Spring 2021 Capstone Presentations Booklet

MPA Capstone Presentations Spring 2021 April 29, 2021

Pan el 1 M oder at or : Dr . A. Br yce Hof lu n d Facu lt y Pan elist s: Dr . Cr aig M ah er , Dr . Dan iel Sch eller , Dr . Nam k yu n g Oh Tu n e in w it h Zoom u sin g t h is lin k :h t t ps:/ / u n om ah a.zoom .u s/ j/ 93999574327

1:00 PM : Shelby Hinze Disaster Volunteer Management in a COVID-19 Environment Federal, State, Tribal, Territorial, and Local governments depend on non-profits to support all aspects of emergency management in helping communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. As the scale, scope and frequency of disasters continues to increase ? non-profits must engage disaster volunteers effectively to support and meet the needs of communities and survivors. COVID-19 impacted every industry, including volunteer management and emergency management. This case study examined a range of organizations, including both non-profit and government, to research and analyze how volunteer management has altered in the COVID-19 environment. The analysis outlines the processes and structures that yield successful volunteer engagement outcomes and includes recommendations for best practices in volunteer management.

1:15 PM : Deidre Rivera Inside the world of Public Housing, through the eyes of a Ser vice Coordinator in a PHA Public housing is an essential form of affordable housing for low-income individuals. Public Housing Agencies or Authorities (PHAs) provide high-rise low-income units funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Although HUD values housing retention and supports the ?aging in place model?, the units within PHA?s are intended for independently living. Unfortunately, independently living can become increasingly difficult for the PHA tenants, who are oftentimes elderly or disabled. Since there currently does not exist a HUD assessment of when independently living is no longer feasible for tenants, this research intends to provide an informational blueprint as to create such an evaluation. With surveying Service Coordinators employed through other PHA?s in Iowa, data will be gathered regarding the problems other PHA?s encounter and their approaches to resolving those issues. This research focuses on primarily Iowa PHA?s since the author is employed through the Municipal Housing Agency of Council Bluffs, and aspires for the research to be representative of data within PHA?s in the same state.

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1:30 PM : Karly Hernandez Enhancing the Employee Experience: A Review of Human Resource Effor t s within the State of Nebraska An ongoing challenge for human resources professionals within the State of Nebraska is the ability to adequately recruit and retain quality employees to properly advance their goals and mission. As a younger generation of professionals enter the workforce and seek employment in a competitive environment, with non-profit and private sector opportunities, it becomes even more important to plan more family-friendly and employee-centered policies and benefits. As 2020 brought along a global pandemic and economic unrest, it also altered the job market and the number of quality applicants seeking employment. Many federal agencies and private sector organizations have already adopted work-life programs that seek to enhance employee job satisfaction, and therefore their level of commitment and productivity to their employers. These programs have proved to lead to benefits for both the employee and the agency, and therefore can lead to lowered levels of turnover and improved job satisfaction. The purpose of this project is to understand what types of human resource policies positively impact employee recruitment, retention, job satisfaction, commitment, and productivity. The research will also focus on efforts within the State of Nebraska to strategically plan for human resource policies, employee benefits, and wellness initiatives that will encourage proper work-life balance and align with improving the recruitment and retention of quality employees.

1:45 PM : Annabelle Abisset Defining Measures of Success for a Communit y-Based ESL Program: A Case Study of inCOMMON's ESL Program There is a lack of research on adults who study English as a Second Language (ESL) through community-based, non-academic programs. This deficiency leads to difficultly in measuring success and language competency because of the variation in program offerings. This study conducts a formative program evaluation of a community-based ESL program using the nonprofit organization inCOMMON Community Development as a case study to define measures of success. These measures are based on the ESL program mission, improving language competency, and the organization?s overall mission, to cultivate relationships with and among participants. Information was gathered through interviews with program participants and program staff. The results of this study recommend defined measures of language evaluation (output) and relationship cultivation (outcome) to improve inCOMMON's program as well as improve and enrich the experience for adult learners in similar community-based ESL programs.

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2:00 PM : MacKenzie Broderick A Program Evaluation of Helping Hands in Western Nebraska Caring for senior citizens has always required long-term planning. After a certain period of time, family caregivers may realize they need help and begin searching for other solutions for senior care, which may include home care. Senior care options like retirement facilities and nursing homes may not always be the right fit and can be expensive. Home health care usually means a combination of non-medical and skilled medical or in-home nursing care services that enable seniors to live independently in their homes as long as possible. This program evaluation examines a non-profit health centered organization designed to offer in-home, non-medical care to elderly individuals living in western Nebraska. It also examines the ever-changing challenges associated with keeping seniors in their homes, advancements in technology and telehealth communications for access to health services, as well as the lack of services provided in rural communities.diverse needs in the field post program completion.

Pan el 2 M oder at or : Dr . A. Br yce Hof lu n d Facu lt y Pan elist s: Dr . M eagan Van Gelder , Dr . Nu r iel Heck ler , Sh aw n M axw ell Tu n e in w it h Zoom u sin g t h is lin k :h t t ps:/ / u n om ah a.zoom .u s/ j/ 93999574327

2:15 PM : Franecia Moore Centering Social Equit y in Public Administration Education: A Case Study of the Universit y of Nebraska at Omaha The pillars of efficiency, economy, and effectiveness have been included in the modern notion of public administration since it evolved in the mid-20th century. The addition of social equity as the fourth pillar of public administration created a national standard, the problem is that social equity is not consistently incorporated in public administration education across the country. This case study examines University of Nebraska at Omaha?s (UNO) Master of Public Administration (MPA) program?s incorporation of social equity in its curricula and UNO MPA student perceptions of social equity as a salient topic in their coursework. The research questions asked are: ?In what ways does the UNO MPA program center social equity in its curriculum?? and ?When asked to reflect on their MPA experience at UNO, do current MPA students: 1.

Acknowledge social equity as a central focus in the curricula?and 2. Feel adequately trained to respond well to the needs of all people?? This case study includes a comparative analysis of a recent UNO MPA syllabi audit with the findings of a 2019 study that outlines areas of emphasis to advance social equity achievement.

Current UNO MPA students were surveyed to gauge students?understanding of social equity and preparedness to meet diverse needs in the field post program completion. Preliminary findings suggest the UNO MPA program could work to explicitly state social equity as a central focus of the program and integrate social equity into core coursework. I expect student understanding of social equity and preparedness to perform in the field will be directly related to intentional efforts made to center social equity by program faculty and leadership.

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2:30 PM : Karen Castillo The effect s of COVID-19 in the elderly and mental health in nursing homes In 2020, the world suffered a pandemic crisis the health organization of the world called for immediate action. The Covid-19 pandemic affects everyone but specifically targets the elderly population. The elderly is the most vulnerable population due to a high risk for health conditions that can impact their mental health due to the pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also took action to inform everyone about the outbreak of the pandemic. The elderly population lacks the necessary attention needed and now with the Covid-19 pandemic has caused an increase in mortality rates. The purpose of this study is to identify the impact this pandemic has had on the elderly mental health and the quality services offered.

The effectiveness of these planning efforts will provide improvement for future planning efforts.

2:45 PM : Christine Henningsen Strategic planning to enhance the ser vice provision of the Douglas Count y Youth Center ?s Home Detention Program Juvenile justice reform efforts are working towards programmatic changes that better align with key

concepts in adolescent development research in order to enhance community safety and produce better outcomes for youth and families involved in the system. Growing research shows the detrimental effects of youth incarceration, and the need to make viable detention alternatives that allow children to remain safely with the community. In Douglas County, the secure detention facility runs a house arrest, electronic monitoring program which has seen a decrease in youth population served and poor successful completion rates. This project will focus on a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Challenges analysis with key stakeholders to identify the current internal and external environments in which the program operates. The findings of the research will be shared along with recommendations for next steps as Douglas County continues with the strategic planning process.

3:00 PM : Nayeli Lopez A Qualitative Study of the Learning Communit y Center of South Omaha (LCCSO) Graduates The Learning Community Center of South Omaha works with parents and children to challenge the opportunity gap. Since 2012, the organization has graduated over 100 participants. The qualitative case study explores the participant's experience after graduating from the Family Learning Program at LCCSO. The study used an exploratory qualitative research designed. Data were collected through in-depth interviews lasting between 30 ? 45 minutes using a semi-structured interview guide. Inductive content analysis was used to analyze the data. The findings will be utilized to improve the program further as it seeks to expand in the future.

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3:15 PM : Alicia Wicht A Qualitative Study of the Facilitators and Barriers of Utilization of the Depar tment of Veterans Affairs' Whole Health Ser vices Among Primar y Care Staff In 2016, the U.S. Congress passed the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) to address the national opioid epidemic. The bill specifically directs the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to address Veteran pain management while reducing opioid usage and to conduct research on the implementation and impact of complimentary and integrative health (CIH) approaches. In response, the VA?s Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation began the VA?s shift into a system of Whole Health, formalizing an approach to care that shifts focus from disease management towards health promotion, disease prevention and whole person wellness; incorporating complementary and integrative health approaches into their facilities nationwide. While several VA medical centers have been successful in their transformation into a system of Whole Health, anecdotal evidence suggests that others have faced some challenges implementing this new approach to care.This project examined the perceived facilitators and barriers to implementation and utilization of Whole Health services, specifically among Whole Health services primary referral source, the primary care Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACT), at a rural VA medical center. A qualitative, descriptive study was conducted which included information gathered from online surveys sent to 63 stakeholders on the primary care PACTs located at the Grand Island VA medical center. This analysis outlines the processes that yield successful staff engagement with Whole Health and includes recommendations to aid in increasing the utilization of Whole Health services among PACT staff at the Grand Island VA medical center.

Pan el 3 M oder at or : Dr . Car ol Ebdon Facu lt y Pan elist s: Dr . Tr an g Hoan g, Dr . Dan bee Lee, Dr . Scot t Tar r y Tu n e in w it h Zoom u sin g t h is lin k :h t t ps:/ / u n om ah a.zoom .u s/ j/ 6036877455

1:00 PM : Nick Cordonier Pathways to Federal Government : A Study of the Pathways Programs and Millennial Inclusion in Federal Government This study seeks to better understand the federal government?s ?Pathways Programs?, which are comprised of internships, recent graduate hiring priorities, and the Presidential Management Fellowship (PMF). The purpose of the Pathways Program is to increase younger generations?access to federal employment. This study hopes to assess the relationship between participation in the Pathways Programs and the percentage of the millennials working within federal government, as a means of evaluating the success of the Pathways Programs.

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1:15 PM : Brian Bruckner Land Use Policies to Manage Urban Growth: Use of Greenbelt Designation for the Protection of Natural Spaces ? Case Study of Boulder, Colorado In response to growing concerns about the protection of open spaces, and the conversion of land associated with urban sprawl, the public sector has enacted policy instruments meant to preserve and protect natural spaces and to steer urban growth and renewal that limits impact to natural spaces. These techniques have been implemented by units of government at the local, regional, state and, to a limited extent, national levels. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the available literature to describe these public policies and their implementation. The main public policy instruments for managing urban growth and protecting open space at various governmental levels are identified and briefly described, including public acquisition of land, regulatory approaches, and incentive-based approaches. The focus of this research paper centers upon policies enacted by Boulder, Colorado who, since 1967, has utilized these types of policy instruments to protect areas surrounding the city. The research within this paper will provide insight on some of the implications, both positive and negative, of the policies utilized by the City of Boulder.

1:30 PM : Joseph George Evaluating the Impact of Downtown Revitalization Communit y Development Block Grant s on Rural Iowa Communities As the population in rural counties of the United States continues to decline and the rural death rate surpasses its birth rate, public administrators and elected officials in these areas are continually looking for ways to bring economic life back to their communities. Though federal and state governments, as well as nonprofits, have developed programs designed to potentially address this decline, the burden of researching and evaluating the long-term economic impact and effectiveness of these programs falls back to the local government to decide what will work for their community. Of these programs, the downtown revitalization community development block grant is a common choice for communities looking to energize their rural economies. This study seeks to determine the effects of this program on the long-term economic growth in rural Iowa communities that have received funding over the past 10 years.

1:45 PM : Maia Smiley Nor th Omaha 2025 Initiative: Increased Oppor tunit y for Black Business Owners and Entrepreneurs?

This program analysis of the Empowerment Network?s North Omaha 2025 Initiative was performed to identify the ways in which the program improved or increased the opportunities for Black business owners and Black entrepreneurs in North Omaha. This program analysis will be executed through identifying the program's initiatives and the progress towards meeting those initiatives, as well as through interviews with the Empowerment Network and participating business owners and entrepreneurs. By performing this analysis, strengths and weaknesses of the initiative will be identified and these identifications can then perhaps be used by those involved in the initiative to ensure their goals are met.

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2:00 PM : Vaughan Wehr Cit y of Valentine Economic Development Board SWOT/ C Analysis This case study aims to conduct a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats/ Challenges (SWOT/ C) analysis for the City of Valentine Economic Development Board. The analysis aims to ?identify those internal strengths and external opportunities that an organization can leverage to accomplish its objectives, while also seeking to mitigate internal weaknesses and external threats? (Leigh, 2009, p. 1089). These internal and external factors will help illustrate the context in which the Board operates. In turn, the Board?s attempts to promote economic development will be more successful.

Pan el 4 M oder at or : Dr . Car ol Ebdon Facu lt y Pan elist s: Dr . M ar y Ham ilt on , Dr . Tom Jam ieson Tu n e in w it h Zoom u sin g t h is lin k :h t t ps:/ / u n om ah a.zoom .u s/ j/ 6036877455

2:15 PM : Amanda Novotny The Cit y of Omaha?s Response to Sexual Assault : Pathways to A Trauma Informed Response A body of literature related to trauma informed care suggests that trauma informed practices and protocol are less re-traumatizing for victims and can lead to higher rates of victim cooperation. Sexual assault victims experience complex trauma. The City of Omaha, as part of the greater Douglas County Sexual Assault Response Team (SART), has a formalized sexual assault response protocol including a multidisciplinary team of public and nonprofit organizations working together. While the protocol was developed with a trauma informed intent, ensuring consistent trauma informed practices across multiple organizations is difficult, and further evaluation is necessary. This study analyzes the City of Omaha?s multidisciplinary response to sexual assault to determine if the response protocol is trauma informed, and provides recommendations to incorporate a higher level of trauma informed care.

2:30 PM : Sam Stivers Who has benefited from the Land and Water Conser vation Fund?

Many of the United States?most treasured places ? from local parks and trails to the Grand Canyon ? can be attributed to, in part, the Land and Water Conservation Fund or LWCF (Abbott, 2020). LWCF was enacted by Congress in 1964 to protect natural areas, water resources, cultural heritage, and provide recreation opportunities for all Americans, and in 2020, was permanently funded at $900 million as part of the Great American Outdoors Act. LWCF is vital for public access to outdoor recreation, especially the state grant program. This matters because millions of Americans do not have a quality park within a 10 minute walk of their homes, and numerous studies have shown that getting outdoors has a direct, positive impact on physical health with benefits including lower blood pressure, decreased diabetes, reduced obesity, and better sleep (Springer, 2020). Even though every state and almost every county in the nation has benefited from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (U.S. Department of the Interior, 2019), still 1 in 3 people in America do not have a park close to home (The Trust for Public Land, 2020).

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This paper will examine if there has been equality in access to the LWCF funds for lower income and minority communities. With guidance from scholarly literature and research, a descriptive and regression analysis focusing on Washington and Utah will be conducted to assess the equitable distribution of the LWCF state grant funding between counties in the two statesto ensure the goal of the program to provide recreation opportunities to all Americans not just the privileged few is being met.

2:45 PM : Daniel Hayes Comparative Analysis of Green Energy Transitions Among Electric Utilities previously in the Climate Challenge Program As the incoming presidential administration prepares to address environmental policy as one of the cornerstones of its campaign, this paper provides a study of the utilities that participated in the Climate Challenge, a voluntary program designed to help electric utilities reduce greenhouse gasses. This study evaluates utilities that participated in the program to analyze changes in greenhouse gas emissions to empirically determine the results of their participation in the program. This follow-up will serve to aid in the design and implementation of future programs based on the model of voluntary programs.

3:00 PM : Noah Stoffel Problem Solving Parallels: A Review of Problem Solving Cour t s and Probation While concern for justice reform is not new, the political will for this idea has only grown in the current era.

Particular communities have long been hindered by criminal justice overstep and the costs associated with frequent justice system contact. Many localities have created programs with this goal in mind, yet none has been more widely replicated than the Problem-Solving Court model, or Specialized-Court Program, which aims to respond to offenses in ways that diminish the burden on communities, offenders, and the criminal justice system. These programs claim benefits such as reducing recidivism, lowering substance use, and preventing incarcerations. However, there is also doubt about the program, as some fear further criminal justice systems will have a net-widening effect, despite good intentions. This study reviews data on problem-solving courts and probation programs, at multiple geographic levels, to find differences in outcome and determine if a relationship exists between these courts and future probation rates.

3:15 PM : Leigh Ellis Juvenile Transfer Cases in Douglas Count y In Nebraska, if a youth is over fourteen years old and under eighteen years old at the time of committing a criminal offense, the prosecutor has discretion to file the charge(s) in adult or juvenile court Juvenile court, in contrast to adult court, is rehabilitative rather than punitive, thus the specific court where a case is filed and subsequently adjudicated is significant. The capstone analyzes youth charged in adult court in Douglas County, Nebraska in 2019. Specifically, the capstone identifies demographic and legal factors for each youth charged as an adult to determine what if any relationship exists between said factors and whether or not the case was transferred to juvenile court.

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