Connect, Communicate, Collaborate - Spring 2020

FROM THE DIRECTOR

The University of Delaware, like many universities, has moved most of its activities to remote arrangements in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Consistent with this, we at the Center for Community Research & Service (CCRS) are now working from home and striving to carry on with as many of our activities as possible in as normal a fashion as possible given these decidedly non-normal times. In addition, we are also preparing an examination of how local governments can best respond to the almost certain increase in housing instability that will emerge in the wake of the coronavirus responses, and are looking for other ways in which we can turn our expertise and work in the community to ways that can contribute to addressing the impact of this pandemic and the measures taken to contain it. For more details on this or on the other activities described here, I invite you to contact me at metraux@udel.edu.

STUDENTS

Congratulations to Hira Rashid, CCRS Graduate Research Assistant!  Hira successfully defended her doctoral dissertation:  Health and Vulnerability Among Internally Displaced Persons in Burundi and Somalia. 

RESEARCH

New Research

The next round of Delaware INBRE awards will soon be announced in April.  The DE INBRE Core Center Access Awards in the amount of $8,000 per project are available to use in support of research projects requiring the analysis of Medicaid data. Up to 3 projects will be funded in the current cycle. Look to this site for more information in the upcoming weeks.

Presentations

Abstract titled An Empirical Approach to the Study of IDP Vulnerability and Health Using Latent Class Analysis  by Hira Rashid, PhD, CCRS graduate research assistant, was accepted at 2020 PEGASUS conference in Ontario, Canada to be held in late April.

The abstract Postpartum contraceptive method selection among Medicaid-covered women in Delaware before and after LARC-promoting initiatives, 2012-2018 has been submitted to the American Public Health Association for the November annual meeting.  Co-authored by the CCRS research team: Katie Gifford, PhD, Mary Joan McDuffie, MA, Erin Knight, PhD, MPH and Rebecca McColl, MA along with University of Maryland's Michel Boudreaux, PhD and Michael Rendall, PhD, this work is part of the on-going Del-CAN evaluation project.

Stephen Metraux (with Dana Hunt and Will Yetvin) produced a white paper, "Criminal Justice Reentry and Homelessness: A Review of the Literature" that will be the focus of a webinar organized by the Center for Evidence Based Solutions to Homelessness on April 28.

Erin Lynch, MS, represented KIDS COUNT in Delaware through presenting at two meetings this winter: the Delaware Early Childhood Council and a Non-Profit Census Luncheon sponsored by New Castle County. Each presentation included information surrounding how to make sure we #CountAllKids in the 2020 Census. She shared research-informed messaging strategies to encourage families, especially those with very young children, to fill out the census in a complete and accurate manner.

Stephen Metraux was a panelist in the session "Employing Your Sociological Imagination: Careers Outside of Academia" held at the annual meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society held on February 27-28.

Health Equity  

Delaware Division of Public Health will be included in Apolitical's new How to Innovate for Equity. 10 Days. 100 Ideas. Excerpts from Health Equity Guide for Public Health Practitioners and Partners, co-authored by Erin Knight, PhD, Kalyn McDonough, MS, PhD Research Assistant and Cassandra, Codes-Johnson, Associate Deputy, Delaware Division of Public Health will be part of Apolitical's project.  Starting March 16, hundreds of public servants and policymakers will receive bite-sized emails, each with new ideas related to a new dimension of equity, for 10 days. 

EVENTS

Census Day is April 1st Get Counted! 

CCRS's KIDS COUNT is very involved in getting the message out about the importance of the census.   Young children are the group most likely to be missed in our decennial census count. In Delaware, more than $500 million flows to the state each year from the 10 largest federal programs that serve children. When kids aren't counted, communities are in danger of receiving less than their fair share of federal dollars for programs like Head Start, school lunches, public health insurance and child care- programs and services that help young children in low-income families get a healthy start in life. Learn more...

Please note: Due to COVID-19, the date for completion of the data collection portion for the census has been postponed to August 14, 2020. That date can and may be adjusted further in order to ensure a complete and accurate count during this national response to coronavirus. Other steps that are being taken in response to the outbreak include:

• Adjusting operations to make sure college students are counted
• Delaying the start of the Mobile Questionnaire Assistance program
• Delaying the Early Non-response Follow-up operation

What you need to know right now: It has never been easier to respond on your own, whether online, over the phone or by mail - all without having to meet a census taker.

KIDS COUNT in Delaware's 25th Anniversary Celebration

This celebration, originally scheduled for May 6th, has been postponed.  Please check back on the CCRS's KIDS COUNT website for information on the re-scheduled event at a later time.

KIDS COUNT in Delaware 2020 Fact Book: Now & Then will be released virtually on May 12, 2020 at 10AM. During the past 25 years, KIDS COUNT in Delaware has collaborated with hundreds of partners and served as a data resource to thousands of policy makers, practitioners, volunteers, advocates and service providers in the state of Delaware. The data, policy and actions examined in this year's edition Fact Book span two and a half decades of turbulent changes in the nation's economy, politics, demography and prospects for success of this country's most vulnerable children and families. Yet, the issues and analysis summarized remain as relevant today as in years past. This 25th edition examines how Delaware's child population has changed, demographically and geographically. By highlighting progress and decline, it examines the question are we as a state doing better for our kids compared to a generation ago? Register in advance for this meeting: https://udel.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJQudO-uqzotD_McSmEtXF8y2hTFOxzY4Q  After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

March 20, 2020