Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

The Nebraska Minority Justice Committee Progress Report 2008

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

The Nebraska Minority Justice Committee (MJC) is a unique statewide collaboration that works to develop and implement just and sustainable policy reforms that will not only improve the system of justice but will also strengthen public trust and confidence in our laws and court system. The Committee is a joint effort of the Nebraska State Bar Association and the Nebraska Supreme Court, appointed by the Supreme Court in May of 2003 in response to a Task Force's two-year investigation into whether racial and ethnic bias and discrimination exists in Nebraska's justice system.

The mission of the Committee is to achieve …

Mine Action Programme For Afghanistan, Mine Action Strategic Guideline (2008-2013), Gichd

Global CWD Repository

This document outlines the 5-year strategic plan for the Mine Action Coordination Centre for Afghanistan from 2008 to 2013. It includes an overview of the landmine and explosive remnants of war contamination in Afghanistan as it stands in 2008 and outlines the Afghan Government's strategic plan to achieve identified targets in remediating contaminated land.

Multi-Year Strategic Plan For The Kosovo Mine Action Programme (2008-2010), Cisr, Unmik

Global CWD Repository

The Multi-Year Strategic Plan 2008-2010 for the Kosovo Mine Action Programme (MYSP 2008-2010) aims to reduce the social, economic and environmental impact of mines and UXOs (Unexploded Ordnance) on Kosovo and its people.

Contract Enslavement Of Female Migrant Domestic Workers In Saudi Arabia And The United Arab Emirates, Romina Halabi

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Slavery was not abolished in Saudi Arabia until 1962, and in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) until 1963. It is unsurprising, then, that contract slavery of domestic servants continues to thrive in much of the Persian Gulf, where local economies prosper on the immigration of foreign workers. Economic incentives on the part of the sending and receiving nations encourage the migration of female workers from their home countries to Saudi Arabia and to the UAE. These incentives, coupled with restrictive contract systems, bind the female domestic worker to her employer and create an environment conducive to exploitation and involuntary servitude.

Judicial Iron Triangles: The Roadless Rule To Nowhere—And What Can Be Done To Free The Forest Service's Rulemaking Process, Christopher Cumings

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Early Childhood Education And Care In Ireland: Getting It Right For Children, Noirin Hayes, Siobhan Bradley

Conference Papers

Seminar proceedings edited by Noirin Hayes and Siobhan Bradley. Contains two presentations: Beyond Childcare, Markets and Technical Practice – or Repoliticising Early Childhood by Peter Moss; Irish Approaches to ECCE – Keeping Politics Out of the Nursery by Maura Adshead & Gerardine Neylon.

Nebraska Gamblers Assistance Program Biennial Report Fiscal Years 2006-2007

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Table of Contents:

History of the GAP
Mission, Goals and Principles of the GAP
Service Components of the GAP
Work Force Development
Certification
Contract Management
Helpline
Voucher Program
Treatment
Increasing Demand
Monitoring Outcomes
Expenditures
Funding
Administration
The GAP’s Historical Administrative and Legislative Landmarks
Strategic Planning
Expansion of the GAP
Accomplishments
Program Evaluation
Focus Groups and Interviews
Helpline Data
Consumer Survey
Magellan Data Analysis
Cost Analysis Clinical Treatment
Magellan System and NOMs
APPENDIX A DHHS Administrative Contact Personnel
APPENDIX B State Advisory Committee on Problem Gambling
APPENDIX C Organizations Involved In Problem Gambling
APPENDIX D List of Providers - Prevention
APPENDIX …

Priority Lincoln: Budgeting For Outcomes

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

As a centerpiece to its 2008-09 budget determination process, the City of Lincoln invited the community to provide input about how the City should prioritize budget items. Several thousand residents provided input over a period of approximately 90 days, starting in February 2008 and ending in May 2008. This Report presents the results from the City’s public participation process.

Data Note: Timeframe From Application To Closure In Integrated Employment For Vocational Rehabilitation Customers With Developmental Disabilities, Alberto Migliore, Frank A. Smith

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Getting a job promptly after applying for vocational rehabilitation (VR) services is important for a successful career. Rapid placement boosts self-confidence and prevents applicants from losing work skills as a consequence of inactivity. Moreover, employers may prefer candidates whose work history shows limited gaps in employment.

Empirical Research For Public Policy: With Examples From Family Law, Richard O. Lempert

Articles

Perhaps more than in any other field, legal scholarship has aimed directly at influencing public policy. Hence, it is not surprising that empirical scholarship on law related issues often seems to have an agenda that extends beyond the common social science goals of adding to our knowledge base and understanding of human behavior to suggesting to policy makers and practitioners legal and administrative changes that will ameliorate problems they confront and, by the researcher’s lights, make this a better world in which to live.

Beyond Cost-Benefit Analysis: A Pragmatic Reorientation, Sidney A. Shapiro, Christopher H. Schroeder

Faculty Scholarship

The weaknesses of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) are apparent for all to see. The theoretical underpinnings of positivism and rational choice methodologies have been dealt a significant blow in the post-positivist literature in science, political science and policy studies. Likewise, the performance of CBA itself has been the subject of a significant and persuasive challenge in the legal literature. This article critiques specifically the current federal form of regulatory impact analysis (RIA), centered institutionally in OIRA and centered methodologically in CBA. One of reasons for the continuing dominance of a CBA-centered RIA is the success of its proponents in maintaining that …

Investigating Racial Disparity At The Detention Decision: The Role Of Respectability, Don L. Kurtz, Travis Linnemann, Ryan E. Spohn

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

A concern over inequity and the existence of racial disparity of youth served by the juvenile justice system has long been a topic of considerable interest among scholars, policymakers, and court offi cials. Numerous empirical studies undertaken by academics and various public and private organizations have attempted to shed some light on this phenomenon. Research fi ndings on disproportionate minority contact have hardly been uniform, leaving much of this practice unexplained. This study uses data obtained at the detention decision point over a three-year period examining variance in juvenile case processing related to race. Findings suggest that extra-legal factors influencing …

An Assessment Of Cross-National Variation In Rates Of Incarceration, Ryan E. Spohn, Travis Linnemann

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Our theoretical approach compares the relative efficacy of multiple theories of law and social control. From a general social threat perspective, we find that variables reflecting the size of the unemployed youth population and general measures of income inequality have positive impacts on a nation's rates of incarceration. We also find partial support for one of Durkheim's laws of quantitative change and penal evolution, in that, all else equal, nations with a more authoritarian form of government utilize incarceration at a higher rate than their more democratic counterparts. We also find that the institutional anomie perspective, which has previously been …

Measuring Community-Engaged Departments: A Study To Develop An Effective Self-Assessment Rubric For The Institutionalization Of Community Engagement In Academic Departments, Kevin Kecskes

Dissertations and Theses

Change in American higher education is occurring at a rapid pace. The increasing reemergence of civic or community engagement as a key component in the overall landscape of American higher is emblematic of that change. Academic departments play a critical role in higher education change, including institutionalizing community engagement on campuses. Yet, designing a way of measuring community engagement specifically at the level of the academic department has not been undertaken.

Based on advice from national expert/key informant interviews and the recognition of the importance of the role of academic departments in the overall institutionalization of community engagement in higher …

Apopo Annual Report 2008, Apopo

Global CWD Repository

2008 was a year of transformation and consolidation for APOPO.

Besides the technical achievements in the training and research programmes, APOPO went through a phase of restructuring and strategic revision of future plans. I firmly believe that this collective effort will result in a more sustainable social enterprise with a higher social impact in the future.

I am also proud to say that the long anticipated output of the Mine Detection Rats finally materialized in Mozambique, and we are confident this will trigger more operational deployment of the Mine Detection Rats in the region soon.

The research carried out with …

Adaptive Technology Catalog, Cisr

Global CWD Repository

By design, the purpose of this Adaptive Technology Catalog is to provide a resource for governments, survivor-assistance and other agencies to help victims of landmines and other explosive remnants of war (ERW) and other disabled workers get back to self-sufficiency and paid work.

Designing, developing and identifying simple and inexpensive tools and programs that assist with survivor work reintegration is a challenge with broad implications for the economic recovery of communities and nations as they emerge from conflict. The Adaptive Technology Catalog was created to offer information pertaining to both products that are readily available for use and those that …

Global Education And Training Initiatives Directory (Geti), Cisr

Global CWD Repository

The Global Education and Training Initiatives Directory has been created through the generous funding of the U.S. Department of State, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA).

The Global Education and Training Initiatives Directory represents a first effort to document the collective training and education opportunities that span a range of technical activities within mine action, explosive ordnance disposal and small arms/light weapons control and destruction. Efforts to counter the threats of landmines, unexploded ordnance and small arms/light weapons have traditionally been treated as separate entities; however, this directory is an effort to bring them together.

Training and education opportunities …

How Students And Educators Can Get Involved In Mine Action, Cisr

Global CWD Repository

Students have a number of available options for getting involved in helping the global mine action community. Below are some examples of programs in which students can participate!

A Running Start: Getting “Law Ready” During A Presidential Transition, James E. Baker

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

We are headed for our first wartime Presidential transition in forty years. The good news is that this has prompted uncommon attention to the process of transition. The bad news is that transitions are difficult in the best of circumstances; forewarned does not always equal prepared. The United States handles transitions well on a strategic level. Strategic continuity is found in the Constitution. Transition is also part of the rhythm of government. The intelligence community, for example, has a sound tradition of briefing candidates and Presidents-elect. However, there is tactical vulnerability. An outgoing administration may hesitate to initiate all but …

From Paris 2005 To Accra 2008: Will Aid Become More Accountable And Effective?, International Cso Steering Group

Global CWD Repository

This draft position paper has been prepared by the International CSO1 Steering Group (ISG) coordinating the “CSO Parallel Process to the Ghana High Level Forum Network”. The ISG coordinating CSO Parallel Process to the Ghana High Level Forum network brings together various local, national, regional and international NGOs who are engaged in development issues, particularly the aid architecture and the aid effectiveness agenda. This network is involved in a multi-stakeholder process of engagement leading towards the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, to be held in Accra, Ghana, in September 2008.

Measuring The Contributions Of Motives And Perceived Barriers To Active Aging, Francis G. Caro, Jeffrey A. Burr, Eilon Caspi, Jan E. Mutchler

Gerontology Institute Publications

General motivation to be active and general perceived barriers to activity may help to explain the overall activity patterns of older persons in the second half of the life course. We report on a project designed to develop and refine measures of motivation and perceived barriers that can be used to examine the relationships between activity motivation, activity barriers, and several forms of actual activities. Four specific activities were considered: working, volunteering, exercising, and taking classes. An opportunity sample of 192 middle-aged and older persons from eastern Massachusetts responded to a questionnaire concerned with motivation, perceived barriers, and activities. Reliable …

Snapshot 2008: Maine Workers With Disabilities, Maine’S Commission On Disability And Employment, Choices Ceo Project

Disability & Aging

No abstract provided.

Parental Payment Abuse Within The Supplemental Security Income Program, Darlean Taylor-King

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Management of Social Security Administration (SSA) has been challenged by the phenomena of overpayments with its Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Oversight authorities of SSA had expressed concerns about the overpayment abuse caused by parents as representative payees for disabled minor children. It was important to address this problem because the amount of overpayments prior to 1998 had caused integrity issues for management of SSA and increased federal debt from SSI claimants. The purpose of this study was to examine how management of SSA and the SSI program had responded to the concerns of the oversight authorities. Theoretical foundations for …

Don’T Gamble With New York’S Lottery, John Yinger

Center for Policy Research

It’s Elementary is a series of essays on topics in education and education policy. The main focus is on education finance in New York State, but general research findings in education and education policy issues in several other states are also discussed. John Yinger, Professor of Economics and Public Administration at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University is the author of most of these essays, although a few are written by or co-authored with other scholars.

Exploring Dialectic Tensions In Teachers' Relationships In School Settings, Griselda Rodriguez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study explored the feasibility of using dialectic theory to study of dialectic oppositions in teachers' school-based relationships. Employing relational dialectics as a theoretical framework, this study exposed several sets of dialectical forces emerging in teachers' relationships. 23 high school teachers were interviewed utilizing a semi-structured questionnaire; interviews were transcribed and coded for analysis. The analysis revealed that the dialectic tensions of control vs. emancipation, empowerment vs. oppression are prevalent in teachers' relationships with administrators; the dialectic tensions of solidarity vs. autonomy and fragmentation vs. unity are common in the relationships of teachers with administrators and colleagues as well; while …

Rights And The Hijâb: Rationality And Discourse In The Public Sphere, Howard Adelman

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The Rights of Others: Aliens, Residents, and Citizens by Seyla Benhabib. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 251 pp.

and

Why the French Don’t Like Headscarves: Islam, the State, and Public Space by John R. Bowen. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006. 290 pp.

and

Muslim Girls and the Other France: Race, Identity Politics & Social Exclusion by Trica Danielle Keaton. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006. 223 pp.

and

Human Rights and Religion: The Islamic Headscarf Debate in Europe by Dominic McGoldrick. Portland, Oregon: Hart Publishing, 2006. 320 pp.

[Introduction To] Medicare Prospective Payment And The Shaping Of U.S. Health Care, Robert A. Berenson, Rick Mayes

Bookshelf

This is the definitive work on Medicare’s prospective payment system (PPS), which had its origins in the 1972 Social Security Amendments, was first applied to hospitals in 1983, and came to fruition with the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Here, Rick Mayes and Robert A. Berenson, M.D., explain how Medicare’s innovative payment system triggered shifts in power away from the providers (hospitals and doctors) to the payers (government insurers and employers) and how providers have responded to encroachments on their professional and financial autonomy. They conclude with a discussion of the problems with the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 and …

Public Recreation And Neighborhood Sense Of Community: An Exploration Of A Hypothesized Relationship, Svetoslav D. Gueorguiev, Edwin Gómez, Eddie Hill

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Faculty Publications

This study explores the relationship between park attributes (perceived safety and perceived benefits) and their relationship to sense of community in urban neighborhoods. The study finds that the perception of benefits derived from park use has a direct relationship with sense of community, and that park safety is indirectly related to sense of community, with the perception of park benefits mediating the relationship between park safety and sense of community. Theoretical and practical considerations are discussed.

An Anatomy Of A Community-University Partnership: The Structure Of Community Collaboration, W. Barry Messer, Kevin Kecskes

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Portland State University for the past twelve years has been engaged in a transformation of its general education program and a renewal of its urban mission. A major thrust of this reform has focused on broadening the involvement of students and faculty in community-based learning and scholarship. Curricular and administrative changes have significantly raised the presence of the university in the community and resulted in numerous academic units actively engaging in community collaboration. The collaboration has proven to be an important platform by which the university has expanded its boundaries into the community through actions involving many challenges to the …

Assessment Of Maine's Long-Term Care Needs Baseline Report: Demographics And Use Of Long Term Care Services In Maine, Stuart Bratesman Mpp, Julie T. Fralich Mba, Karen Mauney, Catherine Mcguire Bs, Louise Olsen, Jasper Ziller

Disability & Aging

In 2006, the Office of Elder Services requested the assistance of the Muskie School in developing an assessment of long term care service use in Maine. This report provides baseline information on the demographic characteristics, participant characteristics and service use trends for people accessing long term care services in this State.

For purposes of this report, we have excluded people with MR/DD. Long term care services do not include community support services for people with mental illness.

In this report, long term care services include:

• Nursing Facility Services
• Private Non-medical Institutions
• Consumer Directed Attendant Services
• Day Health Services
• Elder and …