Search results

Through the perspectives of young people themselves, this book reviews changes in policy and practices that affected the generation of young people who grew up in state care in China during the last 20 years.

1. Introduction to child disability in China -- 2. Rights of children with disabilities in China -- 3. Profile of children with disabilities and families in China -- 4. Welfare provision of children with disabilities -- 5. Right to life and protection -- 6. Right to care and protection : support for mothers -- 7. Right to care and protection : alternative family care -- 8. Right to economic security -- 9. Right to children's development : health and therapy services -- 10. Right to children's development : education policy -- 11. Right to children's development : education experiences -- 12. Right to social participation : social institutions of support -- 13. Interrelated rights and social exclusion -- 14. Child and family disability policy in China.

Abstract
Social workers with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) should assist them to have timely access to high-quality therapy services. This research addresses the gap between policy intention to improve the quality of therapy services and families' unmet needs by examining the policy implementation practices of therapy service organisations. A longitudinal study was conducted in Beijing from 2013 to 2022. Qualitative data were obtained from policy documents and interviews with the managers of therapy service organisations (n = 17), therapists (n = 19) and families of children with ASD (n = 35). It found that the government policies created service challenges for the organisations. Managers adopted a short-term focus on organisational survival due to inadequate resources to implement the policy, intensified competition for therapists and service users and pressure from performance measurement. They focused on improving the sites, facilities, publicity and documentation of the organisations rather than the effectiveness of therapy services. Consequently, families still felt they were unable to access good quality therapy. The implications reinforce the significance for social workers to work with the government to actively supporting the training of therapists, establishing meaningful service quality measurement and promoting practical guidance about service quality standards to families of children with ASD.

Purpose
As transition countries shift to a mixed welfare system, the accountability of non-government organizations (NGOs) becomes critical to quality services. Yet, poor financial and managerial practices of some NGOs in China have led to distrust from citizens. The purpose of this paper is to use a democratic accountability framework to examine citizen participation in NGOs as an approach to understand an angle of this distrust. Does the Chinese language academic literature about NGO accountability engage with concepts of participation in NGO governance, management and service use?


Design/methodology/approach
The method was content analysis of a search of words and concepts relating to NGOs, participation and accountability in the available Chinese language literature on NGO accountability through the newly developed search engine Wenjin Search of the National Library of China.


Findings
The analysis found that most Chinese literature only emphasizes problems of accountability, causes and regulatory solutions. When the literature includes participation, it refers to it as a platform for civil society, rather than a process of accountability within an NGO.


Research limitations/implications
Searching by keywords in one search engine may not be exhaustive. The results probably reflect most of the current research of Chinese scholars, considering the depth of the search engine.


Practical implications
Formal NGOs are relatively new in the Chinese political landscape; and government regulations are largely administrative and unenforced. At conceptual and political levels, the absence of discussion about other forms of accountability ignores questions about public dissatisfaction with NGO performance and the public's willingness to contribute to NGO effectiveness, and civic engagement.


Originality/value
An implication is that until Chinese NGO research also incorporates democratic accountability concepts, it will continue to ignore the internal and external drivers from citizens for NGO change. Transition country NGOs that encourage participation have the potential to engender greater accountability in the organization, community and in state relations.

Negative attitudes are a major barrier to the equality of people with disabilities. Governments and other organizations have implemented numerous programmes to change attitudes towards people with disabilities. We analyse published evidence about the effectiveness of such programmes using a framework of the interrelationship among three levels of policy intervention to change attitudes: personal level – directed at changing the attitudes of individuals; organizational level – concerning attitudinal barriers in domains such as employment, education and health; and government level – legally mandating behaviour change. The analysis finds that the following policy types can be effective if used together: policies that involve direct contact with people with disability; information and awareness campaigns; education and training about disability; and antidiscrimination enforcement. Policy characteristics that contribute to effectiveness include a positive programme experience for participants; multifaceted and prolonged interventions; and adequate programme resources. Policy effectiveness to change attitudes relies on corresponding reinforcement at all three policy levels.

AbstractSupported housing programmes for people with chronic mental health needs have shifted towards approaches that rely on housing first, which prioritizes access to a permanent home in the community. How do support programmes with this assumption manage the market constraints of a shortage of affordable housing? The article examines empirical mixed method data (interviews and programme data) about the experience of managing this problem in the Mental Health Housing and Accommodation Support Initiative (HASI) in New South Wales, Australia. HASI provides clinical mental health services, housing support and housing if needed, for people who are not yet living independently in the community.It found that the housing shortage affected the ability of the providers to implement the intended programme design at three early steps in the support: determining eligibility; prioritizing access between people with and without housing; and managing entry to the programme when they did not have housing. As a result, some otherwise suitable applicants were not prioritized for entry into the programme or their entry was delayed until they were housed.The providers adjusted the programme to the housing market realities, which compromised the programme intentions. The policy lessons are that programmes need strategies to provide housing for people who require it; assist people to find or apply for housing; and support people while they wait for housing. These approaches enhance the coherence of programmes, build on integration mechanisms and respond to the housing context.

International policy trends favour personalised approaches to housing support for people with disabilities. Previous research is inconclusive about whether these approaches are effective compared to group home support in the way they use government resources and benefit clients, partly because it does not usually consider the experiences of people who use the support. In this research we compared six new, innovative case studies of personalised housing support to previous research about group home support. We included qualitative data about client experiences, in particular regarding social networks, decision making, community service use and participation in domestic tasks. We found that client outcomes were positive in all four categories, while the financial costs to clients and government were similar to group home support. The results offer evidence that current, personalised approaches to housing support can be an effective policy option that allows people with disabilities to make choices about how to live and participate in their communities, without increasing the cost to government.