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Session Title: Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to Enhance the Quality and Validity of Evaluations in Human Services
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Panel Session 718 to be held in INDEPENDENCE on Saturday, Nov 13, 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM
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Sponsored by the Human Services Evaluation TIG
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| Chair(s): |
| Catherine Batsche, University of South Florida, cbatsche@fmhi.usf.edu
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| Abstract:
Spatial analysis uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to capture, store, analyze, and display geographically referenced data. This session will provide three examples that used GIS to enhance the evaluation in the human services: (1) a prototype evaluating affordable, safe, and effective housing for emancipated youth leaving foster care; (2) a criteria-based approach for locating a new mental health facility; (3) a model for reducing risk factors for pregnant and parenting mothers. The session will conclude with a discussion the potential of GIS to enhance the quality and validity of findings by incorporating location-based factors as part of the evaluation criteria. The GIS models will be discussed in terms of three standards for quality (House, 1980): justice-as-fairness, truth as credibility, and beauty in the form of images that add coherence and economy to the findings.
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Using GIS to Locate and Evaluate Affordable, Safe, and Effective Housing for Emancipated Youth Leaving Foster Care: Project LEASE
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| Catherine Batsche, University of South Florida, cbatsche@fmhi.usf.edu
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Project LEASE is a GIS prototype to assist with the identification of housing that is affordable, accessible, safe, and effective in supporting the educational goals and parental status of emancipated foster youth. Spatial analysis was used to identify rental properties based on inclusion criteria of affordability and accessibility to public transportation and grocery stores; exclusion criteria based on proximity to areas of high crime, prostitution, and sexual predator residence; and suitability based on proximity to health care, mental health care, and child development services. The outcomes were applied to four scenarios based on the educational goals and parental status of the youth. The results demonstrate that the evaluation of housing options for youth exiting the foster care system can be enhanced by including location-based criteria in the analysis.
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Using GIS to Locate a Community Mental Health Center: A Case Illustration
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| Roger Boothroyd, University of South Florida, boothroyd@fmhi.usf.edu
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Estimates suggest that 26% of adults in the US have a diagnosable mental disorder (Kessler, Chiu, Demler, &, Walters, 2005) but only 25% receive treatment (Wang, Lane, Olfson, Pincus, Wells, & Kessler,2005). Barriers associated with access to care are (1) availability of mental health providers (US Department of Health and Human Services, 1999) and (2) distance from available services (Higgs, 2004). GIS was used to identify potential sites to locate a new community mental health center (CMHC) in one county in Florida. The criteria included: accessibility, distance from existing CMHCs, zoning, land use, parcel size, mental health need, and median family income. This presentation will present the outcome of the evaluation and will summarize the potential value and application of GIS to mental health services research and how the selection of appropriate criteria can meet House’s evaluation standards of truth, justice and beauty.
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A GIS Model to Reduce Risk Factors for Pregnant and Parenting Mothers
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| Robert Lucio, University of South Florida, rlucio@bcs.usf.edu
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The Healthy Start Coalition of Pinellas, Inc. uses GIS yearly to examine maternal and child health indicators. The coalition uses the resulting maps to evaluate areas of greatest need for services. Risk factors are mapped by zip code to determine where funding and services are most necessary. The risk factors include preterm births, low birth weight, 3 year average infant and fetal mortality, teen pregnancy, maternal Body Mass Index (BMI), and overweight/obesity rates of mothers. The maps are shared with community members to identify intervention strategies that may have lead to increases or decreases over time in risk factors and fetal/infant death rates. Using mapping allows community members to visualize their neighborhoods, personalize the data their surrounding area, and offer insights into their communities.
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