Are there any political implications for David Cameron, in regards to Essay

Are there any political implications for David Cameron, in regards to the current welfare reform policy - Essay Example His contributions to the current welfare policies are evident in the linking of benefits to wages, which have helped to cut inflation. David Cameron might have influenced the welfare reform policy when he implemented the twenty thousand dollars a year cap to help in housing benefits. Suggestions made by Cameron concerning young people not being entitled to benefits until they pay their contributions, might have contributed to the current welfare reform policies. However, there were some individuals who were against the opinion (Blond, 2009). Some of the reasons as to why this research topic is worth studying are evident from some of the claims that were made by Cameron concerning the welfare reform policy. For example, one of the claims by Cameron is evident from his statements when he claimed that claimants were supposed to undertake work in return for the benefits they had obtained within six months of unemployment. In his attempt to implement the welfare policy, Cameron also argue d that individuals, who were on the sickness benefit, were supposed find ways of improving their health to cut on the government’s expenditure. However, such proposals lead to debates from the public. There are also suggestions that were made by Cameron regarding the welfare reform policy that are thought to have had political implications. ... When he suggested that housing benefits be removed for persons under the age of 25 years. He also suggested that the issue of regional benefits be examined to fit the cost of living. It is thought that some of these proposals that were made by Cameron might have been a representation of his political shift in the management of the coalition. This is because sources indicate that Cameron did acknowledge that some of the proposals he made could not be delivered in concert with the liberal democrats. Cameron also stated that some of the proposals that were made had to wait for a conservative majority of the government until the year 2015. Cameron might have had political implications because he stated that his intentions were to set out the country for the next election (Daguerre, 2005). Research suggests that Cameron might have had political implications, because of reactions that were obtained from other politicians like Danny Alexander. Who claimed that to ensure the welfare reform p olicy is implemented, focus should be placed on the introduction of universal credit. This research question is worth studying because it is evident that arguments have been arising concerning the implementation of the welfare reform policy. Cameron insists that other politicians should not use compassion to measure the size of the welfare cheque. Young people aged 25 years also think that Cameron was against their development when he advocated for a stop in their housing benefits. Other politicians also argued that implementing the welfare reform policy by cutting the tax credits was wrong (Davies, 2007). Academic research carried out on the topic reveals that there were political implications of the welfare reform policy. This is because some of the

Business Econimics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Econimics - Research Paper Example The elasticity of demand might affected too: Since trust is hard to earn and easy to lose, it is likely that once a company has violated ethical standards, consumers will be afraid of getting burnt again and will avoid the company at the first sign of trouble, making their offerings more elastic. Costs might raise: Contractors, suppliers and distributors might ask for a higher price for their service and goods, either because they feel that the company's bargaining position has declined, as insurance against potential malfeasance, or as compensation for the inevitable PR hit. Ethical issues are more likely to occur in deregulated markets (Palast, 2002; Palast, 2004). This is for a few reasons. First: The kind of behavior that occurs in a deregulated market tends to already be less constrained by conventional ethics, meaning that companies that thrive in that environment are already likely to have unorthodox and perhaps unscrupulous cultures and practices. Second: Regulation, both by NGOs and government, tends to make companies more sensitive to the impacts of what they are doing; it might be seen by someone. One of the major ways that Enron managed to get away with so much was the inaction of shareholders and the failure of accounting firms, auditors and regulators (Palast, 2002; Berenbeim, 2002). Consider a rise in demand for computer chips and potato chips. Potato chips are pure luxury items: They are highly elastic, because people can afford to go without potato chips. Computers and the chips that make them up, in contrast, are essential items for business, homes, political agencies and NGOs. The economy runs on telecommunication technology, credit card processing, etc. that is all done through computerized systems. A reduction in demand can't hurt computer makers much, despite the relatively high cost of producing computer chips to potato chips, because they are so essential. In the short run, a potato chip maker might harvest more potatoes, run lines faste r, or pack factories more tightly to increase production. A computer chip maker might do the same thing, but while the occasional green or stale potato chip is not a threat to the potato chip makers' reputation, a failing computer chip costs headaches in bad reviews, tech support headaches and so on. Buying new factories for potato chips is likely to be easy: Buying and properly fitting new factories and training new personnel for computer chips is much harder. In the long run, of course, the potato chip company has to bear in mind that a new health fad, a change in the taste buds and palates of customers, a marketing campaign, or something else might harm the demand for their product. They can't afford to get too much excess. Further, potato chips must be strictly identified according to USDA standards, meaning rebranding is more difficult than it might seem and companies are less flexible than an initial review would suggest (2009). However, computer chip makers know that, in the long run, their product cannot help but grow, as the Third World catches up and computerizes more and more and as more and more products need computer chips. Thus, it's clear that a product that is elastic might have some more flexibility in dealing with spikes, but tends to have difficulty maintaining those spikes and therefore taking advantage of them, whereas a less elastic product might take longer to get

American Military Occupation of Japan (1945-1952) Changed Japans Term Paper

American Military Occupation of Japan (1945-1952) Changed Japans Political Institutions And Processes - Term Paper Example Japanese people religiously believed that they were superior, but when they started to think that the Americans regarded them as inferior creatures, the conflict has intensified. The attack in Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 were the major violent charges happened between the U.S. and Japan. After the atomic bombings, Japan has accepted its defeat, and Emperor Hirohito requested his military forces to submit to General Douglas MacArthur being the appointed Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) in Japan. The American conquerors occupied Japan from 1945-1952, and within these years, the relationship between the two countries was strengthened. In 1952, the Occupation authorities have returned Japan to the Japanese people; however, they make sure that Japanese leaders were already equipped with knowledge, dedication, and sincerity on their positions. Thus, they were already capable of bringing the country to success and not to demis e. Source: â€Å"Australia and Japan† Figure 1 illustrates the GDP of Japan after the American Occupation. It shows that Japan and the U.S. have equal footings in terms of GDP growth, but there is a reverse of growth on the 20th century. According to Hobbs and Dolan, â€Å"Japan’s special relationship with the United States boosted the economy long after the American occupation ended† (402). At present, the two countries are now very good friends and closest military allies. In fact, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said that the whole Japan is truly thankful for the U.S. unwavering support, and he further acknowledged the â€Å"importance of the U.S. military presence for the peace and security of the region† (Ito). The American people also felt... The Occupation has made Japan a strong democratic country and its basic objectives include the â€Å"abolition of militarism and ultra-national organizations in all forms; disarm and demilitarize Japan; strengthen democratic tendencies and processes in government†. When the Occupation started to dominate the country, the Westerners concluded that the change process would not be visible because people would not cooperate. However, Occupation authorities have been good to the Japanese people; in fact, they have been compassionate and did not abuse their power to show to them that they were not enemies, but friends who were willing to help. They have also emphasized that they could not enforce anything to Japan without their approval and support because democracy is all about freedom of expression. Thus, understanding, respect, and cooperation have been formed between the two countries. The American Military Occupation of Japan is very significant to the history of Japanese people, particularly to their political setting. Most of the reforms introduced during the Occupation are still intact until today; in fact, these are the reasons why Japan has become one of the most developed countries in the 20th century. Also, it helped Japanese leaders to regain the trust and confidence of their people, which was wasted during their surrender in 1945. Japan totally became a democratic country under the American conquerors, which had unlocked the gap between the two countries and became close allies in military and political matters. The Japanese people are very grateful to the American’s influence during the Occupation, and the American conquerors have appreciated the people’s willingness to accept their fate under their governance.

Economic and Social Factors that Affected the Slavery of the South Essay Example for Free

Economic and Social Factors that Affected the Slavery of the South Essay Slavery had been one of the most controversial and important issues in the history of the United States. The distinction between the whites and the African American slaves could be rooted way back in the past events of the country even when the United States was still under the British rule. Because of this, the turn of events in the country is also related with slavery. The changes in the social and economic factors of the country greatly influenced the situation of slavery in the south. The desire for independence by the Americans has been the primary motivating factor that droved the social changes in the country. However, slavery was regarded as the biggest irony in America’s battle for freedom because their existence is a clear proof that the idea of liberty is more of a privilege rather than an inherent and equal right for all. This is proven by the fact that during the revolution, slavery was already considered as part of the old institution in America. Slavery was present in every colony and became the basis for the economy and social structure from Maryland southward. At the very least, 40 percent of Virginia’s population and at even higher numbers in Georgia and South Carolina had been slaves (Foner 230). Being the case, slavery created a huge impact in the south because their source of living and there very lifestyle have been dependent upon the work that slaves give. This is also the reason that the initiatives to abolish slavery greatly threatened the south. In 1840s, the expansion to the west played an important role as it moved slavery in the center of American politics. The depression that started in 1837 paved the way for the large migration of settlers in further west. The years between 1840 and 1845, about 5,000 emigrants traveled the 2,000 mile journey by wagon train to Oregon. The settlement of some Americans in Oregon perpetuated the southern attitude of patronizing slaves since some of them brought their slaves with them. Nevertheless, the settlement in Oregon is not the main reason for the emergence of the issue of slavery; rather the nation’s acquisition of Mexico caused it. The primary part of Mexico that was settled by a substantial number of Americans was Texas. This could be attributed from the fact that the Mexican government allowed Moses Austin, a farmer born in Connecticut, to permit the Americans to colonize it. In 1820, Austin received a large land grant, which he sells in small portions to Americans settlers. The issue of slavery arises because Mexico already abolished slavery. In April 1836, Sam Houston and his forces defeated the army of Santa Anna, which brought about the independence of Texas. The interest of the South was triggered by this event because they believed that including Texas in the Union and even dividing it to several states could increase their power in the Congress (Foner 465-466). The Compromise of 1850 was created in order to maintain peace within the Union. This helped the south in the sense that the compromise still allows the slavery and only abolished slave trade. The Compromise also left the white inhabitants in the territories of Mexico to decide whether they will continue with slavery or not. In the same manner, the Fugitive Slave Act also aided the south in capturing run-away slaves without the interference of local authorities. Southern leaders support measures that sent federal agents to states in the north in order to capture fugitives. It is also regarded that the Fugitive Slave Act is an example of how the government abided by the interests of the south (Foner 477-479). However, the Fugitive Slave Act also made many people especially from the North realize that this kind of law infringes upon the rights of the citizens as well as of the state. Being the case, this started the changes in the concept of state’s right. The leadership of Stephen A. Douglas helped the states to resolve its dispute regarding the issue of slavery. He hoped to solve the dispute among the northerners and southerners in Congress by applying the principle of popular sovereignty. Sovereignty would allow the local settlers of every state to vote whether they are in favor of slavery or not instead of the Congress. Douglas deemed that popular sovereignty symbolizes the idea of local self-government and it also created a middle ground between the North and South (Foner 479-480). The discussions above show that the underlying concern of the southern sector is to protect their interests. They were very keen in acquiring the necessary power in Congress in order for them to prevent the abolition of slavery, wherein they are greatly dependent upon in terms of their means of income and the overall development of their agricultural sector. Because of this, they are very vigilant of the social and economic changes that are happening in the country in order to make sure that their stakes and interests are safeguarded. Work Cited Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty: An American History. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2007.

American Modernization Essays -- essays research papers

American Modernization Leading up to the turn of our present century, changes in culture and society of America triggered modernization throughout much of our commerce, social, artistic and educational lives. The past century or so has brought new obstacles and opportunities for the nation of America. This changing is reflected through some of the works by writers such as, Robert Frost, William Williams, Ezra Pound, and T.S. Eliot. Examining people’s mindset in modernization one common feeling of people is â€Å"nervousness† which is due to the nation’s reluctance to change. T.S. Eliot is quoted with the statement "the immense panorama of futility and anarchy which is contemporary history."1 Modernism generally, varies greatly between previous times in the 19th century which breaks stride with the traditional lifestyle of the middle-class working public. Modernists portray a dull, gloomy and pessimistic picture of culture in America during this time period. This despair is often caused by an apparent boredom and the people’s feeling of uncertainty, of changes to come. Modernism uncovered has an anti-traditionalist theme instilled in it, because of the inevitability that changes will occur. â€Å"Modern† itself possesses the qualities, such as being simple and spontaneous along with an indefinite time frame to allow people’s acceptance of unknown. In many ways, this movement is difficult to define, but it can be generally applied to the work o...

Internet Addiction Disorder

Theme : Science and Technology Topic : Internet Addiction Disorder Good morning, everybody. I’d like to show you a presentation about Internet Addiction Disorder. Let’s start. First of all, ask yourself â€Å"without your computer or the Internet what would you do? † In the world of quickly advancing technology, it is hard to ignore the Internet which is becoming more and more important in lives of users worldwide. But the ugly truth is that the Internet is as addictive as it is useful. IAD is a speculated mental disorder made and introduced by Ivan Goldberg in 1995. With the increased role of the Internet in society and business, some of its users have become addicted; these addicts show a set of symptoms that are accompanied by a variety of negative consequences. Internet addiction could be categorized into individual groups. Each group has their unique and distinct characteristics. For effective treatment it is essential to diagnose the correct type of Internet addiction. Soule, L. C. , Shell, W. & Kleen, B. A. in their article â€Å"Exploring Internet addiction: Demographic characteristics and stereotypes of heavy internet users† describe types of IAD (2003). They are Cybersexual Addiction, Computer Addiction, Net Compulsion, Information Overload, Cyber-Relational Addiction. Let's look at some types in more detail. Firstly, Cyber-Relational Addiction. People who suffer from an addiction to chat rooms or social networking sites become over-involved in onli ne relationships or can participate in virtual adultery. Online friends quickly become more important to person often at the expense of real life relationships with family and friends. In many cases, this will lead to a marriage disagreement and family instability. Authors say that Net Compulsion is an addiction to online gaming, online gambling. It is quickly becoming new mental problems in the post-Internet Era. With the instant access to virtual casinos, interactive games, addicts loose excessive amounts of money and even destroy other duties connected with work or essential relationships. Let me turn now to causes of IAD. Release of graphic intensive online games has lead to innumerable teenagers getting addicted with the Internet. Blogging and Youtube are also some of the temptations that many individuals find difficult to resist. However, these are just the obvious reasons. There are much more than it seems at first sight. Jennifer Ferris in article â€Å"IAD: Causes, Symptoms, and Consequences† describes several causes of IAD (2005). Firstly, it’s Psychodynamic and Personality. Psychodynamic and personal opinions explain addiction through emotional shocks through childhood which has left a person with problems as an adult, together with other personality attributes and/or other disorders, and inherited psychological characters. Certain people, because of set of the reasons, are inclined to developing an addiction, such as heroin, gambling and sex. For example, even if a person only sometimes drinks alcohol, he may develop an addiction to alcohol if he increases consumption continuously. The same hypothesis remains for Internet addiction. Given the right combination of time, person and case, addiction can take place. The next cause is Cyber-relationships. In almost 75% of cases, Internet addicts use applications like chat rooms, instant messaging, or online gaming as a safe way of establishing new relationships and more confidently relating to others. This is because some people may have lack the social skills that would enable them to meet people in person instead of online; hence they prefer to make friends without direct contact to people. In addition, they get rid of any stranger or people who they don’t want to chat with just by â€Å"blocking† them. Another causes are anonymity, hunger for knowledge and convenience. I'd like now to say about consequences of IAD. Kimberly Young in her article â€Å"Internet addiction: Symptoms, evaluation, and treatment† says there are several consequences of IAD. The first is Familial Problems (1999). Dr Kimberly Young discovered that serious relationship problems were reported by 53% of Internet addicts surveyed. Marriages, dating relationships, parent-child relationships, and close friendships have been noted to be heavily damaged by Internet. The second is Academic Problems. Survey has shown that 86% of responding teachers, librarians, and computer coordinators are convinced that the use of the Internet by children does not raise quality of academic performance. The next is Occupational Problems. Employees who are addicted to the Internet, can be fired, if they aren’t able to suppress the desire and are caught using network resources of companies for their own entertainment. Let's look now at treatment of IAD. Kimberly Young gives some types of treatments. Firstly, Practice the Opposite. A reorganization time is a major element in the treatment of the IAD. For example, if your habit involves you checking your e-mail or the Net first thing in the morning, try taking a shower and breakfast first instead. Then, make yourself a positive reminder card. Write a list of the five major problems caused by your addiction to the Internet. Next, write out the five major benefits of reducing your Internet use. This simple reminder will help you subconsciously. Next treatment is Family Therapy. It will be necessary for addicts whose family relationships have been destroyed under influence of Internet addiction. A strong feeling of family support can help patient to recover from Internet addiction. To sum up, everybody should remember that Internet Addiction is a very real thing. It will not only continue to be a problem but it will become more popular as technology develops and becomes more widely used. However, despite of negative consequences of the Internet, it is very useful thing. The Internet is not bad just because people become dependent on it, Internet has many important and necessary advantages.

Child Abuse

 Essay

Many children suffer child abuse everyday at the hands of adults and it is often their own parents who are the ones to do this. They are beaten, kicked, thrown into walls, or burned with cigarettes. They have their heads held under the water of toilet bowls, are scalded by hot water or they are forced to stand in freezing or scalding showers until they pass out. A child could be stuffed into running washing machines or sexually molested and beaten so bad that they are unable to move. Some suffer from neglect in the forms of starvation and lack of medical attention, and still go unnoticed by outsiders such as child protective services or perhaps even their pediatricians. It is not unheard of that children die every day in the U.S. alone from one form of child abuse or another. It is a sickening practice that has no set standard of rules to finish off the persisting problem. Different states have different methods and agencies to help prevent abuse in the home, some work quite well while others bomb – a dangerous gamble when it comes to the life or mental state of a child. †¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨The precise number of deaths each year is not known because of the extent of most fatality investigations that could be suspected as child abuse but are seen as open and shut death cases. A report from the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, however, depicts more than three million reports of alleged child maltreatment practices in the year of 1995 alone. Many more children are living with abuse rather than dying from it, too. So what steps are being taken to protect our nation’s children? All states have a Child Protective Services (or CPS) system. This is the governmental system responsible for investigating reports of child abuse or neglect. In state after state, the CPS agency lacks the resources to respond adequately to the overwhelming number of reports it is legislatively mandated to investigate. All fifty states have child abuse reporting laws requiring reports of suspected abuse to be made by specified professionals and others whose work brings them into regular contact with children. Any citizen may report suspected abuse as state laws provide for reports to be made to the CPS agency or its equivalent, or to a law enforcement agency. In most states, investigations are conducted by CPS personnel, although law enforcement officers may also be involved.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨The basic concern of child welfare workers is for the safety of the child. Assessment of the risks involved in leaving a child with its family must be made quickly because children cannot be removed from their families arbitrarily. Once a child has been removed, the goal of child welfare agencies is to return the child to the family. Ideally, caseworkers develop a plan to provide parents with the education of the care that children need, free from abuse or neglect.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨This plan is not always carried out to its full intention. No state has the financial resources to provide all the services to the children and families who need them. A problem is that in state after state, CPS workers have excessive caseloads, are paid low salaries, and lack adequate training for the sensitive work involved in investigating abuse reports, and participating in decisions to remove children from their families then placing them in foster care. The turnover rate among child welfare workers is exceptionally high. A report done by the United States Department of Health and Human Services showed the rate of 30 percent to be the norm, annually.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Whatever the reason – inadequate funding, unavailable services for children and families, high turnover rates, lack of training, overwhelming numbers of reports – questions are being raised about the CPS system. The system is based on the assumption that removal from a troubled family, followed by a return to the family when that can be done safely, is best for the child. A different approach to the problems created by child abuse involves Family Preservation Services (FPS). Removal of the risk, rather than the child, is the goal of Family Preservation Services. FPS programs seek to modify the home environment or behavior of other family members so that it is at least as safe for the child to remain in the household as to be removed. Family preservation is based on the assumption that out of home care hurts children, and on the recognition that most families referred to Child Protective Service can and want to learn new ways of coping with stress. Rather than breaking families apart in order to treat them, intensive family preservation services seek to protect children and heal families by keeping them whole.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Specifically, FPS provides intensive services in the home to all the members of a troubled family for a relatively short time – four to six weeks. Professional staffs are usually assigned two, but no more than four, families at a time. Caseworkers are available to families twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. A worker can stay as long as necessary to stabilize the household, whether that means six, ten, or twelve hours. Ten states have initiated FPS programs by legislation including: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Homebuilders, an FPS program based in Tacoma, Washington, provides the longest running assessment of the effectiveness of family preservation services. From 1981 to 1994, Homebuilders saw 3,497 children. Evaluation data indicted that three months after completing the program, an average of 94 percent of the families had avoided out of home placement. Twelve-month follow up data showed that placement had been averted in 88 percent of the cases. Furthermore, the cost for Homebuilders’ family services was only $3000 per case while the costs for an average foster family home placement in the state was $7586.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨There is a down side to the Family Preservation Service, though. The track record of FPS seems impressive, but a closer look at another side reveals it’s not doing such a great job. According to the Clarke Foundation, there has never been a case of parental abuse or neglect causing serious injury or the death of a child while receiving family preservation services. But since the FPS provides services for a relatively short period of just a few weeks, there is no way of accurately predicting if after that short amount of observation that the parents are suddenly fit to care for a child. A worker only stays in the house for a maximum of twelve hours – that is not long enough to assess whether the child is in danger and the true nature of the parents. Of course no one is going to kill or seriously injure a child in front of a human services official. No studies are available that show whether the abuse reoccurred after the Family Preservation Service’s four to six weeks with the family was finished. †¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨The Division of Family Services takes another approach to preventing child abuse. The staff is divided into units, working a variety of shif ts and functions to best provide the services needed by the children and families. The response unit is responsible for receiving all reports of child abuse, neglect, and dependency. They determine the nature of the allegations and the appropriate response time for initiating investigation of the allegations. Once abuse or neglect is found or significant risk of its occurrence is identified, cases are transferred to the treatment unit. Workers in these units are responsible for assessing family needs and connecting the family with appropriate resources and services to address those identified areas. They are also responsible for monitoring the family’s success at utilizing the available services, and communicating with various service providers to assess the ongoing safety of the children and the progress of the family. They close cases when significant progress has been achieved to eliminate or minimize the ongoing risk of abuse to the children. The Statewide Unification Unit is responsible for providing intensive reunification services for children who can potentially return home within six months. Staff work closely with the children, their natural family, and the care provider to facilitate smooth transitions and successful reunification. When the goal of returning children to their natural families is no longer appropriate, the social workers write Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) petitions, which, once approved by Family Court, allow children to become free for adoption. They develop long term foster care plans for those children whose parental rights have been terminated, but for whom adoption or returning them to the home is not an appropriate goal. They are also responsible for providing assistance throughout the adoption process to support successful adoptive placements.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨It has been shown that through most personal accounts, that parents never really learn to take care of their children without usin g abuse. Because of this, it seems quite logical to make the main focus on protecting the child, then if returning them to their family is assessed as being completely logical, that is the way to go. I propose that a system of â€Å"three strikes-your out† be implemented. With this, the parent will lose rights to the child for a short time while they go through training and counseling. If they are deemed not insane, then they may care for the child again with the warning of what will happen to them. They will have a sort of parole officer that will check up on the family annually. On the second offense, there will be further counseling, jail time, and other means of reform. If they are granted custody again, they will be checked on frequently and unscheduled. If they can not handle the child without abuse from there, the child will be put up for adoption. There are very long waiting lists for parents who would love to adopt a child and will provide a loving family that should be utilized. The state would let the new parents take care of the child financially, but would pay for counseling of that child and training for the rest of the family on how to love on the abused. If in later years, the parent has redeemed him/herself, then they will be allowed to visit and take the child on trips and be allowed to be a friend. After the child has reached the age of eight-teen the will be allowed to decide who they would like to stay with.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨No system for child protection is going to be full-proof. There are steps that can be taken to improve them. Any system is only as good as the people who implement it. Representative Kaye Steinmetz of Missouri is proposing legislation to require additional training for Child Protective Services workers, establish a state team to assist with investigations of difficult cases, and provide for statewide protocols to ensure proper investigations. Representative Debbie Stabenow of Michigan advocates early identification of parents at risk of becoming abusers. Michigan Perinatal Coaching project is an example of this. Developed by the state’s Children’s Trust Fund, the project matches parent volunteers with parents of newborns. Through the child’s first year, the volunteer provides support to the parents, whether that involves advice about discipline or other areas that new parents may find difficult. A similar program called Family Skill-Builder is offered in the state of Massachusetts. It offers an in home case management series for families who are at risk of abusing and neglecting their children. It’s designed to prevent child abuse and neglect and to help families function independently.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Deborah Daro, director of research for the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse, has several suggestions for legislators to consider. She maintains that states need to provide more services for victims of abuse, especially therapeutic, remedial and support services. She says, â€Å"States also need to look at the quality of foster care. Foster care ought to be more than just giving a child a place to live.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨The goal in preventing child abuse should be permanency and stability for the child, whether that means a return to the family or, in some cases, termination of parental rights and adoption. The sooner that can be achieved the better. This can be accomplished by setting up time tables for review of foster care cases, and by establishing specific criteria for permanency planning and termination of parental rights. Another key in preventing child abuse is evaluating each situation case by case. Placing a child in foster care may be the best decision for that particular case, while intensive family preservation services might be best for another. The best answer may lie in a combination of the ideas of different organizations. Individual attention to each case would personalize a plan to get each family on the road to a good, stable, and loving family life in less time.