Connect, Communicate, Collaborate – Fall, 2021

FROM THE DIRECTOR

The fall semester has brought us all back to our offices and working together face to face again. I re-entered my office with the KIDS COUNT tear-off calendar on my desk still reading March 13, 2020. While the office was largely the same as it was then, there were also many little changes that required adjusting. And while we all went through this process, I'm happy to report that we continue to do important work on many fronts, and I'm proud to share some of that with you in this edition of CCRS Connect. ​

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​WELCOME NEW AND RETURNING STUDENTS!

​CCRS is pleased to welcome new and returning research assistants this fall!

New students joining our Center are:

​Abigail Addvensky: Program: Masters in Public A​dministration Interests: Nonprofit Management

​Jada-Simone Davis: Program: MA - Urban Affairs & Public Policy

​Tatiana Galdamez: Program: Master in Public Administration Interests: immigration reform, sociolinguistics, diversity and inclusion, and equity.

​Jacob Higgins: Program: MA - Urban Affairs & Public Policy Interests: Criminal Justice & Education Reform

​Kati Long: Program: Undergraduate with majors in Public Policy and Psychology Interests: Housing, specifically with homelessness and affordable housing

​Alexander Modeas: Program: MA - Urban Affairs & Public Policy Interests: desegregation, housing affordability, and homelessness

​Olivia Wanjeri Mwangi: Program: MS in Data Science Interests: find policy solutions to real societal challenges, improve policy and governance, Use data science methods in providing personalized policies that improve the lives of the people in an equitable, just, and quantifiable way.

​Miranda Perez-Rivera: Program: Undergraduate, Nutrition and dietetics major with a minor in public policy Interests: nutrition relating to children and lowering the obesity rate in the United States.

Welcome back to our returning students: Corinne Bogan, Allie Foster, Jalissa Haynes, Emily Loughlin, Mimi Rayl, and Alexa Timmreck!

​​PUBLIC ALLIES

Welcome to the Public Allies Delaware Class of 2022! The first cohort of the year began service on September 1st. Allies are building the capacity of the organizations listed below. The second cohort will begin service on October 18th. 

Public Allies​ is the AmeriCorps program housed within the Biden School, CCRS. We work towards a more perfect union that includes us all by advancing diverse new leadership in the nonprofit and government sectors. Over the course of 10-months, Allies participate in weekly personal and professional development training, full-time apprenticeships focusing on organizational capacity building, personal coaching, and critical reflection activities. If you are interested in learning more about becoming a Public Ally or acting as a host organization, please contact Tina Morrow (tmorrow@udel.edu).

• ​​Be Ready CDC
• Children's Beach House
• Christiana Care
• Community Legal Aid Society, Delaware (Main Branch)
• Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council
• Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County (Engagement)
• Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County (Evaluation)
• Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County (Family Services)
• Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids
• Housing Alliance Delaware
• Mental Health Association of Delaware
• New Castle Prevention Coalition
• Proximate Network, Inc. (BASSE)
• University of Delaware Cooperative Extension
• Colonial School District
• KIPP Foundation  ​
  

​​KIDS COUNT IN DELAWARE

​KIDS COUNT has continued its Timeline Tuesdays Data Snapshot Webinar Series. This was a year-long webinar series created a forum for leaders from across the state to engage in conversations - both grounded in data and informed by those working in the field - to advance collaboration towards positive outcomes for children and families. The goal of this series is to translate research and policy from the past 25 years into effective action steps in partnership with stakeholders and interested community members.

A recording, a copy of the data presentation, and supplemental materials for each webinar already held can be found online​. The most recent include:​

• Data Snapshot: Children in Single-Parent Families and Other Family Structures, held on July 20th *
• Data Snapshot: Births to Teens, held on Aug 17th **
• Data Snapshot Wrap-up, Revisit and Review, held on Sept 21st

^{*This webinar featured CCRS Assistant Policy Scientist Rebecca McColl as a data expert, detailing the landscape of family structure in Delaware.}

^{** This webinar featured CCRS Associate Policy Scientist Katie Gifford as a data expert, detailing the landscape of births to teens in Delaware.}

As we enter autumn, be on the lookout for the next round of webinars: "Data to Action," through which KIDS COUNT in Delaware will continue to elevate the voices of community members serving children in the pandemic.

​KIDS COUNT released its 2021 KIDS COUNT in Delaware Legislative Wrap-Up. This annual legislative wrap-up highlights legislation passed in the previous session which affect children and their families.

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​HEALTH POLICY AND RESEARCH

​INBRE: Three new projects have been funded by Delaware INBRE:

• Linking Evictions, Homelessness, and Pediatric Health, Primary Investigator J. J. Cutuli, PhD, Nemours
  
• Hypertension among Medicaid Children, Primary Investigator: Carissa M. Baker-Smith, MD MPH MS, Nemours Children Hospital
• Primary Care Utilization among Medicaid Children, Primary Investigator Katie Fitzpatrick, PhD, Biden School of Public Policy and Administration​

Del-CAN: The Medicaid Research Group has continued the analyses of the Delaware Contraceptive Access (DEL-CAN) Initiative in Delaware. A manuscript on non-postpartum women in Delaware Medicaid has been submitted for publication and another manuscript on postpartum women is presently being written.

Recent Publications

Fertility Rate in Delaware:​ CCRS Assistant Policy Scientists Becky McColl and Erin Lynch​ released a research brief on fertility rate in Delaware, set in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Within the text, they explore Delaware's birth and fertility rates over time, compared to the rates for the United States on the whole. There was a reported reduction in births caused by the pandemic, adding to the decline in fertility rate over the last decade and a half. The brief explores the intersections of Delaware's birth rate, fertility rate, economic state, public health, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

OUD: CCRS has been participating in a multi-state study on opioid use disorder (OUD) for the past three years. The work is culminating in several papers; the first paper, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, focuses on the prevalence of OUD among the 11 states. Substantially more people in the U.S. with opioid use disorder are receiving evidence-based treatment for the disease, but there are still considerable gaps in care along racial lines, according to the largest analysis to date of opioid use disorder among Medicaid recipients.

The results provide insights that policymakers and medical providers can act on to improve access to quality care for opioid use disorder, one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. The analysis was possible because of a unique network, AcademyHealth's Medicaid Outcomes Distributed Research Network (MODRN) that partnered academic institutes with state Medicaid programs to overcome barriers to data sharing between states. Several other papers are in preparation focusing on the cascade of care, pregnant women, HIV/HCV testing, and long term care.

• Donohue, J.M., Jarlenski, M.P., Kim, J.Y., Tang, L., Ahrens, K., Allen, L., Austin, A., Barnes, A.J., Burns, M., Chang, C.H., Clark, S., Cole, E., Crane, D., Cunningham, P., Idala, D., Junker, S., Lanier, P., Mauk, R., McDuffie, M.J., Mohamoud, S., Pauly, N., Sheets, L., Talbert, J., Zivin, K., Gordin, A.J., Kennedy, S. (2021). "Use of Medications for Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder Among US Medicaid Enrollees in 11 States, 2014-2018". Journal of the American Medical Association. 326(2):154-164. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.7374
  

​​HOUSING

CCRS and Institute of Public Policy (IPA) present the first in a series of webinars focused on Affordable Housing, Delaware’s Affordable Rental Housing Landscape—Pandemic and Beyond, on Wednesday, October 13, 2021. Eugene Young, Jr., Director of Delaware State Housing Authority, will share his insights on Delaware’s affordable housing landscape and DSHA’s priorities to address affordable rental housing challenges. For more information and registration information.

​CCRS Director Steve Metraux, along with graduate students Josh Solge and Olivia Mwangi, authored a report “An Overview of Family Homelessness in Delaware: A Report to Housing Alliance Delaware.” The report, funded by the Delaware Community Foundation and Philanthropy Delaware, takes an in depth look at the growing number of homeless families in Delaware and the services available to them, and come up with recommendations on how to address this problem.

Metraux also was an author on three publications that came out over the summer:

• Crone, Baylee, Stephen Metraux & Tracy Sbrocco (2021). “Health Service Access Among African American Veterans Experiencing Homelessness.” Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. Published online. DOI: doi:10.1007/s40615-021-01119-z.
• Ervin, Emma, Barbara Poppe, Amanda Onwuka, Hannah Keedy, Stephen Metraux, Leslie Jones, Megan Sandel, Kelly Kelleher (2021). "Characteristics Associated with Homeless Pregnant Women in Columbus, Ohio." Maternal & Child Health. Published online October 6, 2021; doi: 10.1007/s10995-021-03227-y. 
• Metraux, Stephen (2021). Review of Mean Streets: Homelessness, Public Space, and the Limits of Capital (by Don Mitchell). European Journal of Homelessness 15(2): 355-357.
  

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