Public Policy Commons^™

Lost Causal: Debunking Myths About Causal Analysis In Philanthropy, Jewlya Lynn, Sarah Stachowiak, Julia Coffman

The Foundation Review

What if philanthropic evaluations told us that changes in the world had occurred, as well as how and why they occurred, including in what ways foundation funding and grantees contributed to those changes? What if evaluations made change pathways more visible, tested hypotheses and assumptions, and generated new insights based on what happened in the “black box” of systems change strategies? This type of learning comes from causal analysis — inquiry that explores cause-andeffect relationships.

Yet currently in philanthropy, particularly for strategies and initiatives that feature high complexity, few evaluations use robust techniques for understanding causality. Instead, philanthropic evaluation tends …

Brazilian Foundations And The Responses To Covid-19, Marcos Paulo Lucca-Silveira, Pietro Rodrigues, Marketa Jerabek, Marcia Kalvon Woods, João Paulo Vergueiro

The Foundation Review

This article aims to systematically analyze the contribution of corporate and family foundations in the fight against COVID-19 in Brazil, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic. Despite its resultant economic and social crisis, the pandemic has sparked an unprecedented wave of philanthropy in Brazil. It is estimated that more than $1.2 billion has been raised and donated by corporations, corporate and private foundations, crowdfunding, and fundraising campaigns.

Foundations, in particular, have played an important role in financing relevant scientific work, supporting public policies, and assisting nonprofit organizations and vulnerable communities. And while there is increasing knowledge about …

Back Matter

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Book Review: The Upswing: How America Came Together A Century Ago And How We Can Do It Again, Michael Layton, Tory Martin

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Small Business Equity In Nevada, 2021, Ally M. Beckwith, Olivia K. Cheche, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet highlights data on minority and women-owned small businesses in Nevada in 2021, as originally reported by the Small Business Equity Tool. This tool examines the representation of Black, Asian, Latino, minority, and women-owned small businesses in the largest metropolitan areas and cities across the United States.

Linking Human Resources And Child Welfare Data (Video), Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Workforce Analytics Resources

When examining workforce data, it can be valuable to capitalize on data from a variety of systems, such as various human resources (HR) databases, learning management systems, and child welfare information systems. Each can be useful on their own, but additional information can be learned when different types of data are connected. For example, applicant information may be stored in a database that is separate from other HR data on those hired, and there is value in looking at the connections between applicant data and later aspects of employment.

Data linkage involves pairing observations from two or more data files …

Crisis Management Lessons From The Clinton Administration's Implementation Of Presidential Decision Directive 56, Leonard R. Hawley

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Drawing on personal experience, the author asks what the current administration can learn from the Clinton administration’s implementation of Presidential Decision Directive 56, examines the real-world application of the directive during the Clinton administration and the pitfalls of its agency-centric successor during the Bush administration, and identifies recurring problems and best practices for successfully responding to current global crises.

Book Reviews, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

The Evolution Of Hybrid Warfare: Implications For Strategy And The Military Profession, Ilmari Käihkö

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

The concept of hybrid war has evolved from operational-level use of military means and methods in war toward strategic-level use of nonmilitary means in a gray zone below the threshold of war. This article considers this evolution and its implications for strategy and the military profession by contrasting past and current use of the hybrid war concept and raising critical questions for policy and military practitioners.

The Battalion Commander Effect, Everett Spain, Gautam Mukunda, Archie Bates

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Statistical evidence suggests Army battalion commanders are significant determinants of the retention of their lieutenants—especially high-potential lieutenants. Further, this so-called Battalion Commander Effect should be included in brigadier general promotion board assessments and used to inform officer professional military education curricula.

Hope Versus Reality: The Efficacy Of Using Us Military Aid To Improve Human Rights In Egypt, Gregory L. Aftandilian

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Using US military aid as a lever to achieve human rights reforms has proven only marginally effective. This article examines the approaches employed by the Obama and Trump administrations to US military aid to Egypt and proposes practical steps that can be taken by policymakers and the military personnel on the ground to advance US human rights values.

Great (Soft) Power Competition: Us And Chinese Efforts In Global Health Engagement, Michael W. Wissemann

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Global health engagement, an underutilized strategy rooted in the strengths of soft power persuasion, can lead to more military-to-military cooperation training, help establish relationships that can be relied on when crises develop, stabilize fragile states, and deny violent extremist organizations space for recruiting and operations. Examining Chinese efforts worldwide to curry favor and influence and the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, this article shows health as a medium is a very compelling and advantageous whole-of-government approach to national security policy concerns.

Samuel Huntington, Professionalism, And Self-Policing In The Us Army Officer Corps, Brian Mcallister Linn

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Drawing on Samuel P. Huntington’s three phases of self-regulation used to determine if an occupation qualifies as a profession, this article focuses on the third phase of policing and removing those who fail to uphold the standards set forth in the first two phases. It reviews how the US Army implemented this phase following the Civil War through the post–Vietnam War years and the implications for the officer corps.

Workforce Metrics Using Child Welfare Data, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Workforce Analytics Resources

Workforce metrics that can be constructed from child welfare data fall into three categories: caseload/workload, case continuity, and worker- and unit-level variability.

Caseload/Workload Metrics

Caseload metrics can help to

• Assess compliance with caseload standards (e.g., policy, statute)
• Describe and inform case assignment decisions
• Describe and address the work burden experienced by staff
• Describe and address inequities in caseloads among workers
• Inform workforce planning or staffing decisions
• Monitor caseloads to assess policy or practices intended to affect caseloads

Caseload metrics are among the most commonly used workforce metrics that can typically be obtained from child welfare data. These metrics are usually …

Workplace Ostracism, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is workplace ostracism?

Workplace ostracism is “the extent to which an individual perceives that he or she is ignored or excluded by others at work” (Ferris et al., 2008, p. 1348). The most popular measure is the 10item Workplace Ostracism Scale (Ferris et al., 2008). Example items include “others avoided you at work,” “others refused to talk to you at work,” and “others at work shut you out of the conversation.”

Why is workplace ostracism important?

Ostracism in the workplace is important because it is associated with an array of job attitudes, stress indicators, and behaviors. Specifically, ostracism is …

Secondary Traumatic Stress, Burnout And Resilience In The Child Welfare Workforce: Early Results From Nebraska’S Randomized Controlled Trial Of Resilience Alliance, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Other QIC-WD Products

A 2018 needs assessment indicated that more than 50% of the child welfare workforce in Nebraska was experiencing elevated secondary traumatic stress (STS). STS refers to the experience of people – generally professionals– who are exposed to others’ traumatic events as part of their work. As a result of this exposure, these professionals can develop their own traumatic symptoms and reactions such as sleeplessness and anxiety. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in partnership with the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) implemented CFS Strong, a multi-phased workforce intervention …

How Did Homelessness Change During The Great Recession And Recovery?, Jenny Schuetz, Matthew Ring

Policy Briefs and Reports

Job losses from the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated housing insecurity among low-income renters over the past year. Federal, state, and local policymakers have created temporary measures to help reduce displacement among people who have lost their jobs, but there is considerable uncertainty about what will happen when these temporary measures end. To gain insight into how homelessness changes over macroeconomic cycles, we examine changes in homelessness rates from 2007 to 2020. Our analysis focuses on four metro areas that were particularly hard-hit by the foreclosure crisis: Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Riverside. Overall homelessness rates declined in all metros …

Workload, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is workload?

There is no one, universally accepted definition of workload. A broad definition is that it is “an all-encompassing term that includes any variable reflecting the amount or difficulty of one’s work” (Bowling & Kirkendall, 2012, p. 222). Quantitative workload is the label for the amount of work done, and qualitative workload is the label for the difficulty of work (Bowling & Kirkendall, 2012). Further, there is a distinction between mental and physical workload and between objective and perceived workload (Bowling & Kirkendall, 2012). A variety of approaches have been used to measure objective workload. A common one …

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

Other QIC-WD Products

The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), Child Welfare Division (CWD), in collaboration with the QIC-WD, implemented a frontline job redesign as its intervention. (For more information see Intervention Background.) An implementation team, including QIC-WD representatives, CWD leadership, child welfare staff from all levels of practice, and human resources and civil service representatives undertook development of the job redesign. Development of the intervention was guided by the following principles:

• children and families are the center and focus of the practice,
• a dual focus on prevention and permanency, requiring increased knowledge and skills in providing both parents and …

Addressing Work-Related Traumatic Stress Nebraska - Evaluation Overview, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Other QIC-WD Products

Research Questions

The site-level evaluation for Nebraska was designed to understand implementation of and outcomes related to CFS Strong and its component parts, including Resilience Alliance (RA), Peer Support Groups (PSG) and Restoring Resiliency Response© (RRR). Relationships among intervention components, outputs, and outcomes were mapped out in Nebraska’s logic model. Initial research questions of interest included how much participants were satisfied with the RA, PSG, and RRR sessions they attended. Furthermore, for RA, the evaluation measured how much facilitators adhered to the manualized RA program, whether group dynamics (e.g., engagement and conflict) were positive or negative, and how …

Frontline Job Redesign Louisiana - Evaluation Overview, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Other QIC-WD Products

The QIC-WD evaluation was conducted with the support of the Louisiana Department of Children and Families to determine if a Job Redesign was effective in improving workforce and child welfare outcomes.

Research Questions

A key research question concerned the extent to which the job redesign reduced the amount of time caseworkers spent on administrative tasks and increased time spent on clinical work with children and families. The QIC-WD also tested questions related to the expected effects of the redesign on workers’ perceptions of their job complexity, role overload, and work-life balance, and how these perceptions relate to job satisfaction, case …

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

Other QIC-WD Products

A Competency-based Personnel Selection process was the intervention designed as part of the QIC-WD project to address inconsistencies in hiring and to identify candidates with the desired competencies to be hired as Child Welfare Specialist (CWS) I/II with Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS) (for more information see the Site Overview). The Competency-based Personnel Selection process is a standardized hiring procedure that includes a structured interview with behaviorally anchored rating scales, a typing assessment, and a writing assessment. Additionally, research was conducted on a set of academic and commercial hiring assessments to determine how well these measures of personality, cognitive skills, …

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

Other QIC-WD Products

The QIC-WD evaluation was conducted with the support of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Family Safety Program (EBCI FSP) to determine if an Onboarding intervention was effective in improving workforce outcomes.

Research Questions

The evaluation of the newly developed onboarding program for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Family Safety Program (EBCI FSP) was designed to understand both implementation and early outcomes. Examples of primary implementation questions from the new employee’s perspective included:

• To what degree was the new employee’s workspace ready on their first day?
• Did the new employee have individual meetings with their supervisor in weeks 1-5? …

Food Insecurity In Detroit: Exploring The Relationship Between Patient-Reported Food Insecurity And Proximity To Healthful Grocery Stores, Sara Santarossa, Alex B. Hill, Alexandra R. Sitarik, Mackenzie Taylor, Susan Hawkins, Katherine Scher, Aaron Sohaski, Mohammed Baseer, Rachael Dombrowski, Alexander Plum, Christine Lm Joseph

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

Objective:
The objective of the current study was to determine if patients of a large health care system in Detroit who self-identify as food insecure live further away from healthy grocery stores compared with food secure patients. Second, we explored whether food insecurity and distance to healthy grocery stores are related to ecological measures of vehicle availability in the area of residence.

Design:
A secondary data analysis that uses baseline data from a pilot intervention/feasibility study.

Setting:
Detroit, Michigan, USA.

Participants:
Patients of Henry Ford Health System were screened for food insecurity to determine eligibility for a pilot intervention/feasibility study …

Organizational Constraints, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are organizational constraints?

Organizational constraints are work conditions that interfere with an employee’s motivation or ability to perform (Spector & Jex, 1998). Though the overall definition sounds quite broad, the assessment focuses on 11 specific types of constraints: inadequate training, incorrect instruction, lack of necessary information about what to do or how to do it, poor equipment or supplies, lack of equipment or supplies, organizational rules and procedures, conflicting job demands, other employees, the supervisor, inadequate help from others, and interruptions by other people (Spector & Jex, 1998). Respondents indicate how frequently these factors make it difficult or impossible …

Supportive Supervision And Resilience Alliance To Address Secondary Trauma In Ohio: Preliminary Findings On Impact, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Other QIC-WD Products

In early 2018, as part of a needs assessment process, the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) conducted surveys with 588 Ohio child welfare workers across nine counties to assess organizational culture and climate (OCC), and secondary traumatic stress (STS). The results found that the organizational culture and climate across all participating counties was above average in rigidity and resistance, and below average in engagement. In addition, 53% of respondents experienced elevated levels of STS symptoms. STS can mimic the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Bride, 2007) including nightmares, sleep disruption, avoidance, and irritability. STS in child welfare has …

Cultural Intelligence, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is cultural intelligence?

Cultural intelligence (CQ) is “a person’s adaptation to new cultural settings and capability to deal effectively with other people with whom the person does not share a common cultural background and understanding” (Earley & Ang, 2003, p. 34). Note that this is about general capabilities that cut across different cultures, rather than effectiveness in a specific culture (Ang et al., 2015). Though this definition sounds like it includes all types of intercultural interactions, the focus is a bit more limited—work settings and situations that involve differences in race, ethnicity, and nationality, either within or across countries. …

Addressing Work-Related Traumatic Stress Nebraska - Intervention Overview, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Other QIC-WD Products

CFS Strong–Building a Resilient Workforce (known as CFS Strong) was the intervention designed as part of the QIC-WD project to address secondary traumatic stress (STS) among child welfare workers and supervisors in Nebraska’s Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) agency (for more information see the Site Overview). CFS Strong included multiple components:

• Resilience Alliance (RA), developed by the New York City Administration of Children’s Services-New York University Children’s Trauma Institute, to create a better and healthier work environment, and to help staff develop skills and behaviors that promote their physical and psychological well-being, thereby putting them in the …

Onboarding Program Eastern Band Of Cherokee Indians - Site Intervention Logic Model, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Other QIC-WD Products

four main components: inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes. Collectively, these demonstrate the resources and actions required to implement the program, as well as the associated result or changes anticipated through implementation of the program. The hypothesized relationships are represented by the pathways connecting the listed activities and anticipated outcomes. For more information see Site Overview.

Communication Is Key To Success, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

QIC-Tips

Research on organizational communication describes a connection between poor communication, negative attitudes towards the workplace, and decreased worker satisfaction. Conversely, in an environment where communication is valued by management, staff can be encouraged to participate in practice and policy change. Too often new initiatives are announced and then fade away. Clear lines of communication, involving varying levels of staff and using a variety of methods, are key to gaining staff buy-in and keeping workers informed of initiative progress.

The Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) is working with eight jurisdictions to develop and test promising workforce interventions. Effective communication …