BANANAS: providing child care services to a multi-ethnic community.

BANANAS, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that has provided child care resource and referral services for over 35 years. BANANAS emerged as a grassroots effort initiated by a group of female volunteers who sought to build a network of women with children who needed childcare. As the organization developed, its leaders recognized and responded to additional needs, including resource and information sharing, workshops and classes, and political advocacy. Beginning as a collective, BANANAS has grown into a multifaceted service delivery and advocacy nonprofit operating with an annual budget of $12 million. This history of the agency reflects the development of a unique community-based effort, its challenges and rewards, and the multiple successes that this pioneering nonprofit has experienced.

Asian Community Mental Health Services at 35: a pioneering ethnic organization (1973-2008).

Asian Community Mental Health Services is a nonprofit organization that delivers mental health services to primarily Asian and Pacific Islander communities. From its early beginnings and over its 35-year history, the agency has had to overcome numerous challenges, including gaining legitimacy as a culturally specific nonprofit, combating stigma surrounding mental health issues within the Asian Pacific Islander community, building resources to fund service delivery, and developing an educated and culturally sensitive workforce. The history of the organization highlights the multiple challenges and rewards of developing a culturally specific nonprofit in an urban area as well as the important role that internal operations play in relation to nonprofit expansion and growth.

Assessing child and youth well-being: implications for child welfare practice.

The measurement of child well-being has become increasingly important in child welfare practice in the past ten years with the federal emphasis on measuring positive outcomes for children and families. Practical and methodological barriers to evaluating well-being exist alongside positive developments in the field. This article reviews the research literature related to child and youth well-being, providing a context for the discussion of measurement issues in child welfare settings. Based on a structured review of the literature, the article discusses instruments that appear to be most appropriate for use in a child welfare setting. Instruments are presented within stages of development, including (1) Infancy and Early Childhood, (2) Middle Childhood, and (3) Adolescence. Implications for the design and use of child well-being instruments in child welfare practice are discussed.

Family assessment in child welfare services: instrument comparisons.

Family assessment instruments can enhance the clinical judgment of child welfare practitioners by structuring decision-making processes and demonstrating the linkages between assessment, service provision, and child and family outcomes. This article describes the concept of family assessment in the child welfare context and provides an overview of the theoretical and disciplinary influences in the family assessment field. Based on a structured review of 85 instruments, the article discusses 21 that appear to the be the most valid and reliable for evaluating four federally-defined domains of family assessment: (1) patterns of social interaction, (2) parenting practices, (3) background and history of the parents or caregivers, and (4) problems in access to basic necessities such as income, employment, and adequate housing. Key measurement criteria as well as practical considerations in the selection and implementation of family assessment instrumentation in child welfare are discussed.

Knowledge management: implications for human service organizations.

Knowledge management has recently taken a more prominent role in the management of organizations as worker knowledge and intellectual capital are recognized as critical to organizational success. This analysis explores the literature of knowledge management including the individual level of tacit and explicit knowledge, the networks and social interactions utilized by workers to create and share new knowledge, and the multiple organizational and managerial factors associated with effective knowledge management systems. Based on the role of organizational culture, structure, leadership, and reward systems, six strategies are identified to assist human service organizations with implementing new knowledge management systems.

Möbius aromaticity in [12]annulene: cis-trans isomerization via twist-coupled bond shifting.

Density functional and coupled cluster calculations show that facile thermal configuration change in [12]annulene occurs via a twist-coupled bond-shifting mechanism. The transition state for this process is highly aromatic with Möbius topology. At the CCSD(T)/cc-pVDZ//BH&HLYP/6-311+G** level, the isomerization of tri-trans-[12]annulene 1a (CTCTCT) to its di-trans isomer 2 (CCCTCT) via such a mechanism has a barrier of 18.0 kcal/mol, in good agreement with earlier experiments. Two other aromatic Möbius bond-shifting transition states were located that result in configuration change for other [12]annulene conformers. This mechanism contrasts sharply with diradical configuration change for acyclic polyenes and with planar bond-shifting mechanisms generally assumed for annulenes. This constitutes evidence that neutral Möbius aromatic annulenes play a role in the dynamic processes of neutral [4n]annulenes.

Computational evaluation of the evidence for tri-trans-[12]annulene.

[reaction: see text] Automerization in tri-trans-[12]annulene (1) was investigated by DFT, MP2, and coupled-cluster methods. Using the highest level of theory employed here, CCSD(T)/cc-pVDZ//BHandHLYP/6-311+G(d,p), we located two low-energy pathways for degenerate conformational change from the lowest-energy conformer of 1 (1a): one with E(a) = 4.5 kcal/mol that interconverts the three inner trans hydrogens with the three outer trans hydrogens and one with E(a) = 2.7 kcal/mol that interconverts the three inner hydrogens with each other. These results are consistent with the experimental results of Oth and co-workers on [12]annulene 1a (Oth, J. F. M.; Röttele, H.; Schröder, G. Tetrahedron Lett. 1970, 61). The conformational exchange of the inner trans hydrogens with the outer ones is predicted to occur via a one-step process involving a C(2)-symmetric transition state and not via the D(3)-symmetric transition state (1b) that was postulated earlier. Conformer 1b was found to be a shallow minimum 6.7 kcal/mol above 1a with a barrier of 0.4 kcal/mol for conversion to 1a. Finally, GIAO-B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) and BHandHLYP/6-311+G(d,p) computed (1)H NMR chemical shifts of 1a and three other low-lying isomers support Oth's original assignment of observed (1)H NMR peaks to 1a at both low and high temperature.