Speaking for Themselves: Advocates' Perspectives on Evaluation

"Speaking for Themselves: Advocates' Perspectives on Evaluation" will give you a better understanding of advocates' views on evaluation, the advocacy strategies and capacities they find effective, and current evaluation practices. Based on Innovation's Network's research, the report includes recommendations for advocates, funders, and evaluators. Both the research and publication were made possible by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and The Atlantic Philanthropies

Joyce Foundation - 2004 Annual Report

Contains president's message, program information, project summaries, grantee profiles, grants list, financial statements, and list of board members and staff

Factors Contributing to the Limited Use of Information Technology in State Courtrooms

Few state courtrooms in the United States have integrated information technology (IT) in court trials. Despite jurors\u27 beliefs that using courtroom technology improves their abilities to serve as jurors, the attitudes and experiences among attorneys and judges toward the utility of IT continue to pose barriers. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and describe the experiences of attorneys and judges in the State of Virginia with regard limited use of IT in state courtrooms. The conceptual framework included Davis, Bagozzi, and Warshaw\u27s (1989) technology acceptance model; Rogers\u27s (2003) diffusion of innovation theory; and Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, and Davis\u27s (2003) unified theory of acceptance. A snowball sample of 22 attorneys and judges were interviewed using in-depth, semistructured questions. Data were analyzed using open coding techniques to identify themes and patterns with findings supporting the need for improved and expanded courtroom technology. Finding showed that attorneys and judges believed courtroom technology could be useful; however, the lack of training and the cost to implement technology limited their use of technology in courtrooms. Implications for positive social change include increasing the adoption rate of courtroom technology to support courtroom processes and empowering courts to improve the quality of justice through technology in an efficient and effective manner, thereby benefiting everyone in the judicial system and the public

Victim/survivor-focused justice responses and reforms to criminal court practice: implementation, current practice and future directions

Abstract: Reforms have been underway over the last three decades to address the disadvantages that victim/survivors of sexual assault face within the criminal justice system in Australia. Such reforms include expansion of advocate services, specialisation of police, alternative provisions for giving evidence at trial, and changes to jury instructions. This report was commissioned to examine the implementation of these reforms and their impact on the victim/survivor experience. Drawing on interviews with 81 criminal justice professionals including counsellors, lawyers, and judges, it looks at victim/survivor-focused approaches, promising and innovative practices, the take up of reforms, the factors that enable or inhibit victim-focused reforms being embedded in court practices, and the potential for future reform

Adult Adoptees Exploration of Self-Identity Through the Use of Art Therapy

Numerous studies have demonstrated that most adoptees do not have enough information to make sense of their biological and cultural background due to the lack of acknowledgment and understanding of their experiences and perspectives (Darnell, Johansen, Tavakoli, & Brugnone, 2017). By reviewing past and current literature, the present paper sought to investigate and bring awareness to the lasting social, emotional, developmental, and psychological effects the adoption process can have on adoptees from birth into adulthood, in addition to the different ways art therapy can aid in facilitating identity exploration and development throughout. Results showed acknowledgment, openness, and integration of biological background and cultural heritage in adoptive families in earlier years of life led to a more cohesive sense of self for an adoptee later in adulthood. Furthermore, the incorporation of arts and creative expressions throughout the process served as a safe and useful mean to support adoptee’s exploration of self-identity. Possible research limitations, interferences, and future directions were also discussed

Joyce Foundation - 2009 Annual Report: Foundation + Collaboration + Inspiration

Contains president's message, program information in the areas of culture, education, employment, environment, gun violence, and money and politics; grants lists; financial statements; and lists of board members and staff

Policy by the People, for the People:Designing ResponsiveRegulation and BuildingDemocratic Power

Policymaking in American democracy is often a process that happens to people rather than by them. This is especially the case with respect to policy that affects people with less power in low-income communities and communities of color. Urban policy, in particular, has historically been driven by business elites and white homeowners’ interests, which have shaped exclusionary policies, such as redlining and single-family zoning— etching racial and economic segregation into the fabric of city space. Even when outsider interest groups and social movement organizations gain enough power to shape the policy agenda, give input into the content of policy, and lobby for policy changes that advance their interests, the standard conception of regulatory design is elite-driven: people whose lived reality will be impacted by policy decisions tend to be consulted, if at all, after policy ideas are already articulated and have gained traction in the halls of power. This Essay seeks to elevate an alternative model of policymaking “by the people” that views the policy process as a means of designing more responsive regulation that emanates from the experiences of marginalized constituencies, while creating an opportunity to build democratic power. Policy by the people involves: identifying problems from the perspective of those suffering harm, developing solutions based on lived experiences of what works, conducting policy design through an iterative process in which solutions are translated into law, elevating leadership of the people in advocating for policy change, and ensuring that successful policy is not an end goal but rather a starting point in promoting democratic inclusion and community power. This approach therefore seeks to enable policy design by people that responds to their material interests—what we call responsive regulation—as it simultaneously promotes power-building over time. This Essay aims to fill critical gaps in the literature on lawyering for social change and policy design, while offering a set of principles to guide the role of lawyers in bottom-up policymaking