Category Archives: Grey Literature

Hispanics in the U.S. experience high rates of adolescent childbearing, high school dropout, and poverty. Research finds that these issues are linked. With the goal of decreasing poverty rates, this project has sought to identify promising approaches to reducing early childbearing among Latino adolescents. To inform this work, Child Trends researchers have synthesized evidence from research studies, trend data, and evaluations of intervention programs. We have also conducted qualitative interviews with parents, teens, and program designers and practitioners. The findings …

SDF is delighted to publish the report on Scotland’s First Harm Reduction Café held in Glasgow in November last year. The event was a great success and we received a lot of positive feedback on the night and subsequently. To mark the event and capture some of the atmosphere, learning and other outputs from the café, we have produced a report which will hopefully inspire and assist others to organise such an event. Along with partners at Turning Point Scotland …

The Irish Youth Justice Service has published its action plan ‘Tackling Youth Crime – Youth Justice Action Plan, 2014-2018′ as a successor to its 2008 ‘National Youth Justice Strategy’. This wide-ranging document covers many aspects of the criminal justice system in Ireland as it affects young people. In particular, it details statistics on rates of offending among young people, overall ‘high-level goals’ of the Youth Justice Service, and differentiates the responsibilities of the Ministers for Children and of Justice respectively.

This research report presenting the findings from an evaluation of the step up programme. The evaluation compares the experiences of the first two groups of trainees to use the programme.

From the time our children are born, we imagine a bright future for them: a solid foundation of education and development in their early years, excellent health care, high school graduation, a good college education and a career path that launches them toward lifelong achievement and economic self-sufficiency. As parents, nothing will stop us from doing everything within our power to make that happen. And as Americans, our concern extends beyond our own doorsteps. We want success for children in …

Long-term compulsory rehabilitation cannot be justified on the grounds of effectiveness or ethics. The practice has also been associated with a number of human rights violations. It is absolutely essential that any treatment system is developed and used in full respect with human rights principles, medical ethics and global evidence, within the framework of a public health approach. Evidence also shows that, when a crime is committed to support drug dependence, it is feasible to offer the offender a choice …

This report compiles the most robust and up-to-date child protection data that exists across each of the four nations in the UK. It sets out 20 different indicators. Each indicator looks at the question of “how safe are our children?” from a different perspective. It also includes a section summarising the factors that influence a child’s risk of abuse or neglect. The report allows us not only to understand how many children are being abused and neglected, but also to …

The EU drugs agency (EMCDDA) has released today its first comparative analysis of regional drug strategies across the world (1). The paper explores the drug strategies and action plans adopted over the last five years by six intergovernmental organisations, engaging 148 countries in four continents (2). ‘When seen in the light of the current international drugs policy debate’, states the paper, ‘regional drug strategies may provide an important contribution for assessing the drugs problem at international level’.

This regional report is the first situation assessment for Latin America put forward under the Global SMART Programme. It forms one of the key steps in providing consolidated up-to-date analysis, based on the information shared by Member States. It is hoped that the information on drug trends presented in this report will make a practical contribution to addressing the significant threat posed by the illicit manufacture of, trafficking in and use of ATS, and to a lesser extent of NPS, …

All-Party Parliamentary Group on Domestic and Sexual Violence

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Canada

The federal investment in early learning and child care is administered through 45 programs that provide or may support related services to children from birth through age 5, as well as five tax provisions that subsidize private expenditures in this area. Among the 45 programs, 12 have an explicit program purpose of providing early learning or child care services. These programs differ in size, target population, and structure. For example, most of them obligated less than $500 million each in …

In 2011, Human Rights Watch released a shocking report on how Vietnamese citizens struggling with drug addiction were being beaten, tortured and forced to work in compulsory drug detention centers. Vietnamese officials reacted defensively, dismissing the report as “groundless” and asserting that the drug centers are an effective, humane method of dealing with a growing drug problem. But new interviews with recently released drug center detainees confirm that forced labor, torture, and other human rights abuses continue in the centers, …

Women who commit crime comprise a relatively small yet increasing group within the Criminal Justice System in Ireland. On any day the Probation Service is working with almost 1,300 women offenders in the community1 ; either assessing or supervising them on a range of probation type orders, community service or post release supervision. Almost 14% or 1 in 7 new referrals to the Probation Service are for women offenders (1,206 new referrals)2 . On any day there are around 150 …

Each year, the federal government spends around $40 billion for rental housing programs serving households with lower incomes. As the stock of housing assisted with federal funds ages and the number of families experiencing housing affordability problems grows, the federal government faces a number of management challenges and policy issues in its efforts to support affordable rental housing.

Even part-time childcare costs outstrip the average mortgage. For a family of two children, the cost for one child in part-time nursery care and one in an after school club is £7,549 a year compared to the average UK mortgage of £7,207.

In March 2014, country delegations will gather at the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) to review progress and challenges in international drug control since the agreement of a Political Declaration on drugs in 2009. Given that the Political Declaration aims to “eliminate or reduce significantly” the use, supply and demand of controlled drugs by 2019, this meeting represents an important opportunity for honest evaluation and an acknowledgement that these targets are not being achieved. With a United Nations …

Almost universally, including every Australian state and self-governing territory, sexual relations between a parent and child constitute child sexual abuse (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989), although definitions of the crime and penalties vary by jurisdiction. Despite cultural taboos against incest and pervasive social opprobrium, complicity and silence about this offence impedes research advances (Sacco 2009). Studies in correctional settings typically include all subtypes of sex offenders and focus on high-risk extrafamilial offenders, leading to inconsistent …

Over the last 50 years, the composition and work patterns of the American household have changed dramatically. During this period, the proportion of unmarried and never-married individuals in the population increased steadily as couples chose to marry at later ages and live together prior to marriage. At the same time, the proportion of single-parent households more than doubled. These trends were more pronounced for individuals with lower levels of income and education and for certain racial and ethnic groups. Over …

The rise in methamphetamine use has provoked a barrage of misinformation and reckless policies, such as mandatory minimum sentences, increased penalties for minor offenders and major restrictions against certain medicines. This new report, titled Methamphetamine: Fact vs. Fiction and Lessons from the Crack Hysteria, reveals the extreme stigmatization of users and dangerous policy responses that are reminiscent of the crack hysteria in the 1980s and 1990s, which led to grossly misguided laws that accelerated mass incarceration in the United States.

Over the last year, the all party parliamentary group (APPG) on Social Mobility has taken a look at one of the most knotty and seemingly intractable social policy challenges we face as a country. Why do some talented children grow up to fulfil their ambitions and become leaders in any number of fields, while others never realise their full potential? What can be done to help more people succeed in life? How do we create a UK in which a …

Levels of overall, authorised and unauthorised absence by school type, with statistics on persistent absentees and pupil characteristics.

1. The current prison population is 4,053 (25th Feb 2014) 2. The rate of imprisonment in Ireland is just under 94 per 100,000 of population (Feb 2014) 3. The prison population has increased by 400% since 1970. 4. The average cost of imprisonment per prisoner was €65,404 in 2012, not including education spend; it was €65,359in 2011; €70,513 in 2010; €77,222 in 2009.

The report presents a review of tools for monitoring illicit drug use in prison population in Europe. The objective of the report is to describe the existing tools used at national level, to assess their comparability and to build a common European basis for data collection on drug use and prison. The introduction includes the recent activities carried out in the last years at the EMCDDA, the formal mandate and the methodological developments. The report presents the assessment results by …

Injuries are a leading cause of death among the First Nations population in Canada and have been identified as a serious public health issue in terms of health care costs and diminished quality of life.Note1 Although relatively few studies of injuries among the Aboriginal population have been conducted,Note2 recent population-based research shows high rates of morbidity and mortality due to injuries in the First Nations population. Karmali et al.Note3 reported that the incidence of severe fatal and non-fatal injuries in …

Concerns about the availability and use of methamphetamine in Europe have been growing for some time. Historically, the use of methamphetamine has been confined largely to the Czech Republic and Slovakia; however, recent signs of the spread of methamphetamine linked to different European countries have sparked further investigation of this topic. The methodology used is based on the triangulation of data collected using a number of investigative approaches and from multiple sources. The findings summarised in this paper include insights …

Access to justice in Canada is a priority of governments and policy-makers, legal professionals and the public. One aspect is access to legal services. Not all Canadians have the resources to pay for a lawyer. Legal aid plans have been established in all provinces and territories with the common goal of assisting lower-income Canadians who require legal services either for criminal or civil matters. This Juristat bulletin presents results from the Legal Aid Survey which collects information on the operation …

On October 21-23, 2013, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) hosted in Denver, Colorado, the workshop “Launching Legal Marijuana: Regulatory Challenges and Options. The overall goal of this workshop was to create a forum to learn from the unfolding experiences in the U.S. states of Colorado and Washington in implementing the legislation recently passed to regulate marijuana, as well as to debate ideas, lessons learned and best practices on this issue. The workshop …

Rising inactivity and obesity increases the risk of chronic ill health, with subsequent large costs to individuals and society. However, physical inactivity is not just a public health problem, but is also connected to economic and cultural issues. Gaining a better understanding of who is physically inactive is essential to designing effective policy interventions to reverse the numbers. Did you ask how much physical sctivity they were required to do at work?

the UK’s minimum wage turns fifteen this year. As the chair of the Low Pay Commission that set the first rate, I did not think it would survive this long. In 1999 when the minimum wage became law, the  business community was roundly opposed, opponents predicted two million unemployed,  and the House of Commons was divided. We felt engaged in an embattled experiment. Today’s context could hardly be more different. The minimum wage enjoys broad political support and the academic …

This paper illustrates the aim of encouraging users’ informal controls while reducing the harm caused by punitive laws and policies.

The Children’s Bureau (CB) is planning to conduct a third round of reviews under the Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSR) regulations, beginning in FFY 2015.1 Federal regulations at 45 CFR 1355.32 (b)(2)(ii) require states that were not in substantial conformity in the second round of CFSRs to begin a full review two years after approval of their Program Improvement Plan (PIP). Therefore, given that no state was found to be in substantial conformity on all seven outcomes and seven …

This study examines possible positive spillovers and negative consumption externalities of the average income in a geographic area (locality income) on individuals’ life satisfaction, focusing on two issues. The first is whether the effect of locality income on life satisfaction is sensitive to the scale of geographic units. The second is how the choice of control variables influences the estimated effect of locality income. The analysis of 142,780 survey respondents nested within 31,000 immediate neighbourhoods, 5,000 local communities, and 430 …

The establishment of the Commission on Sex in Prison is a positive and welcomed development, since so little information is currently available regarding consensual or coercive sex in prison. The first meeting of the Commission discussed issues such as the difficulty in determining whether a relationship is consensual or coercive, the lack of a uniform approach to the supply of barrier protection in prisons and the reluctance among male prisoners to report a sexual assault. Positive outcomes can already be …

American democracy is based upon the fundamental principle of one person, one vote—the simple notion that we are all equal before the law and should have an equal say over the government decisions that affect our lives. But unfortunately our system often more closely resembles one dollar, one vote as wealthy donors enjoy vastly disproportionate influence over who runs for office, who wins elections, and what issues make it onto the agenda in Washington, DC. This threatens the integrity and …

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Plans to tackle child poverty in Scotland have been published by the Scottish Government. The new strategy, which covers the period 2014 to 2017, is aimed at tackling the causes of poverty by addressing them early. The Scottish Government said that although child poverty in Scotland has fallen in recent years, it is set to increase to levels last seen in 2003-04 due to the impact of benefits reforms introduced by the coalition government in London.

More than half of all children in poverty are missing out on crucial help that could keep them warm, a new analysis by the Children’s Society has revealed. The report highlights the extent of fuel poverty in the UK, and says many children living in poverty are also living in inadequately heated homes.

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In Ireland, the burden of alcohol related harm is often experienced by those around the drinker, be they family member, friend, co-worker or innocent ‘bystander’. Alcohol’s harm to others (AH2O) undermines public safety and is experienced in every community. The negative effects from other people’s drinking are visible in the public domain and can range from the nuisance factor, feeling unsafe in public places to the violent attack by an intoxicated drinker. Physical assaults and driving a car while under …