Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 30-05, Section: A, page: 2177. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1969.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University OF MICHIGAN.

<p>The study will begin by identifying various types of maltreatment that are committed against some of our Nation's youth while simultaneously assessing the physical, psychosocial and emotional symptoms associated with exposure to these horrible acts. Despite the incremental increase in government funding for the creation of various social service programs and services, this problem has stretched over time and its negative impact continues to drastically change the fragile lives of these at-risk youth. The bulk of this study is dedicated to analyzing what our government is currently doing to help prevent the occurrence and recurrence of abuse and neglect among these very valuable but inherently vulnerable young members of our society. </p><p> In order to gain a better understanding of how effective current practices, programs, and services are in addressing this issue, it is necessary to evaluate what the state and federal government is doing to prevent and hopefully eradicate these crimes perpetrated against children. Although this problem(s) had already been identified for decades, it wasn't until 2004 that a comprehensive evaluation of these social service agencies tasked to perform these preventive measures and restoration services was conducted. This evaluation known as the Child and Family Services Reviews and the instrument used to drive this process are scrutinized for their usefulness, practicality, validity, and reliability while focusing on ways to improve current practices. In the end, this study should serve as a recipe for implementing changes that will help to improve current evaluation practices, not only in states like New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia that were included in this study, but every county in all fifty states as well as Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. </p>

<p> Low birth weight is a global health problem, especially in developing countries. Approximately 16% of all new-borns in developing countries were born with low birth weight. Motivated by this troublesome fact, this research evaluates policies that target maternal and children's health in low-resource settings. The following three essays analyze community-based and household-based health interventions. Program evaluation is important to inform future policy, and more importantly, to compare policies in order to determine the most effective strategies to improve birth outcomes in developing countries. Indonesia has implemented both community-based and household-based interventions. The three essays in this research evaluate the following three programs. The first two essays evaluate two recent programs: a household-based program, <i>Program Keluarga Harapan</i> (PKH), and a community-based program, <i>PNPM Generasi Sehat dan Cerdas</i> (<i>Generasi </i>). The third essay evaluates the 'Midwife in the Village' (<i> Bidan di Desa</i>) program. The 'Midwife in the Village' program is a community-based program that was implemented in the 1980s to provide each village with a trained midwife to provide prenatal care and delivery assistance. The other two programs, PKH and <i>Generasi</i>, were piloted in 2007. PKH is a household Conditional Cash-Transfer (CCT) program, while<i> Generasi</i>, functions a community CCT program; the community CCT program provides villages with block grants to fund activities that promote health and education. </p><p> The first essay analyzes the effects of Indonesia's household CCT program on the price and quality of health care services, and how these changes affect poor households. In this paper, I focus on price changes in the health care market because it is directly affected by the program and health care providers may increase prices in response to increased demand. The program is associated with higher utilization of health care, driven by increased utilization among the poor, who also experience higher quality of care. The quality improvement in the target population is driven by increased utilization, and not an improvement in quality at the local health care market. In response to the demand shock from the CCT program, I find a price increase in sub-districts that are randomized into treatment, which suggests the importance of supply response in demand-side interventions. </p><p> The second essay compares the relative effectiveness of household CCT and community CCT programs in improving birth outcomes in similar communities. Both programs have been shown to improve health-seeking behavior, but it has not been established whether these indicators translate into improved birth outcomes. To select comparable communities, the sample is restricted to areas with similar characteristics using propensity score matching. Under matching, both programs increase health seeking behavior, but there is no significant change in low birth weight. However, the household CCT program reduces preterm birth. The matching estimates suggest that the targeted household CCT program is more effective in improving birth outcomes than the broad community-based program, even though both programs improve health-seeking behavior. </p><p> The third essay analyzes the impact of the 'Midwife in the Village' program in rural Indonesia. In this essay, I extend earlier research by Frankenberg and Thomas (FT, 2001) on the effect of gaining a midwife in the village. FT find improvements in women's health status and birth weight. Using additional data, this essay estimates the longer term effect of midwife presence and the effect of losing the village midwife after the 1998 financial crisis. The effects of gaining a midwife are qualitatively similar to FT's estimates, but they are not statistically significant, which suggests that the program effects diminish over time. I find that losing a midwife has no statistically significant effect on women's health status or low birth weight. These results suggest that the program was effective in maintaining the health status of rural communities.</p>

<p>Abstract In this thesis, I draw on qualitative research collected through a California food bank's CalFresh outreach program to examine barriers to SNAP participation. Drawing on ethnographic methodology, I conducted participant observation, semi-structured interviews, phone surveys and numerous informal interviews in order to develop a client narrative around the application process. Through this research I explored the obstacles and barriers clients must overcome to enroll and maintain enrollment in CalFresh. My research findings revealed there are numerous barriers to participation. Some barriers are a result of being a vulnerable low-income individual or household, while others are a result of program administration or service delivery. My research also revealed that having a community based advocate or CBO intermediary significantly improved the client experience. Having assistance and an advocate throughout the application process improved the application experience as well as retention in the program. Keywords: Keywords: CalFresh Participation, SNAP, food stamps, CalFresh outreach, food bank outreach

<p> In this analysis, we use National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey data to investigate whether the adoption of the ambulatory electronic health records (EHR) system is associated with changes in patient-specific health education prescription rates, patient-physician interaction time, and returned appointment rates. We estimate the treatment effect of EHR adoption with multinomial propensity score weighting adjusted regressions. We find evidence to suggest that full EHR adoption positively affects patient-specific health education prescription rates. We find no robust evidence to show a significant effect of the EHR system on time utilization or returned appointment rates. We discuss possible reasons for our findings. We recommend linking patient education with quality improvement efforts and improving the usability of EHR systems.</p>

<p> In public policy literature, there is a lack of research that integrates social construction theory within the advocacy coalition framework, and far less is known about how these theories address policy change and processes related to programs for disabled veterans.The purpose of this study was to conduct a policy analysis to evaluate how well the needs of veterans are met through the U.S. Veterans' Disability Compensation (USVDC) program. In a case study of a city in the southeastern U.S., gaps between formulation and implementation of USVDC policy were examined. The theoretical frameworks used in this study were Hacker's formulation and implementation gap to analyze policy, Schneider and Ingram's conceptualization of social construction, and Sabatier and Weible's advocacy coalition framework. The central research question for this study explored the extent to which the USVDC program meets the needs of disabled veterans (DVs). Data consisting of over 355 USVDC formulation and implementation documents, from March 2007 through August 2013, were coded using a priori codes and content analysis methodology.Findings indicate the USVDC policy subsystem struggled to manage the claims backlog that grew to over one million claims. Between April 2013 and September 2013, an emphasis to reduce the claims backlog improved stalled policy formulation, resulting in a shift to positive social constructions for DVs.Implications for positive social change include improved collaboration between policy makers, the Veterans' Administration, and recently transitioned target group DVs, to reshape policy formulation and implementation to further improve the quality of life for sick and injured veterans when entering the USVDC policy subsystem.</p>

<p> Policies aimed at economic development can be judged by two criteria: efficiency and equity. Policies that result in both greater efficiency and greater equity lead to shared economic prosperity for a region. The innovation economy includes some of the fastest growing industries which generate new wealth in the U.S. Within this context, the life sciences industry has been a prime target for economic development for individual states. This case study examines the economic development agenda in the Massachusetts life sciences industry and whether these efforts result in both sustaining competitive advantage (i.e., continuous innovation that improves productivity and product and service quality) and supporting greater equity&mdash;particularly equality of opportunity and a fair distribution of outcomes. In addition to examining how economic development supports sustained competitive advantage, the study focuses on the extent to which equity goals are defined, implemented, and realized by employers and stakeholders in this fast growing sector. </p><p> This case study design employs both quantitative and qualitative methods, between 2000 and 2010. I find that the life sciences industries in Massachusetts have sustained competitive advantage with growth and concentration intensifying in the second half of the decade. Growth in the life sciences has benefited the highest skilled workers, but left many others behind. Industry concentration in downstream operations (e.g., manufacturing and clinical trials), which is thought to benefit mid-skilled workers, has not been realized in Massachusetts. However, there is some evidence that economic benefits are spreading. Growth has concentrated not only in the Boston-Cambridge core, but also in the Worcester I-495 region. Although women and minorities have been underrepresented in the innovation economy, they have had greater access to employment opportunities in the life sciences when compared to other high tech sectors. </p><p> In the interest of supporting equity goals in economic development, possible policy solutions are numerous. Growth in the life sciences sector results in increased state tax revenues. This increase in revenue is more than sufficient to cover existing economic development efforts and might also cover initiatives in the local services sector and increase initiatives that address workforce diversity.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University OF MICHIGAN.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University OF MICHIGAN.