Local Civic Health: A Guide to Building Community and Bridging Divides

In the same way that doctors conduct an annual check-up to assess our health, we can collect information to assess the civic health of our communities. Civic health includes factors such as how much people trust each other, show up at public meetings, get involved, vote, and help out neighbors. This seven-part guide is designed to help people at the local level collect data to better understand what factors bring people together or push them apart. This information can help communities to thrive and strengthen democracy at the local level. The guide includes exercises around mapping the different populations who live in your community, evaluating how local spaces build or discourage community, building equity into local engagement processes, and collecting and analyzing data about civic health including surveys, dialogues, interviews, and civic photojournalism

A Longer Day in Head Start: An Ethnographic Case Study of How Staff and Parents Navigated Extended Service Duration at a Local Center

From the beginning, Head Start has maintained an enduring policy goal to extend the number of hours young children from low-income families spend in local programs. In 2016, the Office of Head Start published a long-awaited revision of the Head Start Program Performance Standards with the provision for center-based extended service duration. The standard outlined a tiered approach for local agencies with center-based sites to increase the number of hours offered to children annually. This ethnographic case study explored how staff and parents navigated and negotiated this policy change in a center-based site during the first two years of implementation. The study included 23 staff and parents who shared their perspectives and experiences during field observations and interviews to elevate the daily life, routines, and decision-making embedded in the shift from a half-day to a full-day program. Local and federal document review provided local, national, and historical context that undergirded the policy change. The study provided insights into how thoughtful changes to operations and daily practice unfold amongst the diverse needs and realities of families, staff, and children that exist in local centers every day. Staff and parents’ experiences and perspectives can improve quality and determine how best to meet local needs. The methods utilized in this study filled this gap through the focus on staff and parents’ lived experiences, knowledge, authority, and voice regarding the nuances of service duration

Be Vocal, Be Local

Join Michele Holt-Shannon, Bruce Mallory, Andres Mejia, and Carrie Portrie from Carsey School of Public Policy New Hampshire Listens for a session on the powerful impact that speaking up and voting has

Advancing Leadership Skills: A Multiyear Examination of LEND Trainee Self-Efficacy Growth

Purpose: The current healthcare system requires Maternal and Child Health (MCH) professionals with strong interdisciplinary leadership competence. MCH training programs utilize a conceptual framework for leadership and 12 validated MCH Leadership Competencies. Examining Trainee Perceived Leadership Competence (TPLC) through the competencies has the potential to inform our understanding of leadership development. Description Five cohorts of NH-ME leadership education in neurodevelopmental disabilities trainees (n = 102) completed the MCH Leadership Competencies Self-Assessment at three time points. Paired-sample t tests examined TPLC scores. A one-way analysis of variance tested for statistically significant differences in mean difference scores. A General Linear Model was used to examine the extent to which TPLC scores changed when controlling for specific variables. Assessment: Statistically significant differences in mean scores between Time 1 and Time 3 were found. Cohen’s d effect sizes fell in the moderate range. A one-way ANOVA demonstrated significant differences between groups in the spheres of self and others. TPLC mean scores between Time 1 and Time 3 in the sphere of wider community had the highest increases in four out of five cohorts. Age, discipline, experience, and relationship to disability did not contribute to the model. Conclusion: On average, cohorts began the year with very different evaluations of their leadership competence but finished the year with similar scores. This suggests participation in the NH-ME LEND Program consistently supported the development of leadership self-identity. Small sample sizes limit the ability to draw definitive conclusions from these results. Further study with a larger sample may reveal relationships between cohort characteristics and change scores