Agenda Item # 8
Columbus Consolidated Government
Council Meeting
April 23, 2013
Agenda Report # 65
TO: Mayor and Council
SUBJECT: MDRC Grant -- formally Manpower Demonstration Research
Corporation
Maternal and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation
INITIATED BY: Jennifer Davidson, Cooperative Extension
Recommendation: Approval is requested to submit an application and, if
approved, accept the Maternal and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation Grant
for the period of May 15, 2013 to June 20, 2016, from MDRC (formally Manpower
Demonstration Research Corporation), a non-partisan education and social policy
research organization. MDRC was founded as the Manpower Demonstration Research
Corporation. However, in 2003, ?MDRC? was made the registered corporate
identity of the organization, thereby formally adopting the name by which had
become best known to professional colleagues and the general public.
Background: Home visiting programs are recognized as an important strategy
for providing support services to families with young children. Programs are
diverse, widely used across the country, and generally aim to provide
information, referrals, and parenting support to reduce child maltreatment,
improve maternal and child health, and improve early school readiness. The
recent growth in federal funding to support the scale up of evidenced-based
programs provides an unprecedented, critical opportunity for program and
research collaboration at the Federal, State, and community levels.
The Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation (MIHOPE) is sponsored by
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children
and Families and the Health Resources and Services Administration. This
evaluation, mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010
(PPACA) (P.L. 111-148), is designed to build knowledge for policy makers and
practitioners about the effectiveness of the new federally funded Maternal,
Infant and Early Childhood Home-Visiting Program (MIECHV) in improving outcomes
for at risk children and families.
Analysis: The study includes: an analysis of the state needs assessments that
were provided in the state MIECHV applications; an effectiveness study that
includes an impact analysis to measure what difference home visiting programs
make for the at risk families they serve, focusing on areas like prenatal,
maternal, and newborn health, child development, parenting, domestic violence,
and referrals and service coordination. The effectiveness study will also
include an implementation analysis that will examine how the program models
operate in their local and state contexts and describe the families who
participate; and an economic analysis that will examine the financial costs of
operating the programs. A special goal of this study is the linking of
implementation strategies to program impacts, thus informing the field about
the types of program features or strategies that might lead to even greater
impacts on families. For example, understanding how, and at what level, the
average family participates in the program will provide context to any
variation in impacts we find in the health of families. The primary data used
in the study are expected to be collected by the research team through surveys,
review of administrative records, interviews, observations, and staff logs.
Financial Considerations: To offset expenses of the Evaluation, MDRC will
provide Parent?s as Teachers with $22,000 (twenty two thousand dollars), to be
paid in three installments, assuming satisfactory completion of tasks set forth
below. See Schedule of Installments Site Agreement. No local match required.
Legal Considerations: The applicant, Columbus Consolidated Government (for
Cooperative Extension?s Positive Parenting Program), will sign a contract with
MDRC to participate in the MIHOPE study. By accepting previous MIECHV funding,
our site/state agreed to participate in the Evaluation.
Recommendation/Action: Authorize the City Manager to sign the Implementation
Agreement with Parent?s as Teachers, based on the grant award received from the
Governor?s Office for Children and Families.
About MDRC
Created in 1974 by the Ford Foundation and a group of federal Agencies, MDRC
is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and social policy research organization
dedicated to learning what works to improve programs and policies that affect
the poor. MDRC is best known for mounting large-scale demonstrations and
evaluations of real-world policies and programs targeted to low-income people.
We helped pioneer the use of random assignment ? the same highly reliable
methodology used to test new medicines ? in our evaluations. From welfare
policy to high school reform, MDRC?s work has helped to shape legislation,
program design, and operational practices across the country. Working in fields
where emotion and ideology often dominate public debates, MDRC is a source of
objective, unbiased evidence about cost-effective solutions that can be
replicated and expanded to scale.
Over the years, MDRC has brought its unique approach to an ever-growing range
of policy areas and target populations. Once known primarily for evaluations of
state welfare-to-work programs, we also study public school reforms, employment
programs for ex-prisoners and people with disabilities, and programs to help
low-income people succeed in college. We are known not only for the high
quality, integrity, and rigor of our research, but also for our commitment to
building evidence and improving practice in partnership with school districts;
community colleges; federal, state, and local governments; foundations; and
community-based organizations. MDRC has worked in nearly every state and most
major cities, in Canada, and in the United Kingdom. We are funded by government
agencies and some 70 private, family, and corporate foundations. With a staff
of more than 250 in New York City and Oakland, California, MDRC is engaged in
close to 80 projects in five policy areas: Family Well-Being and Children?s
Development, K-12 Education, Young Adults and Post secondary Education,
Low-Wage Workers and Communities, and Health and Barriers to Employment.
MDRC was founded as the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation. However,
in 2003, we made ?MDRC? the registered corporate identity of our organization,
thereby formally adopting the name by which we had become best known to our
professional colleagues and the general public.
A RESOLUTION
NO. _____
A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION AND IF APPROVED ACCEPT A
MATERNAL AND INFANT HOME VISITING PROGRAM EVALUATION (MDRC) GRANT FOR $22,000
TO OFFSET EXPENSES RELATED TO MIHOPE IMPLEMENTATION BASED ON THE FUNDING
AVAILABLE FROM THE GOVERNOR?S OFFICE FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES FOR HOME
VISITATION PROGRAM (PARENTS AS TEACHERS) TO EDUCATE THE PARENTS OF YOUNG
CHILDREN.
WHEREAS, funds have been made available from the Governor?s Office For
Children and Families for the purpose of evidence based, home visitation
programs for parenting education under an Early Childhood System Of Care that
addresses Federal home visiting benchmark areas and constructs and Muscogee was
selected as one of six counties eligible to apply; and,
WHEREAS, the UGA Cooperative Extension in Columbus has operated Parents
As Teachers, a home visiting parenting education program, under the umbrella of
Positive Parenting Program; and,
WHEREAS, there is a need to increase the knowledge and skills of
parents with young children so they can provide a nurturing and safe
environment while acting as their children?s first teachers; and,
WHEREAS, parent education through evidence based, home visiting models
is a proven strategy to prevent child maltreatment, improve maternal and
newborn health, improve school readiness and achievement, and improve
coordination and referrals for other community resources and supports; and,
WHEREAS, there is limited access to pro-active parent education for
families at risk, in transition, or parents who want to increase their
parenting skills and knowledge.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE COUNCIL OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, HEREBY RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS:
That the City Manager is hereby authorized to submit an application and
if approved accept a Maternal and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation Grant
for the period of May 15, 2013 to June 20, 2016, from MDRC (formally, Manpower
Demonstration Research Corporation), a non-partisan education and social policy
research organization and amend the Multi-Governmental Fund by the amount of
the grant.
________________________________
Introduced at a regular meeting of the Council of Columbus, Georgia,
held the ________ day of __________ 2013, and adopted at said meeting by the
affirmative vote of _________ members of said Council.
Councilor Allen voting ____________
Councilor Baker voting ____________
Councilor Barnes voting ____________
Councilor Davis voting ____________
Councilor Henderson voting ____________
Councilor Huff voting ____________
Councilor McDaniel voting ____________
Councilor Thomas voting ____________
Councilor Turner Pugh voting ____________
Councilor Woodson voting ____________
______________________________ ________________________
Tiny B. Washington, Clerk of Council Teresa Pike Tomlinson, Mayor
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