ln 1998, the Florida state legislature mandated the privatization of child welfare services. The decision to contract child welfare services to non-profit organizations was done as an effort to attain lower costs, effectiveness, and quality in service delivery. The 1998 initiative came to be known as "Community-Based Care" and was based on the idea that local communities would have incentives to be more accountable for children than the state. The federal government requires that safety be the paramount goal for all children in the child welfare system. The purpose of this study was to assess if Community-Based Care was indeed effective in this principal objective with the use of the researcher's own developed definition of "safety" and three safety performance measures relative to her definition taken from the Florida Department of Children and Families online performance dashboard application. This research focused on the Community-Based Care initiative in district 7 (Orange, Osceola, Seminole, and Brevard counties) and drew attention to the question, are district 7 's children safer now since the privatization of child welfare services? From a public management perspective, this study showed that privatized child welfare services are both capable and incapable of keeping children safe due to various factors. The findings from this study are important as they can give national, regional, and local public managers a significant and unique view on privatized child welfare services along with associated benefits and shortcomings in ensuring children's safety.

In this study, I explored Adult Foster Care (AFC) provider experiences. AFC is a small-setting option for community-based long-term care. This option varies considerably in accessibility and structure across states; due to the nature of the state's approach to AFC, this initial research effort focused on AFC provider experiences in North Carolina. As of 2013, there were 632 AFC facilities in North Carolina (NC DHHS, 2013). AFC homes in North Carolina are licensed by the state and allow service for 2-6 residents per home (Mollica et al., 2009). The approach to research was informed by literature on AFC, the disabilities context of AFC, and Child Foster Care (CFC). The theoretical framework guiding the study included theories of care and relational reciprocity; power, difference, and hierarchy; and intersectionality. I conducted semi-structured, guided interviews with 26 providers. As a context for grounded theory data analysis, I also relied on reflexive material stemming from my positionality as a care worker. Emergent codes related to issues of the providers' motivation for beginning work as an AFC provider; providers' personal and professional roles; perspectives on giving residents a choice; balancing "family" with business; reciprocity and how residents express their affection and care to providers; providers' values; and dialectics of power and care. Findings shed light on implications for state and organizational responsibility to the AFC system, and practice context for provider-resident relationships. / Ph. D.

<p>This thesis deals with a very important issue in South African society, i.e. the provision of financial and non-cash support to older persons. Older persons in South Africa can be described as a sizeable but vulnerable group requiring specific protection. Section 27 of the South African Constitution of 1996 obliges the state to take reasonable legislative and other measures within available resources to progressively realise the right of access to social security. Hence, the steps taken by the state to promote older persons&rsquo / right of access to social security and to protect their right to dignity need to be evaluated. The legislative framework for the provision of financial and non-cash support to older persons currently is fragmented into various statutes dealing with retirement income, state grants to older persons and care and support services for older persons. Therefore, the current legislation lacks an integrated approach to the provision of support and care to older persons, as well as a central principle on which to base future legislation concerning older persons. One such principle that could potentially be adopted is intergenerational solidarity, which can be described as the solidarity between the active working-age population, as one generation, from which benefits flow to older persons as the other. This thesis evaluates whether intergenerational solidarity should form the basis of South African legislation on the provision of retirement income and the provision of care and support to older persons, and if so, whether it in fact does. If the answer to the latter is in the negative, the thesis further examines whether the current process to reform the retirement income system and related legislation in South Africa would be a suitable platform to introduce the concept of intergenerational solidarity to legislation concerning older persons.</p>

<p>This thesis deals with a very important issue in South African society, i.e. the provision of financial and non-cash support to older persons. Older persons in South Africa can be described as a sizeable but vulnerable group requiring specific protection. Section 27 of the South African Constitution of 1996 obliges the state to take reasonable legislative and other measures within available resources to progressively realise the right of access to social security. Hence, the steps taken by the state to promote older persons&rsquo / right of access to social security and to protect their right to dignity need to be evaluated. The legislative framework for the provision of financial and non-cash support to older persons currently is fragmented into various statutes dealing with retirement income, state grants to older persons and care and support services for older persons. Therefore, the current legislation lacks an integrated approach to the provision of support and care to older persons, as well as a central principle on which to base future legislation concerning older persons. One such principle that could potentially be adopted is intergenerational solidarity, which can be described as the solidarity between the active working-age population, as one generation, from which benefits flow to older persons as the other. This thesis evaluates whether intergenerational solidarity should form the basis of South African legislation on the provision of retirement income and the provision of care and support to older persons, and if so, whether it in fact does. If the answer to the latter is in the negative, the thesis further examines whether the current process to reform the retirement income system and related legislation in South Africa would be a suitable platform to introduce the concept of intergenerational solidarity to legislation concerning older persons.</p>

Thesis (M.G.S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Sociology and Gerontology, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p.66-68).

Doctor Legum - LLD / This thesis deals with a very important issue in South African society, i.e. the provision of financial and non-cash support to older persons. Older persons in South Africa can be described as a sizeable but vulnerable group requiring specific protection. Section 27 of the South African Constitution of 1996 obliges the state to take reasonable legislative and other measures within available resources to progressively realise the right of access to social security. Hence, the steps taken by the state to promote older persons&rsquo; right of access to social security and to protect their right to dignity need to be evaluated. The legislative framework for the provision of financial and non-cash support to older persons currently is fragmented into various statutes dealing with retirement income, state grants to older persons and care and support services for older persons. Therefore, the current legislation lacks an integrated approach to the provision of support and care to older persons, as well as a central principle on which to base future legislation concerning older persons. One such principle that could potentially be adopted is intergenerational solidarity, which can be described as the solidarity between the active working-age population, as one generation, from which benefits flow to older persons as the other. This thesis evaluates whether intergenerational solidarity should form the basis of South African legislation on the provision of retirement income and the provision of care and support to older persons, and if so, whether it in fact does. If the answer to the latter is in the negative, the thesis further examines whether the current process to reform the retirement income system and related legislation in South Africa would be a suitable platform to introduce the concept of intergenerational solidarity to legislation concerning older persons. / South Africa

Aim: To evaluate Home-based interventions to lower neonatal mortality rates in developing countries. Background: A developing country is a country that is lacking in the services and facilities enjoyed by people in developed countries, such as personally owned automobiles and homes with indoor plumbing and water-carried sewage disposal systems. The difference in resources compared to developed regions, has been evident to the correlation of the increase neonatal mortality rates. Method: An electronic, systematic review of four databases were used to retrieve 209 articles initially, later filtered to 42 articles utilized in this review. The following databases used are as listed: CINAHL Plus with Full Text; APA PsycInfo; Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews; and MEDLINE. Articles had to solely refer to developing regions and neonatal mortality. Key Issues: Developing countries continue to report the highest neonatal mortality rates. The leading etiologies for increased neonatal mortality rates (NMR) differ in these regions compared to developed countries. Causes and factors must be understood to allow for the appropriate interventions to be implemented in the plan of care. Conclusions: Home-based interventions and community care have shown to significantly aid in the reduction of neonatal mortality rates in developing countries. Evidence based studies have also concluded that interventions are often presented in packages. Packages targeting individual households with home-based intervention; packages improving communities with health workers; and packages aiming to strengthen the trust between facilities and communities via referrals and recommendations.

The aim of this dissertation is to explore how informal caregivers for people with dementia (PWD), who are community dwelling (i.e., not in nursing homes), prepare and plan for disasters. The research site is a particularly hurricane-prone region of Florida, second only to New Orleans in its vulnerability. An underlying assumption of this research is that caregivers for PWD have to plan and anticipate problems that are unique to their role. The rationale for the study described here is that disaster planning and mitigation save lives (Tengs et al. 1995), but there is little or no literature on disaster planning for the frail elderly and their caregivers. Mixed methods design which includes: 1) participant observation; 2) staff interviews (n=8);3) preliminary caregiver interviews (n=5); 4) baseline chart/disaster plan review (n=290);5) intervention (presentation to staff and administration) and form revision; 6) follow-up chart/ disaster plan review (n=259); 7) caregiver survey(n=253);8) final caregiver interviews (N=15- total number of caregiver interviews 20); 9) disaster literacy testing (n=20); 10) final group interview with ACC administration. This work documents the way that caregivers talk about disaster planning and say they will do if a hurricane strikes and reflects on their past hurricane experiences. Major findings include gaps in the county run Special Needs Shelter services available in Florida for people with dementia. The response and difficulty that caregivers might face can depend on the stage of the disease.

The incidence of HIV and AIDS is rising rapidly and has become a serious concern in South Africa. In order to address the HIV and AIDS problem, Community Based Care was introduced to render an effective service to the HIV and AIDS patient. The volunteers receive training to equip them to render a holistic service to the HIV and AIDS patient. The researcher’s concern is that despite the training programme offered, there are still problems regarding the service delivery by the volunteers. Volunteers focus on the physical needs of the HIV and AIDS patient only and do not attend to their psychosocial needs, despite the fact that they are trained to take care of the needs of the HIV and AIDS patient from a holistic approach. Due to this problem, the researcher decided to explore the experiences of the volunteers regarding the implementation of the training programme on HIV and AIDS Community Based Care in order to find answers as to why they do not attend to the psychosocial needs of the HIV and AIDS patient, although they were holistically trained. The research question was formulated as follows: What is the experience of volunteers in the Potchefstroom Municipality regarding the implementation of the training programme on HIV and AIDS Community Based Care? The researcher used a quantitative approach to explore the research question. Twenty (20) volunteers from the two Community Based Care programmes, namely Baptist Children’s Centre and Bambanani Youth Project, were randomly selected for inclusion in the study. The data collection method used was a group questionnaire. Three themes were explored, namely, the content of the training programme, presentation of the training programme and empowerment of the volunteers to render an effective service to the HIV and AIDS patient. The findings showed that volunteers experienced limitations regarding the content and the presentation of the training programme, and much so in the area of attending to the psychosocial needs of the HIV and AIDS patient. They recommended changes to the training programme, based on their experiences in practice. / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

Focusing on the rights of children who are deprived of their family environment and remain in child-headed households in the context of the HIV epidemic in Africa cannot be more relevant at present as the continent faces a significant increase in the number of children who are left to fend for themselves due to the impact of the epidemic. The impact of the epidemic is so severe that it is likened to an armed conflict. In sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 22.4 million people are living with HIV, and in 2008 alone, 2 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses. Such massive loss of human lives is itself a tragedy. However, the repercussions of the epidemic suffered by children may be less visible, yet are just as far-reaching, and in all likelihood longer lasting in their effects. Initially, it appeared that children were only marginally affected by the epidemic. Unfortunately, it is now clear that children are at the heart of the epidemic. In sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 14 million children lost their parents to AIDS-related illnesses and an unimaginable number of children consequently find themselves in deepened poverty. Traditionally, children who are deprived of their family environment in Africa have been cared for by extended families. However, the HIV epidemic has dramatically affected the demography of many African societies. As the epidemic continues to deplete resources of the affected families and communities, extended families and communities find it more and more difficult to provide adequate care to the increasing number of children who are deprived of parental care. As a result, more and more children are taking care of themselves in child-headed households. The foremost responsibility of states with regards to children who are deprived of parental care is to support families and communities so that they are able to provide adequate care to children in need of care, thereby preventing children from being deprived of their family environment. While strengthening families and communities, as required by articles 20 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child and 25 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, as well as other international guidelines such as the 2009 UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, states also have the responsibility to provide ‘special protection and assistance’ to children who are already deprived of their family environment and are living in child-headed households. The important question is how to interpret the right to alternative care, and special protection and assistance, with respect to children in child-headed households. The study examines the international standards and norms regarding children who are deprived of their family environment including children in child-headed households and explores the ways those children are supported and protected in South Africa, against the background of related developments in a number of different African countries, including Namibia, Southern Sudan and Uganda. In 2002, the South African Law Reform Commission made the important recommendation that child-headed households should be legally recognised. The Children’s Amendment Act (No 41 of 2007), which amended the comprehensive Children’s Act (No 38 of 2005) gave effect to this recommendation by legally recognising child-headed households under prescribed conditions. It is a bold step to strengthen the protection and assistance given to children in child-headed households. However, child-headed households should not be legally recognised unless all the necessary protection and assistance measures are effectively put in place. In order to design and implement the measures of protection and assistance to children in child-headed households, a holistic children’s rights-based approach should be a guiding light. A rights-based approach, which articulates justiciable rights, establishes a link between the entitlement of children as rights-holders and legal obligations of states as duty-bearers. States have the primary responsibility to provide appropriate protection and assistance to children who are deprived of their family environment. This is a legal obligation of states, not a charitable action. A rights-based approach is further important in that it ensures that both the process of mitigation strategies and the outcome of such efforts are firmly based on human rights standards. The study argues that legal recognition should be given to child-headed household only after a careful evaluation based on the international standards with regard to children deprived of their family environment. It further argues that measures of ‘special protection and assistance’ should be devised and implemented using a rights-based approach respecting, among others, children’s rights to non-discrimination, to participation and to have their best interests given a priority. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted