“We have great evidence from all around the world for decades that shows us that having a parent present in the neonatal intensive care unit is a driver for positive outcomes; babies need their parents in the NICU,” says Klawetter. To make that possible, she says, parents need paid leave. JULIA GOODMAN, OHSU-PSU School of Public Health faculty, studies family leave policies that could make a difference when NICU and other working parents face difficult times. She and colleagues Dawn Richardson and David Hurtado looked at the effects of a Multnomah County policy started in 2015 to provide employees six weeks of fully paid parental leave.The researchers found that while the new program did not dramatically change the amount of leave mothers took, it definitely improved their finances. For dads, the policy actually increased their leave. In 2019, Oregon passed one of the most far-reaching paid family and medical leave policies in the nation, set to begin September 2023, which will provide 12 weeks of full pay for low-wage workers. That’s progress, Goodman says, but to see many health benefits for babies and parents, “We need to be thinking more like six months of leave.” Still, the pandemic has opened many people’s eyes to the importance of both sick leave and paid family leave. “There’s a growing recognition that these are really important issues and that we need structural solutions,” she says. MELISSA THOMPSON, sociology faculty, and Summer Newell MPH ’05 PhD ’18 have been examining another precarious juncture for mothers—the return from incarceration. For their 2021 book Motherhood after Incarceration, they interviewed 39 mothers in the Portland area. While women are more likely to have been in an active parenting role prior to their incarceration than men, there’s little research about them. Many grappled with intense guilt and anxiety and were eager to reunite with their children. “That’s what’s motivating them, that’s what’s driving them forward,” says Thompson. But to regain custody, they often had to prove to the Department of Human Services and their probation or parole officers that they were ready.That meant finding not only a job, but also a safe place to live. With affordable housing scarce in Portland, this proved difficult. The stress of jumping through these hoops helps explain one of the key findings in the book: Mothers who regained custody of their children right away tended to do worse. “In the long term, generally getting custody was good for these women,” says Thompson. “In the short term, it was an added stressor.” Thompson and Newell’s research points to resources that could help ease this transition, including child care, employers willing to hire people with felony records, housing assistance, and accessible mental health and substance use treatment. Though this could prove expensive, Thompson says, “Especially when it comes to things like crime and criminal justice, we would actually be saving money by intervening more now and saving ourselves some pain, agony and money in the future.” “The more we head off these problems, the less likely we will be to see the cyclical nature of crime and incarceration,” she says, noting that children with a parent who goes to prison are significantly more likely to eventually end up in prison themselves. —SUMMER ALLEN “Having a parent present in the neonatal intensive care unit is a driver for positive outcomes; babies need their parents in the NICU.” SEEING SCIENCE: Breathe Easier Wildfires are increasing in size and intensity across the Western United States and with them come a new seasonal threat: smoke. The hazardous gases and particulate matter set aloft by large fires pose health risks, particularly for those with cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. But how can you protect yourself Box Fan: Fastener: Washable fabric tube: Rubber bands: Results: Text by Shaun McGillis MFA ‘11 | Illustration by Colin Hayes A standard 20-inch box fan does the trick. During the competition, Matthew Moore ‘20 and students Gunn and Brett Stinson used a ratchet strap (available from hardware stores) to tightly seal the fabric’s edge to the fan. They’ve also had success in the lab using daisy-chained zip-ties. They created a 4-foot-long tube with a 20-inch diameter by sewing together a length of cotton batting (with help from Gall’s mother-in-law). They’re testing a range of fabrics now to see if some might capture particulates even more eectively. The team folded the far end and secured it with rubber bands to create the closed part of the “sock.” Competition field testing showed the Cocoon accomplished a clean air delivery rate of 125 cubic feet per minute of particle-free air, equivalent or greater to many commercially available room-scale air cleaners. when commercial air filters and cleaners are in short supply? A team of three Portland State mechanical and materials engineering students and alumni, advised by faculty member Elliott Gall, came up with a solution that won $10,000 and the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2021 Cleaner Indoor Air During Wildfires Challenge. Their device—dubbed “the Cocoon”—uses materials found around the house or easily purchased for less than $45. “The design was intentionally simple,” said student Warren Gunn. “We wanted it to be low-cost, simple to make and use, and accessible to everyone.” SPRING 2022 // 13
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