Wednesday, August 13, 2003

Human Resources in the Non-Profit Sector (Canada)
A report (in Adobe Acrobat format) at the Canadian Policy Research Network web site - "In a presentation to the Halifax Metro United Way in May 2003, CPRN's President, Judith Maxwell, reviews CPRN's findings on the characteristics of Canada's non-profit sector organizations and the paid workers they employ. Largely statistical in content, her presentation outlines the size of the non-profit sector, profiles its employees, assesses the quality of their jobs, their level of job satisfaction and the skill requirements and training response of the sector." The associated page at the CPRN site also provides links to a variety of related reports.  
  

Electronic Disability Claims Processing: Social Security Administration’s Accelerated Strategy Faces Significant Risks
A GAO publication (in Adobe Acrobat format) of the statement of Linda D. Koontz, Director Information Management Issues, available via the Open Minds web site, which notes, "SSA’s goal to establish a more efficient, paperless disability claims processing system is important, and one that could benefit millions. To achieve this goal, SSA’s immediate focus is on developing an electronic folder to store claimant information and large volumes of medical images, files, and other documents that are currently maintained in paper folders, and then make this information accessible to all entities involved in disability determinations. SSA’s accelerated strategy calls for development of this capability by January 2004 rather than in 2005, as originally planned. "  
  

Self-Help Groups OK Despite Web Inroads
USA Today story reprinted at PsycPORT - "The rapid growth of online support groups apparently hasn't wiped out Americans' appetite for the face-to-face kind: Nearly 1 out of 5 attend groups at some point in their lives, a psychologist reported over the weekend. National surveys show about 26 million have participated in self-help groups and 11 million attend now, says Stanford University psychologist Keith Humphreys. " The story notes Humphreys' comments that there's "solid evidence" that face-to-face peer support groups really help people with mental disorders and addictions. that that "recovering alcoholics and drug addicts who go to peer support groups run up lower medical bills than those who try to go it alone," and that "patients with mental illness are less likely to be hospitalized again if they participate in self-help groups."  
  

Shortage of Adult Day Services in Most U.S. Counties
A page at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation web site on the results of an RWJF-funded National Study of Adult Day Services survey. This page indexes a variety of related resources, including the report's conclusions, an executive summary, and an Adult Day Services Census Interactive Map that allows you to "find out how adult day services stack up in your state or county." The executive summary notes that the survey included 3,407 adult day centers in the United States, 53 percent of which are "well established, having been open for 11-20 or more years," and that 24 percent of those who receive these centers' services are diagnosed with mental retardation/developmental disabilities and 14 percent have a chronic mental illness.  
  

Fewer jail sentences 'would ease overcrowding' (UK)
Story at the Guardian - "More offenders should receive community service instead of jail sentences to cut record levels of suicide and overcrowding in Britain's prisons, according to a report published today. The Prison Reform Trust (PRT) warned that an immediate reduction in the prison population was needed to halt rising drug abuse, mental health problems and staff sickness in a system where 85 out of 138 jails (62%) in England and Wales are overcrowded." The report itself isn't yet available in the "Justice and Victims" section of the Home Office web site - though you will find a number of useful recent reports at a Research Development Statistics index, such as Prisoners’ drug use and treatment: seven research studies and Substance use by young offenders: the impact of the normalisation of drug use in the early years of the 21st century.