Preventing Unintended Pregnancy

"Unintended Pregnancy Among the Urban Poor." Melanie Besculides and Fabienne Laraque, Journal of Urban Health, 2004. This article analyzes the proportion of unintended pregnancies among poor women in New York City, compares this rate to national data, and examines related factors. Of the more than 20,000 women in the sample who had a pregnancy test during the three-year study period, 46 percent were pregnant, and 82 percent of these pregnancies were unintended. Unmarried women, adolescents, and those who drank alcohol were at increased risk for unintended pregnancy. This extremely high percentage of unintended pregnancies suggests that national rates are not representative of what occurs among low-income women in an urban setting, and interventions should be tailored for the urban poor and target unmarried young women.

Covering Kids

"The Santa Clara County Healthy Kids Program: Impacts on Children's Medical, Dental, and Vision Care." Health insurance coverage for children remains a serious policy issue throughout the United States. The Santa Clara County Children's Health Initiative (CHI), launched in January 2001, is an ambitious effort to close gaps in health insurance coverage for children. This report underscores the unique characteristics of children taking part in Healthy Kids and identifies many significant improvements in their medical care and dental and vision care as a result of participating in the program. Read more about this innovative effort to expand health insurance for children.

Full Report—Christopher Trenholm, Embry M. Howell, Dana Hughes, and Sean Orzol, July 2005.
Appendix—Christopher Trenholm, Martha Kovac, John Hall, Sean Orzol, Embry M. Howell, and Dana Hughes, July 2005.

Understanding the Rural Picture

"Rural Research Needs and Data Sources for Selected Human Services Topics." Although rural America is diverse, ever changing, and different from urban America, less is known about rural human and social services conditions and needs. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which plays a major role in protecting and enhancing human capital and self-sufficiency in rural America, launched a study to learn more about social and economic conditions and trends in rural areas, identify high-priority family and community needs, and assess knowledge about these needs and the services available to address them. This report describes the study and findings. It also identifies data that could support empirical research, presenting information on 80 data sources that the research community could use to study three human services topics in rural areas: work supports for low-income families, substance abuse, and child welfare.

Volume 1—Research Needs—Debra A. Strong, Patricia Del Grosso, Andrew Burwick, Venita Jethwani, and Michael Ponza, May 2005.
Volume 2—Data Sources—Debra A. Strong, Patricia Del Grosso, Jigar Bhatt, Shannon Philips, and Kate Scheppke, May 2005.

APPAM Presentations

Mathematica will be well represented at the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management fall conference, Understanding and Informing Policy Design, from November 3 to 5 in Washington, DC. This conference will explore the role of policys design at the nexus of public affairs scholarship and practice, including theories and evidence to inform the content of public policies as well as the role played by this type of information in the process of policy design. For a list of our experts who will be presenting their work at this conference, go to our conference calendar.

On the Move: Staff News and Changes

Senior economist Sheena McConnell, who specializes in evaluating policies to promote employment and strong families in disadvantaged populations, has been named associate director of human services research in the DC office.

Senior economist Jill Constantine, an expert in evaluating education interventions for at-risk children and youth, has been named associate director of human services research in the NJ office.

Senior fellow Mark Dynarski has been named associate director of human services research in the NJ office, in addition to continuing in his strategic capacity as area leader for education policy research.