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ADA asks FCC to include dentists in COVID-19 Telehealth Program

The ADA is asking the Federal Communications Commission to extend the agency’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program to include dental practices regardless of the practice’s size, location or for-profit status.




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Organized dentistry asks Congress for flexibility in Paycheck Protection Program loans

The Organized Dentistry Coalition is asking Congress for flexibility in the Paycheck Protection Program to allow dentists to purchase personal protective equipment as states begin the reopening phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.




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Poverty, lack of insurance can make heart failure prognosis worse, AHA says

Poverty and poor or non-existent health insurance coverage might worsen the effects of heart failure, the American Heart Association said Thursday.




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Rapid Corneal Nerve Fiber Loss: A Marker of Diabetic Neuropathy Onset and Progression

OBJECTIVE

Corneal nerve fiber length (CNFL) represents a biomarker for diabetic distal symmetric polyneuropathy (DSP). We aimed to determine the reference distribution of annual CNFL change, the prevalence of abnormal change in diabetes, and its associated clinical variables.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

We examined 590 participants with diabetes [399 type 1 diabetes (T1D) and 191 type 2 diabetes (T2D)] and 204 control patients without diabetes with at least 1 year of follow-up and classified them according to rapid corneal nerve fiber loss (RCNFL) if CNFL change was below the fifth percentile of the control patients without diabetes.

RESULTS

Control patients without diabetes were 37.9 ± 19.8 years old, had median follow-up of three visits over 3.0 years, and mean annual change in CNFL was –0.1% (90% CI, –5.9 to 5.0%). RCNFL was defined by values exceeding the fifth percentile of 6% loss. Participants with T1D were 39.9 ± 18.7 years old, had median follow-up of three visits over 4.4 years, and mean annual change in CNFL was –0.8% (90% CI, –14.0 to 9.9%). Participants with T2D were 60.4 ± 8.2 years old, had median follow-up of three visits over 5.3 years, and mean annual change in CNFL was –0.2% (90% CI, –14.1 to 14.3%). RCNFL prevalence was 17% overall and was similar by diabetes type [64 T1D (16.0%), 37 T2D (19.4%), P = 0.31]. RNCFL was more common in those with baseline DSP (47% vs. 30% in those without baseline DSP, P = 0.001), which was associated with lower peroneal conduction velocity but not with baseline HbA1c or its change over follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

An abnormally rapid loss of CNFL of 6% per year or more occurs in 17% of diabetes patients. RCNFL may identify patients at highest risk for the development and progression of DSP.




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Prognostic Significance of Long-term HbA1c Variability for All-Cause Mortality in the ACCORD Trial

OBJECTIVE

The association between high glycemic variability and all-cause mortality has been widely investigated in epidemiological studies but rarely validated in glucose-lowering clinical trials. We aimed to identify the prognostic significance of visit-to-visit HbA1c variability in treated patients in the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial population.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

We studied the risk of all-cause mortality in relation to long-term visit-to-visit HbA1c variability, expressed as coefficient of variation (CV), variability independent of the mean (VIM), and average real variability (ARV), from the 8th month to the transition. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate adjusted hazard ratio (HR) and 95% CI.

RESULTS

Compared with the standard therapy group (n = 4,728), the intensive therapy group (n = 4,755) had significantly lower mean HbA1c (6.6% [49 mmol/mol] vs. 7.7% [61 mmol/mol], P < 0.0001) and lower CV, VIM, and ARV (P < 0.0001). In multivariate adjusted analysis, all three HbA1c variability indices were significantly associated with total mortality in all patients as well as in the standard- and intensive-therapy groups analyzed separately. The hazard ratios for a 1-SD increase in HbA1c variability indices for the all-cause mortality were 1.19 and 1.23 in intensive and standard therapy, respectively. Cross-tabulation analysis showed the third tertile of HbA1c mean and VIM had significantly higher all-cause mortality (HR 2.05; 95% CI, 1.17–3.61; P < 0.01) only in the intensive-therapy group.

CONCLUSIONS

Long-term visit-to-visit HbA1c variability was a strong predictor of all-cause mortality. HbA1c VIM combined with HbA1c mean conferred an increased risk for all-cause mortality in the intensive-therapy group.




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The Diversity Visa Program Holds Lessons for Future Legal Immigration Reform

On paper, the Diversity Visa Program is not set up to bring in the highly skilled; applicants need only a high school diploma (or equivalent) or two years of mid-level work experience. Yet as this commentary explains, the green-card lottery has become a channel for entry of the highly skilled—with half of recipients coming to the United States in recent years having a college degree.




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Mexican Migration to Canada: Temporary Worker Programs, Visa Imposition, and NAFTA Shape Flows

Mexicans migrate to Canada in much smaller numbers than to the United States, yet over the last 30 years the country has become an increasingly attractive destination. Canada prioritizes highly skilled, educated Mexicans for permanent residency, but also attracts temporary workers from Mexico. This article examines Mexican migration to Canada and how it has been shaped by visa requirements, trade policy, and more.




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AAI Corp., a division of Textron, nabs $20.7M contract modification for Navy drone program

Textron was awarded a $20.7 million contract modification Friday for work on the Navy's Unmanned Influence Sweep System and Unmanned Surface Vehicle program.




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The Canadian Express Entry System for Selecting Economic Immigrants: Progress and Persistent Challenges

Since its launch in 2015, the Express Entry system has changed how economic immigration to Canada happens and how it fits into public and political debates. And while it has proven successful in cutting through application backlogs, some challenges remain. This report looks at how and why this points-based system was introduced, what its impact has been, and how it could be further finetuned.




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Seasonal Worker Programs in Europe: Lessons Learned and Ways Forward

While low-skilled workers generally have limited opportunities to legally migrate to the European Union, seasonal migration forms an important exception. This MPI Europe-SVR webinar explores lessons from Europe on managing seasonal worker programs that are responsive to labor market needs but also prioritize the well-being of seasonal workers and interests of receiving countries. 




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EU Migration Partnerships: A Work in Progress

In 2016, the European Union announced with fanfare a new Migration Partnership Framework to inform cooperation with countries of origin and transit. While the bloc has long recognized collaboration as key to achieving its migration-management aims, EU partnerships face persistent challenges, including looking beyond short-term enforcement goals and taking into account partner needs, capacity, and objectives.




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A Needed Evidence Revolution: Using Cost-Benefit Analysis to Improve Refugee Integration Programming

European countries have ramped up their investments in helping refugees find work and integrate into society. Yet little hard evidence exists of what programs and policies work best. This report proposes a new framework for thinking smartly about integration programming, using cost-benefit analysis to look beyond short-term, economic outcomes to also measure indirect benefits through a social-value concept.




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Seasonal Worker Programs in Europe: Promising Practices and Ongoing Challenges

Seasonal worker programs in the European Union have a long history, but have yet to find the sweet spot of working for migrants, employers, and countries of destination and origin alike. This policy brief explores some of the challenges common to these programs—drawing on examples in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand—and highlights promising practices.




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Supporting DLLs in Superdiverse PreK-3 Programs: Findings from Two Studies

Marking the release of two research reports that highlight promising, effective approaches to teaching and learning for Dual Language Learners in multilingual, multicultural classrooms, report authors present their findings on this webinar and discuss key implications for policy and practice.




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Young Children in Refugee Families and Early Childhood Programs: Ways to Mitigate the Effects of Trauma

Experts on this webinar discussed the effects of trauma on the development of young refugee children, and how early child-care programs can address these traumatic experiences. The discussion featured practical strategies that child-care providers in Canada are implementing to support refugee children and families. 




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Addressing Trauma in Young Children in Immigrant and Refugee Families through Early Childhood Programs

During this webinar, speakers discuss a MPI policy brief that explores the intersection of trauma and early childhood development, exploring how migration-related trauma and stressors can influence the wellbeing of young children of immigrants, and points to key opportunities for states to support, through early childhood and other programs.




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New Data Resources Can Help Improve Targeting of State Early Childhood and Parent-Focused Programs

As states work to build high-quality early childhood systems and implement the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), having detailed knowledge of the characteristics of immigrant parents can help maximize the effectiveness of programs that seek to improve child and family outcomes, as this commentary explains.




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All Eyes Turn to Congress, Following Trump Decision to Terminate DACA Program

By winding down DACA over six months, President Trump may have addressed a short-term political dilemma. But this action ensures debate will rage on in search of a lasting solution, as many in Congress and beyond recognize the loss of work authorization and deportation relief will affect not only DACA recipients and their families, but also employers, universities, and communities alike, as this commentary explores.




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As Global Refugee Forum approaches, MPI Europe brief offers a road map for smart investment in refugee sponsorship programmes

BRUSSELS — Even as the number of refugees in need of protection has reached an all-time high, the resettlement spots offered by countries in 2018 were less than half the level in 2016—and future commitments may shrink further. With refugee needs high and generosity dimming, there is increasing urgency for humanitarian actors to find new ways to bring refugees to safety as well as to rebuild public interest and consensus around the importance of protection.




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As European policymakers take stock of seasonal worker programmes, MPI Europe brief outlines principles to improve these schemes for all parties

Findings will be discussed during 25 February MPI Europe – SVR webinar




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Effectively Serving Immigrant and Dual Language Learner Families through Home Visiting Programs

This MPI webinar marks the release of a policy brief that explores program and policy opportunities to improve home visiting services for immigrant and DLL families currently underparticipating in these programs due to a lack of culturally and linguistically responsive programming and other barriers




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Refugee Sponsorship Programs: A Global State of Play and Opportunities for Investment

From Argentina to New Zealand and points beyond, a growing number of countries have begun exploring refugee sponsorship as a way to expand protection capacity at a time of rising need, involving individuals and communities more directly in resettlement. This brief takes stock of what both new and well-established programs need to succeed, and outlines opportunities for private philanthropic actors to support them.




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Myocardial Ischemic Burden and Differences in Prognosis Among Patients With and Without Diabetes: Results From the Multicenter International REFINE SPECT Registry

OBJECTIVE

Prevalence and prognostic impact of cardiovascular disease differ between patients with or without diabetes. We aimed to explore differences in the prevalence and prognosis of myocardial ischemia by automated quantification of total perfusion deficit (TPD) among patients with and without diabetes.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Of 20,418 individuals who underwent single-photon emission computed tomography myocardial perfusion imaging, 2,951 patients with diabetes were matched to 2,951 patients without diabetes based on risk factors using propensity score. TPD was categorized as TPD = 0%, 0% < TPD < 1%, 1% ≤ TPD < 5%, 5% ≤ TPD ≤ 10%, and TPD >10%. Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) were defined as a composite of all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, unstable angina, or late revascularization.

RESULTS

MACE risk was increased in patients with diabetes compared with patients without diabetes at each level of TPD above 0 (P < 0.001 for interaction). In patients with TPD >10%, patients with diabetes had greater than twice the MACE risk compared with patients without diabetes (annualized MACE rate 9.4 [95% CI 6.7–11.6] and 3.9 [95% CI 2.8–5.6], respectively, P < 0.001). Patients with diabetes with even very minimal TPD (0% < TPD < 1%) experienced a higher risk for MACE than those with 0% TPD (hazard ratio 2.05 [95% CI 1.21–3.47], P = 0.007). Patients with diabetes with a TPD of 0.5% had a similar MACE risk as patients without diabetes with a TPD of 8%.

CONCLUSIONS

For every level of TPD >0%, even a very minimal deficit of 0% < TPD < 1%, the MACE risk was higher in the patients with diabetes compared with patients without diabetes. Patients with diabetes with minimal ischemia had comparable MACE risk as patients without diabetes with significant ischemia.




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Effectively Serving Immigrant and Dual Language Learner Families through Home Visiting Programs

Marking a policy brief's release, this webinar explores the promise of home visiting services that support new parents alongside their infants and toddlers, plus strategies for improving how these programs work with immigrant and linguistically diverse families.




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Seasonal Worker Programs in Europe: Lessons Learned and Ways Forward

As the European Union prepares to review the implementation of its Seasonal Workers Directive, as well as countries such as the United Kingdom continue to explore new approaches to selecting seasonal workers, this webinar features findings from a policy brief on the topic. 




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In the Age of Trump: Populist Backlash and Progressive Resistance Create Divergent State Immigrant Integration Contexts

As long-simmering passions related to federal immigration policies have come to a full boil, less noted but no less important debates are taking place at state and local levels with regards to policies affecting immigrants and their children. As states are increasingly diverging in their responses, this report examines how some of the key policies and programs that support long-term integration success are faring in this volatile era.




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Mitigating the Effects of Trauma among Young Children of Immigrants and Refugees: The Role of Early Childhood Programs

The first years of a child’s life are a time of immense growth, and exposure to trauma—if left unaddressed—can have significant, lifelong effects. This issue brief examines how young children of refugees and other immigrants may be affected by trauma, and what early childhood education and care programs, health-care providers, and others can do to mitigate its adverse effects.




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Addressing Trauma in Young Children in Immigrant and Refugee Families through Early Childhood Programs

During this webinar, speakers provide an overview of an MPI policy brief that seeks to raise awareness of the intersection of trauma and early childhood development, and how U.S. early childhood programs could more effectively address this trauma in young children in refugee and immigrant households. The participants discuss efforts to integrate trauma-informed approaches into early childhood systems and how home visiting services can effectively address trauma and mental health through a two-generation approach.




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Leveraging the Potential of Home Visiting Programs to Serve Immigrant and Dual Language Learner Families

Home visiting programs for young families are growing in popularity across the United States, and have demonstrated their effectiveness in supporting maternal health and child well-being. At the same time, more infants and toddlers are growing up in immigrant families and households where a language other than English is spoken. Why then are these children under-represented in these programs? This brief explores common barriers, ways to address them, and why it is important to do so.




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Diabetes and Back Pain: Markers of Diabetes Disease Progression Are Associated With Chronic Back Pain

Lorenzo Rinaldo
Jul 1, 2017; 35:126-131
Feature Articles




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The Pains of Progress

To measure time by how little we change is to find how little we've lived, 
but to measure time by how much we've lost is to wish we hadn't changed at all. Andre Aciman

The last frontier is not the Antarctic, or the oceans, or outer space. The last frontier is The Unknown. We mentioned in an earlier essay that uncertainty - which makes baseball and life interesting - is inevitable in the human world. Life will continue to be interesting as long as the world is rich in unknowns, waiting to be discovered. Progress is possible if propitious discoveries can be made. Progress, however, comes with costs.

The emblem of my university entwines a billowing smokestack and a cogwheel in the first letter of the institution's name. When this emblem was adopted (probably in 1951) these were optimistic symbols of progress. Cogwheels are no longer 'hi-tech' (though we still need them), and smoke has been banished from polite company. But our emblem is characteristic of industrial society which has seared Progress on our hearts and minds.

Progress is accompanied by painful tensions. On the one hand, progress is nurtured by stability, cooperation, and leisure. On the other hand, progress grows out of change, conflict, and stress. A society's progressiveness reflects its balance of each of these three pairs of attributes. In the most general terms, progressiveness reflects social and individual attitudes to uncertainty.

Let's consider the three pairs of attributes one at a time.

Change and stability. Not all change is progress, but all progress is change. Change is necessary for progress, by definition, and progress can be very disruptive. The disruptiveness sometimes arises from unexpected consequences. J.B.S. Haldane wrote in 1923 that "the late war is only an example of the disruptive result that we may constantly expect from the progress of science." On the other hand, progressives employ and build on existing capabilities. The entrepreneur depends on stable property rights before risking venture capital. The existing legal system is used to remove social injustice. Watt's steam engine extended Newcomen's more primitive model. The new building going up on campus next to my office is very disruptive, but the construction project depends on the continuity of the university despite the drilling and dust. Even revolutionaries exploit and react against the status quo, which must exist for a revolutionary to be able to revolt. (One can't revolt if nothing is revolting.) Progress grows from a patch of opportunity in a broad bed of certainty, and spreads out in unanticipated directions.

Conflict and cooperation. Conflict between vested interests and innovators is common. Watt protected his inventions with extensive patents which may have actually retarded the further development and commercialization of steam power. Conflict is also a mechanism for selecting successful ideas. Darwinian evolution and its social analogies proceed by more successful adaptations replacing less successful ones. On the other hand, cooperation enables specialization and expertise which are needed for innovation. The tool-maker cooperates with the farmer so better tools can be made more quickly, enhancing the farmer's productivity and the artisan's welfare. Conflicts arise over what constitutes progress. Stem cell research, genetic engineering, nuclear power technology: progress or plague? Cooperative collective decision making enables the constructive resolution of these value-based conflicts.

Stress and leisure. Challenge, necessity and stress all motivate innovation. If you have no problems, you are unlikely to be looking for solutions. On the other hand, the leisure to think and tinker is a great source of innovation. Subsistence societies have no resources for invention. In assessing the implications of industrial efficiency, Bertrand Russell praised idleness in 1932, writing: "In a world where no one is compelled to work more than four hours a day, every person possessed of scientific curiosity will be able to indulge it, and every painter will be able to paint without starving ...." Stress is magnified by the unknown consequences of the stressor, while leisure is possible only in the absence of fear.

New replaces Old. Yin and yang are complementary opposites that dynamically interact. In Hegel's dialectic, tension between contradictions is resolved by synthesis. Human history is written by the victors, who sometimes hardly mention those swept into Trotsky's "dustbin of history". "In the evening resides weeping; in the morning: joy." (Psalm 30:6). Change and stability; conflict and cooperation; stress and leisure.

No progress without innovation; no innovation without discovery; no discovery without the unknown; no unknown without fear. There is no progress without pain.



  • change and stability
  • conflict and cooperation
  • costs of progress
  • progress
  • stress and leisure

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2019 SJDM Conference program available online

SOCIETY FOR JUDGMENT AND DECISION MAKING CONFERENCE PROGRAM: DOWNLOAD AWAY The program for the 2019 SJDM conference (taking place this weekend (Nov 15-19, 2019) in Montreal, Canada) can be found in two places The SJDM home page (program link) The SJDM Newsletter (link) Please get it while it is hot.

The post 2019 SJDM Conference program available online appeared first on Decision Science News.




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How Massachusetts Is Building Capacity of Educator-Preparation Programs

Research findings on the implementation of a new teacher candidate performance assessment in Massachusetts inform the development of additional supports for educator preparation programs.




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Massachusetts Moves Equity to Forefront of Aspiring Superintendent Program

The state's "Influence 100" project includes a leadership development program that will give aspiring district leaders a hands-on opportunity to work through an equity issue in their home districts.




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Ohio District's Armed-Employee Program Struck Down Over Training Requirement

An Ohio appellate court struck down a district's policy allowing staff members to carry concealed weapons in school with 24 hours of "active shooter/killer training."




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Tennessee voucher program challenge heads to court Wednesday




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Judge weighs Tennessee voucher program arguments




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Judge blocks Tennessee from implementing voucher program




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Tennessee voucher program challenge heads to court Wednesday




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Judge weighs Tennessee voucher program arguments




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Court Bars Tennessee From Starting School Voucher Program

A court said legislators violated the state's constitution when they passed a law that targeted specific areas to be included in the program without local consent.




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Judge blocks Tennessee from implementing voucher program




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John Hickenlooper, Who Helped Start a Scholarship Program For Needy High School Students, Announces Presidential Run

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who helped initiate a shakeup of Denver Public Schools, has announced that he's running for president as a Democrat in 2020.




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Tennessee voucher program challenge heads to court Wednesday




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Judge weighs Tennessee voucher program arguments




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Judge blocks Tennessee from implementing voucher program




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While off the field, FCS programs connect with the famous

Only to follow it up by getting advice from Jimmy Garoppolo, the San Francisco 49ers' starting quarterback in last season's Super Bowl. Eastern Illinois coaches and players have enjoyed those opportunities recently, while also getting the chance to connect with a plethora of other famous alumni from its football program. Similar experiences are occurring across FCS college football.




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Child Protection Systems Royal Commission progress report September 2019 : safe and well, supporting families, protecting children / Department for Child Protection.




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2018 Regional Heritage Conference, 12-13 April 2018 Geraldton : sacred heritage conference program / Heritage Council, Government of Western Australia, City of Greater Geraldton.




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Australian government response to the Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee inquiry report : the appropriateness and effectiveness of the objectives, design, implementation and evaluation of the Community Development Program (CDP)