MAKING PUBLIC HOUSING WORK – EXAMINING THE IMPLEMENTATION AND IMPACTS OF A WORK REQUIREMENT IN PUBLIC HOUSING

How can public housing authorities (PHA) increase wage income among work-able residents? Eight PHAs in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Moving to Work (MTW) program enforce a work requirement policy for some or all of their work-able residents. Although PHA work requirements remain controversial, HUD Secretary Ben Carson called for their broad adoption in 2018. This dissertation is comprised of three papers. The first paper, “Functionality, Norms, and Consequences,” compares the explanations of housing authority staff to those of residents about why the housing authority imposed a work policy. Both believe the policy and associated case management are intended to improve resident capacities and well-being. Residents assert a desire to work but are mindful of the many barriers and disincentives associated with low-wage employment. The second paper, “Implementing Work” uses the Charlotte Housing Authority (CHA) as a single qualitative case study to examine how a work policy is implemented within a public policy implementation framework. The CHA’s experience highlights the importance of using data to determine the scope and causes of resident unemployment, taking into account the wider community and agency implementation environment, and monitoring the policy’s impacts on family well-being as well as PHA rent income. The third paper, “Work Requirements and Well-being,” uses survey results and resident interviews to examine impacts of the work policy on household well-being. Most residents believe the work requirement supports family well-being, however, significant health concerns, inadequate education, and limited access to childcare impede overall household well-being and adult capacity to engage in wage employment. PHAs considering a work requirement should partner with community health and childcare organizations and balance expectations for work with education and training opportunities. This dissertation provides key insights into how a public housing work requirement should be implemented and evaluated. PHAs should be clear about the reason for implementing a work requirement, provide case management and other supports to reduce barriers to employment, avoid steep increases in rent associated with minor increases in resident income, and monitor the policy’s effect on family well-being including loss of other supports such as Medicaid and food stamps.Doctor of Philosoph

Work Requirements in Public Housing: Impacts on Tenant Employment and Evictions

In recent years, many have debated adopting work requirements in the public housing program, and a limited number of public housing agencies (PHA) have implemented these policies through the flexibility provided by the Moving to Work program. One such agency—the Charlotte Housing Authority (CHA)—has implemented a work requirement across five (of 15) public housing developments that mandates households to work 15 hr weekly or face sanctions. This article evaluates this policy and presents the first empirical analysis on the outcomes of a work requirement on employment and evictions. We find that, following work requirement enforcement, the percentage of impacted households paying minimum rent (a proxy for nonemployment) decreased versus a comparison group. Analysis of additional data on both employment and hours worked indicates similar results regarding employment gains, but no increase in average hours worked. We find no evidence that work requirement sanctions increased evictions, and very modest evidence that enforcement increased the rate of positive move-outs such as moves to unsubsidized housing

Challenges and opportunities in transdisciplinary science: The experience of next generation scientists in an agriculture and climate research collaboration

Agriculture in the twenty-first century faces unprecedented challenges from increasing climate variability to growing demands on natural resources to globalizing economic markets. These emerging agricultural issues, spanning both human and natural dimensions, are uniquely formulated, exceedingly complex, and difficult to address within existing disciplinary domains (Eigenbrode et al. 2007; Reganold et al. 2011; Foley et al. 2005; Hansen et al. 2013). Therefore, the next generation of scientists working on these issues must not only be highly trained within a disciplinary context but must also have the capacity to collaborate with others to solve systems-level problems

A longitudinal panel study of participants' attitudes and behaviors towards transdisciplinary science

Transdisciplinary research teams offer an appropriate alternative to traditional research methods to address today's complex research problems. However, a lack of common technical language and differing attitudes on collaborative research can create challenges. This paper reports results of an evaluative survey on changes of collaborative capacity within a large transdisciplinary project. CSCAP evaluator survey data collected from pre-assessment (2011) and mid-assessment (2013) evaluation surveys of project participants, measured participants' attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs regarding transdisciplinary research. Paired samples t-tests, and multiple regression analysis were employed to compare measures from the same individuals at two points in time and relationships between measures. The key variables were transdisciplinary attitudes, transdisciplinary behaviors, satisfaction with collaboration, perceived impacts of collaboration, and trust and respect. Changes over time were evaluated for the overall project team and by project role subgrouping that included principal investigators, professional and technical staff, graduate students, advisory board members, and extension educators. The analysis examined the following research questions: 1) Do participants' attitudes and behaviors toward the transdisciplinary process change over the course of the project? 2) Do these changes vary by participant role? 3) What factors are associated with changes in attitudes toward transdisciplinary research over time? Results indicate that while collaborative behaviors did not significantly change for most of the role subgroups, advisory board members showed a decrease in transdisciplinary behaviors from the pre-assessment to the mid-assessment evaluation. Analysis of the other measures consistently showed a positive increase in mean scores from the pre- to the mid- assessment with one exception. Graduate student scores on the transdisciplinary attitude scale decreased over time. Regression analysis showed a relationship between TD attitudes and the trust and respect measure. Understanding how participant perceptions may change over the course of a project and how project roles may influence these changes is important to managing effective long-term transdisciplinary projects.</p

THOMAS RANDOLPH: AN ELIZABETHAN IN SCOTLAND.

There has long been a need for a study of Thomas Randolph who served intermittently as Elizabeth\u27s agent (later as ambassador) in Scotland between the years I? 59 and 1586. This is a detailed study (in narrative style) of his involvement in Scottish affairs, based primarily on original manuscripts (largely found in the British Museum and the Public Record Office, London). Most of his letters are calendared and are readily available; thus they have been heavily relied upon for Anglo-Scottish studies. Unfortunately, some of the abstracts are inaccurate, misleading, or inadequate. Consequently, there have been misinterpretations. Moreover, Randolph is merely a name rather than a personality. It is hoped that this study will rectify the misconceptions as well as portray an engaging individual. It is further hoped that a clearer understanding of the machinery of Elizabethan diplomacy will emerge

The drainage of Jefferson County, Texas /

no.193 (1915

Challenges and opportunities in transdisciplinary science: The experience of next generation scientists in an agriculture and climate research collaboration

Agriculture in the twenty-first century faces unprecedented challenges from increasing climate variability to growing demands on natural resources to globalizing economic markets. These emerging agricultural issues, spanning both human and natural dimensions, are uniquely formulated, exceedingly complex, and difficult to address within existing disciplinary domains (Eigenbrode et al. 2007; Reganold et al. 2011; Foley et al. 2005; Hansen et al. 2013). Therefore, the next generation of scientists working on these issues must not only be highly trained within a disciplinary context but must also have the capacity to collaborate with others to solve systems-level problems