Lead Agency Research Articles

Deriving Lessons Relating to Marine Spatial Planning from Canada's Eastern Scotian Shelf Integrated Management Initiative

Stakeholder participation is viewed as a key element of ecosystem-based marine spatial planning (MSP). There is much debate over the effectiveness of stakeholder participation in ecosystem-based management (EBM) in general and over the form it should take. Particular challenges relating to participation in the marine environment are highlighted. A study of the Eastern Scotian Shelf Integrated Management initiative, which uses a collaborative planning model to implement EBM, is presented in order to explore these issues further. Criteria derived from a review of collaborative planning literature are employed to evaluate the effectiveness of this model, which is found to be a useful consensus-building tool. Although a strategic-level plan has been adopted, the initiative has encountered difficulties transitioning from plan development to plan implementation. These are attributable in large measure to deficiencies in the design of the collaborative model. Useful lessons relating mainly to stakeholder engagement, the role of the lead agency, and implementation strategies are advanced for those engaging in MSP processes.

The Drink Driving Situation in Nigeria

Objective: This study was carried out to assess the magnitude and nature of the drink-drive problem in Nigeria and evaluate the institutional capacities for preventing drinking and driving, using the methodology developed by the International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP) described in the overview article in this issue (Johnson 2012). Methods: Data and information were collected using existing reports and by consulting officials and experts from a number of key agencies. Results: In 2008, 9572 people died in road crashes according to police statistics. However, according to World Health Organization statistical modeling, this figure is likely to be much higher, with deaths ranging from 34,000 to 78,000 in 2007 and a mortality rate of 32.3 percent. Not only is it likely that the police data underestimate the road crash problem but it was also found that the data from the police and the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) were inadequate for estimating the extent of the drink-drive problem mainly because of the lack of alcohol testing equipment. One research study highlighted the problem of drivers of commercial vehicles; 67.2 percent of drivers admitting to drinking alcohol during the working day. Nigeria sets a legal limit of 0.05 g/100 mL blood alcohol concentration (BAC), but enforcement of the law is weak because alcohol testing equipment is unavailable. The FRSC is a federal agency dedicated to improving road safety and the clear lead agency in Nigeria. It runs publicity campaigns against drinking and driving with private sector support, especially toward the end of the year when there is increased vehicular traffic due to people travelling to celebrate the Christmas and New Year holidays, but these have not been evaluated. However, its combined enforcement and public education roles give it considerable potential for tackling the drink-drive problem in the future. Conclusions: This study recommended that priority should be given to strengthening the road crash and injury database and drink-drive enforcement, especially for drivers of commercial vehicles, and that the opportunities provided by the World Bank project supporting safe road corridors should be maximized.

Promising Practices for School-located Vaccination Clinics—Part I: Preparation

A school-located mass vaccination clinic approach can enable rapid vaccination of a large number of students while minimizing disruption of their school activities and potentially reducing missed work hours by parents. During 3 consecutive influenza seasons beginning in 2005, the Knox County Health Department conducted school-located mass vaccination clinics using live attenuated influenza vaccine. Clinics were held each year throughout the county over 4 weeks in more than 100 public and private schools for more than 65, 000 students in Grades K to 12. Overall, the proportion of all students vaccinated at school each year exceeded 40%. Our experience indicated that careful and thorough planning was essential to program success. Critical planning elements included (1) initial planning with extensive lead time to find the proper lead agency and project leader and to develop sound comprehensive vaccine clinic planning; (2) developing partnerships, especially with schools; (3) communicating successfully with parents, children, school administrators and teachers, medical providers, and the community at large; and (4) educating these groups successfully, using good timing, through local media, school events, direct mailings (including parents receiving information and consent packets), and partners. We review here the details of these key planning elements.

National Plan to Overcome Alzheimer's Disease Takes Shape

WASHINGTON – Members of a national advisory council on Alzheimer's disease have identified preliminary goals and specific recommendations for a national strategic plan to slow or even halt the expected rise in new cases. The plan aims to prevent and effectively treat the disease by as early as 2025. Its goals include enhancing care quality and efficiency, expanding patient and family support, enhancing public awareness and engagement, and improving data to track disease progress. The plan is part of the National Alzheimer's Project Act that was signed into law on Jan. 4, 2011, by President Obama. The law established the Advisory Council on Alzheimer's Research, Care, and Services and requires the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the advisory council to create and maintain a national plan to overcome Alzheimer's disease. Members of the council's subgroups on long-term services and supports (LTSS), clinical care, and research met Jan. 17–18 and recommended that the process of diagnosis should include engaging the patient and family in advance care planning. End-of-life considerations should be incorporated into all surveillance and quality indicators. Council members recommended that federal funds be made available to support a lead agency in every state to coordinate all available LTSS provided through various public and private mechanisms. The clinical care subgroup said the overall goal of clinical care is to ensure that individuals with Alzheimer's have their disease detected and diagnosed at an early stage, receive care planning, and have access to coordinated and high-quality health care throughout the course of the disease. In particular, members recommended changes to Medicare coverage and physician reimbursement to encourage the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and to provide care planning to diagnosed individuals and their caregivers. In addition, quality indicators for the care and treatment of individuals with Alzheimer's should be developed. The subgroup also recommended addressing palliative care by forming a blue-ribbon panel of experts to recommend one or more models of care for people with advancing dementia. Members also recommended a specific round of fedreal grants for pilot projects to reduce potentially preventable emergency department visits and hospitalizations for individuals with Alzheimer's, as well as development of new ways to improve hospital care for people with dementia. Greater funding and incentives should be offered to promote careers in geriatric specialties, the subgroup noted. The research subgroup called for: •Research resource to match the growing impact of the disease on society.•Faster identification and validation of therapeutic targets and of testing the efficacy and safety of interventions.• Exploring incentives for private industry to invest in disease-modifying interventions, possibly including tax reform, patent-law reform, and enhanced market exclusivity for products that target Alzheimer's disease.The council is scheduled to meet again on April 17, 2012. A final draft is expected to be released in late spring 2012.

Key Recommendations for Developing a Foundation and Framework for Successful Implementation of Performance-Based Contracting: A Case Study of a Child Welfare Lead Agency in Florida

In a child-welfare setting, performance-based contracts can be used to focus practice and drive outcomes. This article describes the results of a case study regarding the use of performance-based contracts between a private, non-profit child welfare lead agency, responsible for the provision of child welfare services in a defined geographic area, and sub-contracted private non-profit case management agencies. Key recommendations for developing a foundation and framework for successful implementation of performance-based contracting are also presented.

Transnationale Bildungsorganisationen: Global Players in einer Global Governance Architektur?

In diesem Beitrag geht es um neue Perspektiven auf Bildungsraume, wie sie durch transnationale Bildungsorganisationen geschaffen werden. Der Text differenziert typologisch zwischen nationalen, internationalen (im Sinne von intergouvernementalen) und transnationalen Bildungsraumen und Organisationen. Zunachst stellt die Autorin in ihrem Beitrag diese neue Dimensionierung des Raumes vor, indem sie eine Systematisierung internationaler und transnationaler Organisationen liefert. So wird eine Kennzeichnung und damit Abgrenzung der neuen Dimensionen moglich. Durch die Einordnung der neuen Global in governance-theoretische Diskussionen wird insbesondere die Frage der Zusammenhange neuer Raume mit Machtstrukturen deutlich. Hierbei liegt der Nachdruck auf Herausforderungen von 'global governance' im Kontext von grenzuberschreitend tatigen Bildungsorganisationen. Der Beitrag ist grundlegend systematisch, liefert aber auch Beispiele, mit denen die Tragweite der theoretischen Betrachtung eindrucklich wird. (Autorin) Global Players in education have been discussed in respect to international governmental organizations (IGOs) such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as well as to international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), e.g. OXFAM (Oxford Committee for Famine Relief) as a lead agency in campaigns for education. Research on transnationalism and education, however, is much less developed and sometimes suffers from a lack of distinguishing between what is international and what is transnational. In the article it is suggested that transnational educational organizations might bear a challenge to national education systems as well as to international educational policy making in IGOs. They are therefore discussed with reference to an emerging 'global architecture' in education, in which different interests of national, international and transnational actors may be identified. For this matter the author will first define the concepts of educational spaces and transnational educational organizations, also distinguishing them from international ones. The article then proceeds to give an overview of transnational organizations and their educational operations under various profit and nonprofit arrangements, including some, which might be identified as 'global players'. In the next step the main ideas of global governance are introduced and related to educational policy making. The possible influences which transnational educational organizations might have will be discussed. The article concludes that, in general terms, transnational educational organizations hitherto seem to be less powerful than international, and the latter less powerful than national ones. This picture must, however, be differentiated, when applied to different sectors of education. It is suggested, that ‘compulsory education’ is and will be less affected by transnational actors than sectors outside and around this ‘core’ of national education systems, e.g. tutorial systems, language schools, continuing education, adult education. The case of higher education, however, remains highly debatable: In countries which already witness a high degree of privately run colleges and universities and/or other post-secondary institutions, transnational actors might come in and pose a challenge to national educational policy. (DIPF/Orig.)

Using web technology to increase levels of public participation in planning

Concerns to ensure public participation within and in support of planning have been a durable and extensively debated topic since at least the early 1960s. The rationale for academics and policy-makers to agonise over this issue, and the merits or benefits of public involvement in planning, have also been roundly discussed during the intervening years. There has, of course, been considerable recent academic attention focused on the qualities of participation within the UK planning system (Irvin and Stansbury, 2004; Baker et al., 2007; Parker, 2008; Bailey, 2010; Brownill and Parker, 2010); and given the Coalition government's expressed desire to 'put (power) into the hand of local people' (DCLG, 2010), it seems that in a new political era this interest in public engagement shows no immediate signs of diminishing (Allmendinger and Haughton, 2011; DCLG, 2011).In the current political climate, and with a growing emphasis on participation that contrasts sharply with the reality of low and declining levels of engagement in a digital age (Feezell et al., 2009; Evans-Cowley and Hollander, 2010; Evans-Cowley and Griffin, 2011), this Viewpoint seeks to explore current technological innovations used in community involvement within planning. Specific regard is given to the use of social media (e.g., YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Bebo and MySpace) which is founded in a Web 2.0 environment and which provides a platform for enhancing levels of social collaboration or two-way communications (O'Reilly, 2005; Pascu et al., 2007; Batorski and Hadden, 2010). Drawing on Beierle and Cayford's (2002) conceptualisation of both 'process' and 'outcome' participation methods, this Viewpoint seeks to highlight the extent to which the use of web-based techniques can generate new spaces of participation and overcome established patterns of exclusion - an issue that assumes a particular importance given the UK Coalition government's stress on participatory democracy and neighbourhood planning (DCLG, 2011).Evaluation of processOne of the process goals of the participation process is to engender quality deliberation (Beierle and Cayford, 2002): 'quality deliberation' is characterised by the ability to engage with various actors and participate in well-reasoned debates which take place in the context of reciprocity and mutual respect (Smith et al., 2009). Dryzek (2009) argues that quality deliberation also promotes the capacity-building of those privy to arguments presented during the planning process which ultimately leads to more informed, representative decisions.It could be argued, therefore, that a Web 2.0 'networked' interface is well-suited to facilitate deliberation, giving actors the opportunity to discuss, listen and reflect on various issues (Orr, 2007; Chadwick, 2009). The quality of online deliberation has been researched by Smith et al. (2009) in the context of an online forum debate with results suggesting that online deliberation enhanced capacity-building attributes as evidenced by the shiftin policy preferences of the participants, over and above those in a control group who were exposed only to 'hard copy' information. Furthermore, Meijer et al. (2009) suggest that online discussion can be used as a 'digital thermometer' or listening device, increasing the sensibility of local governments, particularly in respect of the 'hard to reach'. This provides another means of access to those communities who may lack the social and financial capital to navigate the planning system.Beierle and Cayford (2002) also identify 'responsiveness of the lead agency' as being significant in successful 'processes' of public participation, with two-way communication from government and organisations seen to be particularly important to members of the public. In this sense, social media provides new platforms for the government to be responsive to its electorate. There is a strong correlation between the potential of these new media platforms to respond to calls for the 'opening up' of local planning to increase democratic control by bringing 'others' into the decisionmaking process (Ellis, 2011). …

Research on Saving Energy and Reducing Cost of the Higher Learning Institution

The work of energy saving in the Institution of higher learning was analyzed in the research, and the problems facing higher education on energy consumption were analysed. These measures were proposed that establishing lead agency, strengthening energy conservation regulation, conforming resources efficiently, optimizing resources and facilities, strengthening the publicity of saving, establishing energy-saving habits, detailing day to day management, reducing energy consumption effectively. Through the above measures, speeding up the process of energy saving higher education.

USE OF EPIDEMIOLOGICAL DATA AND DIRECT BIOASSAY FOR PRIORITIZATION OF AFFECTED POPULATIONS IN A LARGE-SCALE RADIATION EMERGENCY

Following a radiation emergency, evacuated, sheltered or other members of the public would require monitoring for external and/or internal contamination and, if indicated, decontamination. In addition, the potentially-impacted population would be identified for biodosimetry/bioassay or needed medical treatment (chelation therapy, cytokine treatment, etc.) and prioritized for follow-up. Expeditious implementation of these activities presents many challenges, especially when a large population is affected. Furthermore, experience from previous radiation incidents has demonstrated that the number of people seeking monitoring for radioactive contamination (both external and internal) could be much higher than the actual number of contaminated individuals. In the United States, the Department of Health and Human Services is the lead agency to coordinate federal support for population monitoring activities. Population monitoring includes (1) monitoring people for external contamination; (2) monitoring people for internal contamination; (3) population decontamination; (4) collecting epidemiologic data regarding potentially exposed and/or contaminated individuals to prioritize the affected population for limited medical resources; (5) administering available pharmaceuticals for internal decontamination as deemed necessary by appropriate health officials; (6) performing dose reconstruction; and (7) establishing a registry to conduct long-term monitoring of this population for potential long-term health effects. This paper will focus on screening for internal contamination and will describe the use of early epidemiologic data as well as direct bioassay techniques to rapidly identify and prioritize the affected population for further analysis and medical attention.

Evaluating Form and Function of Regional Partnerships: Applying Social Network Analysis to the Network for a Healthy California, 2001-2007

Objective To evaluate the partnership structure of the Network for a Healthy California ( Network), a social marketing program, from 2001-2007, to determine if California’s program was able to establish and maintain partnerships that (1) provided access to a local audience, (2) facilitated regional collaboration, (3) included new and nontraditional partners, and (4) strengthened regional networks over time, even with significant administrative changes in 2003 and 2006. Design An outcome evaluation using 5 years of cross-sectional data. Setting Data drawn from annual progress reports. Participants Funded local agencies and regional lead agencies. Main Outcome Measures Regional sociograms offered a visual assessment. Social network statistics (fragmentation and density) were calculated from sociogram data for changes over time. Analysis A social network analysis and time-series regression analysis. Results Sociograms demonstrated that more counties participated, more local agencies worked together, and networks were more integrated in 2007 than in 2001. Increased cohesion of Network partners was demonstrated by decreased fragmentation, and reaching out to new and existing partners was demonstrated by density. Conclusions and Implications The Network developed in a way consistent with program goals. Social network analysis offers great potential for partnership and systems research.

Measuring Quality in Pediatric Emergency Care

Improving the quality of health care requires measurement. Yet for pediatric emergency care (PEC), there is no widely accepted, organized, and comprehensive method of measuring PEC quality. This article discusses measuring quality in PEC, focusing on a measurement framework that includes the Institute of Medicine quality domains and Donabedian structure-process-outcome formulation for quality and disease frequency and severity. Adoption of this framework will allow PEC practitioners and administrators to assess quality of care in a balanced way. The article also addresses sources of data and responsibility for measurement as well as the integration of prehospital and hospital-based measures. The authors conclude that a lead agency, recognized as a single point of contact for stakeholders and the public, could result in consolidated and effective reporting of measures to greatly benefit the quality of emergency care for children.

A stocktake of physical activity programs in the Pacific Islands

Population non-communicable disease (NCD) risk is among the highest in the world in the Pacific region. Increasing physical activity (PA) levels may be effective in reducing NCD risk in the developing and culturally diverse Pacific region. To describe the current practice in promoting PA in the Pacific, program information was sourced from NCD representatives from 19 countries during the Pacific NCD Forum (2009). Additional online searches were undertaken; health officials from 22 countries and NCD key informants from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community and from the World Health Organization were contacted. Eighty-four PA initiatives were identified in 20 Pacific Island countries: 26 took place in the workplace setting, 17 occurred in the school setting, 37 in the community setting and 4 in a clinical or health sector setting. Seventeen programs reached 100-500 individuals, 9 programs reached 500-1000 participants, 13 programs reached over 1000 participants and 3 programs targeted the whole population. The majority (51 of 84) of the programs commenced since 2006. There is a notable increase in the development of PA programs in multiple settings across the Pacific. Lead agencies are often the Ministry of Health offices with leadership support from high-level government positions.

Oil and Water, Economics and Ecology in the Gulf of Mexico

Some economists and ecologists predict that the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster will sharpen the tools of ecosystem damage valuation in much the same way that war advances emergency medicine. Others fault both the methods and the premises of attempts to price nature. Generally agreed: avoiding future “spills” always beats trying to calculate the losses afterward, and that industrial societies have to rerig the incentives that fail to prevent appalling carelessness. The federal Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process for the Gulf of Mexico may absorb federal scientists and economists, as well as dozens of collaborators in academia, for years. “Every damage assessment is different, and this one is really different. I couldn’t put a timeline on it,” says Tom Brosnan, a NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) environmental scientist and a veteran of several earlier oil spill audits. NOAA and the US Fish and Wildlife Service are the lead agencies for the NRDA. Economic techniques used to calculate direct losses to fishers, boaters, tourists, sunbathers, or scuba divers and the businesses that serve them are complex but comparatively well settled. Trying to tally ecosystem Assessment and restoration Dollars can become the focus if there is litigation, or if the perpetrators want to settle. But the federal NRDA process is intended to look past the difficult question of dollar valuation of nature, at least initially, to calculate the costs of restoration instead. “Our job is to damage that doesn’t immediately affect what humans buy, consume, or earn from directly, however, sends economists and ecologists down a labyrinth. What’s the price tag for a brown pelican, sea turtle, reef, marsh, or mangrove, or for the ecological resilience of the Gulf as a whole?

The FAO and Mountain Partnership Engagement With Mountains

With its mandate to work on natural resource management; food security; and livelihoods; and its attention to the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has played a leading role in sustainable mountain development for many years. In 1992, the FAO was appointed Task Manager for Chapter 13 of Agenda 21 (Managing Fragile Ecosystems: Sustainable Mountain Development) and acted as the lead agency for the International Year of Mountains in 2002. The FAO hosts the global Secretariat of the Mountain Partnership and, from 2003 onward, has also been mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to lead observance of the International Mountain Day, every year on 11 December. Over time, the FAO has progressively built up a conceptual and operational framework that links sustainable mountain development to forest hydrology and watershed and risk management. This Platform Statement provides an update on the FAO's regular program on sustainable mountain development, watershed management, and forest hydrology, which includes normative work, a strong field program, and support to international processes. Further, it summarizes the latest achievements of the Mountain Partnership.

Development of good professional practice

Development of good professional practice

Assessing the relationship between AgrAbility projects and state Vocational Rehabilitation Services

As a federal-state partnership to rehabilitate individuals with mental and physical disabilities, Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services operate under state oversight in all states of the USA. State and Regional AgrAbility Projects (SRAP) and the lead agency National AgrAbility Project (NAP) are funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to assist in the rehabilitation of farmers, ranchers, and agricultural workers with disabilities across the country and have regular interaction with VR regarding services provided to customers. AgrAbility projects currently operate in 24 states. This study was intended to assess the benefits and challenges of this association from the perspective of the SRAP personnel and was conducted through telephone interviews with SRAP service providers based on a prepared questionnaire. The questions focused on the current status as well as expectations regarding future relationships as seen by AgrAbility staff. The results from the study revealed that interaction in each state is different but all have demonstrated benefits for clientele. The different perspectives and unique experiences of study participants can be used to enhance future relationships between the agencies and provide better service for customers.

The Governance of International Migration: Mechanisms, Processes, and Institutions

This article explains how the global governance of international migration has evolved as a policy issue on the international agenda over the past decade while noting that there is still no consensus on whether global governance is really required, what type of global governance would be appropriate, and how it should develop. The article reviews a series of policy options that have been proposed to fill the governance gap in international migration; namely, to create a new agency, to designate a lead agency, to bring the International Organization for Migration into the UN system, a coordination model, a leadership model, a World Trade Organization model, and an evolutionary model.

Executive Summary—2010 Consensus Conference

Executive Summary—2010 Consensus Conference

A Conversation with Richard Alderman - Director of the United Kingdom Serious Fraud Office

The United Kingdom Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is the lead agency in the U.K. for investigating and prosecuting cases of overseas corruption, including cases under the Bribery Act (expected implementation in April 2011).In July 2010, I received an invitation from Richard Alderman, Director of the SFO, to submit questions to him on any topic of my choosing. I submitted approximately thirty detailed questions covering a broad range of topics, including the role and policies of the SFO, the Bribery Act, the BAE and Innospec cases, Bribery Inc., and other questions of general interest. Except for certain questions regarding the BAE case, which is still pending in the U.K. courts, Mr. Alderman provided answers to every question, including on topics I have been critical of the SFO in the past.In his answers, Mr. Alderman: (i) compares and contrasts the SFO's role with the DOJ's role in enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, including the more active and independent role U.K. courts have in reviewing SFO charging decisions; (ii) talks about voluntary disclosure, and the role of non-prosecution and deferred prosecution agreements; (iii) discusses reputational harm, debarment, and reparations; and (iv) talks specifically about the Bribery Act.

Political mapping study and a practical model presentation on pertaining to the State of road traffic injury in Iran 2008–2009

Background and ObjectivePolitical mapping of road traffic injuries (RTIs) is not clear in Iran. This study aimed to assess the lead agency in Iran and present a practical model on...