Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

Building Urban Resilience In New York City, Eliseo Magsambol Cubol

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Existing research shows that cities around the world are now turning to urban resilience as a new approach to governing the urban climate challenges because of the increasing exposure of vulnerable populations and critical infrastructures in coastal cities and communities to extreme weather events. However, there is limited scholarly understanding about how cities and urban regions overcome challenges to the implementation of urban resilience. In particular, little research has focused on local stakeholder perspectives on urban resilience, which can offer valuable insights to help cities and urban regions address these challenges. To better understand stakeholder perspectives, this dissertation shares the …

Post-Conflict Mental Health Policy And Substance Use Among Liberian Adults, Ekua Amonoo-Lartson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe objective of post-conflict countries after an extended period of war and trauma is to maintain peace and stability. However, the physical and psychological effects of substance use to cope with the devastation of war remains long after the crisis has ended. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine substance use among Liberian working-age adults, including their substance use habits, experiences with substance use, and access to mental health rehabilitative treatment. The access to medical care theoretical framework was used to guide the study. Data were collected from face-to-face semistructured interviews with 15 individuals regarding their experiences …

Non-Governmental Organisations' Impact On Educational Policy In Rural Ghana, Sarah Ayikai Okine

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have become an increasingly important factor in education globally. The social structure in developing countries such as Ghana has created a need for government to work with NGOs in the educational system to reach out to children and provide quality basic, primary education, especially in rural communities. However, there are still challenges in the discharge of their duties due to challenges in collaboration with all stakeholders. This case study addressed the perception of stakeholders regarding NGOs’ influence on Ghana’s educational system to better understand the influence and impact of NGOs on education in Ghana’s rural communities. …

Role Of Nigerian Labor Force Demand In Domestic Child Trafficking, Muideen Adegboyega Salami

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractChild trafficking, especially internal trafficking of children, is increasing despite efforts by Nigerian federal, state, and local governments and agencies and other local and international organizations. Internal child trafficking has denied many Nigerian children access to quality education and human rights protections. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to investigate the perceptions of law enforcement officers and bureaucrats regarding the influence of domestic labor demand on internal child trafficking in Nigeria. The labor market segmentation theory and routine activities theory provided theoretical foundations to explore the demand or pull factor of internal child trafficking in Nigeria. Data were …

Systemic, Racial Justice-Informed Solutions To Shift "Care" From The Criminal Legal System To The Mental Health Care System, Sarah Vinson, Andrea L. Dennis

Scholarly Works

The current configuration and function of U.S. societal structures drives the overrepresentation of people with serious mental illness in the criminal legal system. Although the causes are multifactorial, the mental health system poorly serves those at highest risk of criminal legal system involvement. The growth of the mental health evidence base regarding the social determinants of mental health has ushered in greater understanding of their central role in the promotion and maintenance of mental illness and health. These academic strides, however, have failed to translate into widespread care and payment policy changes. Additionally, as is the case in the criminal …

Increasing Successful Completion Of Practical Engineering Diploma Programs, Naomi Gershoni

Social Policy Institute Research

This brief summarizes the results from an experiment that focused on increasing the percentage of college students who submitted and successfully defended their final projects and thus were eligible to earn a professional degree from a technical college.

The experiment focused on three study fields: architecture, electrical engineering, and software engineering.

In the study, a random group of college departments introduced pre-specified deadlines for the final project submission and defense, as well as sent students personalized text messages that provided reminders, encouragements, and additional information on the benefits of completing program requirements in a timely manner.

Study findings show that …

Nudging Parents To Improve Children's Oral Health: A Field Study, Deborah Marciano, Ariel Tikotsky, Merav Kynam Orenstein, Hadas Goldberg, Yuval Vered

Social Policy Institute Research

This brief presents the results from a field experiment that tested strategies for improving parental participation in an oral health promotion workshop.

In this study, daycare centers, in which a team of dental hygienists provided oral health workshops for parents, were randomly assigned to one of six experimental conditions.

Specifically, daycare centers were randomly assigned to introduce the Teeth Brushing Board (TBB)—i.e., an interactive poster board to report whether parents brushed their child’s teeth the previous day—into daycare classrooms in the two weeks before the oral health workshop. Further, parents were randomly assigned to receive invitation letters to the workshop …

[Withdrawn], Social Policy Institute, Washington University In St. Louis

Social Policy Institute Research

This paper was withdrawn per the request of the authors, May 23, 2024.

Research article available at Jabbari, J., Jackson, J., Roll, S., & Grinstein-Weiss, M. (2024). Pinching Pennies or Money to Burn? The Role of Grit in Financial Behaviors. Social Psychology, 55(2). https://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/abs/10.1027/1864-9335/a000545?journalCode=zsp

The Strategically Broken System: A Grounded Theory Study Of The Clinical Implications Of Immigration Law, Policy, And Practice, Kelle Agassiz

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The majority of clinicians do not receive education pertaining to the legal aspects of immigration in their curriculum, training, or continuing education. In addition, the process of navigating the immigration system has been exacerbated in recent years due to rapid policy changes under the Trump administration, which has contributed to a hostile political climate, particularly for immigrants from Central America and Mexico. Using a classic grounded theory research approach, this study explored the relationship between the psychological implications of immigration and the legal challenges that immigrants face today, with a specific focus on immigration from Central America and Mexico. Through …

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.

Citizen Participation In Times Of Crisis: Understanding Participatory Budget During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Nepal, Thaneshwar Bhusal

ASEAN Journal of Community Engagement

This research assumes that various forms and scales of lockdowns and social distancing measures have limited local decision-makers’ ability to reach out to communities as part of their mandatory annual participatory budgeting processes. Building upon this proposition, this article assesses Nepal’s local budgeting process of 2020 to understand the degree to which it succeeded (or failed) in incorporating citizen’s voices in the annual handbook of local public policies and budgets. The research followed a qualitative case study research methodology. It generated interviews with participants including ordinary people, local politicians, and bureaucrats from 20 different municipalities and a federal ministry in …

Youth As A Leading Power Of Uzbekistan, Mukhtor Nazirov

The Light of Islam

The article examines the features of effective interaction between government agencies, NGOs, and other civil institutions on youth issues. State youth policy in Uzbekistan considers revealing the potential of young people and promoting their effective socialization. The article shows the importance of modern education and upbringing, social support of young people in Uzbekistan. The political activity of youth is an indicator of the processes taking place in modern society. The article considers youth policy, the UN international legal documents regulating the youth sphere. The urgency of the youth issue is growing in connection with the deepening of globalization. The solutions …

The Influence Of Information Power Upon The Great Game In Cyberspace: U.S. Wins Over Russian Meddling In The 2018 Elections, Joseph H. Schafer

Military Cyber Affairs

The 2018 U.S. pivot in information and cyberspace degraded Russian operations in the 2018 election. Following pervasive Russian information power operations during the U.S. 2016 elections, the United States progressed from a policy of preparations and defense in information and cyberspace to a policy of forward engagement. U.S recognition of renewed great power competition coupled with Russia’s inability to compete diplomatically, militarily (conventionally), or economically, inspires Russia to continues to concentrate on information power operations. This great game in cyberspace was virtually uncontested by the U.S. prior to 2017. Widespread awareness of Russian aggression in 2016 served as a catalyst …

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 …

Expanding The Boundaries Of Food Policy: The Turn To Equity In New York City, Nevin Cohen, Rositsa Ilieva

Publications and Research

Policymakers acknowledge that the food system is multidimensional and that social determinants affect diet-related health outcomes, yet cities have emphasized programs and policies narrowly connected to food access and nutritional health. Over the past fifteen years, the boundaries of food governance have expanded to include a wider range of issues and domains not previously considered within the purview of food policy, like labor, housing, and education policies. This paper illustrates the processes by which this shift occurs by presenting the case of New York City, which has broadened its food governance to a larger set of issues, requiring cross-sectoral initiatives …

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 …

On Paper, Off The Records, Valen Iricibar

Capstones

Argentina’s new non-binary ID cards (DNI in Spanish) were highly celebrated when they were announced in July 2021 via a presidential decree. Government agencies had until November 18th to update systems and databases to include the new gender marker “X.” But that didn’t happen, so those with the non-binary DNI are unable to access essential services. The Argentine government cited the national 2012 Gender Identity Law, which guarantees a DNI that fully reflects a citizen’s gender identity, as the basis for the measure. However, for many in the trans*, non-binary and gender non-conforming community, the decree was unnecessary to enforce …

16 Cents Per Hour: Corcraft And New York State’S Prison Labor System, Gus Fisher, Diana Kennedy

Capstones

If you’re a student or faculty member at CUNY, the desk you write at, chair you sit in, and shelves you use are likely being made by New York State prisoners, who are paid a starting salary of 16 cents per hour by the state-owned corporation known as Corcraft.

Link to Full Article: https://gus-fisher.medium.com/16-cents-per-hour-corcraft-and-new-york-states-prison-labor-system-2b687792a03d

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 …

The Six Largest Public School Districts In The U.S., Marie A. Falcone, Saha Salahi, Olivia K. Cheche, Peter Grema, Caitlin Saladino, William E. Brown Jr., Magdalena Martinez

K-12 Education

This fact sheet examines the student enrollment of the six largest school districts in the United States. The following school districts are included based on enrollment data for the 2015-2016 school year: New York City Public Schools (NYCDOE), Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), Chicago Public Schools (CPS), Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS), Clark County School District (CCSD), and Broward County Public Schools (BCPS).

Data are also presented on the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) populations of these districts and the student to school board trustee ratios. These figures allow policymakers to better understand the student enrollment and metropolitan dynamics of …

Racism In Education Remix, Kevin M. Donton

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

Racism in Education has been a huge problem in the United States today, and it still is. The presence of racism in the education system is quite controversial and many people have strong opinions on it. Its roots date all the way back to slavery in the United States to the Brown vs. the Board of Education case to the Reagan Revolution to present day in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement. This topic has been a problem for a long time now and should be brought up more. Along with this information and as a reinterpretation, or …

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, …

Lack Of Resources In Classrooms, Juliana Maffea

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

The lack of resources in classrooms are evident around the world, but in this poster, the focus is on the state of Virginia. Teachers are struggling to teach with barely any resources or money, and the students are attempting to learn with little to no supplies. If schools continue to under supply teachers, the students and teachers are going to fall behind. Teachers will not be in the best moods, and the students will suffer. In this poster, it is evident there are some things that can be done to help, but it will take time and effort.

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 …

Health Care And Education Access Of Transnational Children In Mexico, Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes, Laura Juarez

Mission Foods Texas-Mexico Center Research

Between 2001 and 2018, more than 5.5 million Mexican migrants were removed from the United States or returned to Mexico with their families as immigration enforcement escalated. Learning how this transition affected the access to health and education services of their children –also referred to as “the invisibles”– is a policy-relevant topic for both the United States and Mexico. Using representative data on 7.6 million Mexican and U.S.-born children from the 2015 Mexican Intercensal Survey, we provide evidence on the education and health care access gaps between these two groups and on the factors potentially responsible for the barriers encountered …

Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Housing Instability During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Yung Chun, Stephen Roll, Selina Miller, Hedwig Lee, Savannah Larimore, Michal Grinstein-Weiss

Social Policy Institute Research

Stable and adequate housing is critical in the midst of a pandemic; without housing, individuals and families cannot shelter in place to prevent the spread of disease. Understanding and combating housing hardships in vulnerable populations is therefore essential to a sound public health response. This study aims to explore the pandemic’s disproportionate impacts on housing-related hardships across racial/ethnic groups in the United States as well as the extent to which these disparities are mediated by households’ broader economic circumstances; namely, their pre-pandemic liquid asset levels and the experience of COVID-19-related job and income losses. Using a national survey of over …

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 …

House Price Changes In The Mountain West, 1991-2020, Katie M. Gilbertson, Kristian Thymianos, Eshaan Vakil, Caitlin Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Housing & Real Estate

This fact sheet measures the average price change in single-family house prices in Mountain West states and metropolitan areas. This fact sheet utilizes data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI) tool to show quarterly and yearly trends as far back as 1991 to 2020.

Moving On Up? A Virtual School, Student Mobility, And Achievement, James D. Paul, Patrick Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

Virtual charter schools provide full-time, tuition-free K-12 education through internet-based instruction. Although virtual schools offer a personalized learning experience, most research suggests these schools are negatively associated with achievement. Few studies account for differential rates of student mobility, which may produce biased estimates if mobility is jointly associated with virtual school enrollment and subsequent test scores. We evaluate the effects of a single, large, anonymous virtual charter school on student achievement using a hybrid of exact and nearest-neighbor propensity score matching. Relative to their matched peers, we estimate that virtual students produce marginally worse ELA scores and significantly worse math …

The Torch (December 2020), Crtp

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

Civic and Community Engagement | Civil Rights and Discrimination | Education | Gender and Sexuality | Inequality and Stratification | Politics and Social Change | Public Policy | Race and Ethnicity