Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-109).

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

This dissertation examines the effect of regulations, resource and referral agencies, and subsidies on price and quality of care in child care centers. This research is based on a carefully developed conceptual framework that incorporates the factors affecting the demand and supply of child care. The first step in developing this framework is sketching out the structural equations. The structural equations help us understand the underlying behavior of individuals and firms making a decision. The exogenous variables are vector of attributes relating to family characteristics, child characteristics, regulations, subsidy, community characteristics and prices of inputs. Based on the structural equations, reduced form equations are estimated to find the effect of each of the exogenous variables on each of the endogenous variables. Reduced form equations help us answer public policy questions. The sample for this study is from the 1990 Profile of Child Care Settings (PCCS) data in which 2,089 center based programs were interviewed. Child/Staff Ratio (Group Level): Results indicate that among subsidies, only the state subsidy per child in poverty has a significant effect on the child/staff ratio at the group level. Presence of resource and referral agencies also increase the child/staff ratio at the group level. Also when the maximum center group size regulation for 25-36 months becomes more stringent, the child/staff ratio at the group level decreases. Child/Staff Ratio (Center Level): When the regulations for the maximum child/staff ratio for age groups 13-24 months and 37-60 months become lax, the child/staff ratio for the center increases. As the regulation for maximum group size for infants becomes stringent, the child/staff ratio decreases. An interesting finding is that as the regulations for maximum group size for age groups 13-24 months and 25-36 months become stringent, the child/staff ratio for the center increases. Another significant finding is that when a center is located in a rural area the child/staff ratio is significantly lower. Center Weighted Average Hourly Fees: Maximum group size regulations for age groups 25-36 months and 37-60 months have a negative effect on center hourly fee. Maximum child staff regulations for age groups 13-24 months and 37-60 months have a negative effect on center hourly fee. Maximum child staff regulations for age groups 0-12 months and 25-36 months have a positive effect on center hourly fee. Findings also indicate that the center average hourly price is lower when there is a resource and referral agency present. Cost adjusted prekindergarten funds and JOBS child care subsidies have a negative effect on average hourly fee. Cost adjusted social services block grant and state subsidy per child in poverty have a positive effect on the average hourly price. A major finding of this dissertation is the interaction of subsidy and regulatory variables. Another major finding is that child/staff ratio at the group level is lower when there is an interaction between geographic location and nature of center sponsorship.

The dissertation takes a multivariate approach to answer the question of how applicant age, after controlling for other variables, affects employment success in a public organization. In addition to applicant age, there are five other categories of variables examined: organization/applicant variables describing the relationship of the applicant to the organization; organization/position variables describing the target position as it relates to the organization; episodic variables such as applicant age relative to the ages of competing applicants; economic variables relating to the salary needs of older applicants; and cognitive variables that may affect the decision maker's evaluation of the applicant. An exploratory phase of research employs archival data from approximately 500 decisions made in the past three years to hire or promote applicants for positions in one public health administration organization. A logit regression model is employed to examine the probability that the variables modify the effect of applicant age on employment success. A confirmatory phase of the dissertation is a controlled experiment in which hiring decision makers from the same public organization perform a simulated hiring decision exercise to evaluate hypothetical applicants of similar qualifications but of different ages. The responses of the decision makers to a series of bipolar adjective scales add support to the cognitive component of the theoretical model of the hiring decision. A final section contains information gathered from interviews with key informants. Applicant age has tended to have a curvilinear relationship with employment success. For some positions, the mean age of the applicants most likely to succeed varies with the values of the five groups of moderating variables. The research contributes not only to the practice of public personnel administration, but is useful in examining larger public policy issues associated with an aging workforce.

The purpose of this study was to determine if the political culture of the Miami Cuban exile community was a significant factor in creating the environment that led to the 1996 fiscal crisis of the City of Miami. The study performed an ethnographic case study that utilized a triangulation strategy which included both qualitative and quantitative methods. Focus groups were conducted to ascertain qualitative and quantitative data as to differences among ethnic and generational groups regarding notions of governance, public administration practices, and overall political values and core beliefs. Quantitative data was obtained through a five year and seven month review of newspaper articles from two periodicals based in Miami-Dade County. A review was also conducted of secondary data in audit and management reports, blue ribbon commission studies, Certified Public Manager (CPM) enrollment, and legal case decisions to examine the administrative practices of the City of Miami leading up to and subsequent to its fiscal crisis. The study found that a political subculture of caudillismo was present in Cuban exile core areas of Miami that appears to have had an influence on the administrative practices and notions of governance that led to the fiscal crisis. The author concludes that an imported foreign political culture has imposed itself as a subculture in core areas of the exile community and that the operationalization of this subculture has manifested itself in non-mainstream notions of governance and public administration practices.

<p> Research has shown that child abuse is a serious public health issue that may warrant child welfare agency intervention and removal of children from their homes. Placement with kin caregivers is considered the least restrictive placement option by social workers. It has been recognized that kin caregivers require some type of formal parental training to prepare them to care for relative children. A large city implemented the Caring for Our Own training program as prelicensing training to prepare relatives for roles as kin caregivers. Prior to this study, no research had assessed whether this training program adequately addressed caregivers&rsquo; ability to adopt effective discipline practices in response to perceived child misbehavior. The purpose of the study was to examine how the Caring for Our Own prelicense training impacted kin caregivers&rsquo; use of ineffective discipline practices, as measured by change in scores on the 3 subscales of the Parenting Scale. The theoretical framework for this study was based on Ajzen&rsquo;s theory of planned behavior. One-way repeated measures ANOVA revealed no statistically significant difference in kin caregivers&rsquo; (<i>n</i> = 27) use of ineffective discipline practices as measured by the 3 subscales of the Parenting Scale over time. In light of this finding, the child welfare agency may create an evidence-based curriculum to assist in the development of competent kin caregivers. Social change to improve training and thus foster more effective responses from kin caregivers may occur within educational departments of child welfare agencies, through assessing and developing prelicensing kin caregiver training that allows for effective child behavior discipline management.</p><p>

No description available.