Articles on this page were developed by the
Department of Research and
Evaluation Services of the Alliance for Children and Families. Feel free to
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TABLE OF
cONTENTS:
Developmental
Disabilities [TOP]
Ethics and Research
-
How IRB’s can put the Belmont Report into Practice:
Revisiting the Concepts of Justice, Beneficence and Autonomy
[.PDF] June 2007
Proposes raising the standards that Institutional Review
Boards apply in protecting human subjects in research by
incorporating the three essential principles of the Belmont
Report: Autonomy, Justice, and Beneficence. The paper
operationalizes these principles as working steps that IRBs
can incorporate into their policies and procedures.
-
Ethical Standards and Research: An Open Letter to Alliance
CEOs [.PDF]
March 2007
Advocates a new standard of practice for human service
agencies that involve their participants in research or
experimental programs. The letter argues that ethical issues
inherent in such activities require agencies to establish
formal institutional capacity for ethical deliberation, and
is endorsed by 25 research/quality improvement directors and
12 CEOs from the Alliance network.
Evaluation
[TOP]
Health Care Delivery
[TOP]
-
Traversing A Broken Landscape: Racial Disparities in
Prenatal Health Care in Wisconsin for the Decade 1995 – 2004 [.PDF]
December 2007
Using values for the Index of Prenatal Health Care
published by the State of Wisconsin this study examines
prenatal health care outcomes and disparities across
racial/ethnic groups for the two five-year periods 1991-95
and 2000-04. Findings show that African-American and
Hispanic mothers and newborns enjoyed very significant
improvements across the period of observation, while Whites
had very mixed results, against the background of an overall
improvement of 10% in statewide prenatal health. The
specifics of gains and loses in health offer guidance
regarding the targeting of public health and clinical care
initiatives.
-
Applying the Index of Prenatal Care In Understanding
Population Health [.PDF]
December 2007.
A PowerPoint presentation that explains the foundations
of the Prenatal Health Care Index and demonstrates the
insights that can be achieved by applying it to statewide
data from Wisconsin. The data analysis across a 9-year
period documents dramatic improvements in prenatal health
care outcomes for African-American and Latina women and
their neonates. Outcomes for white and Native American women
have deteriorated over the same period of time. The patterns
suggest that these changes are the results of targeted
programmatic interventions and broadly implemented
improvements in clinical care.
-
Wisconsin Prenatal Care Index For Milwaukee County for
1990-94 and 2000-04 [EXCEL
spreadsheet] March 2007
Presents values for the Index of Prenatal Health Care for
all Milwaukee County ZIP codes for the two five-year periods
1990-94 and 2000-04. Spreadsheets include rank order tables
for all ZIP codes for both periods, and a rank order table
of change values displaying the percent change in the
combined index and its two component parts by ZIP code
across the decade. Values are derived from data published by
the State of Wisconsin Division of Health.
-
Wisconsin Prenatal Care Index by Race-Ethnicity for 1991-95
and 2000-04 [EXCEL
spreadsheet] March 2007
Presents values for the Index of Prenatal Health Care for
the entire State of Wisconsin by race-ethnicity for the two
five year periods 1991-95 and 2000-04. Spreadsheets include
counts of episodes of care by ICD9 code combination, percent
change in episodes of care, detail for each race-ethnic
group, and percent change in the Index for each ethnic group
by condition type. Values are derived from data published by
the State of Wisconsin Division of Health.
-
Preliminary
Analysis of Trends in Preventable Hospitalization of Pregnant Women and
Neonates for Milwaukee County: 1994 – 2004 [.PDF]
February 2007
Analyzes 10 year trends in
prenatal health care effectiveness in Milwaukee County utilizing the
Index of Prenatal Health Care, based on data published by the State
of Wisconsin Division of Public Health. Dramatic improvements
occurred in preventable hospitalization for the two poorest
inner-city ZIP codes but stagnation or slight decline characterized
an outer ring of ZIP codes. The analysis identifies the particular
health conditions that contributed to these changes.
- The Index of Prenatal Health Care -
poster
presentation [.PDF]
December 2006.
Poster presentation
of the rationale and elements of the Index of Prenatal
Health Care offered at the Maternal and Child Health
Epidemiology Conference of the CDC, Atlanta, GA.
-
A New
Outcome Index of Prenatal Health Care
[.PDF]
August 2006
Presents the case for a new
index of prenatal health care based on the concept of
preventable hospitalization using data from the state
hospital discharge database. Defines a set of 10 conditions
affecting pregnant women and 11 conditions affecting
neonates (0 – 28 days) that result in hospital stays and
that are significantly affected by prenatal care. Calculates
and presents Index values (preventable hospitalizations per
1,000 births) for all ZIP codes in Milwaukee County for the
period 1990-94 and compares the index to infant mortality,
low birth weight, and the Kessner Index.
-
Discussions of
Preventable Hospitalization For Conditions of Pregnancy: Indexed Minutes
1995 – 2000 [.PDF]
August 2000
Minutes of the meetings of the medical panels and medical
records panels that decided the specific conditions and
codes to include in the Index of Prenatal Health Care.
Includes an index of all conditions discussed with internal
page references.
-
Zip Code Map of Milwaukee County with Index Values
[.PDF]
July 1996
Zip code map of
Milwaukee County with Index value ranges indicated by
color-coding.
-
Diagnoses Included in the Index of
Prenatal Health Care [.PDF]
May 1996
List of the 10 maternal and 11 neonatal conditions
classified as preventable hospitalizations and their
corresponding ICD-9 code designations.
Incarceration and
Corrections/Cost-Benefit Analysis [TOP]
-
The
Impact of Incarceration and Reentry on Individuals, Families, and
Communities
[.PDF] December 2006
Reviews a broad range of literature documenting the direct and indirect
effects of incarceration on individuals, families, communities, and the
public at large. Closes with an analysis of the costs borne by New York
State taxpayers for the incarceration of drug felons.
-
Parental Incarceration and Child Welfare
[.PDF] November
2006
An editorial introduction from Criminology & Public Policy, vol. 5, no. 4
(November 2006) that discusses the policy significance of studies showing
the effect of a parent’s incarceration on minor children and questions the
value of incarcerating non-violent offenders.
-
Spreading the
Pain: The Social Cost of Incarcerating Parents,
[.PDF] September 2006
An examination of the concept of social cost and its application to
incarceration. Includes a comprehensive itemization of the elements of
social cost and social benefit, and application of the analysis to a cohort
of drug felons in New York State.
-
No Easy Answers:
The Effects of Parental Incarceration on Children,
[.PDF] September 2006
A review of the literature purporting to document negative effects on
children of parental incarceration.
-
References
on Cost-Benefit Analysis,
[.PDF] Updated
July 2006
A reading list emphasizing cost-benefit evaluation of drug and alcohol
treatment programs, prevention and early intervention programs, delinquency
and adult corrections programs, and the economic foundations of cost-benefit
analysis.
-
Incarcerated Parents and Their Children [Reading List],
[.PDF]
May 22, 2006
Bibliographic references covering the effects of incarceration on
incarcerated parents, families, and children.
-
Emerging Issues for
Incarcerated Parents and Their Children: Hawai'i in A National Perspective
(White Paper) [.PDF]
October 2003
Reviews the literature on the impact of incarceration on parents and their
children, extrapolates the number of such individuals for Hawai’i, examines
the costs of their incarceration, and advances policy recommendations for
moderating the negative impacts and saving the state money.
Mental Health and
Mental Health Issues [TOP]
-
The Impact of
Neuroscience on Nonprofit Behavioral Health Care: Reactions from the Human
Services Field [.PDF] May 2006
Analyzes a survey of organizational members of the Alliance for Children and
Families regarding their use of neuroscience technology and draws out the
implications for their future operations and relationship to the providers
of neuroscience technology.
-
Psychiatric
Service Capacity for Youth in Milwaukee County: Analysis of State Medicaid
Provider Service Data,
[.PDF]
June 2005
Uses the State Medicaid Provider Database (Mental Health Services) to
explore how licensed psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, and alcohol
and drug counselors are distributed with respect to youth population and
poverty as a means of assessing the capacity of mental health services for
youth in Milwaukee County. The analysis also reports the amount of services
billed by each category of licensed provider by ZIP code.
-
The
Distribution of Youth Mental Health Resources in Milwaukee County,
[.PDF]
May 2005
Uses the State Medicaid registry of licensed providers of mental health
services to assess the approximate capacity of the mental health services
delivery system.
-
Connecting Need and Capacity: A Study of Mental Health Services for Milwaukee
County Youth , [.PDF]
April 2005
Uses prevalence studies, a survey, and interviews to explore the need for
mental health services among youth in Milwaukee County and matches this
against data on capacity of the current system.
-
Social Services for
Suicidal Individuals, July-August 2000
Uses data from Family Service America’s 1997 National Survey of the American
Family to identify what types of social services were being provided to
suicidal individuals by FSA member organizations during April 1997.
-
The Social Networks of
Suicidal People, June 2000
Analyzes data from FSA’s 1997 National Survey of the American Family to explore
the quality of the social capital of suicidal individuals who sought help
from FSA member organizations during April 1997.
-
The
Social Networks of Suicidal People, Technical Research Report
#1, May 2000
(unpublished)
Provides the data supporting the analysis of the social capital of suicidal
individuals reported above.
Native Americans
[TOP]
Operational Research
[TOP]
Social Capital and
Community Building [TOP]
-
Pathways
to Community Capacity: The Role of Change Agents, December 2001
Defines the essential elements of the role of the community organizer or
change agent.
-
Steps
to Stronger Communities, December 2001
Identifies the neighborhood-level outcomes of increased social capital.
-
The
Role of Neighborhood Residents in Directing Neighborhood Change, December
2001
Identifies actions that neighbors may take to improve social capital in
their neighborhood.
-
Community-Centered Practice
Reading List, December 2001
Bibliographic resources on social capital, community organizing, community
development, and social disorganization theory.
-
Community-centered Redesign of Service Delivery Programs, May 2000
Proposes an approach to harnessing the machinery of service delivery to a
community development agenda using foster care as a case in point.
-
Community Building
and Delivery of Services: Two Distinct Paradigms, April 2000
Contrasts the service delivery paradigm with community development
approaches on several criteria.
-
The Measurement of
Social Capital in Community-building Efforts, July-August 1999
Discussion of what to observe in measuring strengthened social capital and
social organization.
-
Pinpointing
the Effects of Community-Centered Practice, October 1998
A discussion and itemization of evaluation methods and measures that may be
applied in documenting efforts to strengthen social capital and social
organization. Consists of the outline of a conference plenary presentation.
-
How to Integrate
Counseling into a Community-Centered Orientation, June 1998
Reconceptualizes counseling in strengths-based terms as a support to
community development efforts.
Social Work Theory
and Practice [TOP]
Welfare Policy
[TOP]
-
The
Welfare Paradox: Decision-making and Economic Strategies in Welfare-involved
Households [.PDF]
revised August 2007
Based on formal analysis of stories from Phase II of the Faces of
Change project, this paper explores rationality in the strategies
employed by welfare involved households to manage their chronic shortage of
cash. It introduces partialization and
resource determinacy as explanatory concepts.
-
“It’s
something you learn to live with after a while”: The Reciprocal Nature of
Child and Parental Well-being in Welfare-involved Families
[.PDF] 2006
Explores the impact of family instability, housing conditions, and
maternal employment on the mental health and physical health of poor
children, based on narratives collected for Faces of Change Phase II.
Discusses child risk factors and the steps low-income parents take to
improve the well-being of their children.
-
Rethinking Self-Sufficiency Through the Shared Housing Experience: Shared
Housing Among Low-Income Families
[.PDF] 2006
Explores the shared housing experience from the perspective of those who
live it, based on the stories from Phase II of the Faces of Change
project. (Master’s Thesis, Department
of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Wisconsin)
-
Faces of Child
Care: The use of Informal Social Networks Among Low-Income Families
[.PDF] May 2001
Examines the use of informal social networks to obtain child care based
on analysis of narratives from Phase I of the Faces of Change project.
Develops policy recommendations based on the findings. (Bachelor’s
Honors Thesis, Departments of Sociology and Government, Skidmore College)
-
Two Profiles of
Poverty Under Welfare Reform, December 2000
Uses data from the Faces of Change project to identify two distinct groups
of poor Americans who will require entirely different policy responses and
supports to advance or just to survive.
-
Forcing Welfare Recipients to
Apply Informal Social Resources in their Transition to Work: A Policy of
Self-sufficiency or Indifference? November 2000
An editorial comment based on research in the Faces of Change project that
questions policies that effectively require welfare recipients to rely on
their social networks for material support.
Workforce Research
[TOP]
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www.alliance1.org
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