Public Policy Commons^™

The Rich, Lucas A. Santos

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

The rise of the super rich dramatically rose in the 1980’s. The once dominant oil and gas sector was taken over by finance and technology overall. We are able to see a rise of these super rich, or the one percent, and even how quickly they were able to recover from the 2008 Recession. Now, the one percent are making continuous substantial gains in a current world, where a pandemic has struck and many are struggling. I talk about the use of public policy in order to regain this economic gap between the one percent and the rest of the …

The Waterfall Crisis, Guiliana G. Grisaffi

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

While the Earth’s surface is 71% covered in water, that does not mean that one day all our water could be gone. The current global water crisis is not just a water crisis-it is a waterfall crisis. One wicked, terrible problem that leads to many other wicked problems, a waterfall crisis. Millions of women and young girls are taken out of work and school and instead forced to collect and gather fresh water for their families. Children are suffering from irreversible health consequences from toxic, contaminated water, an example of a health consequence is a lower IQ from lead poisoning. …

Breaking The Cycle: Interrupting Generational Incarceration In Maine, Jillian Foley Mppm, Erica King Msw, Casey Benner

Justice Policy

Parental incarceration is a known Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) which affects a large number of children nationwide. Research shows that children who experience parental incarceration are more at risk for trauma, mental health problems, and juvenile justice system involvement. The goal of this report was to further our understanding of the scale of parental incarceration and the impact on the children in Maine. This report provides a snapshot of the number of children who were impacted by parental incarceration in the state system over a 5-year period (2015-2020). The findings show that for the majority of these parents, there is …

Charter School Funding: Inequity Surges In The Cities, Corey A. Deangelis, Patrick Wolf, Larry Maloney, Jay F. May

School Choice Demonstration Project

Public charter schools increasingly are part of both the national conversation about education policy and the local urban scene in America. Previous studies of public charter schools have examined their achievement effects focused on both the state and metropolitan levels, and funding disparities focused on the state levels. This report is the latest update to a series of studies of funding inequities concentrating on revenue disparities between charters and traditional public schools where charters are most common: metropolitan areas across the country. The 18 urban areas that primarily inform our study include Atlanta, Boston, Camden, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, …

Standardising Beneficiary Definitions In Humanitarian Mine Action (2nd Ed.), Danchurchaid, Danish Demining Group, The Halo Trust, Humanity And Inclusion, Mines Advisory Group, Norwegian People's Aid, Swiss Foundation For Demining

Global CWD Repository

This document lays out standard definitions and guidelines for measuring recording and reporting beneficiary numbers for EORE, land release, victim assistance and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) spot tasks. The guidelines do not include beneficiary definitions for the two remaining mine action pillars: advocacy and stockpile destruction.

It is hoped that this document can be used as a guide for other mine action operators donors and national authorities, to share best practice and contribute to international standards for the sector in beneficiary reporting.

Income Loss And Financial Distress During Covid-19: The Protective Role Of Liquid Assets, Stephen Roll, Mathieu Despard

Social Policy Institute Research

Nearly a quarter of U.S. households have experienced job or income losses related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Liquid assets mitigate financial distress in the face of financial shocks such as job loss, yet this relationship in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic is unknown. Using a nationally representative sample of U.S. households (N = 4,383) who completed a survey in the early days of the pandemic, we examined pre-pandemic liquid assets as a moderator of the relationship between job and income loss and difficulty meeting financial obligations and use of high-cost financial resources. Estimates from propensity score-weighted linear probability models …

The Role Of The Opioid Crisis In Elder Abuse, Kimberly I. Snow Mhsa, Jennifer Pratt, Stuart Bratesman Mpp

Disability & Aging

As the opioid crisis has deepened over the past twenty years, its effect on individuals and families, including older adults, has grown. To find out how the opioid crisis might be impacting elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation in Maine, we conducted a mixed methods analysis of 2015-2018 Maine Adult Protective Services (APS) investigations to determine: 1) Did opioid-related investigations increase over time? 2) Do investigations involving opioid misuse or abuse differ from investigations that don’t involve opioids? 3) What themes or features of cases involving opioid misuse or abuse by clients and/or perpetrators emerge from the data?

Key Findings: The …

The Future Of Policy Tools: Promises And Pitfalls, Michael Howlett, Ishani Mukherjee, Sarah Giest

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The study of policy tools has been undertaken for several decades. It has isolated and examined many different types of tools utilized by governments over the course of history and examined in detail how they are arranged into policy mixes or portfolios of tools. Recent developments in society and technology, however, have brought to the fore the possibility of using new or previously little-used tools such as platforms, co-production, nudges, as well as data-driven techniques, such as big data and artificial intelligence. These are added to the toolbox governments have at their disposal when designing policy responses to both new …

Opinions And Perceptions Of Residents In New York City Public Housing: More Findings From Household Surveys In Map Communities And Non-Map Communities. Map Evaluation Update Number 6., Gina Moreno, Jeffrey A. Butts, Hans Erickson

Publications and Research

This is the sixth of six updates presenting interim findings from the evaluation of the NYC Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety (MAP). Researchers conducted surveys of residents in housing developments operated by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), half involved in MAP and half not involved. The survey measured opinions and perceptions about public safety and resident well-being. Surveys were conducted well after the 2014 launch of MAP, but the data allowed the study to examine differences between MAP and non-MAP communities.

Pennsylvania’S Covid-19 Response Through The Homeland Security Frameworks And Research Lens – Lessons Learned, Alexander Siedschlag

Publications

• Although typically framed as a pandemic owned by the public health sector, the COVID-19 response falls directly within the homeland security mission space, whose core missions include “Ensuring Resilience to Disasters” (QHSR 2014).
• In some aspects PA’s COVID-19 response is in line with security research.
• In other dimensions, it is neither in line with what research would recommend nor with what the National Preparedness System would foresee.
• The Keystone State has yet to fully make the step from disaster to catastrophe as the characteristic challenge to U.S. emergency management in our century.

Assessment Centers, Tara Myers, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are assessment centers?

Assessment centers measure knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics by assessing participants’ responses to job-related simulations. Assessment centers can be used for hiring, placement, and career and skill development (Gaugler, Rosenthal, Thornton, and Bentson, 1987). Typically, participants complete a combination of in-basket, leaderless group discussion, role play, case analysis, and oral presentation exercises (Hoffman, Kennedy, LoPilato, Monahan, and Lance, 2015). Within each exercise, participants review job-relevant information and complete tasks. For the in-basket, participants are presented with documents (e.g., emails, memos, reports, requests—things that might be in an inbox) to which they provide responses and about …

Physician Self-Efficacy And Risk-Taking Attitudes As Determinants Of Upcoding And Downcoding Errors: An Empirical Investigation, Samantha J. Champagnie

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Physicians across the United States are burdened with the pressure of accurate coding while trying to maintain quality patient care. Despite the economic importance of coding accuracy, investigators have not reached consensus on the factors that contribute to coding errors. This study fills this gap by investigating physician characteristics that explain the variation in physician coding accuracy, specifically evaluation and management upcoding and downcoding errors. An electronic survey was distributed to 325 physicians that measured physicians’ attitudes towards risk and coding self-efficacy. Regression analysis found physicians with low self-efficacy had more conservative coding behaviors, resulting in higher incidences of downcoding. …

Milwaukee Progress Update- Identifying Barriers & Working Through Solutions, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Other QIC-WD Products

Staff voice is an important element of organizational culture, or the behavioral norms and expectations that characterize a work environment. According to the developers of the Availability Responsiveness Continuity (ARC) model, these norms and expectations direct the way employees in a particular work environment approach their work, specify priorities, and shape the way work is done. The Division of Milwaukee Child Protective Services (DMCPS) is a child welfare agency that experienced significant leadership change in recent years and, like other agencies nationwide, has struggled with a decade of staff turnover. In partnership with the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development …

Population Density Of Congressional Districts In The Mountain West, Eshaan Vakil, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

This fact sheet reports the population density of congressional districts in the Mountain West states, and the party representation in the House of Representatives for both the 2016 and 2018 general elections. This fact sheet utilizes a model from Bloomberg CityLab, the Congressional Density Index (CDI), originally published November 20, 2018.

Social Media As An Innovative Policy Tool: Lessons And Recommendations From The City Of Austin, Jayce L. Farmer, William A. Costello Jr.

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

Social media brings opportunities for local governments to innovatively engage the public to enhance service delivery. Using the City of Austin, Texas as a backdrop, we assess the Austin Police Department’s utilization of social media in its communication efforts around community policing. This assessment develops a practical model to evaluate its community policing communication policies and practices by way of social media. The findings from this assessment provide several lessons and recommendations for practitioners to use in their efforts to integrate social media into public service delivery. These lessons and recommendations drawn from this case can provide an example of …

Perspectives On Multi-Intervention, Multi-Design Evaluation For The Child Welfare Workforce, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Other QIC-WD Products

The QIC-WD is working with eight sites and the Children’s Bureau in a participatory fashion (Fetterman, 2014) to implement utilization-focused (Alkin & Vo, 2017; Patton, 2008) site-specific and cross-site evaluation strategies. The goal of this research is to build knowledge of interventions to improve child welfare workforce retention, and ultimately outcomes for children and families. A complex systems approach (Westhorp, 2012) is being taken to identify how factors such as organizational structures and culture, staff workload, supervision, and caseworker values influence outcomes, including safety and permanency of children. The QIC-WD team has extensive experience conducting rigorous evaluations within and across …

Coworker Influence, Megan Paul, Lauren Sparks

Umbrella Summaries

What is coworker influence?

Coworkers are the individuals in an organization that regularly work with a given employee, often performing similar tasks or collaborating in some way. Coworkers are typically in a similar hierarchical position in the organizational structure, differentiating them from subordinates, supervisors, or managers. Coworker influence is about how coworkers impact a given employee’s work experiences. There are two facets of coworker influence—coworker support and coworker antagonism (Chiaburu & Harrison, 2008). Coworker support is a positive influence, including desirable actions and behaviors. More specifically, there are two types of coworker support—instrumental and affective (Chiaburu & Harrison, 2008). Instrumental …

Diversifying Demography Of The Mountain West, Kelliann Beavers, Olivia K. Cheche, Vanessa Booth, Saha Salahi, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

Between 2000 and 2019, Mountain West states and metros have mirrored a nationwide trend of white populations gradually making up a smaller percentage of the total population. As a result, various race-ethnic minority groups now make up larger percentages of the total population and have contributed to increased diversification in the region. Using data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau and analyzed by William H. Frey from the Brookings Institution, this Fact Sheet focuses on the diversification and population changes in the Mountain West.

Oklahoma Progress Update - A Revised Employee Selection Process: Virtual & Paperless, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Other QIC-WD Products

“I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day, you bet on people, not on strategies.” – Lawrence Bossidy, former CEO of Honeywell International Inc. This quote is especially true for child welfare workers. Child welfare work is difficult and demanding; it requires compassion and attention to detail. Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS), in partnership with the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD), worked throughout 2018 and 2019 to create a competencybased employee selection process for Child Welfare Services (CWS) workers. Competencies are the knowledge, skills, abilities, behaviors, …

Policing In A Democratic Constitution, Michael Wasco

Indiana Journal of Constitutional Design

Most constitutions contain provisions relating to or impacting policing. Separate from the armed forces and intelligence services, the police are the state’s internal security apparatus, and codifying issues related to policing within a constitution can ensure efficient service delivery and human rights protections.

Originating from the Libyan constitution making process, this paper provides a taxonomy of options for constitution drafters and scholars. More so than other issues, such as separation of powers or human rights protections generally, policing sections are very country specific. While not advocating for specific best practices, the work gives ample justifications for certain policing principles and …