Digital Commons Network^™

An Exploration Of The Lived Experiences Of Black Female Kinship Caregivers In Parenting Youth Aged 13-18, Tyla Wilder

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This qualitative phenomenological study explored how the intersection of identities related to race and gender shapes the lived experiences of Black female kinship caregivers raising youth aged 13–18. Drawing on Intersectionality Theory, the study sought to understand the caregiving challenges, emotional resilience, and systemic barriers encountered by this underrepresented population. Nine participants were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling and engaged in in-depth semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis revealed that cultural norms and racialized gender expectations often compelled Black females to assume caregiving roles without institutional recognition or support. Participants described emotional isolation, financial instability, and limited access to legal and …

Listening Suppers At The Landing Place: Talking With Rockland-Area Youth About School, Work, & Life, Jillian Foley Mppm, Swathi Sivasubramanian, Timothy Atkinson, Olivia Eckert, Emma Schwartz

Justice Policy

This piece (June 2025) is a collaboration with our partners at The Landing Place to amplify youth voices and ideas for systems change that came out of a series of conversations with youth in Rockland, called Listening Suppers which aimed to inspire conversations about school, work, family, community supports, relationships, and more. This short brief highlights the themes that came out of these conversations including community strengths and assets, gaps and youth needs, and youth informed recommendations for change. While much of the conversations were specific to the local Rockland community, the challenges and solutions highlighted are similar to what …

Building Youth Hope: Assessing Community Assets And Opportunities For Supporting Youth Well-Being In The Sagadahoc County Area, Emma Schwartz, Jillian Foley, Timothy Atkinson

Justice Policy

This report aims to build upon previous research and provides updated information on community assets to support youth in the Sagadahoc County area. The report examines the strengths, challenges, and opportunities for community investment with the goal of improving outcomes related to youth hopefulness, belonging, and well-being. The project team engaged community members in a variety of asset mapping and data collection activities which are summarized in this report. The report authors also make recommendations related to expanding youth connections to informal supports and third places, ensuring access to a variety of assets that are responsive to their holistic needs, …

Unarresting School Safety, Maryam Ahranjani

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

“Everything Is A New Challenge For Each Of Us”: A Qualitative Exploration Of Elementary Newcomer Students’ And Families’ Lived Experiences Of Acclimating To U.S. Schooling, Maureen Margaret Medeiros

Social Justice in Educational Leadership EdD Dissertations

Newcomer students, defined as foreign-born children who have attended U.S. schools for less than three years, are entering U.S. schools in ever-increasing numbers. Schools are often the first institutions to welcome immigrants to local communities, and meeting the linguistic, socioemotional, and academic needs of newcomer students and their families is essential to their success. However, data on newcomers is not publicly accessible, which makes them not easily visible in the school system. Furthermore, newcomers may have socioemotional challenges due to their prior life experiences, the immigration process, and then the likely challenges of limited English fluency which can lead to …

Blueprint For A Youth Violence Intervention Program In East Baton Rouge Parish: Adapting Hospital-Based Strategies, Kristina G. Little, Elizabeth Winchester, Judith L F Rhodes

Reports

Youth violence in East Baton Rouge Parish remains a persistent public safety and public health challenge. This report proposes an adapted, evidence-informed model for East Baton Rouge Parish that retains the core components of traditional HVIPs while leveraging existing legal, hospital, and social service resources. The model is grounded in a public health framework and emphasizes trauma-informed, bedside intervention at the “teachable moment” when youth are most receptive to change, and long-term wraparound case management. The report concludes with recommendations for implementing this adapted approach, including identifying a health system champion, building referral protocols, embedding training, and developing a long-term …

Measuring Collective Impact Of Extension Programs Addressing Substance Use And Mental Health, Omolola A. Adedokun, Olumuyiwa M. Desmennu, Alex Elswick, Nichole Huff, Brooke Jenkins, Katherine Jury, Heather Norrman-Burgdolf

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

Extension excels at working across program areas and disciplinary boundaries inside and outside land-grant institutions to address complex social issues within communities. However, evaluation of the collective impact of these concerted programmatic initiatives remains a persistent challenge for Extension. To better understand the broader impact of Extension’s cohesive, concurrent response to complex issues such as substance use and mental health, there is a need to shift from isolated evaluations of individual or single Extension programs to a focus on collective impact assessment. This article describes the University of Kentucky Extension planning process and outputs of a collective impact evaluation initiative …

Just Places And Paths: Equitable Transit-Oriented Development In Vancouver, Washington, Hannah Althea, Jesse Tapia, Ken Yoneda, Blessie Saoit, Hayley Still

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Southwest Washington Equity Coalition (SWEC) has been actively engaged in multiple efforts to uplift BIPOC communities in the City of Vancouver and Clark County. SWEC has partnered with Rhododendron Planning for a project to develop a toolkit to guide future Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (ETOD) that considers the specific needs and desires of BIPOC communities, which can be used for current and future policy initiatives. This work comes at a time of escalating development, inward migration, and diversification, putting pressure on present and burgeoning BIPOC communities. Between 2010 and 2020, the population of BIPOC communities living in Vancouver, Washington, has …

A Right To Repress: Ipec V Inslee And The Parental Right To Determine The Gender Of A Child, August Brown

Washington Law Review

Do parents have a constitutional right to determine their child’s gender? No court has held that they do, but that assumption was the basis of a challenge brought in August 2023 to Senate Bill 5599 (ESSB 5599)—an amendment to the Washington State Family Reconciliation Act, which protects runaway youth seeking gender-affirming treatment and reproductive health care services from immediate parental notification. Plaintiffs International Partners for Ethical Care (IPEC) and others challenged the bill before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Their claims turn on parental rights, as well as several associated federal and state constitutional claims. …

Concordia Seminary Magazine Spring 2025, Vicki Biggs

Concordia Seminary Magazine

Behold I am Doing a New Thing

Feasibility And Effectiveness Of A Mindfulness Stress Reduction Intervention, Diana Guadalupe Marin

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Health disparities in low-resource communities lead to poor physical and mental health outcomes. To reduce health disparities, the United States has looked to global health initiative and is starting to rely on lay health workers more consistently as a promising and sustainable force. Community Health Worker (CHWs) work alongside the local health care system to connect vulnerable populations to needed care. However, the demand of their role puts CHWs at risk for stress, burnout, and vicarious trauma. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a stress reduction intervention that has been empirically supported to reduce stress and burnout in numerous populations. To …

The Day You Begin: A Case Study Of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy In Early Childhood Classrooms, Kim Shelton

Dissertations

Culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) has garnered growing attention in early childhood education due to its potential to cultivate inclusive and equitable learning environments for increasingly diverse student populations. This qualitative case study examines how early childhood educators perceive and implement CRP in classrooms with high concentrations of immigrant and culturally diverse students. Additionally, it explores the perceived impact of these practices on instructional effectiveness, classroom climate, and teacher-student interactions.

Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis. Thematic analysis yielded four central findings: (1) teachers’ understandings of CRP varied considerably, with some demonstrating strong intentionality and others …

Community Safety Innovations: New York State Initiatives To Strengthen Public Safety, Justice D. Evans, Elia Del Carmen Solano-Patricio, Rebecca Balletto, Kathleen A. Tomberg, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

This report presents findings from researchers at the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College (JohnJayREC) regarding the impact of state investments in community safety. The report highlights key initiatives such as the SNUG program, Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE), Project RISE, and Crime Analysis Centers (CACs). Through interviews with State agency staff and initiative leaders, the research team gathered valuable insights into the goals, challenges, and implementation of these programs. The findings suggest that these efforts may contribute to reduced violence and enhanced neighborhood safety, though further, more robust evaluation could help refine and expand these efforts for …

Contemporary Echoes From The Progressive Era: A Historical Reclamation Project Of Caroline Pratt And Her Play-Based Pedagogy, Charleen Lynn Kepner

University Honors Theses

Caroline Pratt is the early childhood educator most never heard of. Pratt was a progressive era educator and reformer in 1900s New York City. Pratt developed a play based theory of education. She opened City & Country School in 1914 and her school is still operating utilizing many of the methods Pratt developed. Using first hand field research, archival research, and scholarly articles, I examine how Pratt developed her methods and how modern educators can use them today. The study of Pratt's work and her school reveal a pragmatic approach to learning that educators today can adopt. In conclusion, play …

Critical Drivers In Public Sector Innovation: Governance And Service Insights From Yogyakarta And Kupang, I Putu Yoga Bumi Pradana

BISNIS & BIROKRASI: Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Organisasi

This study investigates the critical factors influencing the initiation of Public Sector Innovation (PSI) in Indonesia, focusing on governance and service-type innovations within two local government settings: Yogyakarta and Kupang. The methodology employed was a qualitative approach with multiple case studies complemented by the critical incident technique for data analysis. The data were gathered from 23 informants who played significant roles in the early stages of the innovation process at the local government level. The findings reveal that in Yogyakarta, the successful initiation of innovations such as Sego Segawe and YES 119 was primarily driven by robust political leadership, extensive …

"We Walk The Same Path But Have On Different Shoes: Wounded Healers And A Halfway House In Boston, Ma", Julie Labagnara

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores the processes, procedures, and relationships in a women’s reentry house, the New Hope Home (NHH), in the Grove Hall neighborhood of Boston, MA while also examining the evolution of the home and the relationships within the NHH.  This project is based on interview and participant observation data of the staff and residents of the home to ascertain multiple viewpoints and experiences of people critical to the home’s existence and success or struggles. The home opened in April 2022.  This research begins at the grand opening of the home and continues through early 2025.  Finally, neighborhood resident interviews …

Unpacking Violence: Examining Socioeconomic, Psychological, And Genetic Drivers Of Gun-Related Homicide And Potential Solutions, John Menezes, Kavita Batra

Department of Plastic Surgery Faculty Research

Background: Gun-related homicide remains a persistent public health crisis in the United States, with over 48,000 firearm-related deaths reported in 2022, including 19,651 homicides and 27,032 suicides. Despite frequent calls for tighter gun control, firearm access alone does not explain the complexity of violence. Objective: This commentary aims to unpack the socioeconomic, psychological, and biological drivers of gun-related homicide and propose integrative, evidence-based solutions that extend beyond legislative reform. Methods: We synthesized data from peer-reviewed literature, national crime and health databases (e.g., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Federal Bureau of Investigation), and international reports. We examined patterns related …

State Legislatures And Trans* Genocide (?) In The United States, Shannon Fyfe

Tennessee Journal of Race, Gender, & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Tennessee Journal Of Race, Gender, And Social Justice Vol. 14, Iss.2 (Full Publication), Editor In Chief

Tennessee Journal of Race, Gender, & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

A Qualitative Study Of The Impact Of Racial Segregation On The Schooling Of One African American Family, Leatre Y. Cooper

Masters Theses (Archived)

This qualitative case study examines the impact of social, economic, and racial biases, that Black students experienced in the United States public school system, focusing on the author's three generational journey. The author's experience highlights the challenges of racialized residential segregation stemming from city-wide redlining practices in New Orleans, which kept Black people geographically isolated from employment opportunities and exposed them to risks to their well-being, crime, and violence (Bloom, 2014; Englund, 2022; Platt, 2019; Seicshnaydre et al.,2018). Despite the tremendous progress made by the Civil Rights Movement and federal and state policies aimed at addressing these inequalities, housing segregation …

A Seat At The Schoolhouse Table: Reimagining Education Through Afrofuturist And Womanist Theory, Natasha M. Capers

Student Theses

“A Seat at the Schoolhouse Table: Reimagining Education Through Afrofuturist and Womanist Theory” critically examines how curriculum, even when well-intentioned, can perpetuate harm by excluding the lived experiences of marginalized communities—especially Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQIA+ students. Using a real middle school immigration assignment given to the author's son as a case study, this capstone deconstructs the structural biases embedded in curriculum design and proposes a radical reimagining through the liberatory lenses of Afrofuturism and Womanism. Blending scholarly inquiry, personal narrative, and community-based interviews, this project offers a restructured assignment that centers joy, identity, and speculative storytelling as tools for educational …

Striking The Balance: The Relationship Between Government Funding And Nonprofit Financial Health, Mehrnoush Jamshidi

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The nonprofit sector plays a vital role in society, partnering with the government to provide essential services across various fields, including education, healthcare, social services, arts and culture, and environmental protection. Salamon (1987) highlighted the cooperative relationship between nonprofits and the government, where nonprofits contribute expertise and community-based knowledge, while the government offers financial stability. Through this partnership, the government helps address “voluntary failures,” such as philanthropic insufficiency, particularism, and paternalism, which can limit a nonprofit’s ability to serve the public effectively. Given this close working relationship, understanding the financial health of nonprofits is crucial for ensuring …

Treat Yourself With Compassion: Art Therapy And Self-Talk With An Autistic Teen, Alyssa H. Kurland

Expressive Therapies Theses

This study examines the use of art therapy to address negative self-talk and promote emotional awareness, self-compassion, and identity development in an adolescent with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Adolescents with ASD are particularly susceptible to negative internal dialogue due to challenges with emotional regulation, communication, and social integration. Given the limitations of traditional talk therapies, art therapy offers a nonverbal, sensory-accessible modality for emotional expression and cognitive restructuring. Within an in-home family stabilization model, a 17-year-old participant engaged in three structured art therapy directives with parental involvement. Data were collected through session observations, automatic writing, and artistic reflection. Findings indicated …

An Exploratory Mixed-Methods Investigation Of Previous Sexual Health Communication Between Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Or Queer Young Adults And Their Parents, Haley Elizabeth Solace

Theses and Dissertations

Research suggests parent-child communication about sexual health can promote positive sexual health outcomes (e.g., Estrada-Martinez et al., 2020; Jayne et al., 2021); however, parent-child sexual health conversations are often infrequent and heteronormative (Estes, 2017). Few studies explore sexual health communication between LGBQ youth and their parents. This study explores previous experiences with parent-child sexual health communication between seven LGBQ young adults, aged 18 to 26, and four of their heterosexual mothers, to better understand parent-child sexual health communication and differences between parental-child reflections. Findings suggest LGBQ young adults and parents recall similar experiences, however, perceived discomfort and parental competency differently. …

Faculty Roles And Responsibilities Supporting Extension Health Initiatives: Suggestions To Maximize Campus-Field Partnerships, Christine A. Fruhauf, Maria Delgado, Sue Schneider

Journal of Extension

The past several decades of Extension scholarship have addressed topics related to creating pathways for stronger campus-field based connections. Several attempts have been made to support such efforts, including creating content-driven teams of research/teaching faculty and Extension professionals; state-wide tours where campus-based faculty and administrators visit with Extension staff in their county offices and in the field; and making new campus-based faculty and staff hires with a percentage of Extension appointments. Although these strategies have merit, addressing how these initiatives can support the goal of strengthening the work of campus- and field-based faculty to influence the mission of land-grant institutions …

Where To Deposit Your Master’S Thesis Or Doctoral Dissertation In The Unl Digital Commons, Sue Ann Gardner, Paul Royster

Thesis and Dissertation Deposit Information Resources

A list of degree-granting programs with links to the proper series for thesis and dissertation deposit in the UNL Digital Commons.

UNL = University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Updated May 2025.

Find your degree-granting program in the list, then click on the link to go to the proper series to deposit your thesis, dissertation, or other student work.

If you have questions about the process or problems finding the correct series or uploading your work, contact Sue Gardner.

Family-Based Health Promotion To The Early Phases Of Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Treatment: A Qualitative Review, Anna Van Asselt, Renee Gilbert, Hide Okuno, Ann M. Davis, Keith J. August, Carolyn R. Bates, Robert C. Gibler

Research Days

Introduction: Excessive weight gain during early phases of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) treatment elevates risk for long-term morbidities, late effects, and secondary cancers. Behavioral factors including physical inactivity and poor diet quality play a significant role in weight outcomes. Existing health behavior and obesity interventions do not address challenges that children and families face during cancer treatment. The current study qualitatively investigated caregiver, child, and multi-disciplinary expert perspectives on health behavior engagement and intervention content for the future adaptation of NOURISH-ALL.

Method: Caregivers (N=11) and youth with ALL (N=6) in the first year of treatment completed semi-structured interviews …

Poverty Elimination Action Plan, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, City Of Omaha

Reports

This document fulfills the legislative requirements of LB 840, the Poverty Elimination Action Plan, aimed at reporting on Omaha efforts to eliminate poverty and developing a comprehensive strategy to eliminate poverty in Omaha, NE. It reviews research and policy interventions addressing poverty, incorporates community-driven and secondary data for a needs assessment, and offers actionable recommendations for poverty alleviation. The report also provides guidance on implementation, sustainability, and progress tracking. A brief conclusion at the end of this report is followed by appendices detailing supplementary data and analysis.

Behavioral Health Leadership’S Role In Enhancing Family Reunification Success In Residential Care., Porscha Profitt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This qualitative case study examined the role of behavioral health leadership (BHL) in facilitating effective family reunification within residential treatment settings, focusing on Organization X in Northern California. The study addressed the persistent issue of high recidivism rates among youth with intellectual and co-occurring mental health disorders following discharge from therapeutic foster care. Using the Baldrige Excellence Framework as a guiding model, the research explored how BHLs assess reunification success, engage families, and navigate systemic and individual challenges that hinder sustainable transitions to home environments. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews with administrators and supplemented by organizational documents and reports. Thematic …

Intentional Action, Impactful Risk-Taking, Jill Lombardi

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.