Integrated data systems are often used to inform decision making at the top tiers of local or state government. Policymakers use analyses based on large numbers of integrated data system (IDS) records (from which personal identifying information has been removed) to understand the overlap between cases that receive services from different systems…

Special education referral and identification rates have risen dramatically over the last thirty years. In fact, several studies report an increase of nearly 200% (Cortiella, 2008; Vaughn, Linan-Thompson, & Hickman, 2003). During the last several years a new model of identifying students with learning difficulties has received much…

Purpose: This preliminary study compared clinical evaluations for guardianship in three states with varying levels of statutory reform. Design and Methods: Case files for 298 cases of adult guardianship were reviewed in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Colorado, three states with varying degrees of statutory reform. The quality and content of the…

This study assesses the extent of residential segregation among 15,246 people diagnosed with psychiatric disabilities and receiving Medicaid (MA) in Philadelphia, and an identically sized group of MA recipients serving as matched controls. Results indicate that overall levels of residential segregation among this group were modest at their most…

This study examined court records, probation records, and collection office records in four counties in Pennsylvania, which were chosen because they varied along two dimensions: (a) population size and (b) the use of specialized units for the collection of monetary sanctions. From each county, restitution-eligible cases were sampled from both 1994…

A study was made of the repetition of child abuse. (This repetition is sometimes referred to as recurrence or recidivism). The central feature of the research strategy was a followup on a group of families cited for abuse, conducted to determine the degree to which abuse had recurred or had been discontinued and to assess the conditions associated…