Risk assessment is ‘risky business’ when we consider that it is based on the individual values, knowledge, experience and personality of thousands of unique social workers throughout the Country. And, combined with the personalities, charisma, charm and manipulative capacities of families we essentially have nothing but a bunch of checklists or ticky boxes. I would argue that the very structure of the organizational capacity to effect change with families in crisis is as senseless as it is useless: We cannot apply a systematized set of procedures, guidelines and solutions to the human condition. People are not mechanical, they are not engines that contain in similar fashion, parts and pieces that can be replaced or even understood. They are unique, they are complex, they contain immeasurable differences in their thinking, doing and believing: They can apply rules, values, and experiences to manipulate, charm, and confuse workers. So, just how do we prescribe a methodology to the madness of crisis? How do we ensure that outcomes are based on a thorough, thoughtful and critical analysis of each and every family who comes to the attention of the child protection authorities and ensure safety while protecting the child’s right to remain in the biological family home? We have created complexity within the systems that manage us and have thereby made insignificant the significance of human work. What is needed is a complete restructuring of the systems we work within; the way we work, the way we think and the way we approach our understanding of risk and safety. But considering the depth of practice this would need to reach, the number of workers that would have to change, the belief systems, social systems, bureaucracy and barriers that would have to be overcome, we need to ask, “is this possible?” Can we successfully implement a change of such magnitude in child protection practice today? The purpose of this research is to support organizations, regions and even entire provinces across Canada in their pursuit of change within the child protection field. It is based on the premise that child protection reforms of the past have ill-addressed the needs of children and families; the deficit based frameworks utilized until recent years have often left families broken and helpless in the struggle to keep their children at home. This study will take an in-depth look at the historical context of social work highlighting the need for systemic, organizational and legislative change while identifying a process for successful implementation of the Signs of Safety practice framework by first exposing the indicators of success. Utilizing an auto-ethnographical methodology grounded in the critical race theory I will provide my personal experiences working within organizations, the successes, the challenges and the barriers to change of this magnitude. / Graduate / hebditchconsulting@gmail.com

Class of 2016 Abstract / Objectives: To determine the prevalence and incidence of community pharmacies not vaccinating children down to six years of age and to identify the reasons for non-compliance with Arizona State Board administrative rule R4-23-411. Subjects: 103 community retail pharmacies from six corporations in the Tucson metropolitan area established by December 2014. Methods: Funnel questionnaire administered via phone call to collect pharmacist response if he or she would vaccinate a six-year-old child; data for reasons why he or she would or would not vaccinate and gender of pharmacist was also collected. Results: Responses were collected from 103 pharmacists (male n = 55, female n = 48). 87% (n =90) of pharmacies stated they would not vaccinate a six-year-old, while 13% (n =13) would vaccinate. The rationale for not vaccinating varied from corporate policy (45%) to state law (37%). Conclusions: The majority of six retail pharmacy chains in Tucson, Arizona are not vaccinating down to six-years old, although Arizona administrative amendments allow pharmacists to do so. More pharmacies that would choose not to vaccinate may be related to a better understanding of corporate policies versus state administrative rule change.

English language education in Brazilian private school systems is undergoing changes. Several school systems have opted for the implementation of an American high school curriculum using a Content-based Instruction (CBI) or Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) curricular framework within which students apply their language skills to learning subject specific academic content. High School International (HSI) is one of the providers of a CLIL curriculum. In this descriptive case study of the implementation of the HSI CLIL curriculum in a private boarding school in the Southeast of Brazil respective stakeholders were interviewed and their experiences have been described and analyzed. Certain critical aspects have been identified. Involvement of the school principal and administration is one of the key ingredients of a successful implementation. Planning the implementation months in advance, such as preparing the curriculum, course outlines, and schedules, training of teachers, staff, and academic coordinator, definitely eases the whole process.

This thesis deals with project management and methodologies for information systems implementation, particularly for IS of SAP AG. The first part of the work describes basic problems of project management and introduces certain project management methodologies. ASAP and ASAP Focus methodologies are described in more detail. The second part of this work uses these fundamentals to analyze frequent problems on projects of real company that implements pre-customized IS of SAP AG. Solutions for these problems are proposed and a brief methodology is created as a result of the work.

Prevention scientists have called for more research on the factors affecting the implementation of substance use prevention programs. Given the lack of literature in this area, coupled with evidence that children as early as elementary school engage in substance use, the purpose of this study was to identify the factors that influence the implementation of substance use prevention programs in elementary schools. This study involved a mixed methods approach comprised of a survey and in-person interviews. Sixty-five guidance counselors and teachers completed the survey, and 9 guidance counselors who completed the survey were interviewed individually. Correlation analyses and hierarchical multiple regression were conducted. Quantitative findings revealed ease of implementation most frequently influenced program implementation, followed by beliefs about the program’s effectiveness. Qualitative findings showed curriculum modification as an important theme, as well as difficulty of program implementation. The in-person interviews also shed light on three interrelated themes influencing program implementation – The Wheel, time, and scheduling. Results indicate the majority of program providers modified the curriculum in some way. Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed, and areas for future research are suggested.

The objective of this paper is to develop a well-defined and sound framework for the implementation of a multi-participant GIS program and to illustrate the developed framework by its application to the Departments of the Town of Blacksburg. A multi-participant approach to implementing GIS technology faces greater challenges than a single-participant GIS project, due to the unique culture, structure, policy, decision-making rule and expectations of participants from implementation of GIS technology. So a successful program depends upon aligning different characteristics of the program's structure to those of participants, individually and collectively. Maximizing the system's potentials necessitates a well-defined implementation framework that can help manage changes and integrate the technology in organizations. Therefore, the paper focuses on the implementation aspects of multi-participant GIS programs. The paper achieves its objective by exploring various issues involved in the implementation process of GIS technology and multi-participant GIS programs, develops a framework for implementing a multi-participant GIS program and applies the framework to the Departments of the Town of Blacksburg to achieve successful implementation. The illustration of the Town of Blacksburg identifies various constraints for multi-participant GIS program for which recommendations are provided to achieve successful implementation. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

The Internet has successfully served the world for more than three decades, while limitations and drawbacks still exist. A lot of researches have been done on innovation of Internet to address those inadequacies. One approach to improve Internet performance is to make choice as a principle in network architecture. We believe that a service-based network architecture with choice, or we call it ChoiceNet, is the most suitable option for future Internet. In this thesis, we design and implement a network service marketplace. Due to the flexibility and functionality of web application, the marketplace is implemented by a web application to fulfill functions such as storing and searching network services, handling actual financial transaction and interacting with client and service planner.

This study aimed to create a holistic understanding of the physician experience in relation to telemedicine. This study examined a Tele-NICU and a Tele-ER program at a large metropolitan pediatric specialty hospital with a Level IV NICU that provides telemedicine consults to 16 remote sites across Texas. Twenty-four semi-structured interviews were conducted with physicians and nurses at remote hospitals, physicians who provide consultations from the pediatric specialty hospital, and managers of the tele-specialty programs. These interviews were coded using the consolidated framework for implementation science to contextualize program strengths and weaknesses and reviewed to make recommendations for future program development. Remote site participants reported that the programs are useful when they are in need a second opinion and providing reassurance to patient's families. Barriers to program use include issues with the tele-carts, insurance acceptance, and hesitation to request a consult. Study findings demonstrate the need to treat each tele-specialty programs as independent to suit the differing needs of both remote sites and the consulting physicians. This study demonstrates the importance of understanding physician's perspectives, culture, and the role of hospital settings in telemedicine program acceptance and refutes telemedicine as a monolithic solution to limited healthcare access.

The thesis is focused on the description of the method for the selection of the information system for the company KOPS spol. Ltd. The work is based on theoretical knowledge for a proper understanding of the issue. In the next part, an analysis of the current state of the company is performed, while monitoring the factors influencing the company and especially the information system. The last part describes the procedure for selecting a system and the possibilities of its implementation to the company.

The diploma thesis deals with the implementation of a Business Intelligence solution for the endowment fund helping with debt relief for people and thus replaces the current process of manually created reports. The main goal of this solution is to bring to the endowment fund the opportunity to make faster and better decisions, as well as many other benefits associated with Business Intelligence.