This thesis analyzes different aspects of the Oregon foster care system. It does this first by looking at racial/ethnic disparities across counties. Then it analyzes the relationship between foster care rates and child poverty rates, childhood food insecurity rates, free and reduced lunch eligibility rates, and unemployment rates for Oregon’s...
Child abuse and neglect are significant issues facing our communities today that can lead to devastating consequences. Multiple risk factors can lead to instances of child maltreatment, including those related to the parents or guardians, the child, and the situational circumstances of families. In order to prevent child maltreatment, effective...
This study examines issues related to prescription drug abuse among 12 – 17 year olds in the United States; namely, the physiological effects of prescription medications, current treatments, and prevention methods. The following research questions are addressed: 1) What factors influence and promote the growing prevalence of prescription drug abuse...
Recently, the definition of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) has evolved to also encompass environmental and contextual factors, termed expanded ACEs (Lipscomb et al., 2021). Given that responsive relationships in early childhood may dampen the response to traumatic stressors in the context of conventional ACEs (Flinn & England et al., 1997),...
The present study seeks to develop a functional behavior assessment interview (FBAI) that would allow elementary aged students to participate in the assessment process. In particular, the assessment will address if elementary students are able to accurately predict the causes of their problem behaviors and identify when they are likely...
High-quality child care enables children to learn necessary foundational skills, but children with disabilities, compared to typically developing children, are less likely to experience high levels of classroom quality. Further, teacher’s perceptions of children with developmental delay or disability may be skewed, which may lead to a lower-quality classroom experience....
The State of Oregon possesses a tumultuous relationship with the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and currently experiences one of the lowest participation rates in the country despite attempting several policy reforms. The State of Washington has exhibited a comparatively similar relationship. However, it has adopted a distinctive policy supplementation...
The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) is the newest method to paint a more accurate picture of the scope of poverty in the United States than the Official Poverty Measure (OPM). In doing so, the SPM includes many sources of income, including income from work and in-kind government supplemental policies. The...
Plastic pollution is an ever-increasing environmental threat. As large-scale plastics break down to form nanoscale plastics, it is essential to investigate their effects on freshwater ecosystems. With many plastic nanoparticle (NP) studies favoring the effects of common polystyrene (PS) plastics, a gap is formed for other common plastic types like...
Breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer deaths among women, with an estimated 12.4% of American women diagnosed with this tumor type. Evidence suggests that exogenous disruptors can exert epigenetic changes leading to aberrant gene expression, shifting the cellular balance toward oncogenesis. While chemical pollutant exposure is well-studied, light...