Using Integrated Data Systems (IDS) to Design and Support Pay For Success Interventions: Cuyahoga County, Ohio

Pay for Success (PFS) interventions are increasingly being implemented in the U.S. and worldwide to assess social programs under a risk-sharing financial agreement between the public and private sectors. They seek to mitigate risk for the public sector and promote wider experimentation of programs to improve social outcomes. PFS contracts encourage coordination and alignment of goals, outcomes, and metrics across all agents involved - government, service providers, service recipients, funders and investors. Accordingly, these interventions rely heavily on access to high quality data and analysis, making integrated data systems (IDS) valuable assets to support the design, implementation, and evaluation phases of these projects. The ChildHood Integrated Longitudinal Data (CHILD) System, one of the most comprehensive county-level IDS in the nation, has been used to support and inform two Pay for Success projects in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland). Partnering for Family Success is a county-level intervention in the areas of child welfare and housing instability, now into its fourth year of operation. While the intervention was implemented under a randomized controlled trial, analysis with CHILD proved instrumental to inform the project design and address challenges in program implementation. CHILD has also been used to study the feasibility of PFS as a model to expand high quality preschool, under a grant awarded to eight communities nationally. A case study of both initiatives will be presented, highlighting the role of integrated data in supporting and facilitating PFS design and analysis of outcomes, challenges encountered and lessons learned

Immigrant Gateway Type and Impacts on High Schools and Students: Evidence from Florida

Over the past several decades the number of foreign born persons and English Language Learner (ELL) students in public schools in the United States has risen dramatically. Many foreign born persons now entering the U.S. are also settling in very different locations than the traditional ports of entry common in the past. These emerging immigrant gateways, such as Washington D.C., Atlanta, and Orlando had very low immigrant populations up until about 1970, and have experienced large growth since then. On the other hand, established immigrant gateways, such as New York City and Miami, have had a large and steady immigrant flow since at least 1950. Some have expressed concern that schools in these newer immigrant communities are unprepared for the large immigrant growth, and that immigrants in these communities will suffer from limited resources, more discrimination, and poorer relative academic achievement in comparison to native born peers (Singer 2004, Bohon, et al, 2005; Wainer, 2004; Wortham et al 2002). Yet there is relatively little research on how emerging immigrant communities are faring in comparison to established gateways, especially with respect to the educational experiences of the immigrant children and their native-born peers. My dissertation aims to fill this gap in the literature. Using administrative data from Florida public high schools from 2000-2005, this dissertation compares established to emerging immigrant gateways focusing on the following three research questions: (1) Are school resources allocated to or away from immigrant students? (2) Does "native flight" occur when immigrants enroll in schools? and (3) Do immigrant students test higher or lower than their native born peers on academic achievement exams? Taken together, the results from this analysis suggest that, despite some concerns, schools and immigrant students in emerging gateways are not unilaterally faring worse than schools and immigrant students in established gateways and results are mixed. First, some school resources are more favorable to the foreign-born in established gateways than in emerging gateways. For instance, in established gateways, schools with increasing shares of immigrants see increases in per-pupil expenditures for exceptional students and increases in the share of staff serving in an instructional capacity. In emerging gateways, schools with increasing immigrant shares experience declines in expenditures for regular and exceptional students, as well as declines in the share of staff serving in a support capacity. Second, I find no evidence of “native flight” in response to the foreign born in emerging gateways and some modest evidence of “native flight” in established gateways. Specifically, in established gateways, white native born students are sorting away from schools with increasing numbers of foreign born black and foreign born Asian/other students. Black native born students are sorting away from schools with increasing numbers of foreign born Asian/other students. Hispanic native born students are sorting away from schools with increasing numbers of foreign born white students. Third, immigrant student performance varies according to gateway type, but there is not a straightforward relationship between the type of gateway community and whether immigrants out- or under-perform native-born students

Phenomenological Study Identifying Facilitators and Barriers to Black and Latinx Youth’s Engagement in Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Programs

Black and Latinx youth are disproportionately affected by violence in the United States. Hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIPs) have emerged as an effective response to this epidemic; however, participation rates remain low. This study aimed to identify facilitators and barriers to recruitment and engagement amongst black and Latinx youth from the perspective of HVIP staff. Employing a phenomenological approach, a purposive sample of key informants was recruited. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews lasting approximately 90 min were conducted with representatives (N = 12) from five HVIPs in U.S. cities across the Midwest and Northeast, making up 15% of all HVIPs in the United States. Each interview was recorded and transcribed verbatim. The research team employed rigorous content analysis of the data. Three themes and subsequent categories resulted from the analysis: (1) Interpersonal/Relational Facilitators (building rapport; connecting with youth; enhancing the teachable moment; building relational health); (2) Structural/Systemic Barriers (lack of reinforcement; difficulties connecting after discharge from the hospital; hospital workflow; institutional challenges); (3) Structural/Systemic Facilitators (embedding the HVIP; trauma-informed practices and policies). Given the limited research on black and Latinx youth and the disproportionate rate of violent injuries amongst these groups, an evidence-based systematic approach to engage youth is essential to promote health equity. The findings from this study suggest that there are several steps that HVIPs and hospitals can take to enhance their recruitment and engagement of youth and their families