Psychology Commons^™

Onboarding Program Eastern Band Of Cherokee Indians - Theory Of Change, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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During the needs assessment process facilitated by the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) three areas of need were discussed for possible intervention at Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) Family Safety Program (FSP): 1) team cohesion across the various agency units, 2) unhealthy levels of employee stress and work overload, and 3) inconsistent onboarding practices. For each area, a problem statement was developed, and in-depth root cause analysis and theory of change discussions were conducted. Ultimately, one theory of change was developed to step through the “if, then” logic for implementation of an onboarding program to improve worker …

Understanding Unwanted Sexual Experiences Of Transgender And Gender Diverse Individuals: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study, Melissa Larosa

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people represent a small percent of the population and yet, they experience sexual violence at disproportionately high rates compared to their cisgender counterparts (Grant et al, 2011; James et al., 2016). The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological study is to gain a more nuanced understanding of the role that unwanted sexual experiences play in the lives of transgender and gender diverse people, particularly in relation to how they conceptualize their gender identity and the construct of posttraumatic growth (PTG). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight TGD participants who met the inclusion criteria. Two superordinate (i.e., …

Frontline Job Redesign Louisiana - Needs Assessment Summary, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Exploration of Need

The QIC-WD and the Louisiana Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) Child Welfare Division (CWD) worked together to conduct a needs assessment. A variety of information was explored to learn about the current workforce and the agency’s child welfare workforce practices, including: 1) recruitment, hiring, and retention metrics and processes; 2) organizational culture and climate; and 3) other workforce processes and initiatives, such as onboarding, mentoring, supervision, performance management, and employee recognition.

More specifically, five major types of information were considered: 1) objective administrative data; 2) subjective perceptions of staff and supervisors, gathered through QIC-WD …

Frontline Job Redesign Louisiana - Intervention Background, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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What is job redesign and why was it selected?

The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), Child Welfare Division (CWD) partnered with the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) to develop, implement, and test an intervention to address issues identified in the needs assessment including low employee morale, high staff turnover, and poor outcomes for families and children. A frontline job redesign was selected as the intervention because the agency wished to approach these long-standing challenges in an innovative manner. A job redesign is comprised of activities that alter specific jobs or interdependent systems of jobs in …

A Quick Guide To Workforce Analytics For Child Welfare Agencies, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Child welfare agencies continue to seek resources to help them better understand their workforce data. The Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QICWD) developed several valuable resources for public child welfare agencies working to build partnerships between child welfare and human resources (HR) professionals to address child welfare workforce challenges. These resources were created for jurisdictions participating in the QIC-WD Child Welfare Workforce Analytics Institutes 1.0 and 2.0 but can be used by any jurisdiction. These resources aim to help agencies build their workforce data analytics capacity and improve practice. Planning When conducting workforce analytics, agencies are encouraged to adopt …

Development Of Stresscheck: A Telehealth Motivational Enhancement Therapy To Improve Voluntary Engagement For Ptsd Treatment Among Active-Duty Service Members, Debra Kaysen, Thomas O. Walton, Issac C. Rhew, Anna E. Jaffe, Adam R. Pierce, Denise D. Walker

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Background: Rates of PTSD in active-duty military are high relative to the general population. Although efficacious treatments exist, they are underutilized. Many service members with PTSD do not present for treatment and, of those who do, many do not receive sufficient doses of the interventions to receive full benefits. Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) “check-ups”, are brief interventions designed to elicit treatment engagement for those who are not treatment-seeking.

Methods: StressCheck is an MET for nontreatment seeking Army and Air Force personnel. StressCheck aims to improve PTSD and increase treatment engagement, especially around evidence-based interventions, as well as to …

Leader-Member Exchange, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is LMX?

Leader-member exchange (LMX) refers to the quality of relationship exchange formed between a leader and their subordinate (Gerstner & Day, 1997). Note that in this context, leaders may include supervisors, not just upper-level leaders such as managers or administrators. LMX theory is based on the idea that leaders develop unique relationships with each follower, and the quality of this relationship then has the power to influence various attitudes and behaviors (Illies et al., 2007). Whereas most leadership theories focus entirely on the role that a leader plays, LMX differs in that it emphasizes the dyadic nature of …

The Child Welfare Workforce Crisis – What We’Re Hearing From The Field, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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The Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) and the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI) in collaboration with the Capacity Building Centers for States, Tribes, and Courts, recently worked with representatives of the Children’s Bureau to listen to concerns of state child welfare and human resources (HR) leaders about the child welfare workforce. This blog post highlights what leaders (representing 29 states) described as their biggest concerns and what strategies agencies have put in place to reduce turnover and improve the applicant pool. We have also included links to information about evidence-informed efforts that could help jurisdictions address some …

Sexual Compulsivity, Erectile Dysfunction, And Suicidality Among Male Survivors Of Military Sexual Violence, Rebecca K. Blais, Bingyu Xu, Tim Hoyt, Tierney K. Lorenz, Lindsey L. Monteith

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Although military sexual trauma (MST) is associated with an increased risk of suicide, suicide attempts, and suicidal ideation among service members and veterans, there is limited knowledge regarding the mechanisms of MST and suicidality among men. The current study examined whether MST was associated with sexual compulsivity and/or erectile dysfunction and if these, in turn, explained elevated suicidal thoughts and the likelihood of engaging in future suicidal behavior after accounting for mental health, military, and demographic characteristics. Servicemembers and veteranswho reported their gender as male (N = 508) were recruited via social media and completed online self-report measures assessing …

Competency-Based Personnel Selection Oklahoma - Intervention Background, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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What is competency-based personnel selection and why was this intervention selected?

Competency-based personnel selection refers to a hiring process that is rooted in assessment of the required job-related competencies or knowledge, skills, abilities, or other characteristics (KSAOs). Competencies can be evaluated to make hiring decisions using a variety of different methods, including interviews, paper-and-pencil or computer-administered tests, work samples, or situational judgment tests, to name a few. In Oklahoma, a structured interview, typing test, and writing assessment were implemented and pre-employment tests assessing personality, cognitive skills, and attitudes were administered to staff to inform decisions about future …

Supportive Supervision And Resiliency Ohio - Needs Assessment Summary, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Exploration of Needs The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) partnered with the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment in nine participating counties, to identify potential issues related to staff retention within the child welfare workforce. A number of data sources were used to inform the process, including: 1) administrative data and metrics provided by the Human Resources representatives in each of the nine agencies, 2) formal surveys of child welfare staff and supervisors in the nine participating counties, and 3) the subjective perceptions and expertise from the QIC-WD and Ohio …

Friends-Based Protective Strategies And Unwanted Sexual Experiences: A Daily Diary Examination Of First Year College Women, Jessica A. Blayney, Tiffany Jenzer, Anna E. Jaffe, Quinn Carroll, Jennifer P. Read

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Risk for unwanted sexual experiences can emerge in social contexts—the same contexts that early college women navigate with their friends. Though friends naturally engage in prevention strategies, less is known about how capable guardianship influences risk. Using multilevel structural equation modeling, the present study examined guardianship at the person- and situation-level. First year college women (N = 132) completed eight weekends of daily surveys. We examined whether guardianship (e.g., more friends present, greater proportion of female friends, no intoxicated friends) would reduce unwanted sexual experience risk and if this relation was mediated by friends-based strategy use. An alternative model …

Onboarding Program Eastern Band Of Cherokee Indians - Implementation Overview, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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The Implementation Team

The Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) worked with EBCI Family Safety Program (FSP) to establish an implementation team to lead the development and implementation of their intervention. The implementation team included the FSP Manager, the individual unit supervisors, and the Site Implementation Manager (SIM)/Data Coordinator (the same person fulfilled the role of SIM and Data Coordinator), leadership from throughout the Public Health and Human Services Division, and three members of the QIC-WD (representing expertise in workforce, implementation, and evaluation). The SIM and Data Coordinator positions were partially funded by the QIC-WD and all other …

Training Packages For The Use Of Child Development Tools In Low/Middle-Income Countries: A Review, Maria Neocleous, Katelyn Hepworth, Vanessa Cavallera, Melissa Gladstone

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Background We are now moving beyond the focus of ’child survival’ to an era which promotes children thriving and developing rather than simply ’surviving’. In doing so, we are becoming more aware of the large variation of child development screening tools available globally, but in particular, those in low/middle-income countries (LMICs).

Methods This narrative review identifies 24 child development tools used in LMICs. We aimed to identify information on training accessibility and training design, assessment methods and cost of training. For those tools with no training information identified or for any tools identified as providing online training, the tool author …

Covid‑Specific Coercive Control Among Emerging Adults Attending College: A Brief Note, Heather Littleton, Katie Edwards, Kayla E. Sall, Stephanie Lim, Victoria Mauer

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a “perfect storm” with regards to risk for intimate partner violence (IPV). Abusive partners may engage in novel forms of coercive control, such as pressuring their partner to engage in activities associated with COVID-19 infection risk (e.g., attend a large gathering). However, no empirical research has focused on COVIDspecific coercive control. The current study sought to evaluate the prevalence of COVID-specific coercive control in a large sample of U.S. college students, as well as its association with other forms of IPV and depression and anxiety. A total of 2,289 undergraduate students attending eight U.S. universities who …

Can Technology Reduce The Stress Of The Child Welfare Practitioner?, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Information and communication technology (ICT) “has the potential to dramatically shift and enhance social work practice,” according to Berzin, Singer, & Chan (2015). ICT includes tools that allow users to both communicate with colleagues and clients and access, store, transmit, and manipulate information (Perron et al., 2010). Such technology integration can create practices that are more flexible, on-demand, and individualized not only to the families served, but also to the practitioner. Mobile technology, as well as other technologies (e.g., gaming, social media, robotics, wearable technologies) will enhance practice gains and result in more timely, accurate, and targeted services (Berzin, Singer, …

Assessing Your Workforce Needs, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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You know you have a workforce challenge… but do you know what is causing it? Many child welfare agencies have expanded recruitment efforts through social media, started using telework and flexible work schedules, and even increased wages and provided hazard pay to build and strengthen their child welfare workforce. But sometimes even the best strategies don’t fix the problem because they aren’t aligned with the underlying cause of the problem. When your child welfare workforce is understaffed or overwhelmed it is tempting to want to find an immediate fix because the need to expand the workforce is urgent. However, it …

Organizational Change Process Milwaukee - Needs Assessment Summary, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Exploration of Needs

The Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) worked with the Division of Milwaukee Child Protective Services (DMCPS) to conduct a needs assessment. A variety of information was explored to learn about the current workforce and the agency’s workforce practices, including 1) recruitment, hiring, and retention metrics and processes, 2) organizational culture and climate, and 3) other workforce processes and initiatives, such as onboarding, mentoring, supervision, performance management, and employee recognition. More specifically, four major types of information were considered: 1) objective data from various agency databases and reports; 2) subjective perceptions of staff and supervisors, …

Onboarding Program Eastern Band Of Cherokee Indians - Needs Assessment Summary, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Exploration of Needs

The Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) worked with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Family Safety Program (FSP) to conduct a needs assessment. A variety of information was explored to learn about the current workforce and the agency’s child welfare workforce practices, including 1) recruitment, hiring, and retention metrics and processes, 2) organizational culture and climate, and 3) other workforce processes and initiatives, such as onboarding, mentoring, supervision, performance management, and employee recognition. More specifically, four major types of information were considered: 1) objective administrative data; 2) subjective perceptions of staff and supervisors, gathered …

Competency-Based Personnel Selection Oklahoma - Needs Assessment Summary, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Exploration of Needs

The Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) worked with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) to conduct a needs assessment. A variety of information was explored to learn about the current workforce and the agency’s child welfare workforce practices, including:

1. recruitment, hiring, and retention metrics and processes,
2. organizational culture and climate, and
3. other workforce processes and initiatives, such as onboarding, mentoring, supervision, performance management, training, and employee recognition.

More specifically, four major types of information were considered: 1) objective data from various agency databases and reports; 2) subjective perceptions of staff and supervisors, gathered …

The Nebraska Covid-19 Early Care And Education Provider Survey Iii: “Holding It Together—And Hanging By A Thread” May 2022, Alexandra Daro, Kathleen C. Gallagher, Kristen M. Cunningham

Buffet Early Childhood Institute Reports and Publications

In February 2022, the Buffett Early Childhood Institute conducted the Nebraska COVID-19 Early Care and Education Survey III, in collaboration with state agencies, University of Nebraska faculty, and organization partners. This third survey examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Nebraska’s child care professionals and its implications for practice and policy. Results from the previous surveys, released in April and August 2020, indicated that early care and education professionals in Nebraska, who were already vulnerable prior to the pandemic, have been negatively impacted from the start of the pandemic. The first survey elevated providers’ immediate needs, including funding relief, …

Correlation Of The Anterior Salience Network With Attention: A Resting-State Fmri Analysis, Matthew Brooks

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Background: Some studies have broadened our understanding of attention while other studies have used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analyses to identify brain regions that are functionally connected and may be associated with salience processing. This thesis sought to examine the relationship between the anterior salience network and attentional control. The current study hypothesized that resting-state functional connectivity between regions of the anterior salience network would be associated with attentional control ability. Methods: Forty-eight college-aged students completed the affective Stroop task to assess attentional regulation ability. Accuracy on trials of the task was examined in correlation with resting-state functional …

Addressing Work-Related Traumatic Stress Nebraska - Needs Assessment Summary, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Exploration of Needs

The Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) worked with the Nebraska Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to conduct a needs assessment. The team leveraged: (1) administrative data, primarily from the Nebraska Department of Children and Family Services’ Human Resource department (DCFS-HR); (2) formal surveys of child welfare staff and supervisors; (3) QIC-WD team expertise; and (4) subjective perceptions and expertise from the Nebraska Workforce Project Team members.

DCFS-HR data included metrics and processes related to recruitment, hiring, and retention; culture and climate; and other workforce processes and initiatives, such as onboarding, mentoring, supervision, …

Examining The Impact Of Political Identification And Morality On Compliance With Covid-19 Public Health Measures, Jessica Stump

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

COVID-19 provides a unique opportunity to study the influence of individual and group differences on beliefs and behavior. In the present work, we examine COVID beliefs and behavior as a function of morality, ideology, and emotion. Data were collected in the spring of 2021 and the fall of 2021, allowing for distinct snapshots of an undergraduate sample at two periods of the pandemic. Of primary interest was the relationship between political ideology, moral foundation endorsement, and COVID-19 behaviors and beliefs. The results reveal that ideology drives COVID-19-related beliefs and behaviors. The results from Study 2 suggest that political liberals were …

Auditory Experience Modulates Frontoparietal Theta Activity Serving Fluid Intelligence, Elizabeth Heinrichs-Graham, Elizabeth A. Walker, Brittany K. Taylor, Sophia C. Menting

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Children who are hard of hearing are at risk for developmental language and academic delays compared with children with normal hearing. Some work suggests that high-order cognitive function, including fluid intelligence, may relate to language and academic outcomes in children with hearing loss, but findings in these studies have been mixed and to date, there have been no studies of the wholebrain neural dynamics serving fluid intelligence in the context of hearing loss. To this end, this study sought to identify the impact of hearing loss and subsequent hearing aid use on the neural dynamics serving abstract reasoning in children …

Addressing The Disconnects Between Hr And Child Welfare, Michelle Graef, Maggie Thompson

QIC-Takes

When it comes to efforts to improve workforce outcomes, how would you describe the relationship between human resources (HR) and child welfare leadership in your agency? Is the working relationship collaborative or are the divisions siloed? Do child welfare and HR departments routinely share information, needs, data, and expertise? Is HR involved in child welfare workforce planning and decision making? These are just a few of the questions we have explored with child welfare agencies as part of our work at the QIC-WD. Overall, agency representatives have indicated that opportunities for increased collaboration exist between these departments and that closer …

Supportive Supervision And Resiliency Ohio - Theory Of Change, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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The Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) developed a theory of change for the primary area of need identified in partnership with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and the nine participating counties. Through a series of steps and causal links, a theory of change provides a roadmap to address the root causes of an identified workforce problem and describes how and why changes are expected to lead to the desired outcomes. In Ohio, the theory was informed by various aspects of the needs assessment process (e.g., survey data, implementation team input, and focus groups with supervisors) …

Frontline Job Redesign Louisiana - Theory Of Change, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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During the needs assessment process, the QIC-WD developed a theory of change in collaboration with the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Through a series of steps and causal links, a theory of change provides a roadmap to address the root causes of an identified workforce problem and describes how and why changes are expected to lead to the desired outcomes. The needs assessment identified high worker turnover as a key challenge for DCFS, with the following key root causes:

• the workload was unmanageable and there were too many tasks to be performed
• supervisors and managers were …

It Won’T Be Easy, Allison Arkush

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

Interdisciplinary artist Allison Arkush engages a wide range of materials, modalities, and research in her practice. In It Won’t Be Easy, Arkush places and piles her multimedia sculptures throughout the gallery to create installations that overlap ­with her writing and poetry, sometimes layering in (or extending out to) audio and video components. This approach facilitates the probing exploration of prevailing value systems through a flattening of hierarchies among and between humans, the other-than-human, and the inanimate—though no less lively. Her work meditates on and ‘vendiagrams’ things forsaken and sacred, the traumatic and nostalgic. The exhibition title acknowledges that the …

Sex Differences In Lateral Hypothalamic Extracellular Glucose Concentrations During Cumulative Dosing Of Methamphetamine In Rats, Joshua A. Jolton

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The present study experimentally investigated sex differences in lateral hypothalamic glucose concentrations following cumulative dosing of methamphetamine. Male (n=17) and female (n=11) rats were surgically implanted with enzyme-based glucose biosensors in the lateral hypothalamus. Rats then received a saline injection followed by four methamphetamine doses (0.025 mg/kg, 0.05 mg/kg, 0.1 mg/kg, and 0.2 mg/kg) spaced 55 minutes apart. We found that while there was a general decrease in glucose baseline throughout the study for both sexes, the magnitude of the decrease was significantly greater in females compared to males. On a rapid timescale, fixed sex effects existed at the lower …