Texas houses the largest number of school-aged individuals with intellectual disabilities in state-administered institutions than any other state in the nation. Despite current conditions of legal and procedural constraints on such placements, the number of admissions of school-aged individuals has been increasing in recent years. Prior to conducting this study, a review of literature was completed, which provided an historical overview of the care for people with intellectual disabilities, the damaging effects of institutionalization in all areas of child development, and the reasons for placement of children with intellectual disabilities in institutions was completed. The purpose of the study was to gain an understanding of the decision-making processes involved in the placement of individuals under the age of 22 in Texas state supported living centers and the community services determined as necessary. Surveys were distributed to five groups of individuals who are typically involved in the decision-making process: parents of current residents under age 22 of state supported living centers, Local Authority interdisciplinary team members, local Community Resource Coordination Group interagency members, local County Judges, and the Directors of the state supported living centers. A sixth group surveyed included parents who sought placement for their child in the institution, but accepted Medicaid waiver-funded community-based services instead. Although the families expressed a strong commitment to keep their family member at home as long as possible, the results indicate that the Local Authority for intellectual disability services influences the majority of families' decisions to place their child in the institution as well as a severe lack of appropriate, adequate and accessible community-based services to meet the needs of families. Both parent groups rated improved public school and personal attendant services as the most necessary for the prevention of out-of-home placement. The availability of behavior supports and respite services were viewed by both the parents and the professionals as important in preventing out-of-home placement. / text

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if students have earned more STARS articulated and transferrable hours since the creation of the STARS program than students did before the existence of the program in the state of Alabama. Study results revealed that the STARS program has had a significant impact on the amount of articulated credit hours students have earned since the creation of the STARS program. Additional variables such as ethnicity, gender, GPA, status, and student type were also used to determine if significant differences existed among these variables in students completing STARS-approved hours. Pre-existing data were used as the data source for the study. Non-identifiable, academic transcripts of 240 randomly selected associate degree graduates from Shelton State Community College were used in the study. Study years included 20 randomly selected students from each pre STARS chosen year (1992-1997) and from each post STARS (2002-2007) year for a total of 240 study graduates. Results of the statistical analysis were presented in both narrative and table form, answering the six research questions. The independent variable for the study was the STARS articulation program. The dependent variable for the study was the number of STARS-approved hours completed. An analysis of variance or ANOVA was used to analyze data. The study concludes with study summary, conclusions, implications, and recommendations for further research.

This project examines the role of immunization registries and their effect on a health care delivery system. Recent efforts to attain coverage of child populations by recommended vaccines have included initiatives by federal and state agencies, as well as private foundations, to develop and implement statewide community-based childhood immunization registries.

For many years, community colleges that chose to offer community college baccalaureate (CCB) programs were looked upon in a negative light (Rice, 2015). However, as the need for specialized baccalaureates within specific fields and job markets have continued to grow (McKee, 2005), CCB programs are becoming more widely accepted throughout the United States. In spite of this paradigm shift, Mississippi is one of the remaining states that have not embraced the idea of CCB programs, in spite of its statistical deficiency in regards to baccalaureate degree holding citizens (Williams, 2010). The focus of this study was to explore the perceptions of community college administrators in Mississippi with regards to the influence of CCB programs to the community college mission of institutions in their state. This study indicates that administrators in Mississippi recognize the benefits of offering CCB programs, but do not want CCB programs to take away from the well-established statewide higher education system through mission creep. Many of the strong position statements received overwhelmingly neutral responses. In contrast, Administrators who chose to give their opinion indicated that they are not familiar with how CCB programs are implemented, and do not believe that Mississippi is ready for CCB programs across the state. However, respondents felt that the community college mission is always evolving, should meet students’ needs, and varies from location to location. The findings also show that administrators are favorable to the piloting of CCB programs at a few (1-2) institutions, even though they believe the programs will take funding away from current programs and do not want community colleges evolving into 4-year institutions. The study also concludes that there is a significant difference between institution size and survey questions #18 and #20. There is also a significant difference between length of time in the community college sector and survey questions #15, #17, and #18.