Public Policy Commons^™

Cleaning Up After The Storm: Lessons Learned From The Experiences Of Disaster Volunteers After The May 2004 Storms In Southeast Nebraska, Denise Bulling, Stacey Hoffman, Elissa Dahlberg

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

A survey was sent to clean-up volunteers 17 months after they helped with debris removal from an area in Nebraska devastated by tornadoes. The survey asked about their experiences and perceptions related to that volunteer work. The 622 respondents offered suggestions to enhance the processes used to deploy and supervise disaster clean-up volunteers. These respondents were generally older and more educated than the demographics of the area would suggest. They reported being motivated to volunteer primarily for altruistic reasons and generally had positive experiences. Those volunteers who reported experiencing some distress as a result of their disaster volunteer experience were …

Chechens Win First Claims In The European Court Of Human Rights In Khashiyev & Akayeva V. Russia, Tarik Abdel-Monem

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

In Khashiyev & Akayeva v. Russia, the European Court of Human Rights unanimously found Russia in violation of Article 2-right to lifeand Article 3-prohibition of torture-of the European Convention on Human Rights ("the Convention") 2 for its military operations in the Republic of Chechnya. The Court also found Russia in violation of Article 13- right to an effective remedy-by a vote of five to two. Khashiyev and Akayeva were the first of six claims filed with the Court in early 2000 against Russia for alleged violations of the Convention in its war against Chechen nationalists.

The plaintiffs in Khashiyev …

Responding To The Storm: Exploring The Psychological Support Of Emergency Responders After The May 2004 Storms In Southeast Nebraska, Denise Bulling, Stacey J. Hoffman, Martin R. Klein, Brooke Olsen, Harry Walles

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

A large number of emergency personnel were involved in the response to the May 2004 storms that devastated a 52 mile swath of Southeast Nebraska. Emergency workers who responded the night of the storm were exposed to bad weather, darkness, and uncertainty about their own safety. Later, they were asked to work alongside survivors and neighbors who had lost everything amidst widespread destruction of farms, homes, and businesses. Some, but not all of the emergency personnel were offered formal psychological support services like critical incident debriefing to assist with the emotional processing of the event.

The research literature is mixed …

Genetically Modified Foods: Attitudes And Knowledge In The Heart Of The Farm Belt, Usa, Alan Tomkins, Ian Christensen, John Fulwider, Kim Loontjer, Tarik Abdel-Monem, Dana Cohn

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

What do “average citizens” think about genetically modified foods (GMF)? Do their potential benefits outweigh their risks? Should food products containing GM ingredients be so labeled?

Surveys of attitudes toward GM foods and discussions on the topic in the US have been plentiful. The research typically indicates at least a low level of concern about GMFs. Yet GMFs continue to be prevalent in the American food marketplace. Whatever concerns Americans may have, they have not adversely impacted the production or consumption of GM foods. Indeed, there have not been sufficient political pressures in the US to require the labeling of …

Disaster Chaplains Who Provide Spiritual First Aid, Caroline Walles

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

For almost three years, Nebraska has been viewing disaster behavioral health as an integral component of the response which takes place at the time of a disaster. In fact, the need for disaster behavioral health as part of the immediate or first response to a disaster has been written into the state’s formal disaster plan. However, because there is a shortage of behavioral health providers in Nebraska (88 of 93 counties are considered shortage areas) partnerships with “natural helpers” – including clergy and faith leaders – are being forged. Out of this necessity has come the Nebraska Disaster Chaplain Network, …

Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration (Samhsa) Targeted Capacity Expansion Grants To Enhance State Capacity For Emergency Mental Health And Substance Abuse Response, Denise Bulling, James S. Harvey

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

The Division of Behavioral Health Services within the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services is authorized under the Nebraska Behavioral Health Services Act (Neb. Rev. Stat. 71-801 to 71-820). The Division of Behavioral Health Services extended through September 30, 2005 its Intergovernmental Agreement (#HHSBH-04-Emergency Response – 1) with the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center to coordinate and manage the second year activities of the Nebraska All-Hazards Behavioral Health Response and Recovery Capacity Expansion Grant, in coordination with activities funded by a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) hospital preparedness bioterrorism grant.

Newcomers In Nebraska’S Rural Communities 2006 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph Cantrell, Bruce Johnson, Alan Tomkins

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Population loss in rural Nebraska communities has been a concern, but many communities across the state have experienced population gains during the past decade. Are rural Nebraskans aware of new residents living in their community? How do they feel about their community’s new residents? What do they think will happen to their community’s population during the next ten years?

This report details 2,482 responses to the 2006 Nebraska Rural Poll, the eleventh annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions about new residents in their community and their expectations regarding population growth in their …

Progress Report 2005, Nebraska Minority And Justice Implementation Committee

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

The Nebraska Minority and Justice Implementation Committee 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 bias and discrimination in Nebraska’s justice system. The mission of the Committee is to achieve four …

Results For Nebraska, Models For The Nation

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

The University of Nebraska Public Policy Center has impacted policy-relevant change throughout the state and in national policy efforts as well. Here’s a quick look at some of our outcomes “by the numbers” over the past three years:
• Administered Minority and Justice Initiative, which, among other reforms, brought about the passage of two Nebraska state laws to improve the representativeness of juries.
• Awarded $1.5 million to organizations involved in providing behavioral health services to Nebraskans.
• Trained nearly 600 school personnel, health care professionals, faith leaders, and community members to provide psychological first-aid services in response to disasters. …

The Nebraska Minority Justice Committee Progress Report 2006

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

CONTENTS:
Representative Juries Project
Access to Justice Issue of The Nebraska Lawyer
Uniform Juror Qualification Form
Assigned Counsel Fee Study
Improvement of Data Collection
Second Annual Legal Diversity Summit
Supporting Law School Initiatives
Nebraska Legal Diversity Website
Barristers’ Ball 2006
Priority Projects
Raising Awareness
Feedback and Questions
Members of the Minority Justice Committee

United States Senate Catalogue Of Graphic Art, Diane K. Skvarla, Donald A. Ritchie, Office Of The Senate Curator, William H. Frist, Harry Reid, Emily J. Reynolds

United States Senate Documents

This volume is the first comprehensive publication of the almost one thousand prints in the holdings of the United States Senate. The collection represents a 30-year effort to document graphically the 19th and early 20th century history of the Senate, the Capitol, and American political history. The diverse illustrations range from inauguration ceremonies and impeachment trials to senatorial portraits and political cartoons. Represented in the Senate's graphic art collection are some of the most notable artists who worked in the printmaking medium: Augustus Kallner, Rembrandt Peale, Alexander Hay Ritchie, Thomas Nast, and Joseph Keppler. While visually engaging, these prints also …

Recent Efforts To Make Nebraska Juries More Representative Of Their Communities, Carly Duvall, Elizabeth Neeley

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

According to the Minority and Justice Task Force Report (2003), “the majority of Nebraskans believe that it is important that juries reflect the racial and ethnic makeup of the community.” Preliminary data obtained as part of the Task Force’s inquiry into representation of minorities on petit juries call into question whether Nebraska juries are representative of their communities. This concern has prompted several statewide policy reforms that are designed to increase representation of minorities on juries regardless of whether there has been a problem in the State. The first reform involved regular refreshing of jury pool lists (LB 19 and …

Citizen Voices On Pandemic Flu Choices: A Report Of The Public Engagement Pilot Project On Pandemic Influenza

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

In the spring of 2005, gaps existed in the first Health and Human Services (HHS) Influenza Pandemic Plan and more guidance was considered desirable on how best to allocate the relatively meager supplies of vaccine likely to be available in the first months of a pandemic. To whom should it be given? To achieve what objectives?

This report describes the convening of a representative group of stakeholders and citizens-at-large, the structure and process of stakeholder and citizen dialogues and deliberations, and the decisions made and recommendations that were developed.

This Public Engagement Pilot Project on Pandemic Influenza (PEPPPI) was initiated …

Ccf Semi-Annual Report: Nebraskans Expanding Behavioral Health Access Through Networking Delivery Systems, Caroline Wells, Mark Dekraai, Denise Bulling, Alan Tomkins

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Table of Contents:
1. Grant Information
2. Major Activities and Accomplishments
3. Concern/Problems
4. Significant Stories/Findings
5. Communication Activities
6. Other Activities
7. Activities Planned for the Next Reporting Period
8. Financial Status Report

Attachments:
A. Year Three Subawardees
B. Subawardee success stories
C. Information on technical assistance workshops
D. Information on Subawardee technical assistance events
E. Subawardee semiannual survey results
F. Financial status report
G. Subawardee newsletters
H. NEBHANDS Newsletters
I. Letters of Appreciation and Celebration of Excellence Keynote Speech

Working Together To Increase Diversity In The Legal Profession, Elizabeth Neely

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Diversity in the legal profession is not something that can solely be accomplished by our law schools; it requires a concerted effort among a state's legal institutions. P r e - h advisors can initiate these partnerships to everyone's benefit. This article describes some of the joint efforts taking place in Nebraska and provides information to pre-law advisors on how to begin development of joint initiatives.

A Community Conversation: Future Of Lincoln, University Of Nebraska Public Policy Center

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

On Thursday, February 24th, 62 randomly selected residents of Lincoln/Lancaster County, Nebraska participated in a discussion about economic growth and quality of life in the City of Lincoln. The event was termed “A Community Conversation: Future of Lincoln.” The participants were surveyed both before and after the event to measure their opinions and knowledge of topics related to Lincoln’s economic growth and quality of life.

The effort – from the briefing materials sent to participants beforehand to the group discussions to the opportunity to present questions to a panel of experts – was modeled after the Deliberative Polling® format developed …

Ccf Semi-Annual Report April – September 2005

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Year three sub-awards were awarded to 58 different organizations (some were Year Two extensions), totaling approximately $560,560. Attachment A provides a list of third year subawardees, including the name and location of each, the type of organization, and description of project. Attachment B lists some of the major accomplishments of the third year subawardees.

Panhandle Regional Health Information Exchange Plan, Agency For Healthcare Research And Quality

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

The Plans describes the implementation process. The implementation process will take advantage of the Panhandle’s highly collaborative environment. Partners are aligning, and will be supported to align, their organizations for a change to electronic health information exchange. This collaboration will also enable us to reduce the total cost of ownership for partners who are implementing electronic health records in their entities. We will capitalize on “enterprise architectures” (across all partners) whenever feasible and will create centralized IT functions to support implementation. The process will focus on adopting national standards and creating local policies and protocols to facilitate useable health information …

R (On The Applicationofal Skeini) V. Secretary Of Defence: A Look At The United Kingdom's Extraterritorial Obligations In Iraq And Beyond, Tarik Abdel-Monem, Patrick J.D. Kennedy, Ekaterina Apostolova

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

On the evening of September 13, 2003, British soldiers from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment arrested several Iraqi men at a hotel in Basra. The soldiers took the hotel receptionist - Baha Mousa - and several other men to a holding facility previously used by the Iraqi Intelligence Service. Coalition personnel reportedly hooded the men, forced them into stress positions and severely beat them in the abdomen and genitals. Mousa was allegedly taken to another room where the soldiers further beat him. He later died. The death certificate issued after the incident indicated that Mousa had died of "cardio-respiratory arrest asphyxia." …

How Far Do The Lawless Areas Of Europe Extend? Extraterritorial Application Of The European Convention On Human Rights, Tarik Abdel-Monem

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

In February of 2004, former Chechen President Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev was killed in Doha, Qatar, when his car was detonated by an explosive device. Local authorities later arrested three alleged Russian intelligence agents for his death, one of them holding a diplomatic passport. Two of the men admitted to being members of Russian intelligence services, and reported that the explosive used to kill Yandarbiyev was smuggled into Qatar through a diplomatic pouch. A U.S. official later stated that the arrests of the Russian agents were made with assistance to Qatar by the United States. After a diplomatic row between Russia and …

A Citizen Deliberation On Education Policy

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

On Monday, October 24th, 2005, 130 Central Nebraskans gathered at the University of Nebraska at Kearney to participate in the MacNeil/Lehrer Productions’ By the People citizen deliberation project (see http://www.pbs.org/newshour/btp/). By the People, an effort to bring the opinions of informed citizens into debates on public policy, was launched in 2002 and has supported more than 100 citizen deliberations around the country. The October 2005 By the People included citizen deliberations in 15 cities, from San Diego, California, to New Haven, Connecticut, focusing on either healthcare or education policy issues. The Nebraska By the People focused on K-12 education …

Consumer Opinions On Genetically Modified Food: A Community Discussion August 2005

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

On Saturday, August 20, 2005, 48 residents of Lancaster County gathered at Gere Branch Library in Lincoln to participate in a “Citizen Deliberation on Genetically Modified Food.” A citizen deliberation is a technique used to promote informed and thoughtful public discussion on public affairs or policy issues and a means for gauging considered (as opposed to off-the-cuff) public opinions. The purpose of the discussion was to gauge informed public opinion on genetically modified food products and whether they should be labeled. The event was co-sponsored by the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center (http://www.ppc.nebraska.edu/edu/) and a local community leadership development …

Regional Health Records For Frontier Communities, Nancy Shank, Kim Engel, Joan Frances, Harold Krueger, Laura Looney, William Loring, John Mcvay, Nicole Neilan

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Purpose: This project produced a viable and sustainable plan for the implementation of regional health information exchange.

Scope: The project comprised partners within established networks of rural hospitals, clinics, public health providers, behavioral health providers, and others across a 14,000 square mile remote area.

Methods: The planning process included participation from all levels of leadership from participating partners, and worked within existing collaborative and information channels to ensure scalability and extensibility to other key health care providers.

Results: The process produced a viable plan and collaborative network poised to move forward into implementation

Ccf Semi-Annual Report October 04 – March 05

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

• Year three sub-awards were awarded to 40 different organizations totaling approximately $425,220. Attachment A provides a list of third year sub-awardees, including the name and location of each, the type of organization, and description of project, as well as more detailed information. Attachment B lists some of the major accomplishments from each of the second-year sub-awardees.

• A number of open technical assistance workshops were held for sub-awardees and other faith-based and community organizations during the reporting period (see Attachment C for samples of information on specific workshops; Attachment D provides a list of some of the technical assistance …

Nebraska Hospital Preparedness For Psychological Consequences Of Public Health Emergencies (Survey Results Summary), Denise Bulling

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

The University of Nebraska Public Policy Center recently surveyed hospitals across Nebraska to evaluate behavioral health readiness in the event of a disaster, act of terrorism (including bioterrorism) or other mass-casualty incident. The survey also asked about hospitals’ ability to effectively coordinate with other emergency service providers, such as law enforcement, in the event of a critical incident.

Behavioral health readiness refers to a hospital’s capacity to effectively manage and respond to the psychological needs of patients, staff, and their families resulting from a large scale event or emergency. In many hospitals in Nebraska this capacity is not maintained internally …

Race And Justice In Nebraska – Why Prosecutors And Criminal Defense Lawyers Should Care, Mark J. Young, Dennis R. Keefe

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

This article originally appeared in Habeas Corps, the newsletter of The Nebraska Criminal Defense Attorneys Association. Reprinted with permission.
"And now it's just as bad far young black women or women of color as it is for men ...to have a public defender who is so unprepared, uncaring, and really, unsuitable, to stand before a judge, and then you have a prosecutor who comes in ... and they sit at their table and the snickering, the way the attitude that they go and handle a case (shows) no respect for the individual or for the system.”
The above quote comes …

Examining The Potential Benefits Of A 2-1-1 System: Quantitative And Other Factors, Nancy Shank, David I. Rosenbaum

Nancy Shank Publications

While 2-1-1 systems are being planned and implemented across the United States, policymakers and other stakeholders must weigh the costs of implementation against the perceived benefits. How do proponents of 2-1-1 systems present the benefits of their systems? This article will address two issues: examining the variety of ways that 2-1-1 systems benefit their communities and suggesting methods to measure those benefits.

Security And Prosperity: A Preliminary Report On The January 2004 By The People Citizen Deliberations

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

On Saturday, January 24, 2004, a random sample of rural Nebraskans participated in a national dialogue about America’s national security and involvement in Iraq, and international free trade as one of ten communities (and the only rural community) selected to participate in MacNeil/Lehrer Productions’ By the People Citizen Deliberations. The Deliberations were videotaped by Nebraska Educational Television and will be included in national and state televised broadcasts. Participants in Nebraska and in the other communities completed surveys to measure their opinions about America’s security interests, the intervention in Iraq, and trade policies.

Sharing Resource Databases, Nancy Shank

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Creating the AIRS XML Standard

Standardizing processes

Exporting and Managing the Merged Data

Summary Of Estimating The Fiscal Impacts Of Changes In Eligibility And/Or Premium Requirements For Nebraska’S Medicaid Buy-In Program, David I. Rosenbaum

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

This is the third component in a series that estimates the fiscal impacts of varying the eligibility and premium requirements of the Nebraska Medicaid Buy-In program. The first component estimated how Buy-In program participation rates might differ when eligibility and premium requirements varied. (See McGarvey, Mary M., Enrollment Projections for Nebraska’s Medicaid Insurance for Workers with Disabilities, 2003, University of Nebraska Center for Public Policy.) The second component was a calculator designed to estimate state and federal costs related to selected social programs. The third component puts these first two components together. (See Rosenbaum, David I., Estimating the Fiscal …