Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Massworks: One-Stop Collaborations: The Key To Expanding Your Workforce Connections, Rick Kugler

MassWorks Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 mandated One-Stop Career Centers to deliver public workforce development services. The intent of WIA was to bring together a wide range of federally funded employment and training programs to create an integrated service system to meet the needs of all job seekers.

Data Note: Job Seekers With Disabilities At One-Stop Career Centers: An Overview Of Registration For Wagner-Peyser Funded Employment Services, David Hoff, Samita Bhattarai

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933 established a nationwide system of public employment services, known as the Employment Service. Via the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, the Employment Service was made part of the One-Stop service delivery system. Wagner-Peyser funds are a primary source of funding for the core and other services of One–Stop Career Centers that provide employment services available to all people, including people with disabilities.

Changing Patterns Xiv: Mortgage Lending To Traditionally Underseved Borrowers & Neighborhoods In Boston, Greater Boston And Massachusetts, 2006, Jim Campen

Gastón Institute Publications

This is the fourteenth in the annual series of Changing Patterns reports prepared for the Massachusetts Community & Banking Council (MCBC) by the present author. This year’s report, for the first time, includes the analysis of subprime lending that was previously presented in a separate annual series of Borrowing Trouble reports. The report presents information for the city of Boston, for Greater Boston, and for Massachusetts, as well as for each of the state’s fourteen counties and each of its thirty-three largest cities and towns.

The analysis is based on federal Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data for 2006, as …

Building Knowledge And Power With The Third Sector In Haifa Israel: A Report Of The Learning Exchange Research Project, Donna H. Friedman, Jennifer Cohen

Center for Social Policy Publications

A Report of the Learning Exchange Research Project. This report presents a model of Participatory Action Research (PAR) focused on the development of the third sector in Israel. The PAR methodology, combined with a learning exchange, intentional reflection, and community building opportunities, was used as a tool for enhancing Haifa Non-Governmental Organizations’ (NGO) capacities. The report describes the practical and conceptual impacts of this model's application in a pilot trial and discusses its possible use and importance for future participatory research and NGO capacity building work.

Building Knowledge And Power With The Third Sector In Haifa Israel, Donna H. Friedman, Jennifer Cohen

Donna Haig Friedman

A Report of the Learning Exchange Research Project. This report presents a model of Participatory Action Research (PAR) focused on the development of the third sector in Israel. The PAR methodology, combined with a learning exchange, intentional reflection, and community building opportunities, was used as a tool for enhancing Haifa Non-Governmental Organizations’ (NGO) capacities. The report describes the practical and conceptual impacts of this model's application in a pilot trial and discusses its possible use and importance for future participatory research and NGO capacity building work.

The State Of New England: Economic Slowdown And Recovery After The Dotcom Bust, Arindam Bandopadhyaya, College Of Management, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Financial Services Forum Publications

What follows is an analysis of the key macroeconomic trends in the six New England states. Using data publicly available in 2007, we examine trends in GDP growth, population, personal income and unemployment rate in each state. We provide a breakdown of each state by GDP category and provide an overall weighting by super sectors.

Anatomy Of Foreign Aid To Ethiopia: 1960-2003, Adugna Lemi

Economics Faculty Publication Series

The purpose of this study is to present a portrait of the foreign aid flow to Ethiopia during the 1960 to 2003 period. Since the launch of Marshal Plan after World War II, the flow of foreign aid has been seen as the panacea to overcome underdevelopment. Ethiopia is not an exception to this view, and Ethiopia is one of the recipients of foreign aid not only to provide emergency relief but also to support longterm economic development. This study shows the flow of aid to Ethiopia in terms of major donors (bilateral and multilateral), method of delivery, and major …

Low-Wage Workers Really Feel The Squeeze, Randy Albelda

Economics Faculty Publication Series

In the United States, it has been generally assumed that those who held a steady job could make ends meet but in today’s labor market nothing could be further from the truth. Workers in low-wage jobs can face double jeopardy: insufficient income to cover their basic needs and lack of access to job-related benefits to supplement their earnings. Public work supports — programs to help families fill basic needs such as health care, child care, food, and housing — can fill the gaps, and for many, they do. Still, in Massachusetts close to one out of every four individuals in …

Antidotes To High School Economics (Mis-)Education On World Hunger, Julie A. Nelson

Economics Faculty Publication Series

No abstract provided.

Schoolyard Improvements And Standardized Test Scores: An Ecological Analysis, Russ Lopez, Richard Campbell, James Jennings

Gastón Institute Publications

Boston MA’s schoolyards had seriously deteriorated since the middle of the 20th century resulting in dangerous and unusable outdoor spaces. Beginning in the mid 1990s, a program to renovate these schoolyards has resulted in approximately half of the schools now having outdoor recreational, learning and garden spaces. This study compared the 4th grade test score results in renovated vs. unrenovated schools. Controlling for school demographics, schools that had a renovated schoolyard had more of their students passed the state mandated math test (1.06, 95% confidence interval = .00012, .12). Effects on the state mandated English language arts test were not …

State Agency Promising Practice: Wisconsin’S Job Development Mentors Project, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

ThinkWork! Publications

Sponsored by Wisconsin’s Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS) through the use of Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG) funds, Wisconsin’s Job Development Mentors Project (JDMP) pairs three seasoned job developers with four community-based employment support providers that cover 12 counties throughout the state. JDMP is designed to create a state-wide infrastructure for professionals who are responsible for developing jobs for individuals in supported employment while at the same time, working towards increasing the pool of well-trained job developers around the state of Wisconsin.

State Agency Promising Practice: Washington - Collaborating With A Community College And A Supported-Employment Agency To Facilitate The Transition From High School To Community Employment, Jean Winsor, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

ThinkWork! Publications

Beginning in 2006, the Shoreline Public School District in King County, Washington partnered with Shoreline Community College to offer an off-campus transition program for young adults with intellectual disabilities and developmental disabilities (ID/DD) residing in the Shoreline School District. While participants are still in high school, the Community Based Transition Program offers a structured transitional step between their traditional day and post-secondary education as well as employment in the community. Funding for the classroom space on the college campus, the special education teacher and the education support staff are all provided by the school district. The school also proposed that …

The Year In Review: 2007 Marks Start Of Slowdown, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

The state’s economy slowed moderately in 2007, the beginning of a slowdown that may last several years. The deceleration was precipitated by a downturn in the housing market that, in Massachusetts, began in late 2005, and gained downward momentum in 2006. Last summer, fi nancial havoc from sub-prime mortgage defaults and falling prices throughout most of the nation tipped the nation’s economy to the brink of recession. This year, soaring energy prices threaten to weigh down the economy further, neutralizing the fi scal stimulus package that is coming on line now.

National Woes Test Bay State Economy, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

Economic growth is slowing, and is projected to continue to decelerate into the second half of 2008, and then to rebound moderately. The slowdown is directly related to the impact of the declining housing market, the sub-prime mortgage shakeout in the finance sector, and the high cost of heating oil and gasoline. Credit tightening is threatening to curtail business activity and the solvency of investors and households involved in sub-prime lending or borrowing. High energy prices are reducing non-energy consumer spending. The impact of the declining housing market has already affected the state’s economy. Massachusetts is experiencing declines in housing …

Foucault, Marxism And The Cuban Revolution: Historical And Contemporary Reflections, Sam Binkley, Jorge Capetillo-Ponce

Sociology Faculty Publication Series

This article relates central themes of Marxist and Foucauldian thought to the intellectual and political legacy of the Cuban Revolution. Against the backdrop of a reading of Foucault’s relationship to the revolutionary left, it is argued that Marxist theoretical discourse on guerrilla struggle (as articulated by Mao, Guevara and others) provide an intriguing case for bio-political struggle. In the case of the Cuban revolution, an ethics of self-transformation appears in which new ways of living and practicing life are cultivated in opposition to sedimentations of state power. Moreover, in addition to this historical case, a discussion is offered of the …

Bridging The Gaps Between Earnings And Basic Needs In Massachusetts, Randy Albelda, Jennifer Shea

Economics Faculty Publication Series

In the United States, it is generally assumed that people who hold a steady job are able to make ends meet. But, in today’s labor market, where nearly a quarter of jobs pay low wages and do not offer benefi ts such as health insurance and retirement plans, this could not be further from the truth for millions of workers and their families. In fact, most workers do not make ends meet on their wages alone. Even upper- and moderate-wage workers are not “self-suffi cient” in a literal sense, as most receive onthe-job benefi ts, such as employer-provided health insurance …

Effectiveness Of Problem-Solving Therapy For Older, Primary Care Patients With Depression: Results From The Impact Project, Patricia Arean, Mark Hegel, Steven D. Vannoy, Ming-Yu Fan, Jurgen Unuzter

Steven D Vannoy

Purpose: We compared a primary-care-based psy- chotherapy, that is, problem-solving therapy for primary care (PST-PC), to community-based psycho- therapy in treating late-life major depression and dys- thymia. Design and Methods: The data here are from the IMPACT study, which compared collabora- tive care within a primary care clinic to care as usual in the treatment of 1,801 primary care patients, 60 years of age or older, with major depression or dysthymia. This study is a secondary data analysis (n = 433) of participants who received either PST-PC (by means of collaborative care) or community-based psychotherapy (by means of usual care). …

Asian American Nonprofit Organizations In U.S. Metropolitan Areas, Chi-Kan Richard Hung

Institute for Asian American Studies Publications

This article analyzes the characteristics of Asian American nonprofit organizations in major U.S. metropolitan areas. The data are based on internet archives of nonprofit organization Form 990 and related information. Asian American nonprofits are less than 20 years old on average. They remain a relatively small part of the nonprofit sector. Religious organizations are generally the largest group among Asian American nonprofits, followed by cultural organizations, service agencies, and public interest associations of similar proportions. Asian American secular organizations as a group tend to be younger, are more likely to by in central cities, in wealthy and poor communities, as …

Data Note: Timeframe From Application To Closure In Integrated Employment For Vocational Rehabilitation Customers With Developmental Disabilities, Alberto Migliore, Frank A. Smith

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Getting a job promptly after applying for vocational rehabilitation (VR) services is important for a successful career. Rapid placement boosts self-confidence and prevents applicants from losing work skills as a consequence of inactivity. Moreover, employers may prefer candidates whose work history shows limited gaps in employment.

Democracy In Practice: Lessons From New England, Madhawa Palihapitiya, Kevin Dye

Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration Publications

Political decision-making by elites require some form of civilian participation to regain legitimacy. Increasingly groups of Citizens do not trust in political elites and are increasingly frustrated by their behavior. When faced with the problem of diversity, even established democracies face problems of managing diversity. In the global context differences of opinion, culture, religion etc has defined many of the New Wars (Kaldor 1999). In the United States many non-state and semi-governmental organizations have developed programs to increase public knowledge of the legislature and its decision-making processes. The ultimate purpose of this is to exercise some control over state power. …

Measuring The Contributions Of Motives And Perceived Barriers To Active Aging, Francis G. Caro, Jeffrey A. Burr, Eilon Caspi, Jan E. Mutchler

Gerontology Institute Publications

General motivation to be active and general perceived barriers to activity may help to explain the overall activity patterns of older persons in the second half of the life course. We report on a project designed to develop and refine measures of motivation and perceived barriers that can be used to examine the relationships between activity motivation, activity barriers, and several forms of actual activities. Four specific activities were considered: working, volunteering, exercising, and taking classes. An opportunity sample of 192 middle-aged and older persons from eastern Massachusetts responded to a questionnaire concerned with motivation, perceived barriers, and activities. Reliable …