Public Policy Commons^™

Addressing Nonsystematic Factors Contributing To The Underrepresentation Of Minorities As Jurors, Elizabeth Neeley

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the right of criminal defendants to “a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed.” An “impartial jury” requires the jury be selected from a representative cross-section of the community. But how is a fair cross-section determined? In Duren v. Missouri, the Supreme Court outlined a three-pronged test defendants must satisfy to establish a prima facie violation of the fair-cross-section requirement:

(1) that the group alleged to be excluded is a “distinctive” group in the community; (2) that the …

Faith-Based Organizations In A System Of Behavioral Health Care, Mark Dekraai, Denise Bulling, Nancy C. Shank, Alan J. Tomkins

Nancy Shank Publications

Through community service activities, and ministries to members within their congregations, faith communities will encounter individuals with behavioral health needs. This article suggests that faith communities have inherent resources that can enhance the reach and effectiveness of behavioral health systems. A framework is presented that will create a bridge of understanding about how behavioral health can leverage faith organization assets and how faith organizations can actively assist adults, children and families with behavioral health needs within the context of their faith and their community.

Returning Attention To Policy Content In Diffusion Study, John M. Fulwider

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Policy diffusion research pays virtually no attention to policy content. Yet we should expect content to shape the adoption of any policy--this is what legislators and policy makers, after all, fight about. Thus the extent and speed of diffusion likely critically depend on policy content, which the current literature virtually ignores. This dissertation shows how we can better understand policy diffusion by taking policy content seriously. Paying attention to policy content, including how it is debated and understood by legislators, has immediate payoffs in the sense that two literatures largely ignored until now by diffusion researchers-- policy typologies and policy …

Comment On Richardson: Progressive Federal Taxation Drives Redistribution From Blue To Red States, Seth H. Giertz

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

Professor Richardson documents redistribution from Democratic states to Republican states and links this to the 1994 "Republican revolution" -- suggesting a deliberative effort by Republicans to redistribute income towards their constituents. Seth Giertz of the University of Nebraska argues that what Professor Richardson's analysis really shows is that "red" states -- but not necessarily Republicans within those states -- are (increasingly) the major beneficiaries of federal redistributive policies -- and that "blue" states are (increasingly) the benefactors.

Examining The Interrater Reliability Of The Comprehensive Inventory Of Mental Health And Recovery And Rehabilitation Services (Cimhrrs), Robert W. Johnson

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation is one step in the continuing development, evaluation, and validation of the Comprehensive Inventory of Mental Health and Recovery and Rehabilitation Services (CIMHRRS). The CIMHRRS is an instrument to guide comprehensive assessment of programs that provide integrated services to people with serious mental illness (SMI).

The project described in this dissertation evaluated three key aspects of its performance in real world application: practical feasibility, internal consistency and reliability, and ability to distinguish between different programs. Investigators utilized a combination of principles and methods, associated with psychometric scale development, field methods, and program evaluation. Using a structured site review …

Examining Public Perceptions Of Career And Technical Education In Nebraska, Mitchel Herian

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

KEY FINDINGS

Perceptions of Career and Technical Education (CTE) Courses
o The Nebraska public believes that CTE prepares students for careers and college, and that CTE courses are just as important as traditional academic subjects.
o However, substantial proportions of Nebraskans believe that CTE students are not as respected as students who take more traditionally academic courses.

Career Awareness and Exploration
o Most Nebraskans believe that students should begin to learn about potential careers in middle school and that activities such as job shadowing and internships should be made available in high school.
o Large proportions of respondents said they …

Examining The Perceptions Of Career And Technical Education In Nebraska, Mitchel Herian

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

This report contains the findings of the survey: “Examining the Perceptions of Career and Technical Education (CTE) in Nebraska.” The purpose of the survey was to measure the perceptions of Nebraska Educators regarding CTE in Nebraska. The results of the study are intended to inform standards revisions in Nebraska Career Education. The survey was administered to Administrators, Math and Science Teachers, Counselors and CTE Instructors in Nebraska during November and December, 2009. Over 1,000 Nebraska Educators participated in the survey. The relatively large sample size allows for multiple comparisons to be made of various groups of educators in the state. …

Challenges Of Collaborative Water-Related Decision Making, Sarah Michaels, Rachael Herpel, Becky Swainson

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Now more than ever in making decisions about water, including the protection of source water, there is concern about the process and context in which decisions are made. Historically, government agencies have dominated decision making using a top down approach. More recently, however, a wider array of participants is included in water-related decision making processes. Goals underlying this shift can include democratizing the process, adding legitimacy to the outcomes, strengthening the capacity of local communities, and increasing likelihood of plan implementation.

There is much enthusiasm for these joint decision making endeavours, at least on a conceptual basis. However, there also …

Expanded Learning Opportunities Updated Fund Mapping 2010, Teri Perkins, Nancy Shank, Jeff Cole

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

In January 2008, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman hosted the Governor’s Summit for Expanded Learning Opportunities. The Summit explored collaborative efforts of schools and community leaders to create expanded learning opportunities for Nebraska’s children and youth. Following the event, Governor Heineman asked the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation and the Nebraska Community Learning Centers Network to map funding for expanded learning opportunities in Nebraska.

Fund mapping ties into the long term goal of the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation and the Nebraska Community Learning Centers Network to promote greater efficiencies through increased coordination, advocate for additional support for projects that meet …

Fusion Project Evaluation (2009-2010), Teri Perkins, Nancy Shank

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Begun in 2006, the Fusion Project connects new refugees and their communities with local community resources in Lincoln, Nebraska. One of three goals of the Fusion Project is equipping Lincoln’s mainstream community to work with four refugee communities: African, Asian, Eastern European, and Middle Eastern. The University of Nebraska Public Policy Center evaluated the Fusion Project with respect to this goal using the information gathered through two facilitated focus groups. Representatives of local agencies and attendees at Fusion educational events were invited to attend the groups... Responses from the eleven participants were compiled and analyzed to identify major themes. The …

Fairness, Justice And An Individual Basis For Public Policy, Douglas R. Oxley

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Prior models of the policy process have examined how human characteristics can affect policy decision-making in such a way that it leads to aggregate effects on policy outcomes as a whole. I develop a model of the policy process which suggests that emotions related to fair and unfair experiences in the same policy domain are utilized by decision-makers as policy criteria. In the lab, I empirically tested this, and find that emotions and experience related to fairness do influence the policy decision to move away from the status quo alternative. Based upon this result, I simulated the evolution of a …

The Nebraska Minority Justice Committee Progress Report 2010

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 of racial and ethnic fairness in Nebraska’s court system.

The mission of the Committee is to achieve three primary aims:

• …

2010 Nebraska State Suicide Prevention Summit Final Report

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

The Nebraska State Suicide Prevention Coalition convened the Suicide Prevention Summit on Friday, January 29th, 2010. The event was hosted by BryanLGH West in Lincoln, and 24 sites across the state participated via videocast through the Nebraska Statewide Telehealth Network. The goal of the event was to provide an overview of suicide as a public health concern in Nebraska, present opportunities to discuss local needs related to suicide prevention, and featured an introduction to best practices in suicide prevention.

The audience of the Summit was comprised of 270 community members, professionals, suicide survivors, and youth and adults interested in promoting …

Opuz V. Turkey: Europe’S Landmark Judgment On Violence Against Women, Tarik Abdel-Monem

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Provides a perspective of Opuz v. Turkey, Europe’s landmark judgment on violence against women.

Understanding Human Services Utilization: Opportunities For Data Sharing Between Federally Funded Programs, Nancy C. Shank

Nancy Shank Publications

In communities across the United States, social service clients face uncoordinated systems of care and delays in services when their information cannot easily be shared among providers. Social service agencies face challenges in sharing information on clients and services between disparate information systems and inefficiencies when multiple, stand-alone systems are used to satisfy operational, funding, or reporting requirements.

This cataloging project arose from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) interest to document standards that may be of relevance to its community partners, particularly those partners working to support local homeless, housing, and community development activities and build …

Community Wildfire Protection Plans: Reducing Wildfire Hazards In The Wildland Urban Interface, Gail Wells

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

The 2003 Healthy Forests Restoration Act calls for local communities in the wildland-urban interface to collaborate on developing Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) to reduce their wildfire hazard. To craft a successful CWPP, a community must collaborate effectively. A Joint Fire Science Program-sponsored research team studied 15 communities as they developed CWPPs. They found that social networks, learning communities, and community capacity were key indicators of success, and that working together on a CWPP can enhance a community’s capacity to collaborate, helping it address future challenges more skillfully.

Framing Red Power: The American Indian Movement, The Trail Of Broken Treaties, And The Politics Of Media, Jason A. Heppler

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study explores the relationship between the American Indian Movement (AIM), national newspaper and television media, and the Trail of Broken Treaties caravan in November 1972 and the way media framed, or interpreted, AIM's motivations and objectives. The intellectual and political currents present in the 1960s, including the ideas of Vine Deloria, Jr., and the successes of the Civil Rights Movement, influenced the development of AIM's ideas about militant tactics and the role media played in social movements. AIM entered the national stage with the occupation of the Bureau oflndian Affairs in late 1972 and used television broadcasts and print …

Fusion Project Evaluation (2006-2009), Teri Perkins, Nancy Shank

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

The Fusion Project, funded through a grant from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services), was a three year project in Lincoln, Nebraska targeting four refugee ethnic communities: African; Asian; Eastern European; and Middle Eastern. The project’s goals were for:

• the refugee communities to work together to share and learn about developing vibrant ethnic communities;

• each refugee family to achieve self-sufficiency and social and civic integration into their new country and community; and

• Lincoln’s mainstream community to be better equipped to work with refugees.

The University of Nebraska Public Policy Center served …

Evaluation Of A Deliberative Process To Obtain Citizen Input For The Draft Strategic National Vaccine Plan

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

The Deliberative Process to Obtain Public Input for the Draft Strategic National Vaccine Plan occurred in March and April 2009. Public meetings were held in three locations – St. Louis Missouri, Columbus Ohio, and Syracuse New York. Each meeting followed a similar format: 1) A morning presentation of essential information about the U.S. vaccine system, followed by a question and answer session with the participants, 2) introduction of participants to values underlying the U.S. vaccine system with an opportunity to discuss and define the most and least important values, 3) presentation of background information on 12 areas of activity in …

Immigration Controversies In Nebraska: Policies, Politics, And Public Perspectives, Alan J. Tomkins, Tarik Abdel-Monem, Angel Rivera-Colon

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Immigration reform has been a part of the United States policy discussions since the 18^th century. As early as 1790, Congress was developing laws to allow immigrants to become United States citizens. By 1891, due to the amount of immigrants flowing into the country, the federal government assumed responsibility for immigration control and the Immigration Service was established. Over the past century, policies regulating immigration have transformed reflecting public concern over changing migrant flows into the country. During World War I, immigration levels were relatively low, but when the mass flow resumed post World War I, Congress enacted the …

Health Information Exchange: A Frontier Model, Nancy C. Shank, Kim Woods, Steve Lazarus, Elizabeth H. Willborn

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

This project laid the groundwork for the formation of a health information exchange within an established network of critical access hospitals, clinics, public health providers, and behavioral health providers across the rural, remote Nebraska Panhandle. The three goals were: (1) to develop an operational entity and incorporate a regional health information organization to support the development of a health information exchange; (2) to provide standardized training and user capacity development programs throughout the Panhandle; and (3) to implement electronic health records in critical access hospitals and rural health clinics through a shared process. The evaluation explored both the extent to …

Disaster Mental Health, Denise Bulling, Tarik Abdel-Monem

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

People have always given aid and comfort to each other during times of disaster. However, attempts to structure and professionalize this assistance are fairly recent developments. Disaster mental health, as an evolving field of practice and study, is a collection of interventions and practices that are designed to address incident-specific stress reactions, rather than ongoing or developmental mental health needs. Traditional mental health practice is based on a medical model, with a clinician seeing a patient in an office setting. Disaster mental health introduces a paradigm shift, requiring that practitioners (clinicians and indigenous helpers) work with individuals and whole communities …

Missouri River Ecosystem Restoration Plan Civic Engagement Meetings For Public Scoping Final Report

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

In mid 2009, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) requested the independent and impartial assistance of the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution (U.S. Institute) in planning, designing, and implementing efforts to build collaborative opportunities with public stakeholders into the development of the Missouri River Ecosystem Restoration Plan (MRERP).  To meet this request, the U.S. Institute developed and implemented the Civic Engagement Program (CE).  The CE program consisted of a series of public meetings throughout the basin, intended to educate public stakeholders on the MRERP, to gather input on key elements of …

Sharing Health Records Electronically: The Views Of Nebraskans, Tarik Abdel-Monem, Mitchel Herian

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

In November of 2008, the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center implemented a public input project to gather information from Nebraskans about electronic sharing of medical information. One hundred and sixty eight Nebraskans completed an online or paper copy survey, and 34 of those survey respondents also participated in a deliberative discussion.

Comfortable with Sharing Medical Information Electronically
• Nebraskans have positive views about electronic sharing of medical information.
• Nebraskans understand the benefits of electronic health information exchange.
• Nebraskans have concerns about who should have the authority to access their electronic health information.

Experienced with Information Technology and …

Representative Juries: Examining The Initial And Eligible Pools Of Jurors

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

State law provides that master jury lists are comprised by combining the lists of registered voters and registered drivers in the state of Nebraska. There have been anecdotal concerns that because minorities may be less likely to be registered to vote and less likely to be registered to drive, the current source lists may not effectively achieve a representative master list. The findings of this examination support this assertion. Based on an examination of juror qualification forms from 8 of Nebraska’s most diverse counties, data indicate that there are significant racial disparities in the initial and eligible pools of jurors. …

Nebraska Community Learning Center Network: Expanded Learning Opportunity Fund Mapping Project, Mitchel Herian, Nancy Shank

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Table of Contents:

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
A Note on Terminology and Population
Fund Mapping Challenges
Approach and Presentation
Fund Mapping Results
Current Funding
Survey of Nebraska Funding Sources
Summary of Federal Funding Programs
Early Childhood Care
Survey of Nebraska Afterschool Programs
Federal Funding for 21st Century Community Learning Centers
Nebraska Crime Commission
Parental Involvement
Potential Funding
Summary of Federal Programs
Discussion of 2008 Survey of Funding Sources
Future Directions and Conclusion

Appendices

Appendix A - Summer 2008 Survey of Organizations that Fund Expanded Learning Opportunities
Appendix B - Potential Federal Programs for Expanded Learning Opportunities
Appendix C - …

Show Me The Money!, Mitchel Herian, Nancy C. Shank

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Table of Contents:
What Are Expanded Learning Opportunities?
Identifying resources available to support expanded learning opportunity programs in Nebraska
Some Key Findings of the Fund Mapping Project

Lancaster County Public Defender Workload Assessment July 2008, Elizabeth Neeley

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Executive Summary

Workload
The Lancaster County Public Defender's Office was short approximately 3.48 attorneys in 2007.

• The greatest deficit is in the felony division (1.93 PTE), followed by the misdemeanor division (.90). The juvenile division is short approximately one half an attorney (.53 PTE), and the civil division is short .12 PTE.

This deficit can be addressed by:
• Adequately staffing the office;
OR
• Giving the office less work by:
• Establishing Caseload Standards. Cases surpassing the recommended caseload standards should be appointed to privately assigned counsel.

• Reassessing crimes which receive jail time (rethinking the crimes for …

Behavioral Science Guidelines For Assessing Insider Threats, Denise Bulling, Mario Scalora, Randy Borum, Jill Panuzio, Andrew Donica

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

This brochure presents a framework to view threats made by an insider that are targeted or intentional (as opposed to negligent or unintentional) and that involve some degree of deliberation (as opposed to those that may be considered impulsive). The framework was developed with the assumption that it must:
Be applicable for both anonymous and known subjects
Recognize interactions and patterns of behavior
Allow for investigation with whatever information is immediately available
Recognize that behaviors or warning activity may shift, decrease, or be emboldened by protective or organizational actions

Insider attacks are often handled internal to an organization and are …

Human Services Data Standards: Current Progress And Future Vision In Crisis Response, Nancy C. Shank, Brian Sokol, Michelle L. Hayes, Christina Vetrano

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Interorganizational coordination is crucial among human services providers responsible for responding to both personal and widespread crises. Too often, however, agencies providing disaster relief, shelter, and connection to other social service systems operate in information silos. Moreover, organizations that assist the same people may be duplicating services or ineffectively providing services to those in need. In the past, there has been no easy way for human service organizations to share information about clients, resources, and services. Over the last decade, distinct initiatives have begun to standardize data collection, storage, and transmission standards within human service domains. This paper describes several …