Building Changes

Greater understanding of how residential stability affects child separation and reunification among homeless families can guide both child welfare and homeless policy and practice. This article draws upon two longitudinal studies examining services and housing for homeless families and their relationship to family and housing stability. Both studies were conducted in the same state at roughly the same time with similar instruments. The first study, examining families' experiences and outcomes following entry into the homeless service system in three counties in Washington State, found that at 18months following shelter entry, families that are intact with their children were significantly more likely to be housed in their own housing (46%) than families that were separated from one or more of their children (31%). The second study, a quasiexperimental evaluation of a supportive housing program for homeless families with multiple housing barriers, found that the rates of reunification for Child Protective Services (CPS)-involved families receiving supportive housing was comparable to that for families entering public housing without services, but significantly higher than the rate of reunification for families entering shelter. Taken together, the findings from both studies contribute to the evidence underscoring the importance of housing assistance to homeless families involved in the child welfare system.

Lots of studies and projects about the city today are focused mainly on different types of transformations, leading to “new” urban configurations that will ultimately deal with “new” contemporary and future problems. They seem, however, to forget about the human being whose perception and comprehension of the city is mainly based on its past. There are still some attempts made to address the rational balance of old and new, of traditional and modern, of purely formal and purely functional, of beauty and progressive aspects of the city. The article explores the theme of rational attitude in architecture and urban planning. The author searched for traces of such themes in contemporary developments of the IJburg district of Amsterdam and of the Ypenburg Center near The Hague. These examples may help to discuss the role and critical potential of the traditional urban and building typology in the transformation process of cities and territories that lead to new urban configurations. Both the above-mentioned projects use “old” well known, readable, clearly defined and of human scale urban and architectural types (peripheral blocks, towers, main streets, public squares, semi-private courtyards) as design tools that can provide extraordinary creative and instrumental possibilities; types that represent not only an abstraction of urban and building configuration, but act as carriers of cultural meaning and identity. The author looks to address this question and explore possible solutions that will reinstate the rational city in the present day.

ABSTRACTThe Multisite Accelerated Permanency Project (MSAPP) implemented permanency roundtables (PRTs) to increase legal permanency rates for older youth in foster care. PRTs are structured meetings intended to expedite legal permanency (defined as adoption, guardianship, or reunification) for youth by involving experts from both inside and outside child welfare agencies in creative and concrete case planning. The target population of this study included older youth (median age = 17 years) who faced the most challenges in achieving legal permanency, most of whom had a case goal of another planned permanent living arrangement. In 2010, 726 youth participated in PRTs in 4 states through MSAPP. One year after the roundtables, 8.5% of the youth achieved legal permanency. Although the rate of achieving legal permanency was low, other benefits were realized through the process, including increased staff understanding of the importance of legal permanency and identification of strategies to address barriers to achieving legal permanency. Improving rates of achieving legal permanency for older youth in foster care in the future will require effective implementation and evaluation of innovative approaches, including thorough family finding; strategic use of concurrent planning, judicial reviews, and ancillary services; and greater alignment among practice, agencies, policy, and research.