Betsy Funk Therapy 2021: Growing with Expressive Arts Together

The purpose of this report is to provide Betsy Funk, Project Harmony, and their stakeholders with a comprehensive overview of the processes and outcomes of The “GREAT” Kids Group between October 2018 and April 2020. The overview includes a summary of child demographics, initial Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) (Goodman, 1987) scores, and child outcomes

Rape Prevention and Education 2021: Principles-Focused Evaluation Measurement Tools

Throughout 2020, sexual violence (SV) preventionists across Nebraska came together to identify prevention principles for Nebraska RPE. Preventionists identified and agreed upon the following eight prevention principles

Drug Overdose Prevention 2021: Lived Experiences Study

STEPs wishes to acknowledge and thank the following: •The interview participants who were so generous in sharing their time, experiences, and perspectives, •The many substance abuse treatment providers, treatment centers, the Grace Abbott School of Social Work, and the many other individuals who shared recruitment messaging, and •NE DHHS DOP for their continued partnership and dedication to this vital work

Drug Overdose Prevention 2021: Revisiting Healthcare and First Responders’ Needs

In 2019, STEPs conducted quantitative surveys and focus groups with healthcare and EMS/fire first responders. Due to the amount of data collected and the tight timeline of the overall project, analyses of both the quantitative and qualitative data were minimal. Data and findings from the healthcare and EMS/fire first responders were analyzed and reported separately in the initial report. The research team hoped that an in-depth analysis would provide greater insight into this data. The following report is a secondary analysis of the 2019 data

Rape Prevention and Education 2021: The Impact of COVID-19 on Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence Prevention in Nebraska

The overarching purpose of the COVID-19 Supplement evaluation project is to equip Nebraska practitioners and the sexual and intimate partner violence (SV/IPV) prevention community with accessible, timely, and relevant evaluation to enhance evidence-informed decision-making for COVID-19 response and recovery efforts

Drug Overdose Prevention 2021: Impact of COVID-19 on Drug Use Behaviors

Support and Training for the Evaluation of Programs (STEPs) at the University of Nebraska at Omaha is a leader in conducting evaluations and needs assessments for social service programs. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (NE DHHS) Drug Overdose Prevention (DOP) program entered a contract with STEPs in the Fall of 2020 to complete a needs assessment involving the impact of COVID-19 on substance abuse treatment and drug overdose prevention. STEPs wishes to acknowledge the DOP staff, especially Davidson Wissing, for their continued engagement. STEPs would also like to acknowledge and thank the many survey respondents and interview participants who shared how COVID-19 impacted them, their clients, and their provision of substance abuse treatment. STEPs is grateful for their time, candor, and expertise, especially amid the additional stress of the COVID-19 pandemic

Drug Use Behaviors: 2020 Treatment Providers Survey, Dataset, and Interview Final Reports

The purpose of this needs assessment is to deepen DOP’s (NE DHHS Drug Overdose Prevention (DOP) program) understanding of individuals’ drug use behaviors in Nebraska through the lens of treatment providers. The results of this study will aid DOP in providing training and other resources to treatment centers, focusing prevention efforts, and informing their strategic plan and future studies. Ultimately, this study will support DOP’s efforts to reduce opioid-involved fatal and non-fatal overdoses in Nebraska

Examining How COVID-19 Impacted Substance Use Disorder Treatment

On March 11, 2021, the World Health Organization characterized the COVID-19 disease as a pandemic (WHO, 2020). As the infection spread, residents were urged to stay at home and businesses began to close their doors. Stress, anxiety, and fear increased across the world and individuals struggling with substance use disorders felt the impact. The focus of this study was to determine what impact the COVID-19 pandemic caused on individuals with substance use disorders, substance use treatment providers, and the impact policy changes played during this time. In this presentation, we will focus on how treatment providers utilized telehealth to maintain services to Nebraskans in need of substance use disorder treatment. We will also discuss treatment providers views on the efficacy of telehealth and role of telehealth in the future

Role of managerial incentives and discretion in hedge fund performance. Unpublished Working

Abstract Using a comprehensive database of hedge funds, we examine the role of managerial incentives and discretion in the performance of hedge funds. We find that hedge funds with greater managerial incentives as proxied by delta of option-like incentive fee contract, managerial ownership, and high-water mark provision are associated with superior performance. Incentive fees have no explanatory power for future returns. We also find that funds with higher degree of managerial discretion, proxied by longer lockup, notice, and redemption periods, are associated with superior performance. Our results are robust to various alternate specifications including using alternative performance measures, allowing for nonlinearity for managerial discretion, using different econometric specifications, and controlling for different data-related biases. , and MSCI for providing us with the data on hedge funds. We are thankful to Burak Ciceksever, Otgontsetseg Erhemjamts, and Purnendu Nath for excellent research assistance. We are responsible for all errors. ____________________________________________ Role of managerial incentives and discretion in hedge fund performance Abstract Using a comprehensive database of hedge funds, we examine the role of managerial incentives and discretion in the performance of hedge funds. We find that hedge funds with greater managerial incentives as proxied by delta of option-like incentive fee contract, managerial ownership, and high-water mark provision are associated with superior performance. Incentive fees have no explanatory power for future returns. We also find that funds with higher degree of managerial discretion, proxied by longer lockup, notice, and redemption periods, are associated with superior performance. Our results are robust to various alternate specifications including using alternative performance measures, allowing for nonlinearity for managerial discretion, using different econometric specifications, and controlling for different data-related biases