Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Walking The Maternal Tightrope: Work And Family In America, Roxanne A. Donovan, Andrew L. Pieper, Allison N. Ponce

New England Journal of Public Policy

In the last few decades, an unprecedented number of women with children have entered the U.S. workforce. The ability to negotiate the roles of parent and employee is important to the health and financial well-being of these women and their families, but institutional and social barriers impede the process. Using the empirical and theoretical literature on women and work, this article examines these barriers. The authors address the impact of cultural ideals, psychological processes, and public policy on the maternal work-family balance. Several changes that would help create an atmosphere supportive of balance are explored, including increased support for shared …

I Am A Contradiction: Feminism And Feminist Identity In The Third Wave, Meredith A. Evans, Chris Bobel

New England Journal of Public Policy

How is Third Wave feminism defined? What are the implications for self-labeling as a feminist and the evolution of the “I’m not a feminist, but. . . .” group? While much controversy surrounds the etiology and even the very existence of a “Third Wave” of feminism, this nascent movement is a significant aspect of the current dialogue on contemporary feminism. Therefore, it is important to examine the history and the meaning of the identity of Third Wave. In an attempt to elucidate contemporary feminism, four key Third Wave collections of personal narratives were chosen and analyzed for current definitions of …

Latino Participation In Food Assistance Programs: A Study Conducted For Project Bread, Anny Rivera-Ottenberger, Elaine Werby

Center for Social Policy Publications

Concern with low participation rates of households eligible for the Food Stamp program is shared among many groups focusing on the social and health needs of the low income population. While strides have been made in improving these rates, still both nationally and here in Massachusetts too many families are still food insecure, or worse, still hungry. Project Bread, the leading statewide anti-hunger organization, allocates resources for research, programs, and activities to promote greater utilization of the food stamp and other food assistance programs.

Project Bread through its direct service program provides telephone and Internet information and assistance to potential …

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 …

Profiles Of Asian American Subgroups In Massachusetts: Filipino Americans In Massachusetts, Richard Chu

Institute for Asian American Studies Publications

The study of Filipino Americans in the United States is both fascinating and important. It is fascinating because, as with most Asian American subgroups, Filipino Americans are highly diverse, displaying a rich contour of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. It is important because they come from a country that was the only major colony of the U.S. in the Pacific. As a consequence of this historical relationship, Filipino Americans now rank as the second most populous Asian American subgroup, and 2006 marked the centennial of the first significant group of contract laborers to be sent to Hawai’i. Despite the important roles …

Brief 20: Graduate Education And Civic Engagement, Kerryann O’Meara

New England Resource Center for Higher Education Publications

Across the country, new attention is being paid to graduate education and civic engagement (Applegate, 2002; Bloomfield, 2006). For decades college campuses have worked diligently to connect undergraduate academic study with public service in order to enhance learning and meet community needs, a connection often referred to as service-learning or civic engagement. Given that over 1,000 institutions have joined Campus Compact, a national organization of college presidents and institutions committed to this work (www.campuscompact.org), the widespread success of the service-learning movement is undeniable. As a further testament, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching now has a classification focused …

Data Note: Ssi Recipients With Disabilities Who Work And Participation In 1619b, Brooke Dennee-Sommers, Frank A. Smith

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a federally funded program that provides cash assistance for basic needs. Individuals with a low-income who are over the age of 65, blind, or have a disability are eligible for assistance. SSI beneficiaries typically also receive health insurance coverage through Medicaid. Losing Medicaid benefits can be of concern for SSI recipients with disabilities who desire to work, or are currently working. Section 1619b of the Social Security Act allows individuals to work and continue to receive Medicaid assistance when their earnings are too high to qualify for SSI cash payments as long as they meet …

The Meaning Of Poverty: Questions Of Distribution And Power, Arthur Macewan

Economics Faculty Publication Series

Focusing on the low-income parts of the world and reviewing the different ways we can define poverty, I first argue that what people generally mean by poverty – or, more broadly, by economic well-being – cannot be adequately captured by a single, absolute measure such as income level or a more complex aggregate such as the Human Development Index. Not only do these measures fail to account for the complexity of human material needs, but they also fail to recognize the importance of distributional issues. The failure to incorporate a consideration of distribution in defining poverty (or, more generally, economic …

Estimating Guard Labor, Arjun Jayadev

Economics Faculty Publication Series

As a background paper to Jayadev and Bowles (2006), this paper provides details on our measure of guard labor as we measure these in labor units. Data from the United States indicate a significant increase in its extent in the U.S. over the period 1890 to the present. Cross-national comparisons show a significant statistical association between income inequality and the fraction of the labor force that is constituted by guard labor, as well as with measures of political legitimacy (inversely) and political conflict.

The Class Content Of Preferences Towards Anti-Inflation And Anti Unemployment Policies, Arjun Jayadev

Economics Faculty Publication Series

This paper assesses class based preferences towards anti-inflationary and anti-unemployment policy. Using a consistent cross-country social survey, I find that the working class broadly defined, and those with lower occupational skill and status are more likely to prioritize combating unemployment rather than inflation. The result is robust to the inclusion of several plausible controls. The idea that the working class is less ‘relatively inflation averse’ is consistent with earlier predictions coming from large body of political economy research in the 1970s. The finding that inflation and unemployment aversion have a distinct class character has implications for current debates on the …

Washington Dollars And The Puerto Rican Economy: Amounts, Impacts, Alternatives, Arthur Macewan, Angel Ruiz

Economics Faculty Publication Series

By examining the Washington to Puerto Rico flow of funds in some detail and comparing it with the flow of federal funds to the states, this paper demonstrates that the island’s receipt of funds is not uniquely large and cannot be viewed as representing the “largess” of U.S. taxpayers. The funds coming from Washington to Puerto Rico cannot bear the weight of responsibility for the island’s economic problems that various sources have placed upon them. Puerto Rico’s economic ills have to be explained by a larger set of factors. Nonetheless, some of the Washington to Puerto Rico transfer programs may …

Borrowing Trouble Vii: Higher-Cost Mortgage Lending In Boston, Greater Boston, And Massachusetts, 2005, Jim Campen

Gastón Institute Publications

Six years ago, in response to numerous reports of the growth of predatory lending, the Massachusetts Community & Banking Council (MCBC) – whose Board of Directors has an equal number of bank and community representatives – commissioned a study of subprime refinance lending in the city of Boston and surrounding communities. The resulting report, Borrowing Trouble? Subprime Mortgage Lending in Greater Boston, 1999, was the first detailed look at subprime lending in the city of Boston and in twenty-seven surrounding communities.

This is the seventh report in the annual series begun by that initial study. Over the years, the …

State Agency Promising Practice: Working Together To Convert The Last Sheltered Workshop In Vermont To Individualized Supports, Jennifer Sullivan Sulewski, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

ThinkWork! Publications

Vermont’s Division of Disability and Aging Services (DDAS) and Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) worked with a local service provider to convert its congregate day services to community employment. Implementation Between 1987 and 2002, DDAS and DVR worked with several providers to close down sheltered workshops and move people into community supports.

State Agency Promising Practice: The Tennessee Employment Consortium (Tec) - A Statewide Collaboration For Change, Jean Winsor, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

ThinkWork! Publications

The Tennessee Employment Consortium (TEC) is a statewide organization focused on increasing the number of Tennesseans in integrated employment. The consortium comprises volunteers from the state’s Division of Mental Retardation Services (DMRS) and Division of Rehabilitation Services (DRS), the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities, the ARC of Tennessee, the Center on Disability and Employment at the University of Tennessee, community rehabilitation providers (CRPs), family members, and other stakeholders. TEC’s ability to organize collaborative activities across state agencies, advocacy organizations, and CRPs has played an important role in increasing integrated employment outcomes.

State Agency Promising Practice: Shifting Resources Away From Sheltered Workshops In Vermont, Jennifer Sullivan Sulewski, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

ThinkWork! Publications

Over six years, regulations in Vermont gradually restricted and eventually prohibited the use of state funds for sheltered workshops or enclaves. Concurrent with the change in funding regulations, the state worked with providers to convert the remaining sheltered workshops in Vermont.

State Agency Promising Practices: Washington State’S Working-Age Adult Policy, Allison C. Hall, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

ThinkWork! Publications

Washington’s Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) has recently issued a new policy which went into full effect on July 1, 2006. This policy “designates employment supports as the primary method of furnishing state-financed day services to adult participants.” Emphasizing community employment as the primary service option, the policy further states that: “services for persons under the age of 62 that do not emphasize the pursuit or maintenance of employment in integrated settings can be authorized only by exception to policy” (WA DHSH, DDD, “County Services for Working Age Adults” Policy 4.11). Initially adopted in 2004, this policy does not eliminate …

2007'S Housing Market: Not Yet Recovering From Recent Ills, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

The Massachusetts economy is currently on a trajectory that is similar to that of the national economy, at least as measured in the aggregate. During the second quarter of the calendar year, the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.4 percent. During the same period, the Massachusetts economy grew at 3.6 percent annual rate of growth, down from a strong 4.1 percent rate in the first quarter. The state’s economy is being pulled in two directions. On the upside, strong demand for the state’s technology, science, knowledge, and health-based goods and services is creating good job and income …

Venezuela In The Times Of Chavez: A Study On Media, Charisma, And Social Polarization, Jorge Capetillo-Ponce

Sociology Faculty Publication Series

My main objective in this study is to deepen the reader's understanding of Venezuela's ongoing socio-political conflict by focusing on the struggle for control over one of the key agents of mobilization and politicization in the country: the media outlets, and particularly television. My methodology strives to interweave the chronological record of events with analysis of the equally relevant theoretical, institutional, political, economic, and cultural components that helped to create those events. Central to my presentation is its analysis of the decline of Venezuela's two traditional parties and the emergence of a charismatic and populist form of leadership.

Models Of Care For Treating Late-Life Depression In Primary Care, Steven D. Vannoy, Diane Powers, JüRgen UnüTzer

Steven D Vannoy

No abstract provided.

Far From The Commonwealth: A Report On Low-Income Asian Americans In Massachusetts, Michael Liu, Thao Tran, Paul Watanabe

Institute for Asian American Studies Publications

Asian Americans are as diverse in history, language, class, ethnic origin, and demographics as any group in the United States. This complexity is reflected in their economic status. Much attention has focused on the significant economic attainments of many Asian Americans. The fact, however, that a large number of Asian Americans also live in poverty or have low incomes has received much less notice from researchers, foundations, government agencies, and others.

The principal purpose of this report is to bring attention to and shed more light on a significant sector of Asian Americans in Massachusetts, those with low incomes. We …

State Agency Promising Practices: Employment First! Making Integrated Employment The Preferred Outcome In Tennessee, Jean Winsor, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

ThinkWork! Publications

The Tennessee Division of Mental Retardation Services (DMRS) implemented the Employment First! initiative in 2002. The goal of Employment First was to make employment the first day service option for adults receiving supports funded by DMRS, Medicaid, or the state. Employment First set the standard that employment was the preferred service option for adults with mental retardation and developmental disabilities (MR/DD).

Bridging The Gaps: Structuring Benefits To Promote Mobility For Low Wage Workers, Randy Albelda, Heather Boushey

Center for Social Policy Publications

Low-wage workers have always faced difficulties earning enough to meet their basic needs in the context of the complex financial tradeoffs between receiving public benefits and taking on any or more employment. However, welfare reform and skyrocketing housing and medical costs have exacerbated these challenges to low income families, policy makers, and the providers and agencies that serve them. Employment – often at low-wages – is imperative for most families and, even with supplementary public benefits, financial independence is not easy to achieve for many working families. Wages are too often too low to meet the high cost of living …

Investigating The Heart Of A Community: Archaeological Excavations At The African Meeting House, Boston, Massachusetts, David B. Landon, Teresa Dujnic, Kate Descoteaux, Susan Jacobucci, Darios Felix, Marisa Patalano, Ryan Kennedy, Diana Gallagher, Ashley Peles, Jonathan Patton, Heather Trigg, Allison Bain, Cheryl Laroche

Andrew Fiske Memorial Center for Archaeological Research Publications

In collaboration with the Museum of African American History, an archaeological research team from the University of Massachusetts Boston carried out a data recovery excavation at the African Meeting House on Beacon Hill. The African Meeting House was a powerful social institution for 19thcentury Boston’s free black community. The site played an important role in the abolition movement, the creation of educational opportunity, and other community action for social and political equality. The Meeting House was originally built in 1806, and renovations in preparation for the 2006 bi-centennial celebration prompted an investigation of areas of the property to be impacted …

Data Note: Employment Rates For People With And Without Disabilities, Frank A. Smith, Dana Scott Gilmore

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Data show that people with disabilities are consistently less likely to be working than their non-disabled counterparts. In this data note, we compare the employment rate for working-age people with and without disabilities.

State Agency Promising Practice: Integrated Employment Outcomes Through Person-To-Person Technical Assistance: New Hampshire, Allison C. Hall, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

ThinkWork! Publications

New Hampshire implemented an innovative technical assistance model that promoted organizational change to expand individual employment opportunities. This person-to-person change began at the micro level but “trickled up” through organizations across the state. In 2000, realizing that the state’s growth in integrated employment had stalled, the Bureau of Developmental Services invested aggressively in expanding its intervention strategy by recruiting a community provider to work directly through the bureau. The bureau hired John Vance-the director of ACCESS, a small individualized support organization in New Hampshire-half-time to provide individualized technical assistance to providers across the state. As part of the bureau, Vance …

The Institutional Entrepreneur As Modern Prince: The Strategic Face Of Power In Contested Fields, David Levy, Maureen A. Scully

Management and Marketing Faculty Publication Series

This paper develops a theoretical framework that situates institutional entrepreneurship by drawing from Gramsci’s concept of hegemony to understand the contingent stabilization of organizational fields, and by employing his discussion of the Modern Prince as the collective agent who organizes and strategizes counter-hegemonic challenges. Our framework makes three contributions. First, we characterize the interlaced material, discursive, and organizational dimensions of field structure. Second, we argue that strategy must be examined more rigorously as the mode of action by which institutional entrepreneurs engage with field structures. Third, we argue that institutional entrepreneurship, in challenging the position of incumbent actors and stable …

Clean Energy In Massachusetts: Already Strong, This Emerging Sector Is Poised For Greater Growth, David Levy, David Terkla

Management and Marketing Faculty Publication Series

This article reviews Massachusetts’ clean energy sector in the context of the industry nationally and worldwide. We also suggest policy options to enhance the sector’s potential for the Massachusetts economy.