pubTalk

Student Leadership at the Humphrey School Helps Us Live Up to Our Mission

2012-05-15T18:04:51Z

A fine example of student leadership has been on display this spring at the Humphrey School. Several students -- Mary Small, Heather Schommer, Vincent Vu, Jon Brown, and Aaron Meyers - were the engines of the school's diversity strategic planning effort that began in fall semester and is nearing completion, just in time for some of these dedicated leaders to graduate.

Mary Small, as co-chair of the One Humphrey One Community working group, masterfully coordinated the effort and kept our "eyes on the prize." All the others took on tasks large and small from gathering supplies to facilitating the planning sessions.

Also contributing to the working group's leadership were staff members Karen McCauley and Emily Saunoi-Sandgren. Faculty member Ryan Allen was the other co-chair. Student Kylie Patterson also recently joined the group, and Prof. John Bryson and I served as advisers.

At the heart of the planning effort were participatory sessions devoted to action-oriented strategy mapping and SWOT analysis. (SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats). More than 100 Humphrey alumni, students, staff, and faculty participated in these sessions.

The result so far is a draft strategic plan that is intended to guide the Humphrey School in the next five years to make even stronger our commitment to preparing "innovative leaders to advance the common good in a diverse world." Not a bad legacy for a group of determined young leaders!

Some Hope for Those Cut from Emergency Medical Assistance?

2012-05-02T17:45:12Z

Late in 2011, 2,300 individuals in Minnesota received a notice in the mail stating that their previously covered emergency medical needs would no longer be covered by state insurance outside of the context of an emergency room or an in-patient hospital. These medical needs that would no longer be covered included everything from home health care to chemotherapy and dialysis. Why?

As part of the budget compromise, hashed out in the early morning hours right before the Minnesota state government shutdown ended last year, legislators agreed to defund much of Minnesota's Emergency Medical Assistance program. This program historically provided medical insurance to non-citizens who faced a litany of medical emergencies, from cancer to kidney failure. Under this new initiative, individuals affected by this policy decision were told that they could only receive care in a hospital, with limited follow up care in certain circumstances. Care would be administered only once an emergency situation was reached. For instance, a hospital visit after a suicide attempt would be covered, but not preventative care to address issues of depression.

However, there may be some hope for those cut. In order to avoid a potential lawsuit, on March 27th the Department of Human Services issued a settlement to provide more care to individuals in certain situations. Under the settlement, individuals affected by this policy can now receive more follow up services after an emergency in certain circumstances. In order to qualify for more follow up care, the individual's emergency must have been treated in an emergency room or in-patient hospital, and a doctor or dentist must deem that they need ongoing services or medication to prevent another emergency from occurring. According to the Department of Human Services, services and medication would be covered if a doctor or dentist decided that denying services would create an emergency situation within 48 hours.

Providing more services after an emergency is a definite step in the right direction. However, given the tremendous cost of emergency room service and the stress to individuals, families, and society that emergency situations create, I would love to see Emergency Medical Assistance cover more preventative care to prevent emergencies from occurring in the first place. Furthermore, there are still some services that Emergency Medical Assistance will not cover, even in an emergency. One example of a service that falls into this category is organ transplants, which are never covered under Emergency Medical Assistance. Moving forward, in designing policy we should keep in mind the individuals who are most vulnerable of all, those under-covered by health insurance.

For more information see: here

For a full list of what is and isn't covered under Emergency Medical Assistance see the link below under article 6, sec 27:

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=9&doctype=Chapter&year=2011&type=1

Laura Logsdon

2012-04-25T19:23:31Z

Laura Logsdon is a first year graduate student at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs focusing in public and nonprofit leadership and management. Originally from Ames, Iowa, Laura graduated from the University of Iowa with degrees in history and English in 2009. She spent the last two years working as an AmeriCorps VISTA member for the Iowa Civil Rights Commission and a Volunteer Center. Laura's interests include city management, civic engagement, and sustainability and will be interning this year at the Metropolitan Council.

Laura's favorite place to pubTalk - debate current issues and public affairs - is with friends in the hallways of the Humphrey School and at any of the lovely eating and drinking places the Twin Cities offers.

Sandfort Presents Integrative Leadership TED Talk

2012-04-23T16:29:51Z

Jodi Sandfort kicked off the TEDxUMN 2012 event with a presentation on Integrative Leadership. Her talk begins around 28:00 in the 2nd video at this link. The event, held Saturday, April 21st at Coffman Memorial Union, was themed "At the Heart of Discovery" and represented a chance to rediscover the University. It told the story of a future or the world due to the actions, ideas, and dreams of our fellow University members.

The individuals involved with TEDxUMN have a passion for bringing together the great thinkers at the University of Minnesota and giving them the opportunity to share their ideas worth spreading and discuss our shared future. We provide these great people the opportunity to share these ideas on a global stage and with an incredibly diverse audience. We believe in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately the world.
TEDxUMN was started January 2011 with the acquisition of a TEDx license from TED. For more information, please visit TED.com.

Quick Presents at Forum on Community Engagement

2012-04-13T16:00:09Z

Assistant Professor Kathy Quick was a presenter at the 2012 Hennepin-University Forum on Community Engagement, held on March 9. (Click here to view a video of her presentation; a copy of her slides are available here, also.) Kathy spoke on the current state of public engagement, posed key questions for organizing engagement, and presented some of her most recent research conducted with fellow Humphrey faculty members John Bryson, Barbara Crosby, Carissa Schively Slotterback, and Jerry Zhao.

PNLC's State Leadership Institute

2012-04-04T19:49:32Z

The March issue of Humphrey School News highlights the PNLC's State Leadership Institute (SLI). SLI is a 9-week professional development program developed by PNLC faculty and staff with the Minnesota Management and Budget agency. The program was designed for senior leaders in State of Minnesota agencies and led by Dr. Jay Kiedrowski and Jean Hammink of insideoutcomes. Thirty students comprised the first SLI cohort; applications for the second cohort will be accepted this fall.

Financing a Health and Human Services bill at the Cost of Vulnerable Adults

2012-03-26T23:28:02Z

In this blog post I'd like to talk briefly about a bill that is moving its way through the Minnesota House of Representatives, HR 2294, the Health and Human Services Finance Bill. While there are some beneficial parts of this bill, in this blog post, I'd like to talk about one major concern I have of the bill. According to the policy advocacy group, NAMI Minnesota,the funding for the bill is currently coming from permanently closing around 400 beds in corporate adult foster care facilities.

According to the Department of Human Services, corporate adult foster care refers to facilities that provide supervised care for 1 to 5 vulnerable adults. The "corporate" part of corporate adult foster care means that the license-holder of the residence lives outside of the facility but provides staff to care for the clients during the day and night. The level of care provided in these facilities differs depending on the facility and the need of the clients, but typically includes meals and other supportive services. The type of clients who reside in corporate adult foster care include those who are elderly or who are experiencing a variety of mental illnesses or physical and developmental disabilities.

I am very concerned about the proposition to fund a Health and Human Services bill by taking away beds for vulnerable adults. Reducing the number of beds in these facilities means that vulnerable adults who need high levels of care will have a reduced number of places to go and will need to wait longer amounts of time to enter these facilities. As it stands today, it is often difficult to find a bed in these facilities, reducing the number of beds available will make it even more difficult. The reduction in beds is particularly a concern for those clients experiencing mental illness. This is because many clients experiencing mental illness end up being referred to these facilities when they are discharged from expensive places of care such as hospitals or Intensive Residential Treatment Services (IRTS) facilities. For many of these clients, a reduction in beds will likely mean either longer stays in more expensive facilities as they wait for a bed to open, or bouts of homelessness. A negative feedback loop could also develop with this provision, as when beds in corporate adult foster care facilities close, it is likely that some facilities will no longer be able to be financially solvent and will have to close down, further reducing the number of beds.

The next stop for the Health and Human Services Finance bill is the Ways and Means Committee, where it will be introduced tomorrow on Tuesday, March 27th. It will be interesting to see how the bill develops, and hopefully another way to finance the various provisions in the bill will be developed.

Ahna Minge

2012-03-19T21:12:27Z

Ahna Minge is a Graduate Assistant at the PNLC and a first year Master of Public Policy student. Originally from northern Minnesota, Ahna graduate from Macalester College with a degree in Political Science. She has spent several years working in local government. At the Humphrey School, Ahna is particularly interested in policy analysis and public leadership.

Ahna's favorite place to pubTalk - debate current issues and public affairs - is at a sunny table on one of the city's great patios.

Rebecca Orrick

2012-03-19T21:01:56Z

Rebecca Orrick is a graduate student at the University of Minnesota and a research assistant with the PNLC. She is working toward completing a dual master's degree in public policy and social work, and is in her second year of graduate studies. Originally from the Washington DC area, she has fallen in love with the Twin Cities and intends to make it her permanent home. Rebecca's research interests include issues affecting the homeless, ex-offender, immigrant, and mentally ill populations in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. She is currently an intern at Hennepin County's Department of Human Services and Public Health.

Rebecca's favorite place to pubTalk - debate current issues and public affairs- is over some homemade beer around her living room table.

Hunter Gordon

2012-03-19T20:10:35Z

Hunter Gordon is a graduate assistant with the PNLC and a first year Master of Public Policy student. Originally from North Dakota, he graduated from the University of North Dakota with degrees in philosophy and political science. He then spent time in San Francisco as a fellow in the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs, before moving to Minneapolis/St. Paul, where he has worked in the nonprofit sector as an outreach coordinator and grant writer. He came to the Humphrey School to develop skills in nonprofit leadership that will enable him to have an impact on social policy.

Hunter's favorite place to pubTalk--debate current issues and public affairs--is with his classmates in the Jernberg Lounge.

Gary DeCramer 1944 - 2012

2012-03-08T15:26:25Z

The Public and Nonprofit Leadership Center has lost a shining light. Dr. Gary DeCramer, Director of the Humphrey School's Masters of Public Affairs program, passed away suddenly on March 7, 2012. Our faculty and students mourn Gary's extraordinary wisdom and kindness. He was a thoughtful man in every sense of the word. We are lucky, indeed, to have known and loved him.

PNLC, MCN and Partners Search for Nonprofits to Explore Field Realignment

2012-03-06T20:52:43Z

The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits is partnering with the PNLC, Charities Review Council, MAP for Nonprofits, and the Nonprofits Assistance Fund on an Impact Initiative.

The Impact Initiative partners seek nonprofit leaders in specific activity areas to explore opportunities for a realignment of their field, resulting in new ways of thinking and providing services to meet growing demands in health and human services. This project is a "coalition of the willing," where interested leaders--nonprofit executive leadership and board members--will have an opportunity to engage in a structured process, stimulating new thinking and actively transforming the way they do their work.

To nominate a nonprofit leader or field for the Initiative, please click here. Nominations are due by March 30 at 5:00 p.m.

Sandfort on MPR's Daily Circuit March 6th

2012-02-29T18:50:48Z

Associate Professor Jodi Sandfort, Chair of the Humphrey School's Leadership & Management Policy Area, participated in a discussion on nonprofit fundraising on Minnesota Public Radio's The Daily Circuit show on Tuesday, March 6th. Formerly known as MPR's Mid-Morning show, The Daily Circuit is hosted by Kerri Miller and Tom Weber. It is broadcast between 9:00 am and noon weekdays.

Click here to listen to a podcast of the discussion.

Quick Named as IAS Faculty Fellow for 2012-13

2012-02-14T17:31:28Z

The University of Minnesota's Institute of Advanced Study (IAS) has named Dr. Kathryn Quick as one of eleven Faculty Fellows for 2012-2013. During her fellowship, Kathy will use her extensive civic engagement experience to focus on a project titled "Intersections of Bioecological and Institutional Paradigms for Practicing Resilience: An Investigation of Collaborative Environmental and Community Stewardship."

Each year up to twenty University of Minnesota faculty members are selected by the IAS as Residential Fellows. Fellows are released from all teaching obligations during the tenure of their fellowships and are in residence at our offices in University Park Plaza, where they can benefit from the community of scholars and share their work across disciplines.

Congratulations, Kathy!

Cross-sector Collaboration

2012-02-10T16:14:04Z

Across the pond and across the Humphrey!

John Bryson, professor, and Barbara Crosby, associate professor, delivered a lecture at the London School of Economics and Political Science on "Cross-Sector Collaboration" October 21, 2011. They chaired and presented papers in two sessions at the International Leadership Association annual conference in London, October 27 - 29, 2011. One panel was on "Leadership for Inclusion within and across Countries."

As part of this panel they presented a paper co-authored with Kathy Quick and Carissa Shively Slotterback on "Leadership and the Design of Public Participation Processes." The other panel was on "Unkind Cuts? British Leaders' Radical Venture and Implications for the Common Good in the UK and Elsewhere." Bryson also consulted on strategic planning with the British National Health Service in Northern Ireland, October 24 -59, 2011.