Public Policy Commons^™

The Beliefs Of Sex Education Instructors In The Classroom, Denise Stewart

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Data-driven research is an ethical precept for nearly every profession, and it holds a particular importance within any human-services field, including public health education. This research study used a phenomenological methodology and Brofenbrenner’s theoretical framework to construct descriptive themes, investigating how public school instructors' personal beliefs impact teaching practice. Ten in-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted with public high school teachers who self-identified as being involved with sex education instruction. Participants were selected from several public Minnesota high schools responsible for providing sex education to public school students in Grades 9 to 12. The findings revealed several themes relating to how …

Public Policy Response To Violence: Case Study Of Boko Haram Insurgency In Nigeria, Emmanuel Baba Mamman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The violence of the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria has generated an increased need for public policy responses. Nigerian authorities and community stakeholders have attempted myriad responses to the challenges created by Boko Haram. However, there is a poor understanding of policy frameworks for handling the Boko Haram violence on the immediate, medium-term, and long-term dimensions. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to improve the understanding of the public policy measures that may help to address the Boko Haram challenge. John Burton's theory of human needs provided a theoretical foundation for the study. Purposive sampling technique was used, …

Urgent Care Centers And Workers’ Compensation Medical Cost Containment, Drema M. Thompson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In response to healthcare payment policy reforms, billions of dollars in healthcare provider charges are challenged annually. Following the implementation of the Virginia workers’ compensation medical fee legislation, healthcare organizations experienced declining worker compensation medical fee schedule reimbursements and lack of profitability. Grounded in the adaptive cycle model, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies 2 urgent care center (UCC) leaders in Virginia used to increase profits after implementing the Virginia workers’ compensation medical fee legislation. Data were collected via in-depth interviews and a review of company documents. Thematic analysis was used to analyze data. …

Policy Interventions For The Development Of The Blue Economy In Bangladesh, Pierre Failler, M Gulam Hussain, Khurshed Alam, Ahmad Al Karim

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

Between 2012 and 2014, disputes over maritime boundary with Myanmar and India were favorably settled for Bangladesh, resulting in the expansion of its territorial waters of more than 30% and the country received entitlement to 118,813 km² in the Bay of Bengal. This achievement offers a wide range of new economic opportunities for jobs & growth around marine and coastal sectors such as marine fisheries, marine aquaculture, tourism, exploitation of natural resources, trade and energy. This created new opportunities to exploited the untapped potential of these waters. The challenge will be to develop smart and sustainable solutions to meet …

The Health Care Costs Of Financial Exploitation In Maine, Kimberly I. Snow Mhsa, Yvonne Jonk Phd, Deborah Thayer Mba, Catherine Mcguire Bs, Stuart Bratesman Mpp, Charles A. Smith Phd, Erika C. Ziller Phd

Disability & Aging

This study sought to determine the Medicare and Medicaid costs experienced by dual eligible older adults in Maine for whom Maine Adult Protective Services (APS) substantiated allegations of elder financial exploitation and to compare them to those of Maine’s general older population. The analysis is an important step forward in estimating the medical costs associated with elder abuse.

Elder financial exploitation may result in significant public burden on Medicare and Medicaid, shouldered by taxpayers. Efforts to detect, investigate, prosecute, and mitigate this abuse will benefit not only the victims, but also the financial stewardship of these public programs.

The 2018 Midterms In The Mountain West, Molly Reynolds

Brookings Mountain West Publications

The 116^th Congress has begun with a bang, with a protracted government shutdown and promises of aggressive oversight from the new Democratic House majority. To understand how we got to this point—and where we might be going in 2020—a look back at the 2018 elections is valuable. As a region, the Mountain West—Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah—provides useful insights into broader national political dynamics across all levels of government, from Congress to state legislatures.

Naming Names: The Impact Of Supreme Court Opinion Attribution On Citizen Assessment Of Policy Outcomes, Scott S. Boddery, Laura P. Moyer, Jeff Yates

Political Science Faculty Publications

The manner in which political institutions convey their policy outcomes can have important implications for how the public views institutions' policy decisions. This paper explores whether the way in which the U.S. Supreme Court communicates its policy decrees affects how favorably members of the public assess its decisions. Specifically, we investigate whether attributing a decision to the nation's High Court or to an individual justice influences the public's agreement with the Court's rulings. Using an experimental design, we find that when a Supreme Court outcome is ascribed to the institution as a whole, rather than to a particular justice, people …

The Battle To Increase Nevada’S Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard; An Insight Into Rps Policy Changes., Alondra Regalado

Student Research

Climate Change Greenhouse gas emissions from industrialized societies have changed the temperature of the earth’s surface, atmosphere, ocean and climate systems. Although scientists have been aware of the effects of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change as early as the 1970’s, world leaders have been slow to react and implement proactive policies. As federal administrations and national leaders abdicate their leadership in mitigating climate change, the responsibility to implement proactive policies now lies with local bodies, such as states, private companies and individuals.

Overview Nevada’s abundant renewable energy resources have made the state a target for the growing renewable energy …

The Benefits Of A Grant For Police Worn Body Cameras, Tanner Castro

Student Research

Police monitoring and accountability are important moral and economic issues within our nation. The problems that surround police accountability serve as the cause of issues regarding high rates of court cases having to deal with police misconduct, the issue of a nature of hostility surrounding police officers, and the social issue of police brutality. In order to help mitigate several of these problems, policy must be constructed in order to increase the rates at which we monitor police officers and hold them accountable.

Monetarily, the courts have a problem of having to deal with cases involving police misconduct. Due to …

Norwegian People's Aid Humanitarian Policy, Npa

Global CWD Repository

This document is NPA’s policy for humanitarian response. The humanitarian policy derives from and complements NPA’s international strategy. The policy is also informed by NPA’s partnership policy and gender equality policy. It outlines the challenges we address, defines the goals and objectives we aim to achieve, and provides an overview of responses and working methods employed in order to attain these objectives.

National Strategy Against Narcotics, Drug Control Policy, And Law Enforcement Experiences In Kosovo, Ferid Azemi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This research is focused on evaluation of National Strategy Against Narcotics (NSAN) enacted in 2012 in Kosovo. The purpose of this study was to understand the impact of NSAN through visualizing data and gaining deeper insight from experiences of antidrug experts. Convergent parallel mixed methods were used to answer the main research questions. The central research questions examined the impact of strategy implementation in juvenile drug arrest reduction, and its effectiveness on Kosovo criminal justice system. Markwood's comprehensive theory of substance abuse prevention (CTSAP) was used to assess and explore the NSAN. Deidentified juvenile arrest rates taken from Kosovo official …

Antibullying Definition, Policy, Surveillance, Education, And Training In The Healthcare Field, Adlene Jones Mcelroy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Workplace bullying in the healthcare field has contributed to decreasing productivity, decreasing employee morale, increasing workplace lawsuits, overall dissatisfaction in the workplace, and potentially compromising care to patients. Little, however, is known about how public policies related to workplace bullying impact the experiences of healthcare workers. Using Cornell and Limber's conceptualization of bullying, the purpose of this general qualitative study was to better understand the experiences of healthcare leaders and workers related to workplace bullying of a single health care facility. Data were principally collected from 9 participants representing three organizational leaders, three nurses, and three ancillary members staff. These …

U.S. Policymakers' Perspectives Regarding The Causes Of Terrorism And The Impact On U.S. Counterterrorism Policy, Jeffrey David Mcmanus

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

U.S. counterterrorism policy appears to be influenced by different perspectives, as evidenced by conflicting statements by U.S. presidents regarding the causes of terrorism. Academic theories are not always applied by U.S. government employees who develop, influence, and implement counterterrorism policy. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to understand U.S. government policymakers' perspectives on the causes of terrorism, the influences on these views, and the impact on U.S. counterterrorism policy. Six theories regarding the causes of terrorism provided the theoretical framework. Additional theories related to individual and organizational impact on decision-making provided a broader conceptual framework. Data were collected …

Service Delivery Agents' Perceptions Of The Impact Of Panhandling Policy In Virginia, Nancy Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Panhandling (also called begging and mendicancy) has been a problem for lawmakers. Although current crime control measures (based on the broken windows theory) have identified a perceived link between disorders (i.e., panhandling) and crime, previous attempts to ban panhandling were deemed unconstitutional. The purpose of this work was to investigate the impact of the latest attempt to curb panhandling in Hampton Roads, Virginia, known as the Public Education Campaign. This phenomenological inquiry examined the perceptions and work-related experiences of service delivery agents to explore the impact of the panhandling policy on panhandling and policy enforcement. Purposive sampling was used to …

Measuring Incremental Sb743 Progress: Accounting For Project Contributions Towards Reducing Vmt Under California's Senate Bill 743, Christopher E. Ferrell

Mineta Transportation Institute

On September 27, 2013, California’s governor signed Senate Bill (SB) 743 into law, in part mandating the transition from a level-of-service-based (LOS) measure of transportation environmental impacts to a vehicle-miles-traveled-based (VMT) one in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Several California jurisdictions, including San Jose, Pasadena, and San Francisco, have moved quickly to comply with SB 743, so it is no surprise that several of these early-adopter cities have been working hard to develop powerful VMT estimation methods and tools using the most recent research available.

This perspective uses the experiences of an early-adopter city, San Jose, to …

Financing Post-2015 Development Goals: Shaping A New Policy Framework For Aid In Liberia, Apollos Ikechukwu Nwafor

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Liberia, Africa's oldest democracy, has made several efforts in becoming a developed economy and ending poverty, but these efforts have been hampered by lack of appropriate financing mechanisms to achieve this goal. The most recent challenge which was the purpose of this study was to understand how Liberia can finance and achieve the sustainable development goals adopted by the United Nations in September 2015. Despite substantial external aid, Liberia was only able to meet 3 out of the 8 Millennium Development Goals, and more than 60% of the population remain extremely poor. The main research question was to understand what …

Robin Hood Politics: An Analysis Of Wealth Redistributive Policies And The Impact Of Political Donations, Marley R. Dizney Swanson

Gettysburg Social Sciences Review

Both Democrats and Republicans have taken strong positions on wealth redistribution. But is there variance within the parties? I hypothesize that while moderate non-donors and moderate donors will favor increases in federal spending for such policies at similar rates, both liberal and conservative donors will be less likely to favor spending due to attachment to their personal wealth. This paper analyzes the differences in support for increasing the budgets of five wealth redistributive policies while controlling for political donations: public schools, welfare, aid to the poor, childcare, and Social Security. The research finds that moderates and moderate donors support do …

Fuller Together: An Understanding Of The Nexus Between Disability And Food Security, Zach Curinga

Public Health, Food Studies, and Nutrition

American society is currently structured to function for those individuals bestowed with inherent abilities. As such, it ignores access to participate socially and culturally for those who are disabled. There is a trend that elected representatives often limit access of the socio-cultural rights of others who are unlike themselves, interpreted by their own personal, non-disabled, socioeconomic experience. This trend is the root of the problem for those who are disabled: they cannot access and participate in society fully, which makes them often disregarded by their representatives who do not face their same barriers.

In this thesis, I apply a human …

Decriminalization Of Prostitution Policy: Amnesty International Punishes A Dissenting Member, Marcia R. Lieberman

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

In 2016, Marcia Lieberman, a local group coordinator for Amnesty International, USA, was expelled by the board of directors for speaking out publicly against the new Policy on the Decriminalization of Sex Work. Amnesty used a little-known rule that prohibits a member from publicly opposing a position that Amnesty has taken. Lieberman writes about her experience and her view that Amnesty violated its fundamental principle of protecting free speech to silence her dissent.

Adults Using Long Term Services And Supports: Population And Service Use Trends In Maine, Sfy 2016, Kimberly I. Snow Mhsa, Ba, Frances Jimenez Ba, Tina Gressani, Louise Olsen

Disability & Aging

All of us have likely either used, will use, or know someone who uses long term services and support (LTSS). They enable us to live with dignity and as much independence as possible and offer us the opportunity to remain involved and productive in our communities. The need for LTSS can arise suddenly after injury or illness or a life-long condition. But how ever the need arises, the impact is the same—services such as personal care, work support, home health care, and residential care provide not just for individual health and comfort, but also for interaction, inclusion, and engagement with …

The Effects Of Food Security On Socioeconomic Mobility In The United States: A Case Study In Allendale County, South Carolina, Taylor St Clarke

Senior Theses

This thesis examines the relationship between food security – defined as accessibility to an affordable, nutritious, and sustainable source of food – and socioeconomic mobility in the continental United States. This thesis is primarily focused on the effects of food insecurity on both individuals and communities, examining the chronic long-term effects of such insecurity on areas known as “food deserts,” which are often given status as areas of persistent poverty. This research further examines the effects of a sustained poor diet, brought about by food insecurity, on the individual and overarching community in a food desert and how such a …

The Affordable Care Act’S Medicaid Expansion And Food Insecurity Rates, Mary Moran

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

Many Americans face difficult financial decisions, often regarding the allocation of limited resources. Household resources may be split among the costs of food, clothing, housing, transportation, childcare, utilities, and health care. For some households, this allocation may present a challenge to purchasing sufficient food, leading to food insecurity. Defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as “a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food” (2017), food insecurity may decrease when other financial-related aspects of life improve. An improvement in access to affordable health care, as seen through the recent Medicaid expansion under …

Health Literacy Best Practices In Policy Development, Stacie Lee Trueheart

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Low health literacy is a problem the U.S. faces and, like health care itself, is a complex issue stemming from patient demographics and the healthcare providers being very diverse. Tools have been developed to mitigate the risks of low health literacy, however, without formal policy. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore and compare commonalities in health literacy best practices of organizations that are recognized as leaders in health literacy and are addressing low health literacy in their communities. By comparing the organizations' abilities to implement standards of plain language and health literacy tools/guidelines, best practice and …

Effects Of Historic Preservation Policy On Urban Neighborhood Stabilization, Lisa Vaughan Jordan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since the 1960s, urban neighborhoods in the United States have been affected by historic designation and local historic preservation policy raising concerns about social inequity in housing and services, environmental resources, and economic challenges. Although there is consensus that the role of public policy in historic preservation decision-making is related to neighborhood stabilization, little is known about the extent of the impact. Using Ostrom's social-ecological systems theory as a guide, the purpose of this single case study of a historical district in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region was to investigate the impact of implementation of local historic preservation policies and programs …

The Relevance Of Caste In Contemporary India: Reexamining The Affirmative Action Debate, Shambhavi Sahai, Shambhavi Sahai

CMC Senior Theses

With the changing significance of caste and caste identity, this thesis explores the role of affirmative action or "reservations" in Indian higher education. Specifically, it aims to reopen the debate on the dominance of a "creamy layer" among the OBCs in an increasingly nationalist India. Viewing caste through the lens of ethnic identity, this thesis draws comparisons between the identity of OBCs and Scheduled Castes and Tribes, OBCs of the "Hindi Belt" and OBCs of the South, followed by an analysis of the politicization of caste identity today. The thesis concludes with an evaluation of affirmative action today and possible …

Substandard Rental Housing In The Promise Zone Of A Mid-Sized U.S. City, Ruth Elizabeth Metzger

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A persistent gap exists between established federal, state, and local standards for housing habitability and the condition of rental housing. The condition persists despite local code enforcement mechanisms, leaving significant potential to improve housing. Such housing can have adverse impacts on people's physical and mental health, economic stability, education, crime, community development, and municipal budgets. The purpose of this case study was to identify factors that create and perpetuate the problem, make it difficult to resolve, and to identify policy actions with the potential to help mitigate it. Rational choice theory and public choice theory formed the framework to analyze …

A Multidimensional Poverty Index For The United States, Nate Kratzer

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

A multidimensional poverty index for the United States is designed, evaluated, and defended as a useful measurement tool for policymakers to evaluate poverty. Chapter 1 presents a normative case for the index. Chapter 2 reviews the literature on poverty measures. Chapter 3 constructs the proposed index. Chapter 4 is a statistical examination of the internal structure of the index. Chapter 5 explores the index across states, over time, and among population subgroups, as well as presenting policy applications.

Public Policies Involving Pregnant And Parenting Secondary Students From Perspectives Of Educators, Tomecole Hilliard-Carlton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite a significant drop in the number of pregnant adolescents and reforms to fight

gender discrimination under Title IX, teen pregnancy and risk factors including poverty,

stigma, and substance abuse, which may lead to different negative outcomes, such as

depression, social isolation, and lowered self-esteem remain a persistent problem in the

United States. Due to these factors, pregnant and parenting teens have been noted to drop

out of high school prematurely. Using incrementalism as a theoretical framework, the

purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to explore and describe Title IX

compliance and local policies and practices of educators …

Strengthening Jamaica's Anticorruption Policy With An Independent Agency, Curt Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Corruption is a kind of behavior that undermines good governance. Current research has suggested that Jamaica's present anticorruption policy is ineffective, and needs strengthening. A civic organization in Jamaica has advocated for an independent anticorruption agency, with both investigative and prosecutorial powers to strengthen Jamaica's anticorruption policy. Little is known about the perspectives from the Jamaican business community on this concept. The purpose of this study was to discover and understand perspectives from the Jamaican business community on this concept. A framework included in this study is the principal-agent theory, which provides an understanding of the essence and relevance of …

Wyoming Sage-Grouse Working Groups: Lessons Learned, Thomas J. Christiansen, Lorien R. Belton

Human–Wildlife Interactions

The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) has been the subject of multiple status reviews under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Wyoming accounts for approximately 38% of the range-wide population. Since 2000, 2 statewide and 8 local citizen working groups have been established in Wyoming to developed conservation plans and advise state policy. The first statewide plan for the conservation of sage-grouse was formally adopted in 2003. The statewide plan established local sage-grouse working groups charged with developing and facilitating implementation of local conservation plans. Those 8 plans were completed in 2007 and 2008, and updated in 2014. From 2005-2017, …