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Same-sex marriage, barely on the political radar a decade ago, is a reality in America. How will it affect the well-being of children? Some observers worry that legalizing same-sex marriage would send the message that same-sex parenting and opposite-sex parenting are interchangeable, when in fact they may lead to different outcomes for children. To evaluate that concern, William Meezan and Jonathan Rauch review the growing body of research on how same-sex parenting affects children. After considering the methodological problems inherent in studying small, hard-to-locate populations--problems that have bedeviled this literature--the authors find that the children who have been studied are doing about as well as children normally do. What the research does not yet show is whether the children studied are typical of the general population of children raised by gay and lesbian couples. A second important question is how same-sex marriage might affect children who are already being raised by same-sex couples. Meezan and Rauch observe that marriage confers on children three types of benefits that seem likely to carry over to children in same-sex families. First, marriage may increase children's material well-being through such benefits as family leave from work and spousal health insurance eligibility. It may also help ensure financial continuity, should a spouse die or be disabled. Second, same-sex marriage may benefit children by increasing the durability and stability of their parents' relationship. Finally, marriage may bring increased social acceptance of and support for same-sex families, although those benefits might not materialize in communities that meet same-sex marriage with rejection or hostility. The authors note that the best way to ascertain the costs and benefits of the effects of same-sex marriage on children is to compare it with the alternatives. Massachusetts is marrying same-sex couples, Vermont and Connecticut are offering civil unions, and several states offer partner-benefit programs. Studying the effect of these various forms of unions on children could inform the debate over gay marriage to the benefit of all sides of the argument. (Contains 36 endnotes.)

Objective: This study examines in-agency and out-of-agency service provision to a sample of 243 foster children and their families. Method: Data come from a longitudinal study of 243 foster children and families served by non-profit agencies that were operating under either a performance-based, managed care purchase-of-service contract or a fee-for-service reimbursement mechanism. Results: Children and families served by agencies with performance-based, managed care contracts receive fewer of three of five types of services than those served by agencies reimbursed through fee-for-service contracts. Conclusions: Results suggest that performance-based, managed care contracting is related to suppressed service provision and may lead to service disparities between foster children and families served under different market environments. (Contains 5 tables.)

Objective: This study identifies factors associated with child protective services (CPS) involvement among current and former welfare recipients after welfare reform legislation was passed in the US in 1996. Method: Data come from the Women's Employment Study, a longitudinal study of randomly selected welfare recipients living in a Michigan city in 1997 (N = 541). In order to identify risk factors for CPS involvement among current and former welfare recipients, multinomial logit analyses with 29 independent variables were employed on a trichotomous dependent variable: no CPS involvement, investigation only, and supervision by CPS after investigation. Results: The relationship between work and involvement with CPS differs by work experience prior to welfare reform. As the percentage of months working after welfare reform increased, the risk of being investigated by CPS declined among those with prior work experience but the risk increased among those without prior work experience. However, work variables were not significant predictors of supervision by CPS after an initial investigation. Further, race, cohabitation, childhood welfare receipt, having a learning disability, having a large number of children, being newly divorced, living in a high problem neighborhood, and being convicted of a crime were associated with one's probability of being either investigated or supervised by CPS. Conclusions: These findings suggest that employment could have increased the stress levels of current or former welfare recipients without prior work experience to the point where they were prone to minor child rearing mistakes that resulted in a CPS investigation, but were not severe enough to warrant opening the case for supervision. Supports should be provided to welfare mothers who are prone to involvement with CPS; expansions in the childcare subsidy and a reduction or delay in work requirements might also help these families.

Articulates how the family support movement emerged in the last 20 years, and describes the philosophical premises, principles, and practices that currently guide it. Considers the inability of current family support program typologies to guide outcome evaluations, and introduces a typology that deconstructs family support programs into their component services, which may facilitate design of evaluations. (JPB)

A study assessed the differences in the services provided by agencies to families who were beneficiaries of a foster care system. Results revealed that agencies that received a reimbursement for services provided better facilities than agencies that were performance-based.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2006.01.006 Byline: Yunju Nam (a), William Meezan (b), Sandra K. Danziger (c) Keywords: Child welfare; Maternal employment; Welfare (PRWORA) Abstract: This study identifies factors associated with child protective services (CPS) involvement among current and former welfare recipients after welfare reform legislation was passed in the US in 1996. Author Affiliation: (a) George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University, One Brookings Dr., Campus Box 1196, St. Louis, MO 63130-4899, USA (b) The Ohio State University, College of Social Work, Columbus, OH, USA (c) University of Michigan, School of Social Work, Ann Arbor, MI, USA Article History: Received 8 July 2004; Revised 6 December 2005; Accepted 21 January 2006 Article Note: (footnote) [star] This study was supported in part by grants from the Joyce Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health (R24-MH51363), and the National Institute for Child Health and Development (HD P50 HD38986).

While performance-based and managed care contracting initiatives have become increasingly common in service sectors populated by nonprofit organizations, the impact of these new service arrangements on involved nonprofit agencies has not been fully explored. This study describes the obstacles that nonprofit agencies encountered, and the adaptations they made, us they moved from a traditional reimbursement system to a performance-based, managed care contracting environment in the delivery of foster care services. Based on analyses of telephone interviews with administrators and supervisors across nine nonprofit child welfare agencies, this study suggests that agencies' service delivery patterns, interdepartmental activities, and interorganizational relationships were substantially affected by the transition to this new contracting arrangement. These findings and their implications are discussed. KEYWORDS. Organizational change, managed care, performance contracting, nonprofit organizations, human services, child welfare

An exploration is presented on how public places help foster the development of the private self. These include libraries, art and music institutions, and universities.

The authors merge literature on the underutilization of evaluation findings and organizational learning to develop a more agency compatible evaluation model that posits that evaluation should be approached as a learning enterprise for both agency and funder. Each of the model's five stages (discovering, refining, launching, utilization, and archiving) is described and a rationale for its potential effectiveness is offered.

This article describes one agency's application of multi-family group therapy to a client sample of families in which abuse and/or neglect was confirmed. A description of the treatment protocol, the families served by the program, issues in program implementation, and suggestive evaluation findings are presented. The authors cautiously advocate for the expansion of such programs within the child welfare field as a way of expanding the service continuum to families at-risk of placement.

In this article, we trace the evolution of the concept of child neglect in state statutes and the professional literature. We discuss two competing perspectives in defining child neglect: parental behavior and potential or actual harm to the child. We also analyze the literature on cultural group variation in defining neglect, as well as variations in the definition of neglect based on social role. Conclusions for child welfare practice and policy are presented.

To assist agencies concerned with converting foster homes into adoptive homes, the authors report pertinent findings gleaned from the research and practice literature. (Author)