Ending July 31, 2006, the purpose of this project was to provide evaluation technical assistance and support to SCDHHS in their efforts to expand the Medically Fragile Children’s Program to hospitals and private providers in metropolitan and non-metropolitan communities. In the initial phase of expanding services, the Institute created a framework for assessing participants, their status, service utilization patterns, and compliance with well-child care and immunizations, using Academy of Pediatrics guidelines. It then performed an assessment of the need for specific population-based services in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas and the present role of practices and hospitals in both areas, regarding the delivery of services to medically fragile children.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has recently been recognized as one of our nation’s major health problems. This awareness has led to multiple calls for identification and intervention within health care settings, which may be the only safe places where women can be effectively screened. While professional organizations recommend routine IPV screening in emergency departments, health care clinics, and private offices, few clinicians routinely screen. 

A joint venture with Dr. Ann Coker of the University of Texas , this study examines women in rural areas — a population with complex domestic violence issues. Particularly in the rural South, there are fewer resources for intervention, and many who have no transportation to reach the services that are available. Also, because of cultural influences, some patients truly may not be aware that what they are experiencing is abuse; thus, they do not share the information. Dr. Vicki Flerx notes, “and even if they are aware, many rural communities keep their secrets to themselves. There is a fear of disclosing what is considered ‘personal business’ in a small community where everyone knows everyone.”

With sites located in the Pee Dee Region of South Carolina , this research project is a collaboration of university researchers, rural health care clinics, and an established domestic violence service provider. It began screening in April 2002 and continued through September 2005. Currently researchers are in the process of analyzing the data.

The Catawba Indian Nation Head Start Project serves 85 children and 70 families with programming at three sites, including two on the Catawba Reservation and one off-Reservation site.

Dr. Elsbeth Brown, research assistant professor with the Institute, and her team were contracted through August 2006 to provide ongoing effective practice consultation and technical assistance to the Catawba Indian Nation’s Department of Children And Youth. Particular emphasis was placed on creating a developmentally appropriate curriculum based upon the Catawba Native American culture and family partnerships as related to family involvement in child development and education. The team worked closely with cultural leaders and preschool teachers alike to engage in a process of incorporating the Catawba history and cultural beliefs into the daily educational experiences of the children. Additional foci included issues related to family literacy and children’s emergent literacy skills. Faculty and students from Winthrop University, a partner on the Catawba Connections project, helped children learn the Catawba language through the use of movement activities. Additionally, college students worked with children to create books, providing a hands-on approach to literacy.

In January 2005, Institute researcher Dr. Elsbeth Brown and colleague Dr. Linda Hutchinson received funding from the Mary Black Foundation for an exciting new project in early childhood education. Building Academic Success In Childhood Settings, or BASICSpaces is working closely with Spartanburg County First Steps (SCFS), Spartanburg Technical College (STC) and the South Carolina Department of Social Services (DSS) to improve the quality of selected infant and toddler child care environments and increase the competencies, skills and knowledge of the child care providers in Spartanburg County.

Specifically, BASICSpaces is designed to improve the physical quality of child care spaces struggling with low environmental ratings while strengthening the knowledge and skills of caregivers and families regarding healthy development and supportive environments. BASICSpaces provides expert consultation to enhance child care rooms and provides training related to enhancement strategies. 

Thus far, the project has provided environmental enhancements for eleven infant and toddler classrooms in ten centers from Spartanburg County. Currently, the project is working with the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education and representatives from several two- and four-year colleges and universities in South Carolina to design a course for pre-service teachers on designing early care and education environments. This course will be offered as part of the South Carolina Infant and Toddler Credential beginning in 2007.

The primary focus of this work is the Sisters of Charity’s "Fatherhood Initiative." As SOC first sought to examine and eradicate root causes of poverty eleven years ago, father absence was a recurring theme. Thus SOC contracted with IFS staff to review and synthesize research and data related to poverty in South Carolina ; analyze the causes and consequences of father absence in South Carolina ; review "best practices" in programs designed to involve fathers; and develop guidelines for recipients of fatherhood program grants. Eleven years later, IFS continues to assist with implementation, evaluation and growth of programs under both the Fatherhood and the Community-Based Initiatives. Dr. Luckey and staff provide technical assistance to communities awarded funds as they plan and implement their programs; conduct empowerment evaluation strategies with communities; provide the Sisters of Charity Foundation board with education/information on substantive areas related to the reduction of poverty; and provide overall technical assistance to the Foundation related to strategic grantmaking.

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Headed by Dr. Ana Lòpez De Fede, Director of the Institute’s Division of Health and Family Studies, the Medically Complex Medicaid Recipients Project is comprised of numerous components. The overall purpose of the project is to analyze usage and evaluate various Medicaid programs that serve medically complex populations. The project has two primary areas of emphasis:

1. Measure specific results including but not limited to cost effectiveness, clinical outcomes, and client satisfaction for specified programs; and

2. Provide evaluation, technical assistance and consultation with medically complex and special needs Medicaid recipients under Title XIX of the Social Security Act.

The contract is divided into five projects:

Project 1: Evaluation of Medicaid Managed Care Programs. This project includes analysis of service utilization, cost data, and performance measures, identification of recipients who require special needs health care, and evaluation of patient and provider satisfaction.

Project 2: Evaluation of the SC Medically Fragile Children’s Program. Dr. Lòpez-De Fede has been integrally involved in the creation and implementation of the SC Medically Fragile Children’s Program from its inception in 1997. As the program continues to expand, Dr. Lòpez-De Fede and her team will monitor MFCP through evaluation on established and new measures.

Project 3: Evaluation of the Medicaid Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Services (MAPPS) Project. The evaluation of the MAPPS Project addresses the outcomes of the program in addition to analyzing the effect of variances such as type of provider, county, age, etc.

Project 4: Evaluation of the Preventive and Rehabilitation Services for Primary Care Enhancement Services (P/RSPCE). This project requires a quantifiable evaluation of participant demographics, provider services, utilization patterns, and a participant survey. In addition, several effect hypotheses will be studied.  

Project 5: Technical assistance and consultation on Medicaid Medically Complex Recipients and Managed Care Initiatives. The Division provides data, spatial, and trend analysis to support informed decision making by the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services in maintaining and sustaining these programs in compliance with participant and provider needs and satisfaction.

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Process Evaluation of the SC Violence Prevention Program
Funder: SC Department of Mental Health
Principal Investigator: Patricia Stone Motes, PhD

This project is funded by SC Department of Mental Health with funding by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, to support the development and evaluation of community-based violence prevention initiatives. The South Carolina Youth Violence Prevention Coalition Project is designed to build community capacity to address the needs of youth who receive mental health services, are involved with the juvenile justice system, and/or at risk for engaging in violence. While there are many agencies and organizations in South Carolina addressing youth at risk for youth violence, this collaborative effort is designed to fill gaps in existing services through training/education on research-based programs, best practice models, and cultural competency and through limited seed funding to initiate community-based programs.

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