MANDEL SCHOOL
NEWS AND EVENTS

While Cleveland's overall population has declined 17% from 2000 to 2010, past research by the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development has demonstrated population gains for certain age demographics in certain regional localities. Mapping Human Capital: Where Northeast Ohio's Young and Middle-Age Adults Are Locating, the second Briefly Stated report released by the Poverty Center in 2013, expands on the initial research by examining the mobility of young and middle-age adults in Northeastern Ohio.

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The Louis Stokes Youth Violence Prevention Consortium will present a free program on school violence, bullying and neighborhood violence on Thursday, December 13.

The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn Cleveland Downtown, 1100 Carnegie Avenue.

Deadline to register is Tuesday, December 11. Please remember to include your name and an e-mail address when making your RSVP.

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An analysis of employment data from23 behavioral healthcare organizations in Ohio shows that 36 percent of people with serious mental illness who received evidence-based Supported Employment/Individual Placement and Support (SE/IPS) services were competitively employed in full-time or part-time jobs in September 2011. The number is significant, because the national average was 37 percent in that same month for similar services delivered at multiple organizations in 12 states as part of the Johnson & Johnson-Dartmouth Community Mental Health Program.

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Claudia Coulton conducts research with two goals: to identify issues in urban areas and to solve them. Time and again, her scholarly findings have prompted concrete leadership changes -- which in turn have improved the lives of the people she studies.

For example, when the Center for Urban Poverty and Community Development, which she directs, released a report showing Cleveland's inner-city residents couldn't get to available jobs in the outer-ring suburbs via public transportation, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority adjusted its routes. And when her research showed the major role disadvantaged neighborhoods play in people's lives -- she founded the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership, a 35-city collaboration that supports neighborhood research in local policymaking and community building.

Coulton will be honored this week when she is named a Distinguished University Professor during fall convocation. The ceremony will be held Wednesday, Aug. 29, at 4:30 p.m. in Severance Hall. Read more in today's Daily.

Related Link: Coulton's reaction to the news

As Americans come to grips with the Aurora, Colo., shootings, and now, the tragedy at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, MSASS researchers have been called on to provide their perspectives on what they have learned.

Daniel Flannery, Director of The Dr. Semi J. and Ruth W. Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education, recently served on a panel with community members here in Cleveland. He spoke about the impact of violence on today's society as part of a July 25 discussion on WCPN's Sound of Ideas.

On August 1, the Civic Commons website hosted a similar online discussion during a 3-day forum. Those who participated with community advocates, young people, thought leaders, and organizers encouraged discussion and thoughtful solutions. Patrick J. Kanary, director for the Center for Innovative Practices at MSASS, was called on to contribute.

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Our evidence-based practice (EBP) conference is back by popular demand and will take place on Oct 22 and 23, 2012 at the Cleveland Airport Marriott in Cleveland, Ohio, so save these dates! The event will feature keynote addresses and numerous workshops exploring introductory, intermediate, and advanced topics about implementing and integrating EBPs, emerging best practices, and other healthcare and behavioral-healthcare innovations that improve outcomes for people with mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders. | Ohio providers: $200/$125| Non-Ohio providers: $300/ $225.

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The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development is one of the featured research and training centers in the recently released 2010-2011 Research & Training Annual Report of the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences. The report discusses the issues surrounding Cleveland as well as the various projects of the Center and the uses for NEO CANDO (Northeast Ohio Community and Neighborhood Data for Organizing).

Read the entire report as either a:
2.06 MB, 72dpi .PDF for slower connections and email, or
20.1 MB, 300dpi .PDF for faster connections and printing.

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Earlier this year, the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development in partnership with the Saint Luke's Foundation released a series of 12 data briefs on key social demographic and population dimensions of three neighborhoods on the east side of the City of Cleveland: Buckeye-Shaker, Mount Pleasant, and Woodland Hills. The data briefs address issues related to Saint Luke's target communities, with specific attention to changes in indicators over time. Using data from a range of Census and local sources, the briefs highlight important dimensions of life in these three neighborhoods that can inform approaches to address community needs.

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Patrick Boyle, MSSA ('89), and Debra Hrouda, MSSA ('94), of the Center for Evidence-Based Practices -- and its Ohio SAMI CCOE initiative -- are presenting three posters at the "First Biennial Global Implementation Conference" (GIC) in Washington, DC, on August 15, 16, and 17, 2011. The event brings together scientists, policymakers, practitioners, and community leaders for an unprecedented focus on evidence-based practices and how they can be implemented effectively to improve outcomes for people and organizations. Boyle and Hrouda will also be participating in ongoing learning clusters with colleagues from the conference over the coming year.

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Debra Hrouda, MSSA ('94), LISW-S, of the Mandel School's Center for EBPs--and its Ohio SAMI CCOE initiative--has been invited to present results of a CEBP study of Ohio behavioral-healthcare claims data during a free webinar hosted by the the National Research Institute (NRI), Inc. on August 2, 2011. The study showed that Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment (IDDT) helped save Ohio $1.4 million in service costs for a group of 160 people diagnosed with a severe mental illness and a co-occurring substance use disorder. Register online today.

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The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development has released social and economic updates for NEO CANDO (Northeast Ohio Community and Neighborhood Data for Organizing).

In the first part of this update from April 2011 are:

• 2010 Census Redistricting Data


• 2009 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Data

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The Federal Reserve, through its Community Development staff located at its 12 regional reserve banks and the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., works to bring together key community stakeholders to identify local problems and explore solutions, some of which are highlighted in a series of three concise video documentaries.

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"Finding Place in Community Change Initiatives: Using GIS to Uncover Resident Perceptions of their Neighborhoods," by Claudia Coulton, and Tsui Chan of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, and Kristen Mikelbank of the Cleveland Food Bank, has been published by the Journal of Community Practice, released March 4, 2011.

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Enterprise Community Partners hosted a live online webinar titled: "Using Local Market Data to Support Neighborhood Stabilization." It was held on Thursday, February 10, 2011 from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM

The Powerpoint presentation for this webinar is now available here online.

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A recent journal article "Getting the Most Out of Service Learning: Maximizing Student, University, and Community Impact" in the Journal of Community Practice, is by professors Mark Chupp and Mark Joseph, is outlined in this |think magazine blog article.

Additional articles about their work, and the efforts of Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences students can bee see in the August and July 2010 articles here.

Both Mark Chupp and Mark Joseph are faculty associates of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development.

The following case study by the Enterprise Foundation, focuses on NEO CANDO and the partnerships that utilize the data it provides to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods.

"Local market data systems are of great value to nonprofits, local governments and other community stakeholders who are working to stabilize neighborhoods struggling as a result of foreclosures, blight, vacancies or economic decline.

In Cleveland, data transformed the focus and implementation of neighborhood stabilization, allowing stabilization efforts to achieve a level of impact that was not otherwise possible....

This case study examines the value of parcel-level real estate data for neighborhood stabilization programs in general, and looks specifically at how the Northeast Ohio Community and Neighborhood Data for Organizing system (NEO CANDO) is used in Cleveland. Examples of some of the ways community stakeholders have used the data generated by the NEO CANDO system are provided. General information describing the operations of the NEO CANDO system, the data used, and the sources of that data are also provided to aid communities considering creating their own local market data system."

This case study is located on practitionerresources.org, where other Enterprise Community Partners resources are also listed.

Dr. Anna Santiago, Dr. George Galster, and Renee Nicolosi, are in a podcast titled, "Where People Live Matters: Using Housing Policy as an Anti-Poverty and Asset-Building Intervention," on the University at Buffalo School of Social Work's Living Proof Podcast series Episode 64.

"In this episode, our guests discuss their research that attempts to respond to and understand how housing policy influences not only its clients, but the neighborhoods in which they reside. They describe, amongst other programs, the Home Ownership Program in Denver, Colorado; their longitudinal research; their findings; and the continuing challenges to sustaining home ownership and its effect on poverty."

If you wish to hear play the mp3 directly click here.

Dr. Santiogo is a Faculty Associate of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, a graduate school of social work at Case Western Reserve University .

A new report from Case Western Reserve’s Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development documents the problem of so-called bank walkaways in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

The report, titled Stalling the Foreclosure Process: The Complexity Behind Bank Walkaways, takes an in-depth look at stalled foreclosure cases in Cuyahoga County in order to describe the factors involved in delayed foreclosure cases. Foreclosure cases that remain unresolved for long periods of time can result in serious spillover damages, incurring costs like unpaid taxes, unpaid utility bills, nuisance abatement assessments, maintenance, and in the most severe cases, could include fire damage or demolition.

The researchers examined the court records of 999 stalled foreclosure cases (cases where a decree of foreclosure has been granted but the property did not go to sheriff’s sale for over 180 days), finding that 56 percent of these stalled foreclosure cases could possibly be considered bank walkaways. The researchers also found that the possible bank walkaways are more likely to be vacant, tax delinquent, and demolished.

When considering the status of a foreclosure case in court, the researchers determined that cases where a plaintiff (the mortgage lender or subsequent note holder) took no action for 180 days or more after receiving a foreclosure judgment, and cases where a plaintiff dismissed a foreclosure judgment for reasons that did not involve resolving the mortgage lien, among other scenarios, could possibly be considered bank walkaways.

“It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what’s going on with a foreclosure case,” reports Michael Schramm, co-author and Research Associate at the Center on Urban Poverty. "Paper and electronic court records might be missing details, and plaintiffs often only give boiler-plate reasons for their actions. But defining the problem and outlining how to recognize it is the first step in finding the solution.”

Click here to download the file.

For questions or comments about this report, please contact Michael Schramm at 216-368-0206.

This work has been possible using the Center's freely available, social, economic, neighborhood and property information database, NEO CANDO, can be found on the web here.

Researchers from the Center for Evidence-Based Practices (CEBP) recently conducted an analysis of claims data for behavioral-health services in the State of Ohio and found that Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment (IDDT), the evidence-based practice, helped save the state approximately $1.4 million in service costs for a group of 160 people diagnosed with a severe mental illness and a co-occurring substance use disorder. The people in this group were among the highest users of mental-health and addiction services. The savings took place only one year after they started to receive IDDT services. This analysis is compelling, because it shows that IDDT can make an impact upon costs in a short amount of time.

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The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development in partnership with the United Way of Greater Cleveland, has released a series of 12 data briefs on key social demographic and population dimensions of Cuyahoga County. The data briefs address issues related to United Way’s core community priorities, with specific attention to changes in indicators over time. Using data from a range of Census and local sources, the briefs highlight important dimensions of life in Cuyahoga County that can inform approaches to address community needs.

The briefs examine shifts in population (changing demographics, child population, mobility), indicators of risk (poverty, child maltreatment, teen/unmarried births, educational attainment, adult literacy), and indicators of opportunity (employment, public schools, safety net supports, housing affordability).

The United Way of Greater Cleveland used these demographic analyses as a discussion launching point for their request for proposal committee process for the 2011 year. The United Way of Greater Cleveland used these demographic analyses as inputs for their request for proposal committee process for the 2011 year. This social research is
available on our website as individual briefs or one combined .PDF. They are also shared on the United Way server here.

This season marks the tenth anniversary of the State of Ohio's investment in evidence-based practices for the treatment and recovery of residents with severe mental illness (SMI) or co-occurring severe mental illness and substance use disorders. It also marks the tenth anniversary of the Center for Evidence-Based Practices at Case Western Reserve University. Both anniversaries were celebrated at the Center's EBP conference, which took place on October 12, 13, and 14 in Columbus. This year's conference was the ninth sponsored by the CEBP and its Coordinating Center of Excellence (CCOE) initiatives. Over 330 people from Ohio and 17 other states attended.

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A new report from Case Western Reserve University's Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, Cleveland State University and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, documents the foreclosure crisis and community responses in Greater Cleveland.

The new report "Facing the Foreclosure Crisis in Greater Cleveland: What happened and How Communities Are Responding," weaves together updated research from Pathways to Foreclosure, Foreclosure and Beyond, and Beyond REO with over a dozen examples of community responses to the foreclosure crisis that range from government reform and legislation to counseling and prevention initiatives.

The report finds that in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, subprime mortgages, in some sections of the city and suburbs, rapidly supplanted conventional loans as the primary product for home purchases and refinances. By 2005, more than 10,000 foreclosures were filed on residential properties in a single year. A growing number of properties entered prolonged periods of vacancy, stuck either in the foreclosure process or in REO—real-estate portfolios of mortgage companies and servicers.

Untended properties deteriorated and were vandalized. The value of housing stock plummeted, leading speculators to buy REO properties in some neighborhoods in bulk and for pennies on the dollar. Neighborhoods with large African-American populations were particularly hard hit by foreclosures and the negative spillover effects.

But Greater Cleveland did not sit idly by; this report also documents our response. Local governments, non-profit organizations, and community groups mobilized to educate potential home buyers, prevent foreclosures, and rehabilitate vacant properties. They have coordinated their efforts and responded strategically, using data to drive their actions. In addition, groups have worked to mediate issues on-the-ground and at the policy level, working to prevent this crisis from ever happening again.

Download the "Facing the Foreclosure Crisis in Greater Cleveland: What happened and How Communities Are Responding" report

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We've added a new "Recovery Stories" section on the web site of the Mandel School's Center for Evidence-Based Practices. This evolving collection of stories highlights the positive outcomes of evidence-based practices (EBPs) and other services for people diagnosed with mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders. The stories are told by consumers, family members, and other supporters of recovery, such as employers and direct-service providers. They discuss openly the challenges and triumphs of recovery, as well as insights gained along the way. We encourage you to share these story widely.

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Case Western Reserve Project Aims to Provide Thousands with Broadband Access

Download Map of Internet Coverage focus area

The Federal Communications Commission’s new National Broadband Plan calls for connecting more Americans to broadband Internet access as a way of improving U.S. society and transforming industry.

Case Western Reserve University is already doing its part to help a major segment of the Cleveland population through its new Case Connection Zone pilot research project, designed to provide broadband access to local residents and Case Western Reserve students who call the neighborhoods surrounding campus home.

The project, announced late last fall, is moving full speed ahead with dozens of neighborhood residents now signed up for the pilot phase.

Research from the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences suggests that a large number of households in communities surrounding the university do not have Internet access. The Case Connection Zone pilot project aims to close the gap.

The project is more than just an opportunity for residents to log onto the Internet for leisure. According to Case Western Reserve officials leading the initiative, the program has software in place to meet specific metrics and goals such as contributing to neighborhood and public safety; increasing completion rates of high school Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) subjects; monitoring and identifying chronic health conditions for increases in wellness education; and increasing knowledge of and participation in household and neighborhood energy education and management.

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The inaugural Research To Practice Seminar Series titled, “The Data Difference – Using Evaluation Research to Inform Policy and Practice in Early Childhood” - was held on March 4th, 2010 at the Mandel Center for Non-Profit Organizations Co-Sponsored by the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences Office of Research & Training, the MSASS Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, & the Schubert Center for Child Studies.

The Panelists were:
Claudia Coulton, Ph.D., Lillian Harris Professor and Co-Director, Center on Urban Poverty & Community Development, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences

Rob Fischer, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor and Co-Director, Center on Urban Poverty & Community Development, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences

Rebekah Dorman, Ph.D., Director, Office of Early Childhood/Invest in Children, Cuyahoga County

Robert Staib, MSSA, Associate Director, Office of Early hildhood/Invest in Children, Cuyahoga County

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"State TANF Policies and Employment Outcomes among Welfare Leavers," by Younghee Lim, Claudia J. Coulton, and Nina Lalich

Social Service Review December 2009, Vol. 83, No. 4: 525-555. DOI: 10.1086/650532 is available here.

This study examines the influence of state welfare policies on employment outcomes of women leaving welfare during the initial period of welfare reform implementation. The study finds that the stringency of work requirements is likely to increase employment among later welfare leavers, but neither the leniency nor stringency of work requirements is related to employment among early welfare leavers. The study finds that lenient work requirements are found to increase the probability that welfare leavers’ first jobs off welfare carry employer-provided health insurance.

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Finding Place in Making Connections Communities: Applying GIS to Residents’ Perceptions of Their Neighborhoods
By Claudia J. Coulton, Tsui Chan, And Kristen Mikelbank, January 2010

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ABSTRACT
The growing recognition that place matters has led to numerous foundation- and government-sponsored initiatives that address the needs of disadvantaged neighborhoods and families in tandem. Fundamental to these people-based and place-based strategies is the assumption that residents are both the beneficiaries and the cocreators of improvements in their neighborhoods and the systems that serve them. However, despite the centrality of place in these community initiatives, defining neighborhoods as they are experienced by residents has proven challenging. This paper demonstrates how a household survey can be used to ascertain residents’ views of the place they refer to as their neighborhood. The study uses data from the Making Connections (MC) target areas in 10 cities. A representative sample of households were asked the name of their neighborhoods and instructed on how to draw maps of their neighborhoods as they viewed them. GIS tools were used to uncover spaces within the MC target areas that residents included in their definitions of neighborhood as well as spaces that seemed to fall outside their collective definitions. The study revealed several overlapping areas that constituted resident-defined neighborhoods within most Making Connections target areas. The paper discusses the implications of this diversity of resident neighborhood perceptions for community change initiatives.

This research is part of the work that the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development participates in for the Annie Casey Foundation's Making Connections Initiative.

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Professor Robert L. Fischer is quoted in The Plain Dealer article, "Change How Kids Learn, Change the Future" by Brett Larkin.

The article is about Cuyahoga County's Universal Pre-Kindergarten Pilot administered by Invest in Children , a public-private partnership focused on young children and their families. Cuyahoga County is assisted by Starting Point, a nonprofit specializing in child care. Case Western Reserve University's Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development is the project evaluator. The numbers regarding the improvements of children assisted by the program come from the program evaluations, run by the Center.

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The Mandel School's Center for Evidence-Based Practices is currently accepting abstracts for workshops from potential presenters for its Conference 2010, "Sustaining Evidence-Based Practices: The Next 10 Years," which will take place at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio on October 12, 13 & 14. Workshops will focus on topics that enhance the delivery of evidence-based practices (EBPs) and emerging best practices for adults diagnosed with mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders.

| get PDF |

On Monday Dec 7, Claudia Coulton, co-director of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, gave testimony as she appeared before the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the Congressional Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by U.S. Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, during which she suggested steps to ease to nation's foreclosure crisis. During the hearing Prof. Coulton referred to data the Center has gathered in Cleveland to track the housing crisis over the past decade.

Data from the Center's research was also quoted in this news segment on WOIO on News at Noon about this hearing, noting that, "In the last four years, there have been upwards of 47,000 foreclosure filings in Cuyahoga County alone." Prof. Coulton also appeared in a video segment related to foreclosures and the hearing on WOIO's 4 PM news - also available at the same link above.

At the request of the Center, WOIO - Fox 19 News also included a link suggesting with what the Center considers the most important information for individuals:

"Click HERE for free help. The phone number is 211 (from your cell phone) or 216-436-2000," which are connections to the HUD certified counselors and United Way's First Call for Help.

For more detailed information on the breadth and depth of the crisis see the Center's recent foreclosure-related reports:

Behind The Numbers Brief Number 8, Trends in ‘home purchase loan’ originations in Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland through the period 1995-2008

Beyond REO: Property Transfers at Extremely Distressed Prices in Cuyahoga County, 2005-2008.

Pathways to Foreclosure: A Longitudinal Study of Mortgage Loans, Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, 2005-2008.

Behind the Numbers Brief Number 6, Houses in transition: a report on properties owned by financial institutions and real estate organizations in Cuyahoga County, 2007.

Foreclosure and Beyond: A report on ownership and housing values following sheriff’s sales, Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, 2000-2007.

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Behind the Numbers report shows much lower home purchase lending levels in 2008

The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development's November 2009 Behind the Numbers takes a closer look at trends in ‘home purchase loan’ originations in Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland through the period 1995-2008.

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All too often research is conducted in a way that is disconnected from the reality of life in communities, with findings often having little relevance to real-world program and policy decisions. With this publication, the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development highlights an example of how research and evaluation data have been effectively used over time in a major community initiative in the Cleveland region.

Drawing on a decade of transformative research done in partnership with Cuyahoga County's Office of Early Childhood/Invest in Children and its public/private set of collaborators, the report describes the experiences of this community initiative and concrete examples of how data have been used to inform practice and policy.

Download file

"New Evidence and Implications for Community Initiatives" by Claudia J. Coulton, Brett Theodos, Margery Austin Turner

Publication Date: November 02, 2009

The text below is an excerpt from the complete document at the Urban Institute. Read the full report in PDF format.

Abstract

Americans change residences frequently. Residential mobility can reflect positive changes in a family's circumstances or be a symptom of instability and insecurity. Mobility may also change neighborhoods as a whole. To shed light on these challenges, this report uses a unique survey conducted for the Making Connections initiative. The first component measures how mobility contributed to changes in neighborhoods' composition and characteristics. The second component identifies groups of households that reflect different reasons for moving or staying in place. The final component introduces five stylized models of neighborhood performance: each has implications for low-income families' well-being and for community-change efforts.

This research is part of the work that the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development participates in for the Annie Casey Foundation's Making Connections Initiative.

More papers that Claudia Coulton has authored for the Urban Institute can be viewed here.

The Cleveland Foundation and the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development recently began working together to show how the economic crisis is affecting Cuyahoga County. The result is an online display of data called “The Pulse.”

"The Pulse" succinctly uses four indicators to give its viewers a picture of the needs of Cuyahoga County residents:

• the number of people with food stamps benefits,
• the number of children with Medicaid benefits,
• mortgage foreclosures, (all from the Center's NEO CANDO system),
• and unemployment data from the Ohio Labor Market Information System.

These figures are updated on a monthly basis.

“The Pulse” was created in conjunction with the Cleveland Foundation's new Basic Needs Fund, which will help sustain local nonprofits that provide essentials like food, clothing, and shelter.

You can find “The Pulse” online at http://clevelandfoundation.org/grantmaking/Pulse.html.

The full NEO CANDO, Northeast Ohio Community and Neighborhood Data for Organizing resources can be found here.

You can find The Cleveland Foundation Pulse press release here.

Prof. Mark Chupp and Doctoral candidate Diwakar Vadapalli, will present "Limitations and Lessons in Place-Based Community Development: The CDC Movement in the US" in Monterrey, Mexico at the 16th, International Consortium for Social Development Symposium.

Abstract:
Community Development Corporations (CDCs) in the US are a vital organizational mechanism for revitalization of disadvantaged communities. throughout their evolution in history, CDCs followed the dominant framrwork of "place-based community development'.

This study examines the diverse roles of CDC's in community revitalization in the Cleveland metropolitan area, their limitations in addressing challenges that result in part from larger state and federal policies in spite of their adoption of sophisticated and modern organizational mechanisms and techniques.

Recommendations include: 1) adopting a broader social development framework for building community capitals and 2) adopting a flexible unit of analysis that can be applied beyond the confines of a "place-based community'. Community-based organization in other countries, as they design their strategies for revitalization or development, can draw lessons from the experience of CDC's from a major American city.

Michigan Radio, July 20, 2009

The City of Cleveland has a goal of rehabbing 150 vacant homes, demolishing 300, and preventing another 300 homes from going into foreclosure. It's all part of a program called Opportunity Homes. The program relies on data from Mike Schramm and the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development at Case Western Reserve University.

Read or listen to the WUOM 91.7, Ann Arbor, Michingan NPR affiliate interview here.

Cleveland Plain Dealer July 19, 2009

You can see a troubling new trend in the foreclosure crisis in a Cleveland Plain Dealer article by Sandra Livingston titled, "Bank 'walkaways' from foreclosed homes are a growing, troubling trend" here.

"Bank walkaways" are another troubling development in the foreclosure crisis, particularly in cities like Cleveland with weaker housing markets, say housing advocates and government officials. Where banks and Mortgage comanies choose to leave the house in legal limbo, rather than complete the foreclosure. Researchers at the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development at Case Western Reserve University are studying the issue.

Researcher Michael Schramm comments.

Diwakar K. Vadapalli, Doctoral Research Fellow at the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, presented a paper in Carmona, Spain, April 22-24, at a research meeting titled, "Social Welfare and Cash Transfer Meeting," which was organized by both UNICEF and University College London, to discuss the role of social welfare services in improving cash transfer programs.

A communiqué released from the meeting is available here.

Mr. Vadapalli's paper is titled, "Barriers and challenges in accessing social transfers and role of social welfare services in improving targeting efficiency: a study of conditional cash transfers," and it was featured in the July edition of NASW News in the article, "Services Enhance Cash Programs: Information flow among the parties is vital to the success of cash transfer policies," by Paul R. Pace, that reports about this research meeting.

Mr. Vadapalli's paper will also be presented at the 2009 Symposium of the International Consortium for Social Development in Monerrey, Mexico on July 28th, 2009. It will appear in a special issue of the international journal Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies titled, "UNICEF Special Issue: Barriers and challenges in accessing social transfers and role of social welfare services in improving targeting efficiency: a study of conditional cash transfers by: D. Vadapalli."

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Family Homelessness in Cuyahoga County

A new Briefly Stated number 09-03, titled "Family Homelessness in Cuyahoga County" has been released. It summarizes research in a white paper by the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development regarding an analysis of the number of homeless families and "doubled up" families in Cuyahoga County.

The Briefly stated can be read or downloaded here.

The White paper, also titled "Family Homelessness in Cuyahoga County," can be read or downloaded here.

A brief radio article, on NPR affiliate WCPN, referencing this paper can be read or heard here.

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The ranks of the unemployed have swelled in the current economic downturn, and people from all walks of life have found themselves coping with the reality of job loss. For some workers, though, being without a job is nothing new.

“Our goal was to identify the barriers that keep individuals from being referred for employment services and subsequent employment,” says David Biegel, Ph.D., of Case Western Reserve’s Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.

Read the Article from Case's Think magazine.

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Lord knows...But what do we know about the effectiveness of faith-based programming?

Beginning with the Clinton Administration and greatly extended under George W. Bush, the federal government has expanded the role of faith-based providers in the delivery of a range of human services.

Since 2001, the Faith-Based and Community Initiative (FBCI) has aimed to give these organizations equal opportunity with secular and larger organizations to secure federal funding for the delivery of social services.

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Quality Matters - Assessing the quality of early care settings in Cuyahoga County

This document summarizes recent research which investigates the effects of County programs which promote increased capactiy and quality in the region's childcare.

Using data from 177 pre-school classrooms, this study was undertaken to assess the level of quality in regulated early care and education settings in and around Cleveland, Ohio.

The quality of care in settings serving young children is a crucial concern in policy and practice circles as we seek ways to promote child development. This study examined the structural and contextual factors associated with high quality care and was designed to inform a community-wide initiative focused on child well-being and school readiness.

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A significant cutback in funding for tobacco-cessation programs in the State of Ohio has negatively affected efforts to reduce illnesses and healthcare costs associated with the use of harmful tobacco products. Yet, the Ohio Tobacco & Recovery (TR) Project, developed for people with severe mental illness, continues to make progress toward a service model that will stand the test of time and create positive results for Ohio residents. The Ohio TR Project is a program of the Center for EBPs at Case--a partnership of the Mandel School and Department of Psychiatry, Case School of Medicine . . . (Featuring Mandel School graduate Deb Hrouda, MSSA ('94), LISW.)

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Psychiatrist and researcher Robert E. Drake, MD, PhD, knows a few things about the evidence-based Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment (IDDT) model—why it’s necessary, how it works, and which treatment components produce the most positive outcomes. He is one of the original creators of IDDT. His research continues to inform the dissemination of IDDT and the evidence-based Supported Employment (SE) model. . . . Dr. Drake has been a long-time supporter, collaborator, and colleague of the Center for EBPs at Case/Mandel School. Join us for our conversation with him.

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Ask Psychologist Carlo DiClemente, PhD, co-creator of the Transtheoretical Model of Change (TTM), how you might achieve and maintain a meaningful personal change in your life—diet, exercise, sobriety, mental health recovery—and he’ll tell you what he’s found from almost 30 years of research on the subject. Dr. DiClemente sat down with us to provide a tutorial on the origins and ongoing evolution of TTM. . . . Dr. DiClemente is a supporter, collaborator, and colleague of the Center for EBPs at Case/Mandel School.

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New Poverty Center report examines what happens to properties after sheriff's sale and REO ownership

Many properties that go into foreclosure eventually end up at a sheriff's auction, where they are usually purchased by the banks, mortgage companies, mortgage services, and government-sponsored enterprises involved in financing the foreclosed mortgage loan. These properties are referred to as "REO" (real-estate owned) properties. Between 2005 and 2008, there has been a drastic increase in REO properties being sold at extremely low prices—$10,000 and often less.

The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development has produced a report,
Beyond REO: Property Transfers at Extremely Distressed Prices in Cuyahoga County, 2005-2008, that takes a look at the trend of REO properties sold at $10,000 or less; the most frequent sellers and buyers of these properties in 2007 and 2008; time between property transactions; the price of properties in subsequent transactions; and limited information about the practices of some buyers and sellers of REO properties.

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The IDDT Affiliation Code Initiative gives agency providers, county boards, and State of Ohio stakeholders the capacity to collect data and to examine indicators and outcomes systematically. . . . (Featuring Mandel School graduate Deb Hrouda, MSSA ('94), LISW, and community partner David C. Ross, MA, LPCC, of the Mental Health and Recovery Board of Ashland County.)

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New Poverty Center report examines circumstances most likely to lead a property to foreclosure

Foreclosure rates in Northeast Ohio have grown exponentially in recent years and present unprecedented challenges for communities, governments and households. Subprime lending has also increased markedly as a proportion of all mortgage loans originated in the region during this period and is widely believed to have played an important role in the current foreclosure crisis.

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Mandel School is pleased to offer a DVD produced by Professor Marvin Rosenberg for use in training social work students, medical care providers, hospice volunteers and others serving people in the end stages of life.

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Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences Research Associate Professor and Co-Director of the Center for Urban Poverty & Community Development Rob Fischer, has been selected to write a commissioned paper for the upcoming White House Conference on Research Related to the Faith-Based and Community Initiative to be held in June 2008.

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A new report from the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University addressing the foreclosure issue calls for refinancing loans or providing assistance to homeowners as an effort to maintain property values and prevent vandalism and deterioration to vacant structures.

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When a regional nonprofit organization wanted to invest in distressed neighborhoods and to improve services to minority populations, it turned to Case’s Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences to help with research methods, data collection, and analysis.

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According to Mark I. Singer, Ph.D., professor of social work at Case’s Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, police officers who get tough with neighborhood youth who are not committing any crimes are increasing, not decreasing, the potential for conflict.

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Mental health and chemical dependency providers, administrators, policy makers, and advocates have become increasingly aware of the complex challenges related to the psychological, medical, social, and employment needs of people with severe mental illness, including those with a co-occurring substance use disorder. Accordingly, the Ohio Department of Mental Health approved the utilization of federal funding to establish a center focused on these issues.

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Most children who are in foster care because of abuse or neglect come from poor families headed by single mothers who have historically relied upon welfare. While the child welfare system in the United States is dedicated to protecting children from maltreatment and returning foster children to their parents as soon as possible, public policies sometimes make this difficult.

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The past decade has produced growing advocacy for improved care for dying individuals, yet little is known about the experiences of family members providing care to those near the end of life.

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The prevailing policy for the care of the mentally ill is deinstitutionalization. Today, patients must live, eat, travel, work, play, and find help in radically decentralized environments. To make this transition, a new practitioner was invented: the case manager.

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Today, nearly ten times more children are being diagnosed with autism compared to 20 years ago. Associated with this trend has been a proliferation of intervention programs. Recently, a research team at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences led by Gerald Mahoney, Ph.D., the Verna Houck Motto Professor for Families and Communities, examined the impact of a newly developed intervention—Responsive Teaching (RT)—on 20 autistic, two and a half year old children.

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Dr. Claudia Coulton, Lillian F. Harris Professor and Co-Director of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, has been examining outcomes following welfare reform since soon after the reform legislation was signed into law.

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January 1, 2000 through September 1, 2007

It is now 6 months later and the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, using its NEO CANDO database, has updated the results of the Behind the Numbers Brief Number 6, Houses in transition: a report on properties owned by financial institutions and real estate organizations in Cuyahoga County, 2007.

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Behind the Numbers, BRIEF NO. 6, Titled "Houses in transition: A report on properties owned by financial institutions and real estate organizations in Cuyahoga County, 2007," discusses the rapid rise in foreclosure rates and housing abandonment in Cleveland and its surrounding suburbs.

This topic is garnering national attention and threatening to overwhelm the government agencies and community organizations that address the problem.

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The Poverty Center has released its May 2007 Briefly Stated, "Space to learn and grow: Early care and education capacity in Cuyahoga County." This document summarizes recent research which investigates the effects of County programs which promote increased capactiy and quality in the region's childcare.

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The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development creates maps for numerous research projects that may be of interest to a wider audience. With this map of community gardens, prepared by the Center's Kristen Mikelbank, in collaboration with Matthew E. Russell of the Center for Health Promotion Research for his paper Steps to a Healthier Cleveland: 2006 Community Garden Report, the Center debuts its mapping series. View the map of Cleveland's Community Garden Sites by Neighborhood here.

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Efforts to Stop Smoking Target Mental Health Agencies

Behavioral health staffs that need to take a smoke break might have some relief from their tobacco habits as they start tobacco cessation programs along with their mental health and substance abuse clients.

The Center for Evidence Based Practices, a joint program of Case Western Reserve University's Mandel School of Applied Social Science and the psychiatry department at the School of Medicine, have received a grant to design and implement tobacco cessation programs that target clients and staffs at behavioral health agencies.

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Team Decisionmaking (TDM) is one of the four core strategies of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s foster care reform initiative called Family to Family. The foundation selected David Crampton, assistant professor of social work at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences to join a national research team that is evaluating the implementation of Family to Family.

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Claudia Coulton, Co-Director of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, is presenting the Catalog of Administrative Data Sources for Neighborhood Indicators at the IASSIST (International Association for Social Science Information Services & Technology) 2007 Conference in Montreal. This monograph discusses using neighborhood indicators to identify problems, plan programs, stimulate community activism, target investments, evaluate initiatives and otherwise inform the community about itself.

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Dean Grover Gilmore's research on visual perception and Alzheimer's disease literally brought new focus to the issue: His research found that it is age-related impaired visual perception that greatly affects the ability of older adults to perform well on intelligence tests. Read more about this ground-breaking research in an article from the 2007 issue of Case Western Reserve University's publication The Value of Research.

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WCPN's Mhari Saito interviewed Mike Schramm, a programmer analyst at the Center on Urban Poverty, regarding an analysis that he did regarding the number of unrecorded sheriff's deeds in Cuyahoga County.

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Presents "Building upon the work of others: The Cleveland Community Building Initiative Experience" to the Central Neighborhood Committee, at The Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland October 17, 2006

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NEO CANDO expanded in depth and breadth, now including 17 northeast Ohio counties and data down to the parcel level.

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Cuyahoga County Early Childhood Initiative Evaluation: Phase II Final Report

Introduction:

Since mid-1999, a bold initiative has been underway in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, to improve the well-being of the youngest members of the greater Cleveland community. A community-wide initiative targeting children from birth through age five and their families was launched in July 1999, and in the following 5 years demonstrated substantial success in developing a universal and comprehensive approach for supporting families with young children.

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Cuyahoga County Early Childhood Initiative Evaluation: Phase I Final Report

Synopsis:

In Cuyahoga County, Ohio, a community-wide, multifaceted initiative directed at children from birth through age 5 has been forged to meet the need for a universal and comprehensive approach for supporting all families with young children.

In its first three years (July 1999 - June 2002), the Early Childhood Initiative (ECI) was launched by a broad-based coalition of public and private partners brought together by County government. The programs of the ECI have been woven into the fabric of local services and have met their target goals of numbers of clients served.

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Cuyahoga County Early Childhood Initiative Evaluation and Research Project Interim Report
November 2001

Synopsis:

Investing in the well-being of its youngest children has become a top priority in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. As a result of a community-wide, multifaceted three-year initiative directed at children from birth to age 5 and the individuals who care for these children, an understanding about the critical importance of the early childhood years has been created at the highest levels of public and civic leadership in Cuyahoga County. The political will has been forged to meet the need for a universal and comprehensive approach for supporting families and young children.

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