Moving Forward to Reduce Poverty, Increase Opportunity, and Improve Human Service Delivery

Program Chairs: Kristen Joyce, Mathematica Policy Research Tony Ong, Public Consulting Group Deadline: March 1, 2017 Workshop Date: July 30 – August 2, 2017 Location: William Penn Omni Hotel Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania   When public systems reduce poverty, increase opportunity, and support the well-being of America’s families, people are better able to reach their full potential and contribute to their communities. The human services field has made great efforts to achieve these important societal goals, but progress has been slow and difficult. The causes of poverty are numerous, and families are diverse in both their structure and their individual needs. Moreover, advances in technology and changes in our social and political context are challenging the viability of existing programs and services.   Effectively addressing these challenges requires us to think creatively about how programs and agencies serving families can best work together, try out new strategies, and harness advancements in technology and science to improve human service delivery. Our vision for the 2017 NAWRS workshop is to highlight state and local government innovations that advance progress toward these three goals. In particular, we seek promising approaches that reach across programs, agencies, levels of government, and the public and private sectors.   The 2017 NAWRS Workshop will bring together people, research, and ideas around state and local government innovations to improve service delivery, research, and policy as we look toward the future.   Read the full Call for Proposals. Questions about the 2017 NAWRS Program, the Call for Proposals, or the 2017 Annual Workshop should be directed to NAWRSWorkshop@gmail.com.

NAWRS 2017 is coming.

William Penn Omni Hotel 

July 30-August 2, 2017

 

 

We will share a call for presentations and more information in the next few months.

• The Economist and Money magazine named Pittsburgh the most livable city in the U.S.
• Home of Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh,Duquesne University, and 37 other institutions of higher learning as well as 14 hospital systems, Pittsburgh embodies the new “eds and meds” economy.
• The tech sector is also bursting, with offices for Google, IBM, Amazon, Duolingo, Uber’s Advanced Technologies Center, and more…
• Visitors can get gorgeous views of this city on three rivers from  one of Pittsburgh’s 446 bridges or from the top of Mount Washington!
• Pittsburgh is home to professional football, baseball, hockey teams, with arenas a stadiums walkable from downtown.
• Arts and culture are alive and well, with professional opera, theater, dance, and 32 museums. Don’t miss the Andy Warhol Museum, the Mattress Factory, and the Carnegie museums. 
• And the food! Pittsburgh not only offers authentic pierogies and the Primanti Brothers’ sandwich, which famously features french fries in it, the city also has a growing foodie culture; it was ranked by Zagat at the #1 best food city of 2015.
• We are pleased that the Allegheny County Department of Human Services is an enthusiastic NAWRS partner.

We hope you are looking forward to NAWRS 2017 as much as we are!

Michael Bono

As some of you know, Michael was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor and is being treated at UCLA. To ensure that his family and friends can stay updated and connected, his family has set up the Team Michael website on Facebook. All members of the NAWRS are invited to join to hear updates, post encouragements, and connect with Michael’s other family and friends.

In the spirit of celebrating Rich’s life, his abiding interest was the interrelationships among social welfare programs and ensuring that these programs work and work well together, so he was a natural fit for NAWRS. Those of you who met Rich at our Annual Workshops know that he served NAWRS in many ways, including twice serving as Program Co-chair in 2000 and 2006, serving as President in 2001, and NAWRS recognized his long serve to the organization with a lifetime achievement award in 2012. We will certainly miss him.

Read Rich’s Obituary

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. As the newly elected President of NAWRS, I’m excited to update you on recent Board decisions and plans for 2016.

After many months (in some cases years!) of consideration, the NAWRS Board has reached two important decisions that we believe will strengthen our Association going forward.

First, criteria for Board membership have been expanded to allow for greater participation by all NAWRS members. As you may know, NAWRS Board membership and officer positions were previously reserved for employees of state and local governments, except for the Program Committee. Now, others who are engaged in our mission of using research and statistics to improve public human services programs may be members of and officers on the Board. This greatly expands our field of candidates and increases our ability to draw on the talents and leadership of all NAWRS members.

On that note, I’m pleased to announce the results of our recent Board elections:

We are fortunate to have reelected Zohre Salehezadeh as Treasurer, Robin Register as Secretary, and Kevin Henson as At-Large member. We are also excited to welcome four new At-Large Board members (see below for the full Board member list):

• Sarah Leopold (State of Colorado)
• Kate Probert (Ramsey County, Minnesota)
• Tony Ong (Public Consulting Group)
• Nancy Aguirre (Riverside County, California)

With this team, we will be devoting substantial energy in the coming year to ensuring the continued growth and sustainability of our Association.

The second critical decision made by the Board-based in part on your input through the 2015 member survey-is to try out a biannual Workshop schedule. NAWRS will alternate with the now biannual Research and Evaluation Conference on Self-Sufficiency (RECS, formerly WREC) of the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation in the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The next NAWRS Workshop will therefore be held in 2017. Stay tuned for information about summer 2016 NAWRS virtual events!

This decision will allow us to devote more time both to planning the next Workshop and to developing the NAWRS committee system as well as other aspects of our organizational infrastructure. There will be many opportunities for interested members to join in these efforts – please let me know if you’d like to participate, and we’ll keep you updated as opportunities arise. (And thank you to those who already expressed interest through the member survey; we’ll be reaching out to you shortly.)

Finally, on behalf of NAWRS, I want to thank all of you for making last year’s Workshop a resounding success, with particular thanks to 2014-2015 President, Michael Bono, and 2015 Program Chairs, Mary Farrell and Karin Martinson. I look forward to building on that great energy and enthusiasm in 2016.

All the Best,

Kinsey Dinan, NAWRS President