Active labour market policies for people with disabilities in receipt of public income benefits: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Active labour market policies (ALMP) are used in advanced welfare states to support transitions to work for people who are unemployed or underemployed, including people with disabilities (PWD) in receipt of means-tested disability income support. OBJECTIVE: This study explores the nature, strength, and limitations of ALMP across advanced welfare states (ALMP) for people with disabilities (PWD) in receipt of income benefits from social assistance programs. METHODS: Following the eight steps of a scoping study, we identified 21 documents through a scan of eight databases and consultation with key informants. The majority of these documents are scholarly publications including seven literature reviews, two program evaluations, four social policy analyses, and two longitudinal studies. RESULTS: We extracted key findings related to delivery of labour (re)entry interventions for people with disabilities. Six themes are identified that discuss these ALMP features: 1) welfare ideology and the role of citizenship; 2) conditionality of benefits; 3) work capacity and the need for an appropriate definition of disability; 4) the politics of employment outcomes for PWD; 5) the missing elements of a successful ALMP; and 6) moving beyond ALMP. The findings indicate that while various approaches are used in reintegrating PWD into mainstream employment, there are significant limitations that curtail the impact of these policies. CONCLUSIONS: Regardless of welfare regime, no welfare state provides a policy mix that results in long-term employment success for PWD in receipt of means-tested income benefits.

Behavioral Indicators of Drug Carrying in Open Spaces.

This article identifies and describes a set of behavioral indicators associated with illegal drug carrying in public spaces. Through the use of focus group data, our research documents and translates the visual search techniques that veteran law enforcement and drugs experts report using in their work. Here, we catalogue these findings into 10 overarching categories, and discuss how each indicator may be incorporated into an officer's visual search. Knowledge of these indicators, when combined with proper training and an understanding of a public space, can help law enforcement identify persons who may be carrying drugs. The ability to identify drug-carrying individuals facilitates the interdiction and apprehension of offenders, and also protects the civil rights and liberties of the law-abiding public.

National evaluation of policies governing funding for wheelchairs and scooters in Canada: Évaluation nationale des politiques régissant le financement des fauteuils roulants, des triporteurs et des quadriporteurs au Canada.

BACKGROUND: Wheelchairs, scooters, and related equipment are essential for the well-being of individuals with limited mobility and impact participation, health, and quality of life. PURPOSE: Our objective was to identify and evaluate policies governing equipment funding for Canadian adults. We reviewed funding legislation and program documentation for adult Canadians (≥18 years of age) covered by their provincial, territorial, or federal health care plan. Documents were obtained online or through administrative staff. Policy evaluation was guided by the Disability Policy Lens from the Canadian Disability Policy Alliance. KEY ISSUES: Coverage ranges from full funding for all individuals within the jurisdiction to programs limited by strict eligibility criteria. Each jurisdiction defines "disability" or "basic/essential need" differently, contributing to further funding disparities. IMPLICATIONS: Funding policies differ substantially across Canada, resulting in unequal access to equipment dependent on province or territory. We identified eligibility, funding, definitions of mobility, repair and replacement, and prescriber requirement benchmarks that represent policy targets for improved access.

State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP). Interim final rule.

This rule implements a provision enacted by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 and reflects the transfer of the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to the Administration for Community Living (ACL) in HHS. The previous regulations were issued by CMS under the authority granted by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA `90), Section 4360.

Welfare Reform and Children's Health.

This study investigates the effect of the Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) program on children's health outcomes using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation over the period 1994 to 2005. The TANF policies have been credited with increased employment for single mothers and a dramatic drop in welfare caseload. Our results show that these policies also had a significant effect on various measures of children's medical utilization among low-income families. These health measures include a rating of the child's health status reported by the parents, the number of times that parents consulted a doctor, and the number of nights that the child stayed in a hospital. We compare the overall changes of health status and medical utilization for children with working and nonworking mothers. We find that the child's health status as reported by the parents is affected by the maternal employment status.

Global justice, capabilities approach and commercial surrogacy in India.

Inequalities, ineffective governance, unclear surrogacy regulations and unethical practices make India an ideal environment for global injustice in the process of commercial surrogacy. This article aims to apply the 'capabilities approach' to find possibilities of global justice through human fellowship in the context of commercial surrogacy. I draw primarily on my research findings supplemented by other relevant empirical research and documentary films on surrogacy. The paper reveals inequalities and inadequate basic entitlements among surrogate mothers as a consequence of which they are engaged in unjust contracts. Their limited entitlements also limit their opportunities to engage in enriching goals. It is the role of the state to provide all its citizens with basic entitlements and protect their basic human rights. Individuals in India evading their basic duty also contribute to the existing inequalities. Individual responsibilities of the medical practitioners and the intended parents are in question here as they are more inclined towards self-interest rather than commitment towards human fellowship. At the global level, the injustice in transnational commercial surrogacy practices in developing countries calls for an international declaration of women and child rights in third party reproduction with a normative vision of mutual fellowship and human dignity.

The Great Recession, unemployment and suicide.

BACKGROUND: How have suicide rates responded to the marked increase in unemployment spurred by the Great Recession? Our paper puts this issue into a wider perspective by assessing (1) whether the unemployment-suicide link is modified by the degree of unemployment protection, and (2) whether the effect on suicide of the present crisis differs from the effects of previous economic downturns. METHODS: We analysed the unemployment-suicide link using time-series data for 30 countries spanning the period 1960-2012. Separate fixed-effects models were estimated for each of five welfare state regimes with different levels of unemployment protection (Eastern, Southern, Anglo-Saxon, Bismarckian and Scandinavian). We included an interaction term to capture the possible excess effect of unemployment during the Great Recession. RESULTS: The largest unemployment increases occurred in the welfare state regimes with the least generous unemployment protection. The unemployment effect on male suicides was statistically significant in all welfare regimes, except the Scandinavian one. The effect on female suicides was significant only in the eastern European country group. There was a significant gradient in the effects, being stronger the less generous the unemployment protection. The interaction term capturing the possible excess effect of unemployment during the financial crisis was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the more generous the unemployment protection the weaker the detrimental impact on suicide of the increasing unemployment during the Great Recession.

Complementarities or contradictions? Scoping the health dimensions of "flexicurity" labor market policies.

Flexicurity, or the integration of labor market flexibility with social security and active labor market policies, has figured prominently in economic and social policy discussions in Europe since the mid-1990s. Such policies are designed to transcend traditional labor-capital conflicts and to form a mutually supportive nexus of flexibility and security within a climate of intensified competition and rapid technological change. International bodies have marketed flexicurity as an innovative win-win strategy for employers and workers alike, commonly citing Denmark and The Netherlands as exemplars of best practice. In this article, we apply a social determinants of health framework to conduct a scoping review of the academic and gray literature to: (a) better understand the empirical associations between flexicurity practices and population health in Denmark and (b) assess the relevance and feasibility of implementing such policies to improve health and reduce health inequalities in Ontario, Canada. Based on 39 studies meeting our full inclusion criteria, preliminary findings suggest that flexicurity is limited as a potential health promotion strategy in Ontario, offers more risks to workers' health than benefits, and requires the strengthening of other social protections before it could be realistically implemented within a Canadian context.

Effect of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on frequency of beverage consumption among youth in the United States.

As the largest federal food assistance program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has potential to improve food choices among low-income populations. The program's impact on youth is important because they are represented in more than half of all SNAP households. This study estimates the impact of participation in SNAP, also known as the Food Stamp Program, on the frequency of soft drink, 100% fruit juice, and milk consumption among youth (ages 11 through 14) in the United States. A cohort of 3,126 youth from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey who were surveyed in 2004 (5th grade) and 2007 (8th grade) were used for the analysis. Multivariate linear regression with individual fixed effects was conducted to estimate the effect of SNAP participation on the frequency of consumption of each beverage type in the preceding week. The fixed effects controlled for factors specific to the youth, such as sex, race/ethnicity, and time-invariant bias in reporting SNAP participation or beverage consumption. Overall participation in SNAP increased from 19.5% to 20.3% between 2004 and 2007, with 14.4% reporting a different participation status in 2007 as compared with 2004. SNAP participation was not found to be predictive of the frequency of soft drink, 100% fruit juice, or milk consumption among youth. In its current state, SNAP may serve to replace lost income for qualifying households, but not alter their food and beverage choices. Interventions that support access to and incentivize the consumption of more healthful foods and beverages may be successful in improving the nutritional quality of intake.