The Success of Gay–Straight Alliances in Waterloo Region, Ontario: A Confluence of Political and Social Factors

This article outlines how gay–straight alliances (GSAs) work to connect youth with community resources, and outlines the political and social context of GSAs in Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Fifteen individuals (youth, teachers, and a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer [LGBTQ] youth service provider) participated in interviews about the role of GSAs in creating supportive school environments for LGBTQ youth and their allies. Analyses of the interview data found that, apart from providing direct support to LGBTQ students, GSAs in Waterloo Region decrease isolation by connecting youth with other LGBTQ community members, events, and resources. This article discusses how the confluence of government and school board policy and community agency support facilitates the implementation, maintenance, and success of GSAs

Connecting the Dots: A Healthy Community Leader's Guide to Understanding the Nonprofit Hospital Community Benefit Requirements

Imagine a healthy community as a connect-the-dots landscape painting. Each "dot" has its place and purpose: affordable housing, a vibrant economy, safe streets and public transportation, a high quality public education system, easy access to fresh food and safe recreation, and a healthcare system that provides both preventative and responsive services.The revised nonprofit hospital community benefit requirements in the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) are an opportunity for us to help connect the dots, which are often referred to as "determinants of health." They are an impetus for healthy community design leaders and nonprofit hospitals to form partnerships that define, design and implement plans for healthy communities. "Connecting the Dots: A Healthy Community Leader's Guide to Understanding Nonprofit Hospital Community Benefit Requirements" is a brand new Policy Primer from St. Luke's Health Initiatives that's been developed to increase understanding and create opportunities to connect Community Development with Community Benefit. It provides a guide for how Community Development leaders can begin to connect with nonprofit hospitals, building on a brief tracing of community benefit history and examination of current Community Health Needs Assessment work and hospital funding priorities

Pioneers, subcultures and cooperatives: The grassroots augmentation of urban places

About the book: There have been numerous possible scenarios depicted on the impact of the internet on urban spaces. Considering ubiquitous/pervasive computing, mobile, wireless connectivity and the acceptance of the Internet as a non extraordinary part of our everyday lives mean that physical urban space is augmented, and digital in itself. This poses new problems as well as opportunities to those who have to deal with it. This book explores the intersection and articulation of physical and digital environments and the ways they can extend and reshape a spirit of place. It considers this from three main perspectives: the implications for the public sphere and urban public or semi-public spaces; the implications for community regeneration and empowerment; and the dilemmas and challenges which the augmentation of space implies for urbanists. Grounded with international real -life case studies, this is an up-to-date, interdisciplinary and holistic overview of the relationships between cities, communities and high technologies

Evaluation of Disability Employment Policy Demonstration Programs

[Excerpt] Since 2001, the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) has awarded more than $65 million in grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. Of this, more than$38 million has been awarded to projects under the ODEP Demonstration Program, with about 2 percent directed toward an independent evaluation. The ODEP Demonstration Program consists of a variety of initiatives targeted at both adults and youth with disabilities. All demonstration projects funded under these initiatives are expected to implement and evaluate methods for building the capacity of the workforce development system to better serve people with disabilities. ODEP contracted with Westat, a private research company, to conduct an independent evaluation of its demonstration program. The purpose of the independent evaluation is to provide ODEP with data and information about system change that can be used to assist policy development, decisions, and recommendations, as well as track progress in meeting ODEP’s goals under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). The independent evaluation has three objectives: 1. To provide ODEP with reliable and valid indicators of program effectiveness; 2. To determine the extent to which each program priority area is effective in building workforce development system capacity; and 3. To document local, regional, and/or state systems change that supports program effectiveness. This paper summarizes the issues and accomplishments identified by the evaluation to date in the context of these three objectives

The impact of local ICT initiatives on social capital and quality of life

This paper reviews the evidence for the effects of local ICT initiatives (‘community networks’) on neighbourhood social capital and quality of life and has been developed from the public SOCQUIT D11 report (Anderson et al, 2006)

Hidden in Plain Sight: Homeless Students In America's Public Schools

Student homelessness is on the rise, with more than 1.3 million homeless students identified during the 2013-14 school year. This is a 7 percent increase from the previous year and more than double the number of homeless students in 2006-07. As high as these numbers seem, they are almost certainly undercounts.Despite increasing numbers, these students - as well as the school liaisons and state coordinators who support them - report that student homelessness remains an invisible and extremely disruptive problem.Students experiencing homelessness struggle to stay in school, to perform well, and to form meaningful connections with peers and adults. Ultimately, they are much more likely to fall off track and eventually drop out of school more often than their non-homeless peers.This study:provides an overview of existing research on homeless students,sheds light on the challenges homeless students face and the supports they say they need to succeed,reports on the challenges adults - local liaisons and state coordinators - face in trying to help homeless students, andrecommends changes in policy and practice at the school, community, state and national level to help homeless students get on a path to adult success.This is a critical and timely topic. The recent reauthorization of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides many new and stronger provisions for homeless students (effective Oct. 1, 2016); requires states, district and schools for the first time to report graduation rates for homeless students (effective beginning with the 2016-17 school year); and affirms the urgency and importance of dealing with homelessness so that all children can succeed

Building Information Modelling [BIM] for energy efficiency in housing refurbishments

Building Information modelling offers potential process and delivery improvements throughout the lifecycle of built assets. However, there is limited research in the use of BIM for energy efficiency in housing refurbishments. The UK has over 300,000 solid wall homes with very poor energy efficiency. A BIM based solution for the retrofit of solid wall housing using lean and collaborative improvement techniques will offer a cost effective, comprehensive solution that is less disruptive, reduces waste and increases accuracy, leading to high quality outcomes. The aim of this research is to develop a BIM based protocol supporting development of 'what if' scenarios in housing retrofits for high efficiency thermal improvements, aiming to reduce costs and disruption for users. The paper presents a literature review on the topic and discusses the research method for the research project (S-IMPLER)

ICT–supported reforms of service delivery in Flemish cities: testing the concept of 'information ecology'

This paper explores organizational reforms in Flemish cities related to making the cities’ individual service delivery more efficient, customer orientated, customer friendly and integrated. The paper is the first one of a recently started research project and PhD research about the complexity of managing ICT-supported change of ‘individual’ service delivery. The overall objective of this paper is to set the stage for the research project’s research design in terms of its theoretical framework. Therefore, we report about our first explorative, inductive and descriptive findings related to this type of change within one city. We firstly inductively report about the objectives and the objects of change. Secondly, we develop a provisional theoretical framework. We therefore take the notion of an information ecology as a conceptual starting point and use a combination of elements of neo-institutional theory, system theory and a political perspective on organizational development. In order to explore the potentialities of this approach, we test the framework’s value for understanding the changes within the city. The framework enabled us to describe and analyze this type of reforms without neglecting the complexity of these changes. It tries to link some important public administration theories to the study of the e-government phenomenon that is still an important challenge. The most important lesson is that further refinement of the conceptual framework is needed. Although the analysis shows that the framework offers a conceptual basis to analyze front and back office reforms within public organizations, it still lacks a full and straightforward operationalization of its components, constructs, relations, etc

2012 Annual Report: Achieving Access to Health for All Coloradans

This annual report includes: an 'about us' introduction, a letter from the leadership, details of grantmaking activities in the areas of health data and information, health advocacy and policy, health care services and systems, and health and well-being, financial information, and information about the board of trustees and staff of the organization

Bringing America Up to Speed: States' Role in Expanding Broadband

Describes innovative state programs to expand access to high-quality, high-speed broadband; the National Broadband Plan -- a partnership of state, federal, and local governments; providers; and nonprofits -- and roles and challenges for states