The Institute for Social and Policy Research (ISPR) at Purdue University Calumet will host a Fall 2008 Open House event on Friday October 17, 2008 at 12:30 P.M. at the Institute!  The Open House is intended to introduce individuals to the mission and work of the Institute.  We are excited that Dan A. Lewis, Professor of Human Development and Social Policy and Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University, has accepted our invitation to speak at this event.  Dr. Lewis has pursued a highly referenced program of policy research throughout the Chicagoland area focusing on educational reform, mental health policy, and most recently on the impact of welfare reform.  Dr. Lewis will speak from 12:30 P.M.- 2:00 P.M. at the research luncheon. You can learn more about Dr. Lewis and his work at http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/people/lewis.html. If you are interested in attending this event, please RSVP at ispr_openhouse2008@yahoo.com. A light lunch will be served.

ISPR will assume the role of evaluator for the the new Indiana Suicide Prevention Technical Assistance Center located at the Behavioral Health and Family Studies Institute on the campus of Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne.   Dr. Kathleen O’Connell, the principal investigator for the new Technical Assistance Center, is Director of the Behavioral Health and Family Studies Insitute and has worked for many years with the Indiana Suicde Prevention Council on projects throughout the state.   Formally known as the Indiana Cares Youth Suicide Prevention Project, the Center will provide suicide prevention training to sites and individuals throughout the state of Indiana.   ISPR will assist the Project by assessing the impact of the training programs delivered by the new Center over the three year duration of the award.  Project goals include building infrastructure to expand and coordinate resources available to Indiana communities for youth suicide prevention; developing broad-based support and capacity for youth suicide prevention; assuring that persons responsible for state and local youth suicide prevention efforts have skills in cultural competence that will allow them to effectively engage and collaborate with all Indiana populations; and promoting efforts to reduce access to lethal means and methods of self-harm among youth at risk for suicide.

Upon receiving IRB approval in September of 2008, ISPR staff are assisting with the collection of focus group data in the states of South Dakota, Montana, Washington, and Arizona.  The first set of focus groups were completed in Yankton, South Dakota during the last week of September with additional focus groups scheduled for October 8 in Browning, Montana.  The goal of the focus groups is to gather information needed to construct survey protocols to be fielded in the Spring of 2009.  By employing a participatory action research model, the investigators are better informed on how to target the potential survey audience.  More focus groups are planned for later in the Fall of 2008.

Project EASE continues its training activities of educational mentors with the training of two additional cohorts during the Fall of 2008.  The first cohort will complete their training on October 9, 2008 and is comprised of 7 volunteers from the communities of East Chicago and Gary.  The training for this cohort is taking place on the Purdue University Calumet campus. The second cohort commenses training for six consecutive weeks starting on October 10, 2008.  The training will take place at Images of Hope in the City of Gary.  Anyone interested in participating in this training should email the Project at projecteasementoring@gmail.com.

Work continues to progress rapidly on the Tribal Youth Victimization and Juvenile Delinquency Project. The Project is a collaboration between the Institute for Social and Policy Research (ISPR), Prevent Child Abuse America (PCAA), and the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA). Dr. Pavkov attended the NICWA conference in May of 2008 and the Mid-year conference of the National Congress of American Indians in June of 2008 to discuss the project with tribal representatives. Dr. Pavkov also provided a short presentation about the Project at the Tribal Meeting at the Georgetown University Institutes in July of 2008.

Ms. Leah Travis joined the ISPR team as research assistant in June of 2008. Leah’s initial activities involve analysis of existing datasets for the Project. In May of 2008, the team from ISPR began researching existing databases which may be of use for secondary analysis in answering questions about youth victimization and delinquency behaviors. Eight data sets were identified as potential sources of data, and the items available were catalogued both for future reference, as well as to aide in making initial decisions about which databases to consider first. Two databases were chosen, based on the variables available and the presence of a large American Indian/ Alaskan Native (AI/AN) subsample. These include the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS, collected by the Centers for Disease Control in 2007), and the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Preliminary analysis of the YRBSS data has begun, with a focus on comparing AI/AN populations with other racial and ethnic groups (e.g. White, Black, and Hispanic/Latino Youth).

In July of 2008, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Project Officer conducted a site visit at the PCAA office in Chicago, IL. The team presented an overview of the background and history of the project, as well as provided an update of the progress that has been made in the past months. The Project Officer provided feedback on the progress made, highlighting the benefits of the unique collaboration existing between NICWA, PCAA, and ISPR. While an official decision on extending OJJDP funding was not available at that time, the team is optimistic about the merits of this project in terms of renewed funding.