoption generally results in successful outcomes. Yet, more comparative research on differences between long-term outcomes for children who are adopted and those remaining in foster care would better estimate the value of adoption to children and the public. Rigorous research on strategies to successfully place children for adoption is essential.

Adoption↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Race and child welfare services: past research and future directions.

A review of child welfare research suggests that children of color and their families experience poorer outcomes and receive fewer services than their Caucasian counterparts. The relationship between race and the outcomes of child welfare services is confounded, however, by the relationships among race and other contributors to poor child welfare outcomes. Child welfare researchers should take explicit account of race and ethnicity in designing and carrying out their studies. Service approaches intended to meet the special needs of children of color and their families should be developed and rigorously evaluated.

Black or African American↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of age and race on the odds of adoption versus remaining in long-term out-of-home care.

Permanency planning philosophy and law express a preference for adoption over long-term out-of-home care when children cannot be reunified with their families. Yet, little research has considered the likelihood of a child being adopted as compared to remaining in long-term care. This study followed 3,873 children who were under six years of age when they entered out-of-home care to determine whether over the next six years they were reunified with their biological families, adopted, remained in out-of-home care, or experienced another outcome. Age at the time of placement and race/ ethnicity were found to have substantial direct effects on outcomes, but there were no significant age by race interactions or gender-based significant direct or interactive effects. Suggestions for improving the likelihood of adoption are presented.

Adoption↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The impact of the Postponing Sexual Involvement curriculum among youths in California.

Postponing Sexual Involvement (PSI) is a widely implemented middle school curriculum designed to delay the onset of sexual intercourse. In an evaluation of its effectiveness among seventh and eighth graders in California, 10,600 youths from schools and community-based organizations statewide were recruited and participated in randomly assigned intervention or control groups; the curriculum was implemented by either adult or youth leaders. Survey data were collected before the program was implemented, and at three months and 17 months afterward. At three months, small but statistically significant changes were found in fewer than half of the measured attitudes, behaviors and intentions related to sexual activity; at 17 months, none of these significant positive effects of the PSI program had been sustained. At neither follow-up were there significant positive changes in sexual behavior; Youths in treatment and control groups were equally likely to have become sexually active, and youths in treatment groups were not less likely than youths in control groups to report a pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection. The evaluation suggests that PSI may be too modest in length and scope to have an impact on youths' sexual behavior.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Education Now and Babies Later (ENABL): life history of a campaign to Postpone Sexual Involvement.

Education Now and Babies Later (ENABL), a statewide adolescent pregnancy prevention initiative, was inaugurated in California in June 1992. Developed by the state's Office of Family Planning, ENABL utilized a five-session intervention curriculum, Postponing Sexual Involvement (PSI), targeted at delaying the onset of sexual activity among youths aged 12-14. Schoolwide and community-based activities, along with a statewide media and public relations campaign, reinforced the intervention's message. Data collected from nearly 9,000 surveys, 75 individual interviews and 50 focus groups indicated that youths, parents and community representatives supported the initiative and endorsed its message, although most recommended changes to the curriculum. However, because no impact on sexual behavior could be demonstrated, the campaign was abruptly terminated in February 1996, despite recommendations that the program be retained and improved.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Shared family care: providing services to parents and children placed together in out-of-home care.

Shared family care involves the planned provision of out-of-home care to parents and their children so that the parent and the host caregivers simultaneously shared the care of the children and work toward independent in-home care by the parent. This article describes several innovative types of shared family care arrangements that demonstrate promise in the protection of children and the promotion of family well-being. Emphasis is placed on the shared family foster care model, including its key elements, funding, and evaluation.

Adolescent↗