Digital Commons Network^™

Maine State Employee Survey On Disability, Commission On Disability And Employment, Department Of Financial And Administrative Services Bureau Of Human Resources, Muskie School Of Public Service University Of Southern Maine

Disability & Aging

The Executive Order regarding Maine State Government as a Model Employer of people with disabilities was signed on February 24, 2006. The order included several action steps, including a survey of State employees to ascertain the prevalence of workers with disabilities in State employment.

Maine’s Bureau of Human Resources and the Commission on Disability and Employment were named to oversee this survey. The University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service administered the survey and analyzed results. Each of these three organizations are members of an Executive Order Working Group designed to overall all action steps under the Executive …

A Seat At The Table? Racial/Ethnic & Gender Diversity On Corporate, Hospital, Education, Cultural & State Boards, Carol Hardy-Fanta Phd, Donna Stewartson

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

As part of its larger Diversity Initiative, the McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies at UMass Boston has undertaken a number of projects. The first was a public opinion survey conducted around the time of the November 2006 elections. The report, Transformation and Taking Stock: A Summary of Selected Findings from the McCormack Graduate School Diversity Survey, included a comprehensive look at race relations in the Commonwealth at a time of significant transition—demographically and politically. This report was followed by A Benchmark Report on Diversity in State and Local Government, which focused on the percentage of positions filled …

City Of Las Vegas Municipal Court House Arrest Program Evaluation, Karen Coyne, Michele Hornstein, Timothy Shattler

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The City of Las Vegas operates a municipal detention facility, primarily housing offenders who have committed misdemeanor crimes within the 130 square miles of the Las Vegas City limits. Similar to many jurisdictions, within the State of Nevada, but also across the Country, the offender population is on the rise. The City’s inmate population has grown steadily at a rate of 10%, annually, for five years. This trend, when calculated as a future projection, suggests the City must be prepared for the misdemeanant population to swell from its current daily average of 1144 to more than 3000 inmates by the …

Mandating Hpv Vaccination--Private Rights, Public Good, Alexandra M. Stewart

Health Policy and Management Informal Communications

New York State's regulations require health care workers who have direct contact with patients or who may expose patients to disease to be vaccinated against seasonal and H1N1 influenza. Courts must take into account constitutional guarantees of personal autonomy, freedom of contract, and freedom of religion when reviewing the current lawsuits. These rights, however, have been constrained when they conflict with government measures that are intended to protect the community's health and safety. Health care workers have a profound effect on patients' health. Although they have the same rights as all private citizens, it is likely that courts will continue …

A Macroscopic Validation Of The Evacuation Simulation Prediction Tool On Highway Travel Times, Kay Fortinberry Borglum

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The purpose of this applied research study was to test the sensitivity of the Evacuation Simulation Prediction (ESP) tool in predicting travel time during high volume traffic periods. The discrete event-based simulation tool was designed to aid local evacuation planning contingencies. Research of the Florida Department of Transportation traffic count data demonstrated parallel trends in rush hour volume versus hurricane evacuation volume. A model validation was designed to test if the model closely predicted high volume travel on a major interstate. For this macroscopic sensitivity test, volume, travel time and speed were collected to examine the baseline predictability under crash …

Revitalizing Deteriorated Urban Neighborhood Real Estate Markets Through Concentrated Homeownership Development: Determining The Spillover Effects Of New Homes On The Value Of Surrounding Homes, Jerry Michael Hawkins

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Management

The promotion of homeownership opportunities represents an important approach used by localities to support the revitalization of deteriorated urban neighborhoods. Homeownership is associated with a variety of social and economic benefits to the homeowner including increased residential stability and equity accumulation. The introduction of new homeownership opportunities into a deteriorated urban neighborhood as part of local public policy is intended to capitalize upon the anticipated positive social and economic outcomes. Such new homeownership development also presents the opportunity to generate positive spillover effects on the adjacent existing properties in the neighborhood which may ultimately result in higher real estate tax …

Evaluation Of The Oregon Dmv Driver Improvement Program, James G. Strathman, Thomas J. Kimpel, Paul Roland Leistner

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report provides an evaluation of the Oregon Department of Transportation-Driver and Motor Vehicle (DMV) Services Driver Improvement Program (DIP), which was substantially changed in 2002. Prior to 2002, the DIP was organized around four progressive steps involving advisory letters, warning letters, probation, and suspension. The current program is organized around two steps: restriction and suspension. The timeline to the steps in the current program have also been shortened. To evaluate the current program, driver records of persons suspended between January and July of 2004 were examined in relation to a sample of Oregon’s driving population. The incidence of crashes …

Does Hipaa Preemption Pose A Legal Barrier To Health Information Transparency And Interoperability?, Sara J. Rosenbaum, Phyllis Borzi, Taylor Burke, Sonia W. Nath

Health Policy and Management Faculty Publications

This paper summarizes the results of a review of nearly 500 judicial opinions decided as of fall 2006, involving access to protected health information (PHI) and privacy of medical information under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). This review was undertaken to determine whether HIPAA, which permits application of state privacy laws that are more stringent than the federal privacy standard, acts as a legal barrier to the creation of interoperable health information systems that permit transparency of health information. The availability of transparent and complete information regarding health system performance has been recognized as …

Writing A New Chapter: A City Club Report On School Funding, City Club Of Portland (Portland, Or.)

City Club of Portland

No abstract provided.

Planning And Assessing Stability Operations: A Proposed Value-Focused Thinking Approach, Gerald D. Fensterer

Theses and Dissertations

Stability operations are vital to establish peace in the aftermath of conflict. The United States is often called in for military support during conflict. The new American military paradigms include establishing peace through stability operations after a military conflict. Due to this new role, military decision makers face many difficulties in conducting successful stability operations. Compounding this problem is the limited number of resources pertaining to stability operations: experts, doctrine, knowledge, and technology. Two overarching challenges of stability operations facing decision makers are planning and prioritizing of stability operations and determining progress. This thesis applies a structured analytical approach to …

Quantification Of Risk For Usaf Fire And Emergency Services Flights As A Result Of Shortage In Manpower, Timothy D. Dalby

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Air Force (USAF) is currently experiencing a period of high operations tempo and overseas deployments have become frequent. These deployments will leave home installations short manned. Some amount of risk is incurred by the home installation as a result of the short manning. For an organization, such as an USAF Fire and Emergency Services (FES) flight, whose primary responsibility is the protection of life and property, the incurred risk could be catastrophic. Still no attempt has been made to quantify risk in terms of manpower for the USAF FES flights. The primary purpose of this research was …

A Multi-Objective Decision-Making Model For Resources Allocation In Humanitarian Relief, Seungbae Park

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis addresses the critical resource allocation in the initial days of a disaster relief operation. One of the most important and essential components of relief operations is the allocation of scarce resources to accomplish the relief efforts. Every operation for disaster relief needs various critical resources whether they are personnel, equipment, supplies, or simply finances. Several research efforts for disaster relief have suggested methods to allocate scarce resources across a variety of competing objectives and programs in a disaster relief operation. Many of those efforts focused on optimizing a mathematical programming model subject to budget constraints. However, capturing the …

The Fourth National Security Summit: Approaches To Passenger Screening, Mti S-08-01, Mti

Mineta Transportation Institute

The Fourth National Security Summit: Approaches to Passenger Screening is the transcript of a symposium held on March 14, 2007. It was sponsored by the Mineta Transportation Institute and the American Public Transportation Association. For this symposium, numerous experts on security and terrorism, public policy makers, transit executives, and members of law enforcement were invited to participate in an open forum. Topics of discussion included: how public transportation is vulnerable to terrorist attack, and how public transportation has become a target for terrorist both in the United States and abroad; what techniques in screening can be considered the most realistic, …

A Benchmark Report On Diversity In State And Local Government, Carol Hardy-Fanta Phd

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

The Pipeline to Public Service Initiative asked the McCormack Graduate School’s Center for Women in Politics & Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston to ascertain the racial diversity in state and local government. The project had the following three goals:

--To identify the race (and gender) of those holding top-level positions filled through gubernatorial appointments, e.g., secretaries, commissioners, directors, deputy commissioners/directors, and undersecretaries, in the Commonwealth’s executive offices and major departments.

--To compile the same information for members of the most influential boards and commissions in the Commonwealth filled through gubernatorial appointments.

--To assess the diversity of elected …

Explaining Local Government Cooperation On Public Works: Evidence From Michigan, Kelly Leroux, Jered B. Carr

Working Group on Interlocal Services Cooperation

In recent years, analysts have begun to study cooperation on public services among local governments. These studies have often concluded that services with scale economies are likely candidates for shared service delivery. This article contributes to the emerging literature on this topic by examining interlocal service arrangements for ten public works services in Michigan. Despite the fact that public works exhibit substantial scale economies, many local governments do not cooperate on these services. Empirical studies of local government contracting suggest four groups of factors that may help explain why local governments opt to collaborate on public services: local economic factors, …

Hpv Vaccination: Should It Be Recommended Or Required?, Alexandra M. Stewart

Health Policy and Management Faculty Publications

Legislation introduced by two members of the District of Columbia Council on January 9, 2007 would require all girls to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV), the primary cause of cervical cancer, by the time they enter the sixth grade, unless a parent or guardian specifically "opts out" of the mandate. A similar bill was introduced last week in Virginia, and Maryland and West Virginia are poised to consider legislation. To place the proposals in a broader context, this paper reviews some of the scientific, legal, ethical and financial issues surrounding the HPV vaccine and compulsory vaccinations.

An Investigation Into The Predictors Of Adoption And Utilization Of Information-Sharing Networks By Local Law Enforcement In Three States, Joe Conrad Saviak

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT A major change in longstanding police organizational behavior is increasingly evident in the recent emergence of computerized information-sharing networks in public safety. From both theoretical and empirical perspectives, a better understanding of the determinants that can explain and predict the rise and growth of this new and significant development in American policing is needed. A highly limited body of empirical studies has endeavored to validate effective predictors of adoption and utilization of electronic information-sharing networks by local law enforcement agencies. Utilizing an integrated theoretical framework largely built upon Rogers' diffusion of innovations theory, sixteen hypotheses were tested through logistic …

Public Policy And Market Reality: Analyzing The Unfunded Liability In The Kentucky Non-Hazardous Employees' Retirement System, Kelly Dudley

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

In 2006, an issue of serious concern to state legislatures was the long-term security of the defined benefits that state and local public pension plans promise to current and future retirees (Snell, 2006). Public pension systems are growing in terms of members and the benefits they offer to their members. Part of this group includes the estimated 77 million baby-boomers who will be living the next 20 to 30 years in retirement (Wharton, 2006). These dynamic changes are raising the burden public pension plans place on government operating budgets. Expecting a large number of their employees to retire, public administrators …

The New York Police Officer: Democratic And Moral Accountability In Conflict, Sarah Ryan, Dan Williams

Publications and Research

The following case draws upon two views of accountability. One is democratic accountability the other is accountability to one's own moral conscience. As the story unfolds, other facts may get in the way but these central views should not be forgotten. The focus of this case is on the individual. However, the material also covers institutional decisions and policies that deserve considering. The institutional story is the background, not the foreground, of this case. Yet, when the institutional features are considered, they may give new insight to the individuals' decisions.

Communication Counts, Christine G. Springer

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Research

The author discusses the necessity of communications in a business setting. She cited the implementation of Plain Talk by the Annie E. Cassey Foundation which proves the fact that policy works best when decision makers, community residents and citizen customers communicate effectively. She also revealed that to surely achieve success in the business, it is suggested to never underestimate the emotional power of human nature and build a sense of community through continual communication.

Impact Of Ethical Practices On Performance Outcome Measures In A Select Group Of Nonprofit Organizations In Florida, Stephanie Krick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nonprofit programs deliver key social services to millions of people across the country everyday, however, little is known about the ethical practices of these programs. This research examines the relationship between a nonprofit program's ethical practices and the programs' measurable outcomes, such as changes in knowledge, attitudes, values, skills, behavior, condition, or status of the participant as a result of their involvement with nonprofit programs. An assumption of the study is that the achievement of the measurable outcomes found in a nonprofit program is directly related to the extent that ethical practices are utilized within that program. Ethical practices include …

Clery Act Needs Whistleblower Protection, Porcher L. Taylor Iii, Beth Anne Simonds

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

In light of the apparent cover-up by the leadership at Eastern Michigan University (EMU) of a student rape and murder on campus, Congress should amend the Jeanne Clery Act. Specifically, a whistleblower protection section needs to be added to this landmark "sunshine" law.

Integrative Collaborative Activities: Public Deliberation With Stakeholder Processes, National Policy Consensus Center

National Policy Consensus Center Publications

Collaborative governance is the process of public, private, and non-profit sectors jointly developing solutions to public problems.

This process—convening people from different sectors to work together on a shared issue—can yield the best solutions to public problems. Research and experience show that solutions created in a collaborative governance process are “better informed, stronger in concept and content, and more likely to be implemented,” according to Terry Amsler, Director of the Collaborative Governance Initiative.

These solutions go beyond what any one sector could achieve on its own. They are more lasting and effective than solutions from traditional approaches. They are more …

An Evaluation Of Reserve Component Leaders' Attitudes And Motivation As They Relate To Situational Leadership Theory In A Peacekeeping Operational Environment, Clark C. Barrett

Dissertations

Program. This study investigated the relationships between Reservist leaders' attitudes and Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership Theory (SLT), and Thomas's Integrative Model of Intrinsic Motivation during a 2004 Sinai, Egypt, peacekeeping mission.

Methodology. This descriptive study provided quantitative and qualitative results. Three instruments were used with a convenience sample of leaders within one forward-deployed National Guard infantry battalion. The LEADSelf instrument determined the SLT style of unit officers and non-commissioned officers. The Thomas Empowerment Survey profiled participants' intrinsic motivation. A researcher-developed survey determined preferences for intrinsic versus extrinsic motivator factors.

The study centered on the following issues: (1) Are the …

City Of Longview Cultural Assessment: Employee Survey Report, Masami Nishishiba, Jun Suzuki, Pachida Lo

Center for Public Service Publications and Reports

This report summarizes the result of the cultural assessment employee survey administered in April 2007 to all City of Longview employees. Responses were obtained from 235 people (response rate 67%).

The survey results include the following key findings:

* Average scores indicate that employees generally support diversity and understand the importance of diversity in the workplace.

* On average, employees rated departmental support and understanding toward diversity lower than their personal support.

* Average scores on the level of comfort discussing diversity-related issues was somewhat lower than other scores. Some people expressed that they do not feel comfortable speaking up …

2007 January, Office Of Communications & Marketing, Morehead State University.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for January of 2007.

The Man-Made Disaster: Fire In Cities In The Medieval Middle East, Anna Akasoy

Publications and Research

Considering the building materials and climatic conditions in the medieval Middle East, fires must have been a major problem. This article provides a first survey of sources which are relevant for studying the impact of fires in urban environments. Evidence can be found, for example, in historiographies such as Ibn Kathīr's The Beginning and the End, or in legal discussions. Most fires mentioned in these sources were caused during riots or war, or by accidents in markets. The article also analyses how far fires fit into the general pattern of discussions around disasters in medieval Arabic literature.

Main Street Parkrose, Doug Bruchs, Laura Butler, Todd Johnson, Sean Mccusker, Brian Monberg, Erik Rundell

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

PlanPDX worked to assess existing district conditions and assist in the development of goals for the district that could inform and guide future improvement efforts. Utilizing a variety of research methods including community outreach efforts, in-person interviews, technical analysis and organizing two well-attended community workshops, the Vision Team and PlanPDX successfully generated a set of recommendations for Main Street Park Rose. This project was conducted under the supervision of Ethan Seltzer and Sumner Sharpe.

Food Insecurity And Oregon Tanf Leavers, Kim Hoffman

Dissertations and Theses

Food security, as defined in the U.S., means access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. Examining the risk factors and consequences of food insecurity for those who leave Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) has practical implications, but empirical research has lagged behind theory. This study tested the Campbell Model of Food Insecurity (1991), a previously untested theoretical model, in a sample of TANF leavers in Oregon (n=637 Wave 1, n=552 Wave 2). Additionally, a qualitative examination of Oregon Food Bank workers, Oregon's largest charitable emergency food organization, was conducted to gather …

Funding Michigan K-12 Educational Adequacy Without Rewarding Inefficiency, James J. Walters

Dissertations

Resource equalization represents the historical and theoretical basis for American school finance and its ideals continue to dominate discussion and practice. During the last decade and a half, the national aspiration for equitable distribution of school finance resources has started a transformation into a derivative notion of adequacy. This equity policy derivative embraces the idea of sufficiency, which in turn implies a standard. The concept of educational adequacy has grown to mean the achievement of high absolute standards. Equity (equalization) theorists measure resource level on a relative basis; each student relative to all others. Adequacy adherents measure student achievement against …