Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of Advocacy And Social Justice Work On Nonprofit Funding And Support, Brittany Appleton

Graduate Research Papers

Advocacy and social justice work has become a widely discussed topic over the past year, especially in the nonprofit world. As organizations work to move their mission forward and address critical issues in their community, they must balance the delicate relationships they have with their clients, their supporters, other organizations, and the community as a whole. This includes navigating their mission, vision, and values and the values and beliefs of supporters and community members. Taking an active role in advocacy and social justice work can impact these relationships, but little research has been done that shows what that impact could …

2021 Adult Foster Home Resident And Community Characteristics Report On Adult Foster Homes, Paula Carder, Jason Z. Kyler-Yano, Ozcan Tunalilar, Sarah Dys, Sheryl Elliott, Ellis Jourdan Hews, Minju Kim

Institute on Aging Publications

This report describes results from an annual study of Oregon adult foster homes (AFH). Data contained in this report include home and owner characteristics; monthly charges and payment sources; and resident characteristics, personal and health-related needs. The study’s purpose was to collect and report data that can inform and advise policymakers, state and county agency staff, aging advocates and AFH owners about the status of AFHs in Oregon. These data were collected between December 2020 and February 2021. This report constitutes the first year during the COVID-19 pandemic that these annual data were collected.

College Readiness Of Freshman Students From Inner-City Schools, Shanitra Jones Barnes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A problem that exists in higher education is that many students are not college and career ready. Many students enter college without being academically prepared to succeed. The purpose of this study was to explore the academic college readiness barriers and supports of freshmen college students from a Midwestern inner-city college. The conceptual framework of this study was Bourdieu’s social capital theory. The research questions address what college freshmen who graduated from inner-city public high schools perceive to be the barriers and necessary supports to reaching their academic goals. The basic interpretive research design was used to investigate the problem …

Counseling System Documentation And The Relationship Between Treatment Plans And Client Outcomes, Moraima N. Frangiosa

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this qualitative study was to provide a method for evaluating counseling services delivered to patients during treatment. The evaluation of the study required the use of methods that are repeatable and effective that would allow a clinic to continue using them over time to grow a database of valuable information about counseling and patient outcomes. The new database would allow the clinic to change counseling methods and approaches of delivery to promote organizational change. The evidence-based practice (EBP) for counseling therapy would encourage the connection between public administration and public policy in the health care system. Public …

The Role Of Organizational Socialization On The Ethical Orientation Of Male Police Officers, Megan Marie Bessey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A gap in literature exists surrounding years of service, training, and ethical attitudes within the law enforcement industry. The proposed hypothesis was that years of service in law enforcement and hours of in-service training were interactively related to an officer's ethical attitudes as related to ethical orientation. The purpose of this study was to examine organizational socialization within the law enforcement profession, specifically as demonstrated through the interaction effects of factors relating to ethical orientation and scores measured by the Ethics Position Questionnaire of male Northern Kentucky and Southern Oregon police officers. The major theoretical propositions for this study came …

A Photovoice Study On Growing Up Female In Foster Care, Kim Parker-Maneja

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractApproximately 440,000 children lived in state-supervised foster care across the United States in 2019; of those children, 48% were female. Many studies have examined how foster care impacts youth who age out of care, as many are ill-prepared to navigate the challenges of independence and make responsible adult decisions after transitioning. However, only a handful of studies prioritized the female youth's voice to understand their experiences growing up in the foster care system. This study introduced photovoice, a participatory methodology, to collect data from 11 former female youth 19-25 years old. Manchanda's upstream concept and Rappaport's empowerment theory were used …

Putting Policy In Its Place: Policy Enactment And Engagement Through A Multiscalar Policy-Shed Framework, Barbara L. Maclennan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The objective of this research is to examine the spatial components integral to policy formation, implementation, and evaluation. The research uses solid waste as a case study to explore a multiscalar GIS policy-shed framework. To this end, the goal of this dissertation is to examine the spatial nature of public policy. The research applies spatial concepts and multiscalar methodological applications embedded within GIS and geovisualization to explore the complex spaces surrounding public policy implementation and evaluation.

Attuning To Need: Reconceptualizing “Help” In Poor Rural Areas, Jennifer M. Frank, Laura Brierton Granruth, Brittany Leffler, Rachel Preibisch, Dawn Watson, Heather Girvin, Mary Glazier

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Social isolation is closely linked to overall health and well-being and is a serious concern for those in rural areas. Our research seeks insights into the needs experienced in poor rural areas by utilizing letter writing between students and community agency participants as a research methodology. In the letters, we observed that community participants relied upon friend and family style relationships and even viewed their agency relationships as such. This suggests that transforming "professional helping relationships" into alliances that are less impersonal might be in order. Such relationships and connections seemed conducive to the development of empowering self-efficacy. This finding …

Gender In Emergency Services: Foundations For Greater Equity In Professional Codes Of Ethics, Sebawit Bishu, Sean Mccandless, Nicole M. Elias

Publications and Research

The lack of gender equity in the public sector is a critical issue, especially for emergency services. We explore the gendered nature of firefighting and policing at both professional and organizational levels. We assess gender equity by asking the following questions: (1) How have understandings of gender in emergency services evolved over time? (2) What are the normative implications of emergency services' lack of gender equity? We draw from feminist literature to critique the lack of progress and examine firefighting and policing histories along with the professional ethics codes of the U.S. Fire Administration and the International Association of Chiefs …

The Impact Of U.S. Refugee Policy Change & Political Rhetoric On Nonprofit Service Providers’ Emotional Well-Being, Maria V. Wathen, Patrick L.F. Decker, Charity N. Weishar

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

This study examines how U.S. refugee policy changes from 2014 to 2018 affected the emotional well-being of nonprofit service providers. Elements identified by participants as emotionally significant were funding cuts, the “bans”, the unpredictable nature of policy change, and most impactful, negative political rhetoric. Emotional wellbeing was negatively affected and included an increase in stress, anger, sadness, despair, depression, helplessness, frustration, and caution. Negative impacts were also felt with regard to professional identities and to relationships with family, friends, and strangers. Importantly, impact on emotional wellbeing differed by level of organization at which the participant worked and by organizational characteristics.

Evaluating The N/Ne Preference Policy, Amie Thurber, Lisa K. Bates, Susan Halverson

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

North/Northeast Portland has long been the heart of Portland's Black community. By 2010, the area had lost two-thirds of its Black residents to displacement. In response, the City adopted a Preference Policy that prioritizes displaced affordable rental and homeownership applicants. This report describes findings from the first phase of a study to understand what difference this policy is making in the lives of residents.

Gender In The Time Of Covid-19: Evaluating National Leadership And Covid-19 Fatalities, Leah C. Windsor, Gina Yannitell Reinhardt, Alistair J. Windsor, Robert Ostergard, Susan Allen, Courtney Burns, Jarod Giger, Reed Wood

Social Work Faculty Publications

In this paper we explore whether countries led by women have fared better during the COVID-19 pandemic than those led by men. Media and public health officials have lauded the perceived gender-related influence on policies and strategies for reducing the deleterious effects of the pandemic. We examine this proposition by analyzing COVID-19-related deaths globally across countries led by men and women. While we find some limited support for lower reported fatality rates in countries led by women, they are not statistically significant. Country cultural values offer more substantive explanation for COVID-19 outcomes. We offer several potential explanations for the pervasive …

Protocol For A Trial Assessing The Impacts Of School-Based Wash Interventions On Children’S Health Literacy, Handwashing, And Nutrition Status In Low- And Middle-Income Countries, Stephanie O. Sangalang, Shelley Anne J. Medina, Zheina J. Ottong, Allen Lemuel G. Lemence, Donrey Totanes, John Cedrick Valencia, Patricia Andrea A. Singson, Mikaela Olaguera, Nelissa O. Prado, Roezel Mari Z. Ocaña, Rovin James F. Canja, Alfem John T. Benolirao, Shyrill Mae F. Mariano, Jergil Gyle Gavieres, Clarisse P. Aquino, Edison C. Latag, Maria Vianca Jasmin C. Anglo, Christian Borgemeister, Thoomas Kistemann

Development Studies Faculty Publications

Diarrhea, soil-transmitted helminth infection and malnutrition are leading causes of child mortality in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). To reduce the prevalence of these diseases, effective interventions for adequate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) should be implemented. This paper describes the design of a cluster-randomized controlled trial that will compare the efficacy of four school-based WaSH interventions for improving children’s health literacy, handwashing, and nutrition. Interventions consisted of (1) WaSH policy reinforcement; (2) low-, medium-, or high-volume health education; (3) hygiene supplies; and (4) WaSH facilities (e.g., toilets, urinals, handwashing basins) improvements. We randomly allocated school clusters from the intervention …

Reference Checks, Tara Myers, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are reference checks?

Reference checks are hiring tools, typically used as one of the last steps in the hiring process. “A reference check generally involves contacting applicants’ former employers, supervisors, coworkers, and educators to verify previous employment and to obtain information about the individual’s knowledge, skills, abilities and character” (Society for Human Resource Management, 2020, p. 1). For example, potential employers use this as an opportunity to get additional information about applicants’ job performance, communication, time management, teamwork, professionalism; honesty; and attention to detail (Hendricks, Rupayana, Puchalski, & Robie, 2018). The questions used on reference checks depend on the …

Building Capacity To Effectively Share And Use Data, Robert Blagg

Other QIC-WD Products

In child welfare, the need to utilize meaningful data to ensure that the services provided are effective in supporting children and families represents a continuing challenge. There is a large volume of data from sources that are internal and external to child welfare agencies; and it increases almost exponentially on a regular basis. It is difficult for leaders and practitioners to quickly and meaningfully synthesize, make use of, and share new information with colleagues who need it to make sound decisions. Even when data is transformed into knowledge, challenges remain around the preferred method of ensuring information reaches the individuals …

Mental Health Stigma: A Wicked Problem (Slides), Katelyn Yoh

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Mental health stigma began in the 5th century, continued through the 18th century, and began to improve in the 1840s. Mental health has been viewed as negative and those who suffer from a mental illness or disorder also suffer from stigma as well as negative consequences, such as other mental health concerns, physical issues, and psychological issues due to stigma. This paper goes into deep detail about what mental health stigma is, how stigma is used from peers and internalizes and creates self stigma, what the results of stigma are (all negative), and lastly ways to help put an end …

Occupational Commitment, Megan Paul, Anita Barbee

Umbrella Summaries

What is occupational commitment?

Occupational commitment refers to the extent to which employees are committed to their line of work (Meyer, Allen, & Smith, 1993). Over the past 40 years, various researchers also labeled the construct as career commitment or as professional commitment, but the term occupation is intended to convey that the concept (a) does not apply to a more general concept of a career, which may involve different occupations over time and (b) applies to both professional and non-professional occupations (Meyer et al., 1993). Occupational commitment is one of many forms of work-related commitment. Some of the other, …

Human Trafficking And The Media, Samantha N. Blum

Master's Theses

This paper focuses on how the media can affect the publics knowledge about human trafficking. Specific attention is paid to what human trafficking is and what the different types of criteria that need to be met are. Of the criteria that is met, the paper looks at the overlapping of requirements between human trafficking and other offenses. More importantly throughout the paper is analyzations on police officers’ beliefs about knowing what human trafficking is, what still needs to be done, and their stance on the current definition. The research presented demonstrates the need for more positive psychological approaches when talking …

More Research Is Needed On The Impact Of Workplace Violence, Bullying And Sexual Harassment In Child Welfare, Anita Barbee

Other QIC-WD Products

Many employees working in social services are exposed to workplace violence (described in Andersen, et al., 2018) and bullying (discussed in Whitaker, 2012). The workplace violence paper showed not only that up to three-fourths of social workers are exposed to violence at work, but that organizational structures and dynamics set the stage for violence to occur. Settings where staff lacked role clarity and predictability, and where emotional demands, role conflict, and work family conflict were high, also were associated with more threats and violence among employees and by clients. These findings, in addition to studies on bullying, seem to point …

Covid-19 Educational Inequities: Shining A Light On Disparities In A Graduate School Of Social Work, Jason Jabbari, Dan Ferris, Tyler Frank, Michal Grinstein-Weiss

Social Policy Institute Research

In the wake of COVID-19, universities and schools of social work face unprecedented challenges and uncertainty in aligning their academic models with public heath protocols and best practices, while prioritizing the safety and well-being of their students. In order to best respond to these challenges and uncertainty, more research is needed to advance a greater understanding of (1) what challenges students face, (2) who is most at risk and impacted by these challenges, and (3) how universities can best support students. Through a survey administered during the spring 2020 semester at a large research university in the Midwest, we explored …

Transparency And Yielding Of Law Officers Reform (Taylor) Act Of 2020: Proposal For Police Reform, Marwa Alnaal, Matthew L. Anderson, Hannah Brier, Mollie Campbell, Rose Wine

School of Professional Studies

The Transparency and Yielding of Law Officers Reform Act of 2020 (TAYLOR) proposes an example bill for law enforcement reform. During the summer of 2020, the United States witnessed civilian demonstrations nationwide calling for a change to policing. Our proposal is hoping to heed that call, offering a foundation for change that police forces and localities across the United States can utilize to rebuild trust and accountability.

The goal of the TAYLOR Act is not to defund the police; but rather, TAYLOR rethinks the priorities of the police. There can be no denying that the relationship of trust and security …

Behavioral Health Issues Among War Veterans, Michelle Guzman

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The Monterey County Military & Veterans Affairs Office is a government agency that helps Veterans and their dependents with Military services that are offered in the Monterey County area. Some of the main problems that returning veterans are facing from coming back from OEF and OIF are behavioral health issues as far as PTSD, substance abuse and many more different health issues. Behaviors required to outlive in a war zone, such as keeping up a consistent state of alertness, may at first decipher into troublesome behaviors in civilian life, such as feeling tense or unsteady and being easily startled. Some …

A Meta-Analysis Of Group Treatment Outcomes For Veterans With Substance Use Disorders, Robert “Tony” Dice

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Group therapy is commonly used in the treatment of substance use disorders (SUD). Many studies exist related to the efficacy of group interventions for veterans with SUDs. A meta-analysis and systematic review of the literature addressing the use of group therapy, specifically psychoeducational groups, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) groups and support groups, in the treatment of SUDs with veterans was conducted. The following questions guided the research: What are viable treatment outcomes for psychoeducational, CBT, and support groups of veterans with SUDs? and What are the measures that capture outcomes related to psychoeducational, CBT, and support groups of veterans with …

Mapping The Patchwork: Exploring The Subnational Heterogeneity Of Child Marriage In India, Lotus Mcdougal, Holly Shakya, Nabamallika Dehingia, Charlotte Lapsansky, David Conrad, Nandita Bhan, Abhishek Singh, Topher Mcdougal, Anita Raj

School of Peace Studies: Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Can Civil Society Be Inclusive? Strategies For Endowed Foundations, Irene M. H. Davids, Lucas C. P. M. Meijs

The Foundation Review

Literature on inclusion and exclusion within civil society distinguishes two broad approaches: the managerial, based on the private sphere, and the democratic, based upon the public sphere. Regardless of the approach, however, the influence of cultural distance or proximity between endowed foundations and grassroots associations has remained understudied. This research aims to address this gap.

This article shares results of a quantitative comparison of the patterns of funding awarded by a regional endowed foundation in the Netherlands to immigrant grassroots associations and to other grassroots organizations. The results reveal differences in funding despite the foundation’s inclusive strategy. An exploration of …

"My Head Was Like A Washing Machine On Spin": (Improving) Women’S Experiences Of Accessing Support, Jo Neale, Kathryn Hodges

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This paper draws on data collected as part of two larger studies to set out the differences, according to women seeking support, between the feminist responses of the specialist women’s sector and the issues-led responses of other agencies. The first study examined the processes by which women enter, endure, and exit relationships with abusive men. The second study explored the barriers to help-seeking for those accessing a service for women involved in prostitution. Taking a feminist poststructuralist approach, the authors point to the gendered nature, both of the experiences that propel women toward help-seeking and of the responses they receive …

Lessons Learned While Conducting Utilization-Focused Workforce Evaluation, Robert Blagg, Michelle Graef, Cynthia F. Parry, Courtney L. Harrison

Other QIC-WD Products

The QIC-WD learned many lessons while conducting utilization-focused workforce research across eight diverse public child welfare agencies. In this brief we detail how we are chronicling natural variation (e.g., stay at home orders, hiring freezes, political will, and leadership changes), synthesizing existing data, conducting process evaluation (e.g., identifying implementation drivers), visualizing data to meet diverse stakeholder information needs, and building systems that are both flexible and sustainable.

Organizational Justice, Tara Myers, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is organizational justice?

Organizational justice is the extent to which an organization treats people fairly. Organizational justice includes fairness related to outcomes, procedures, and interpersonal interactions. Fair workplace outcomes and decisions (e.g., equitable/favorable pay, raise, promotion) are called distributive justice (Adams, 1965). Procedural justice means that outcomes are determined through procedures that are based on accurate information and standard ethics, represent everyone affected by the procedure, include opportunity for input and appeal, are free from bias, and are used consistently (Leventhal, 1980; Thibaut & Walker, 1975). Interactional justice refers to people feeling they were treated with dignity and respect …

Home Resources Supporting Workplace Resources: An Investigation Of Moderated Intervention Effects From The Study For Employment Retention Of Veterans (Serve), Sarah Nielsen Haverly

Dissertations and Theses

Social support directly impacts psychological outcomes both within the home and work domains. Hammer and colleagues suggest that social support at work from supervisors is related to a number of positive workplace outcomes. Kossek et al. elaborated that social support from supervisors is additionally effective when it is tailored to the unique needs of workers (i.e., role demands). The Veteran Supportive Supervisor Training (VSST) educates supervisors how to better support former service-members employed within the civilian workplace. Additional sources of social support are also key to positive outcomes for workers. Research shows that support from a partner or spouse can …