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The goals of this project were to: describe the implementation of holistic defense principles in three indigent defense programs; measure each program's impact on pretrial court practices, manner of disposition, sentencing, and other case outcomes; and explore an appropriate methodology to assess the cost-efficiency of these programs in comparison with traditional criminal defense practice. Researchers collected data on both holistic and traditional defense delivery via interviews, surveys, focus groups, observation during site visits, and administrative data from public defender and court information systems. This evaluation was conducted in three research sites: Rhode Island Public Defender (Providence office); Minnesota Public Defender (Minneapolis office); and the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy (Bowling Green office). The evaluation focused on adult criminal cases. A process evaluation examined how holistic defense has been implemented in each site. The impact evaluation used a quasi-experimental design that includes matched comparison groups and alternative statistical models to examine the relative impact of holistic defense on a range of outcomes, controlling for defendant characteristics. The project investigated the parameters necessary to conduct a cost-efficiency analysis within the context of holistic defense and, to the extent possible, began to estimate the costs/benefits of holistic defense services. In addition to data sets for archiving and a summary report to NIJ, anticipated work products include professional conference presentations, manuscripts for submission to professional journals, and research briefs.

A social work advisory group recently proposed 41 generalist-level palliative social work activities applicable to any venue, including hospital-based social work, but this applicability has not been empirically tested. The researchers used critical realist grounded theory analysis of qualitative interviews to explore whether the activities proposed by the advisory group reflect inpatient social workers' perceptions of their generalist-level palliative activities when caring for patients alongside specialist-level palliative social workers. Fourteen Masters-educated social workers from six hospitals in the state of Michigan participated. The research demonstrated that inpatient social workers find it challenging to engage in specific generalist-level palliative social work activities; provision of generalist-level palliative services is shaped by discharge planning duties, the consultation model, and the concentrated role of specialist-level palliative social workers. Competency in cultural and spiritual aspects of care could be lacking.

Fielded in the winter of 2017, the Michigan Law and Social Work Study (MLSWS) is a non-probability sample of 745 MSW and JD students at four universities in Michigan on their political behavior, including interest in running for office. The survey instrument includes an experiment that tests the relationship between how elected office is framed and respondents' interest in running. There is a control condition, an ambition condition, and a social good condition. Many items on the survey instrument were designed to distract respondents from the experiment. Additional items on the survey instrument include party ID, perceived barriers to running for office, as well as the effectiveness of elected office as a way of making a difference in the community against alternative ways of making a difference.

The New York City Longitudinal Survey of Wellbeing (NYC-LSW) also known as the Poverty Tracker (PT) is a study of disadvantage in New York City. Launched in 2012, the Poverty Tracker surveys a representative sample of New Yorkers every three months collecting data on the dynamics of poverty and other forms of disadvantage. The Poverty Tracker covers two distinct panels. The first panel collected from 2012-2015 following 2,286 New Yorkers and the second panel which follows 3,909 New Yorkers. Collection of the second panel of data began in 2015 after respondents took the Community Health Survey with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH). In the first panel (n=2286) the majority of respondents were recruited by landline and mobile phone using RDD (n = 2002). Landline phone numbers from zip codes where more than 20% of residents live in poverty based on the 2000 US Census were oversampled. An additional sample (n = 226) was recruited from 14 social service agencies randomly selected from a list of all agencies funded by the Robin Hood Foundation. The agency sample allowed the oversampling of low-income persons who utilize social services. An additional sample (n=58) of respondents randomly selected from homes in zip codes affected by Hurricane Sandy were also recruited. Respondents who joined the panel study were surveyed at baseline in late 2012 and early 2013. Follow-up interviews were conducted in English and Spanish every 3 months over a 2-year period. Surveys were 10-20 minutes in length. Persons recruited from social service agencies who did not have a stable telephone number were offered cell phones and paid phone service in lieu of monetary compensation. The second panel (n=3909), was collected in Spring 2015 after respondents participated in the Community Health Survey administered by the NYC DOHMH, which was also sampled using RDD (n=3403). Again, this sample contains an additional subsample (n=506) from 26 randomly selected Robin Hood-funded social service agencies designed to provide an oversample of New Yorkers engaged in social services. Follow-up interviews were conducted in English and Spanish every 3 months over a 4-year period. Surveys are 10-25 minutes in length. Persons recruited from social service agencies who did not have a stable telephone number were offered cell phones and paid phone service in lieu of monetary compensation. This data constitutes the first panel in the survey series. Demographic variables include age, gender, race, household relationships, and income.

The New York City Longitudinal Survey of Wellbeing (NYC-LSW) also known as the Poverty Tracker (PT) is a study of disadvantage in New York City. Launched in 2012, the Poverty Tracker surveys a representative sample of New Yorkers every three months collecting data on the dynamics of poverty and other forms of disadvantage. The Poverty Tracker covers two distinct panels. The first panel collected from 2012-2015 following 2,286 New Yorkers and the second panel which follows 3,908 New Yorkers. Collection of the second panel of data began in 2015 after respondents took the Community Health Survey with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. In the first panel (n=2286) the majority of respondents were recruited by landline and mobile phone using random digit dialing (n=2002). Landline phone numbers from zip codes where more than 20% of residents live in poverty based on the 2000 US Census were oversampled. An additional sample (n=226) was recruited from 14 social service agencies randomly selected from a list of all agencies funded by the Robin Hood Foundation. The agency sample allowed the oversampling of low-income persons who utilize social services. An additional sample (n=58) of respondents randomly selected from homes in zip codes affected by Hurricane Sandy were also recruited. Respondents who joined the panel study were surveyed at baseline in late 2012 and early 2013. Follow-up interviews were conducted in English and Spanish every 3 months over a 2-year period. Surveys were 10-20 minutes in length. Persons recruited from social service agencies who did not have a stable telephone number were offered cell phones and paid phone service in lieu of monetary compensation. The second panel (n=3908), began collection in Spring 2015 after respondents participated in the Community Health Survey administered by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which was also sampled using random digit dialing (n=3403). Again, this sample contains an additional subsample (n=505) from 26 randomly selected Robin Hood-funded social service agencies designed to provide an oversample of New Yorkers engaged in social services. Follow-up interviews were conducted in English and Spanish every 3 months over a 6-year period. Surveys are 10-25 minutes in length. Persons recruited from social service agencies who did not have a stable telephone number were offered cell phones and paid phone service in lieu of monetary compensation.

The SCIRehab study collected data about 1,376 people with spinal cord injury across 7 disciplines at 6 facilities in the United States between 2007 and 2009 and followed for one year (until 2010). The 7 disciplines included in the study are Physical Therapy, and Occupational Therapy, Psychology, Therapeutic Recreation, Social Work, Nursing, and Speech Language Pathology. These data include information gathered during 462,455 timed rehabilitation interventions in 282,999 treatment sessions provided by 1,094 clinicians. This study seeks to understand the relationship between rehabilitation and outcomes and used practice-based evidence methods to relate the details of the rehabilitation process to outcomes after controlling for individual demographic and injury characteristics. The 13 key outcomes include function and residence at discharge, 6 months and 1 year post injury, rehospitalization in the first year, 4 dimensions of societal participation, work or school attendance, depression, presence of pressure ulcers, and life satisfaction at 6 months and 1 year post injury.