The Good, Bad and Ugly of Innovations in Human Services Administration: Evidence from New York Counties

Counties are often seen as “forgotten” and understudied governments in the family of local jurisdictions. The recent growing demand for public assistance led to a renewed interest in county governance, specifically in relation to the administration of social services. In order to cope with a post-recession growing workload, many counties began using technology and other innovative methods to serve clients effectively. This research seeks to learn and make sense of innovation practices in providing social safety services in several counties in New York State. In particular, we attempt to respond to the following questions. First, what types of innovations are taking place and in which social safety net programs? Second, how differently are social safety programs being managed as a result of these reforms and what are the consequences? The findings of this study have important implications for studies on counties, innovations, and the delivery of social safety programs

Case Study Assignment

This is an assignment for an undergraduate management class

Two States, One Mission: Building Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change Capacity of County Extension Educators

Policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) change interventions are a key part of comprehensive nutrition and health education. Although Extension educators find value in PSE approaches and report being involved in PSE work, many still indicate a lack of understanding regarding PSE approaches. We describe a unique multistate training designed to increase Extension educators\u27 understanding, skills, and capacity related to implementing PSE change interventions. Data demonstrating success of the training are presented. Additionally, best practices for others wishing to create similar multistate programs conclude the article

Two States, One Mission: Building Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change Capacity of County Extension Educators

Policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) change interventions are a key part of comprehensive nutrition and health education. Although Extension educators find value in PSE approaches and report being involved in PSE work, many still indicate a lack of understanding regarding PSE approaches. We describe a unique multistate training designed to increase Extension educators\u27 understanding, skills, and capacity related to implementing PSE change interventions. Data demonstrating success of the training are presented. Additionally, best practices for others wishing to create similar multistate programs conclude the article

Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change: A Planning Tool for Community Health Implementation

Extension educators across the United States are being asked to expand their direct education efforts to include policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) changes. However, professional development opportunities and tools are needed to familiarize Extension professionals with PSE change approaches, build their capacity to implement PSE change, and make the process relevant to their work. We describe a planning tool developed for a unique multistate PSE change intervention training and designed to facilitate the process of PSE change implementation at the local level. An example of the tool and recommendations for others wishing to use it are included

Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change: A Planning Tool for Community Health Implementation

Extension educators across the United States are being asked to expand their direct education efforts to include policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) changes. However, professional development opportunities and tools are needed to familiarize Extension professionals with PSE change approaches, build their capacity to implement PSE change, and make the process relevant to their work. We describe a planning tool developed for a unique multistate PSE change intervention training and designed to facilitate the process of PSE change implementation at the local level. An example of the tool and recommendations for others wishing to use it are included

Overview of Spirit Microscopic Imager Results

This paper provides an overview of Mars Exploration Rover Spirit Microscopic Imager (MI) operations and the calibration, processing, and analysis of MI data. The focus of this overview is on the last five Earth years (2005-2010) of Spirit's mission in Gusev crater, supplementing the previous overview of the first 450 sols of the Spirit MI investigation. Updates to radiometric calibration using in-flight data and improvements in high-level processing are summarized. Released data products are described, and a table of MI observations, including target/feature names and associated data sets, is appended. The MI observed natural and disturbed exposures of rocks and soils as well as magnets and other rover hardware. These hand-lens-scale observations have provided key constraints on interpretations of the formation and geologic history of features, rocks, and soils examined by Spirit. MI images complement observations by other Spirit instruments, and together show that impact and volcanic processes have dominated the origin and evolution of the rocks in Gusev crater, with aqueous activity indicated by the presence of silica-rich rocks and sulfate-rich soils. The textures of some of the silica-rich rocks are similar to terrestrial hot spring deposits, and observations of subsurface cemented layers indicate recent aqueous mobilization of sulfates in places. Wind action has recently modified soils and abraded many of the rocks imaged by the MI, as observed at other Mars landing sites. Plain Language Summary The Microscopic Imager (MI) on NASA's Spirit rover returned the highest-resolution images of the Martian surface available at the time of the 2004-2010 mission. Designed to survive 90 Mars days (sols) and search for evidence of water in the past, Spirit returned data for 2210 sols, far exceeding all expectations. This paper summarizes the scientific insights gleaned from the thousands of MI images acquired during the last 5years of the mission, supplementing the summary of the first 450 sols of the Spirit MI investigation published previously (Herkenhoff et al., ). Along with data from the other instruments on Spirit, MI images guided the scientific interpretation of the geologic history of the rocks and soils observed in Gusev crater on Mars. We conclude that the geologic history of the area explored by Spirit has been dominated by impacts and volcanism, and that water, perhaps very hot water, was involved in the evolution of some of the rocks and soils. More recently, winds have moved soil particles and abraded rocks, as observed elsewhere on Mars. These results have improved our understanding of Mars' history and informed planning of future missions to Mars.National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationPublic domain articleThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]