Social Policy Commons^™

Addressing Economic Instability And Workforce Turnover In Early Childhood Education: The Role Of Stipends, Wage Supplements, And Professional Development, Lucinda J. Leffler

Endeavors: Mississippi State Undergraduate Research Journal

Child care workers are vital to early childhood education, yet they face persistent economic instability, low wages, and high turnover rates. To address these challenges, states and policymakers have implemented stipends, wage supplements, and professional development programs aimed at improving financial security, job satisfaction, and workforce retention. This literature review examines the effectiveness of these initiatives across the United States, drawing on theoretical frameworks such as Vroom’s Expectancy Theory and Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory to contextualize their impact. Research indicates that financial incentives significantly reduce turnover, while professional development fosters job satisfaction and career advancement. However, sustainability concerns remain, particularly with …

Consolidating The Carbon Trade: Policy Recommendations To Promote Standard Convergence Among The Vcm, Article 6, And Regional Pricing Instruments, Jack M. Barrett

CMC Senior Theses

Efforts to construct robust international carbon markets have repeatedly fallen short of their climate and sustainable development objectives. From the Clean Development Mechanism’s collapse under the weight of non-additional credits to the Voluntary Carbon Market’s recent legitimacy crisis, structural flaws and fragmented standards have undermined offsetting systems for more than two decades. Today, the emergence of the Paris Agreement's Article 6 mechanisms, alongside initiatives like the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), offer a critical but fragile opportunity to rebuild market credibility. The proliferation of diverging standards across Article 6, voluntary markets, and regional carbon pricing instruments risks …

Gods Guns: Why Firearms And Firearm Culture Remain Sacred To Rural Americans, Thomas Westrick

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

With ample evidence demonstrating a link between low levels of gun regulation and high levels of firearm fatalities, it seems intuitive that Americans would want to increase the level of firearm regulation to bring down the level of violence. However, the target population, white males living in rural areas of the State of Indiana and practicing the Christian Evangelical Protestant tradition, display high levels of resistance to new firearm regulation. This study sought to explore that resistance through the lens of the rural gun culture with an interpretivist qualitative design using reflexive thematic analysis to answer the research question: How …

Effects Of Actualized Language Policy On Ukrainian Stability, 1989-2022, Dawn Hersey

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This dissertation seeks to generate a new perspective of the complicated relationship between actualized policy and stability through looking at Ukraine’s language policies and stability in a mixed manner approach that includes both primary and secondary sources. Russia justified its irridentist activities through claiming to protect Russian nationals within Ukraine’s borders: language policies within Ukraine appear to be a trigger for Russian antagonism. Neither Russian irridentism nor Ukrainian nationalism are being considered as right or wrong in this dissertation: the intent is to highlight trends, patterns, and perceptions in alignment with Ukrainian language policy. This dissertation does not present a …

Nh Ece Research Consortium 2024 Activity Timeline, Jess Carson, Evan England

New Hampshire Early Care and Education Research Consortium

The New Hampshire Early Care and Education (NH ECE) Research Consortium is a network of researchers and research users committed to strengthening the state's ECE landscape through the use of data. Discover what the Consortium accomplished during its first full year in this 2024 Activity Timeline.

How White Supremacy Travels Through Time: Anti-Literacy Laws, Dei Bans, And The Issue Of Black Self-Determination In Public Health., Nicole V. Ford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation used a qualitative policy content analysis (PCA) of historical anti-literacy laws and modern DEI bans to answer two research questions: What is the connection between anti-literacy laws and DEI bans? How do anti-literacy laws and DEI bans create an environment that maintains white supremacy? A PCA exercise informed the analysis of historical anti-literacy laws in South Carolina (1834), Georgia (1829), North Carolina (1830), Louisiana (1830), Virginia (1831), and Alabama (1833) and modern DEI bans in Texas (2023), Alabama (2024), and Florida (2023) to find the connection between the laws. Findings from this dissertation illustrate how white supremacy operates …

Contextualized Transitional Justice Policy Development In Uganda: Differentiating Between Normativity Types In Evidence-Based Problem Analysis, Saghar Shahidi Birjandian

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article discusses the fundamental impact of normativity on producing evidence-based guidance for context-sensitive transitional justice policy. It draws on lessons learned from Uganda’s complex transitional justice context and extensive fieldwork to demonstrate the necessity and the means to differentiate between belief-based normativity and evidence-based normativity in conducting problem analysis as a crucial site that determines the integrity of evidence-based guidance. It also establishes that evidence-based normativity guiding problem analysis must include empirical evidence of societal dynamics and views of affected communities or there is a significantly higher risk of belief-based normativity decontextualizing strategy development. Findings establish significant substantive differences …

Project Turnkey Evaluation, Anna Rockhill, Sarah Mercurio, Franklin Holcomb Spurbeck

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

In 2020-2021 Oregon legislators approved $74.7 million to assist communities to purchase local motels and convert them into emergency shelters. The goal was to help keep people safe during COVID and to address the need for housing for victims of the wildfires in light of the deficit of appropriate shelter resources facing the state. A total of 19 projects received funding, and by 2023 all of the projects were providing services to people experiencing homelessness. Combined, this resulted in 865 new units of emergency shelter-- a 20% increase in the state’s supply. According to an analysis done by Oregon Community …

Employees Speak Up: Engaging Voices From The Human Services Field, Henry J. Davis, Janna C. Heyman, Linda White-Ryan, Dana Marlowe

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

This qualitative study aims to understand the perceptions and experiences of human services professionals working within urban communities with respect to their work experiences, compensation, and work-life balance. Focus groups were used to collect data from direct service staff and executive leadership from diverse agencies. This study examined the words and stories, generating the following overarching themes: (1) dedication to agency model and communities served; (2) compensation and responsibilities; (3) reality of work-life balance; and (4) desire for professional growth and personal growth. The results show that while employees expressed personal fulfillment with their work, the issues of compensation, workload, …

2024 State Of New Hampshire Child Care Market Rate Study And Narrow Cost Analysis Final Report, New Hampshire Department Of Health And Human Services, Brodsky Research And Consulting

New Hampshire Early Care and Education Research Consortium

The State of New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services initiated the Child Care Market Rate Survey and Narrow Cost Analysis in compliance with federal regulations to ensure equal access to child care for Child Care Assistance Program eligible families. This report provides insights into child care market rates and the actual costs of delivering high-quality care in New Hampshire, supporting informed decisions on subsidy rates.

Understanding Tax Progressivity As A Mechanism Of Gender Difference In Tax Payment Patterns And Post-Tax Income, Morgan A. Richards-Melamdir

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Gender difference in taxation is generally understudied. However, existing scholarship, largely country case studies, suggests men pay higher tax rates where income tax progressivity is higher, due to their higher average income. Men’s higher rates should then increase gender equality in income post-tax. However, many rich countries reduced income tax progressivity starting in the 1980s-90s during “taxing for economic growth” reforms, including over half of the high income countries included in this study. These changes have previously unexplored implications for the extent to which the current (versus past) tax systems of rich countries reduce, leave unaffected, or compound gender disparities …

The Hidden Struggle: Challenges Older Women Face In Nevada, Annie Vong

Student Research

In 2020, almost one in five Nevadans was over the age of 65.[1] However, within this age group, women outnumber men due to longer life expectancies[2] and migration patterns. Women over 65 years of age make up an estimated 18.1% of the female population in Nevada.[3] Of the male population in Nevada, 15.1% are over 65 years of age.[4] Older women are less likely to be married, are less likely to have completed a bachelor’s degree, are more likely to drop out of the labor force, and are more likely to be living in poverty in …

Women’S Work, Child Poverty, Collective Action And The 1936 Employment Act Recalling Rosie Hackett, Kathleen Lynn, Muriel Gahan, Bob Collis And Hilda Tweedy, Anne Murphy

Level 3

No abstract provided.

Governance And Islam In East Africa: Muslims And The State In Kenya And Tanzania, Farouk Topan, Kai Kresse, Erin E. Stiles, Hassan Mwakimako

Exploring Muslim Contexts

Explores the relationship between Muslim communities and the State in East Africa in political, institutional and legal contexts

• Focuses on the relationship between Muslims and the State in Kenya and Tanzania
• Asks which factors, both within and outside the Muslim community, shape and affect this relationship in contemporary times
• Presents 13 case studies exploring governance issues within and across the categories of politics, institutions and law in Kenya and Tanzania
• Identifies cross-cutting issues of governance and Muslim communities which are relevant beyond East Africa

Recent studies of Muslims in Kenya and Tanzania have tended either to examine governance of Muslims …

Impact Of Medicaid Redetermination On Underserved Populations In Region 7 States: A Review, Brianna Parr

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

When the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency ended in May of 2023, Medicaid began the process of redetermination across the states and returned to its original eligibility rules. Because of this, the healthcare status of many Americans was affected, resulting in the loss of healthcare coverage for millions of people. Of those who have lost coverage, children make up almost half of the total. This paper assesses the negative effects of Medicaid redetermination on children and other underserved populations in communities across the four states in Region 7 (Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas) and identifies programs that these states can implement …

Reaping What We Sow: The Implications And Outcomes Of Mississippi House Bill 1125, The “Regulate Experimental Adolescent Procedures (Reap)” Act, Kerigan Brewer

Honors Theses

Mississippi House Bill 1125 (MS HB1125), also known as the “Regulate Experimental Adolescent Procedures (REAP) Act,” was signed into law by Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves in early 2023 (REAP Act, 2023). It is one of multiple policies passed into law that limit the rights of transgender people. This thesis aims to clarify the history of the trans community, dispel myths around gender-affirming health care and the trans identity, and discuss the current state of anti-trans laws and transgender rights. Using a policy analysis framework by DiNitto (2011), MS HB1125 is analyzed on points like its social and economic costs, the …

Community Conversations, John S. Watson Institute For Urban Policy And Research, Barbara George Johnson, Karl Weiskopf

Center for Urban Policy Research

In the winter and spring of 2023, the John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University, in partnership with New Jersey Legislative Black Caucus, under the leadership of the Honorable Assemblywoman Shavonda E. Sumter, hosted a series of community conversations to bolster the statewide urban policy agenda on collaborative, evidence-informed solutions to prevent and reduce violence in urban centers and for all New Jerseyans.

These conversations were held at Kean University in Union Township and in four member cities of the New Jersey Urban Mayors Association (NJUMA): Atlantic City, Bridgeton, Camden, and Trenton. Additionally, we facilitated …

Pyramid Model Family Engagement Survey Results​ ​, George Tremblay, Pyramid Model Consortium

New Hampshire Early Care and Education Research Consortium

The Pyramid Model State Leadership Team Data and Evaluation Workgroup developed a Family Engagement Survey to collect data that it hoped would inform the State’s and individual programs’ improvement efforts. In March 2024, the Family Engagement Survey was emailed to 40 NH child care programs on the Granite Steps for Quality Pyramid Model Pathway. These Program Directors were asked to share the survey with families.

Containerization Of Seafarers In The International Shipping Industry: Contemporary Seamanship, Maritime Social Infrastructures, And Mobility Politics Of Global Logistics, Liang Wu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation discusses the mobility politics of container shipping and argues that technological development, political-economic order, and social infrastructure co-produce one another. Containerization, the use of standardized containers to carry cargo across modes of transportation that is said to have revolutionized and globalized international trade since the late 1950s, has served to expand and extend the power of international coalitions of states and corporations to control the movements of commodities (shipments) and labor (seafarers). The advent and development of containerization was driven by a sociotechnical imaginary and international social contract of seamless shipping and cargo flows. In practice, this liberal, …

The Role Of Mayors In Achieving Brunei Darussalam’S Wawasan 2035, Lessons From China, Brice Tseen Fu Lee, Ayidana Asihaer, Juan Pablo Sims

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

Brunei Darussalam's national vision, WAWASAN 2035, sets forth ambitious goals for the nation's development, emphasizing a centralized governance paradigm. However, the potential of decentralized governance, as exemplified by China's mayor-led districts, offers a compelling model for achieving national aspirations. This research explores the feasibility and potential benefits of introducing mayors in Brunei's districts, drawing insights from China's successful decentralized governance structure. By fostering inter-district competition and allowing for localized policy tailoring, Brunei can enhance its adaptability and responsiveness to local nuances. Drawing from China's experiences, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of how Brunei might optimize its governance structure to …

Homeownership And Mortgage Loans: How Important Is A Conventional Loan?, Zachary Owen, Cory Curl

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Communities across the United States face a housing crisis that stems in part from a scarcity of conventional home mortgage loans. In 2020, the Urban Institute reported that when applying for a mortgage, Black applicants were denied 27.1% of the time, yet White applicants were denied only 13.6% of the time. These denial rates are highly correlated with homeownership rates. Today, despite policy efforts, the difference in White and Black homeownership rates is higher than in the 1960s when the government enforced discriminatory housing policy.

Because lenders often cite credit score concerns and high debt-to-income ratios as rationales to deny …

Exploring The Factors That Influence Female Offending In The U.S. And Mexico, Dana Villasenor

CMC Senior Theses

Hollywood has painted a picture of the criminal woman as a sexy, sneaky, and often psychotic female fatale. This is because men run Hollywood. Much like movies, research on why women offend had historically focused on men as their stellar. However, towards the turn of the century and with the disproportionate rise in female incarceration, literature caught up to the fact that women and men do not experience the same socialization, standards, or reality and, therefore, have different reasons for and ways of offending. This research explores those reasons for women in the U.S. and Mexico and paints the picture …

Florida’S Most Recent Anti-Transgender Political Policies And Their Effects On Transgender Adults, Jaron A. Sanchez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

During May of 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed multiple bills into law, which included House Bill 1521, Senate Bill 1580, and Senate Bill 254. Critics have regarded these bills to directly discriminate against transgender individuals and negatively impact their quality of life. The main research question this project seeks to answer is what impact these bills have, if any, on transgender individuals who live in the state of Florida. This includes experiences that negatively impact quality of life outcomes and mental health disparities. An online survey of a small sample of the population that self identifies as transgender, that …

Protecting Foreign Victims Of Trafficking In Iceland: An Interpretive Analysis Of Policy Efforts, Hlin Saethorsdottir

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Social justice and human rights are fundamental principles of social work. Today’s globalized world requires social workers to expand their local perspectives and to be alert to the negative sides of globalization, such as trafficking in person (TIP), which affects all countries around the world. TIP is a severe form of exploitation and a grave human rights violation (Jones et al., 2007). Iceland has been categorized as a transit and destination country for foreign victims who are mainly trafficked for sexual and labor exploitation (U.S. Department of State, 2016b).

Although much has been written on TIP, some scholars have pointed …

The Permanence Of Racism In Tennessee Public Schools, Jarral Yokley

Dissertations

The qualitative case study exposed the permanence of racism beginning in the antebellum public schools of Nashville and continued in the current actions in the Tennessee legislature with the expulsion of two Black male legislators. Critical race theory is used as the main descriptor for the actions of White politicians and legislators in Tennessee who continue the oppressive treatment of Black people in the state of Tennessee.

White members of the Tennessee legislature have attempted to strategically continue white supremacy in their decision to display a depiction of one of the most deplorable, racists in the history of the state …

Analysis Of The Feasibility Of Universal Basic Income In Colombia: A Grounded Theory Study, Johanna S. Acuña Gómez, Wilson G. Jiménez-Barbosa, Juan S. Hernández Monsalve

The Qualitative Report

This paper shows the results of research conducted with the objective of knowing the perceptions of people in Colombia about the possibility of receiving a universal basic income, which does not exist thus far in the country. The research question was: how do the social perceptions of Colombians about receiving a UBI allow them to understand the possibilities of developing a public policy that guarantees it? A qualitative methodology of grounded theory was applied by conducting 37 in-depth interviews with adults of all socioeconomic levels, all educational levels and productive working age. The information obtained was coded. The resultant main …

Public-Private Partnerships (Ppp) In Technical Education: The Case Of Egypt’S Applied Technology Schools (Ats), Youstina Magdy

Theses and Dissertations

Technical education is a form of education that gained momentum in the 1800s and was considered as a parallel distinct model to general education by the post-war period. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) were one of the scaling up and enhancement efforts of technical education. In Egypt, the technical secondary education system has various school models; however, it was until 2018, when we first see the implementation of an PPP model with the establishment of the Applied Technology Schools (ATS). ATS schools aim at supplying the labor market with experienced skillful competent graduates in the demanded sectors in the Egyptian labor market, …

Emotional Distress During Covid-19 By Mental Health Conditions And Economic Vulnerability: Retrospective Analysis Of Survey-Linked Twitter Data With A Semisupervised Machine Learning Algorithm, Michiko Ueda-Ballmer, Kohei Watanabe, Hajime Sueki

Center for Policy Design and Governance

The brief summarizes "Emotional Distress During COVID-19 by Mental Health Conditions and Economic Vulnerability: Retrospective Analysis of Survey-Linked Twitter Data With a Semisupervised Machine Learning Algorithm," co-authored by Michiko Ueda-Ballmer, Kohei Watanabe, and Hajime Sueki in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

Research On The Influence Of Policy Factors On The Development Of Science And Technology Innovation In Chinese Cities Based On Text Analysis And Regression Analysis, Shujin Cao, Libao Sun, Ruye Cao

Journal of Scientific Information Research

[Purpose/significance]Exploring the policy factors those influence the development of scientific and technological innovation is of great significance to constantly improve the scientific and technological innovation policy system, stimulate innovation vitality and promote economic and social development.[Method/process]Based on the theory of scientific and technological innovation environment and innovation ecosystem, a model of policy factors influencing the development of scientific and technological innovation is constructed. Then, 300 domestic cities at prefecture level and above are selected as samples, and the external characteristics of policy texts, such as the number of policies and publishing institutions, as well as the content characteristics of policy …

Developing The Food Navigator Role At Everyone's Harvest, Chase Rodriguez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Everyone’s Harvest (EH) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that operates farmers’ markets. In order to reduce hunger in Monterey County, Everyone's Harvest offers several food assistance programs for low-income people including the Market Match (MM) incentive program which matches CalFresh money, modern day food stamps, dollar for dollar. The problem is that in Monterey County 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 3 children are food insecure. The purpose of the Food Navigator (FN) at EH is to engage with the local community and connect low-income people with food assistance resources, primarily the MM program. This project was a role development …