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NSP: Stabilizing and Revitalizing Neighborhoods
ICF analyzed the $3.92 billion Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) created under Title III of Division B of the 2008 Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) and developed this side-by-side comparison of NSP requirements. The document highlights several key program design or implementation questions that grantees will need to consider. NSP grantees are required to submit Action Plans by December 1, 2008, and will need to quickly develop innovative solutions to the foreclosure crisis in their communities, evaluate potential roles for a variety of partners and stakeholders, and complete the Action Plan submission.
The Greenbook Initiative Final Evaluation Report
The final evaluation report of the Greenbook Initiative, examining the process and effects of implementing the Greenbook recommendations on collaboration, systems change, and practice within and across three primary systems (child welfare agencies, domestic violence service providers, and the dependency courts), was completed in 2008. The evaluation was funded by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services. This final evaluation report, authored by the National Evaluation Team, assesses the extent to which the Greenbook implementation activities facilitated cross-system and system change and practice within the three primary systems. Findings of the evaluation show the efforts of the partners, the challenges they faced in carrying out their work, and the changes they were able to bring about in how the systems work to identify and respond to the needs of families and children experiencing the co-occurrence of domestic violence and child maltreatment.
Incorporating Energy Efficiency into Affordable Housing Projects
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) continues to prioritize development and rehabilitation projects that incorporate energy efficiency measures. This quarter’s featured resource is a guide developed by ICF for PJs to encourage efficiency in projects funded through the HOME Program. The guide contains general information about energy efficiency measures as well as programs local governments can use to encourage developers to incorporate these measures in the development process. It also offers specific information about energy savings and cost savings associated with efficiency measures in specific climate zones, including: CA Central Valley Climate Zone; CA Bay Area Climate Zone; Mountainous Climate Zone; and Desert Climate Zone.
Childhood Obesity Prevention
August 2007. Policymakers and researchers across the United States recognize the critical need for new, systemic approaches to address the rising childhood obesity epidemic in our country. Responding to this need, ICF International developed this report to describe the current areas of consensus in the research and policy fields and to propose a holistic and comprehensive prevention strategy for addressing childhood obesity across the full spectrum of environments, including homes, child care and educational settings, communities and neighborhoods, and health care practices. The report also highlights promising practices and ICF programs that have demonstrated innovation and effectiveness in tackling many of the challenges associated with childhood obesity prevention.
HOME Program Property Value Limit Worksheet
HOME Program regulations state that participating jurisdictions (PJs) must document the after-rehabilitation value of affordable housing to show such housing is within the 203(b) program limits. This simple worksheet is designed to guide PJ staff through this property valuation process. Various valuation methods are discussed including consideration of pre- and post-rehabilitation estimates.
Homebuyer Program Guidelines Checklist
This simple checklist helps HOME participating jurisdictions (PJ) ensure that homebuyer programs address important HOME Program requirements and institute effective practices when launching a new homebuyer program or evaluating an existing program. The checklist covers acquisition only programs, as well as acquisition, rehabilitation, and resale programs.
Measures of Training and Experience
Published in the book Applied Measurement Methods in Industrial Psychology (2007), by Tim McGonigle and Christina Curnow of ICF International. This book chapter describes the history of training and experience measures and provides a foundation for their validity. The chapter also reviews the measurement properties of these measures and provides step-by-step guidance for developing task- and skill-oriented measures and accomplishment records.
School Mental Health Program Retrospective Report: 2000-2005
In 2007, the District of Columbia (DC) Department of Mental Health (DMH), Office of Program and Policy, Child and Youth Services Division released its first published multi-year evaluation study of the School-based Mental Health Program. This evaluation report, co-authored by Dr. Olga Acosta Price, Deputy Director of George Washington University’s Center for Health and Health Care in Schools (former Director of the program) and Dr. Amy R. Mack, Senior Associate with ICF International (former Evaluation Coordinator of the program), provides comprehensive information about the program since its creation in 2000. Successes and challenges are discussed in detail along with aggregate-level data highlighting promising practices and programs. The report provides much-needed data regarding evaluating prevention, early intervention, and intervention services provided by social workers and psychologists to children and youth in 30 Washington, D.C., public and public charter schools.
Creating a Competency-Based Selection System
Published in the Personnel Testing Council (PTC) of Metropolitan Washington (PTC/MW) Quarterly Newsletter, December 2006, by Dr. Brian Cronin of ICF International. This article describes the development of a competency-based selection system. The project highlighted was conducted for a Georgia state agency. The goal of the effort was to create competency profiles, screening tools, and selection instruments for four senior-level procurement jobs. The article provides a snapshot of the study and an overview of the assessments used during data.
The
Trend Toward Accountability: What Does It Mean for HR
Managers?
Published in Human
Resource Management Review, Summer 2006, by Rebecca
Mulvaney and Melissa Zwahr of ICF International and Laura
Baranowski. This article provides an overview of the accountability
trend and what this trend means for human resource (HR) managers.
The article defines performance measurement and its relationship
to performance management and evaluation. It discusses the
legislative incentives behind federal performance measurement,
such as the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA),
that are designed to improve the effectiveness, efficiency,
and accountability of taxpayer-funded programs and how these
initiatives affect HR programs. Following this, it reviews
the implications for HR professionals and the fundamental
concepts of performance measurement, including common performance
measurement methodologies. Finally, it concludes by highlighting
the challenges of implementing a performance management system,
as well as lessons learned from agencies that have implemented
performance measurement or management systems in the past.
High Density Housing, Mega-Developments: An Assessment of Arizona and Nevada Comparing Central Power to a Distributed Energy Approach
With the populations of Arizona and Nevada projected to more than double from 2000-2035—triple the national growth rate—large “megadevelopment” projects are being considered to meet the demand for housing. Current standard approaches to utility and regional planning may be inadequate to deal with infrastructure changes and the impact on energy supplies, water resources, and the environment. This July 2006 study, prepared for Oak Ridge National Laboratory by EEA, an ICF International Company, analyzes the expected energy and infrastructure requirements and considers distributed energy resource (DER) strategies as a solution, including gas-powered heat pump (GHP) and combined heat and power (CHP), to meet needs for base-load electricity and heating more efficiently and with lower capital cost and water consumption than would be required with conventional central power stations.
Rebuilding After the Gulf Coast Hurricane:
Sustainable Communities Using Energy Efficiency
In 2005, a Category 4 hurricane made landfall near Buras,
Louisiana, bringing 145 mph winds, inundating New Orleans,
and leaving a path of destruction the size of the United
Kingdom. Within hours, a city dubbed "the Big Easy" was
awash in tragedy. As a result, more than 300,000 new single
family homes will need to be built in Alabama, Louisiana,
and Mississippi in the coming months. Six of those homes
are being piloted in Pass Christian, Mississippi. This
paper analyzes the incremental costs and payback periods
to upgrade these new homes to be energy efficient.
IDIS
Tips and Tricks
The Integrated Disbursement and Information System (IDIS) can be challenging
to navigate, even for experienced users. Our IDIS Tips and Tricks Toolbox provides
some help. ICF experts pulled together a number of quick tricks and fixes that
will make your IDIS experience simpler and more efficient. The Toolbox provides
tips and tricks regarding navigation of IDIS screens, keyboard strokes to avoid,
optimal times to use the system, "tweaking" and "resynchronizing" for
smooth movement between screens, proper login and logout methods, updates and
completion of activities on a timely basis, the copying and pasting of multiple
lines into IDIS, efficient printing, and the use of HOME Setup and Completion
Forms.
Inclusionary Housing Toolbox
This January 2006 report, written by Melanie Freitas
and ICF International's Carole Norris and Shawna LaRue,
was produced for the U.S.
Department of Housing and Community Development (HUD) to
assist state, county, and local government housing agencies
in understanding how an Inclusionary Housing Ordinance works,
and the steps that must be undertaken to enact these ordinances.
The guidebook brings together perspectives
from local government’s
that have Inclusionary Zoning, along with key steps and decision
points a jurisdiction would undertake to determine whether
to enact Inclusionary Zoning, and what an Inclusionary Zoning
Ordinance would cover. It discusses the key legal issues
that must be addressed, and provides practical advice about
structuring and administering the ordinance, as well as how
to effectively use HOME Program funds to enhance affordable
housing produced as a result of Inclusionary Zoning.
Commuting Patterns and the Housing Stock
This
research study for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) was prepared by Kevin Blake and William
Cowart of ICF International, in association with Econometrica,
and released on November 20, 2005, as part of ICF International's
analytical support of the American Housing Survey (AHS).
The prime objective of this research was to explore the
applicability of transportation and commute-related variables
in the AHS to analyze the relationship between the housing
stock and commuting patterns. Particular attention was
given to analyzing the usefulness of the AHS data in testing
the spatial mismatch hypothesis.
Elderly Housing Consumption: Historical Patterns and Projected
Trends
This
research study for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) was prepared by Kevin Blake and Dr. Aleksandra
Simic of ICF International, in association with Econometrica,
and released on November 20, 2005, as part of ICF International's
analytical support of the American Housing Survey (AHS).
The study attempts to understand some of the challenges that
changing demographics will have on the housing market and
what may be the implications for housing policy. The study
explores two key issues in the elderly housing consumption
research. The study looks at how the housing consumption
of the elderly has changed over time and tries to understand
what the potential consumption patterns could look like in
the future.
Rebuilding After Hurricane Katrina: Smart Energy Choices
October 25,
2005 - ICF International's issue paper suggests energy efficiency
thresholds for reconstructing thousands of homes in the
Gulf Coast region damaged by Hurricane Katrina. After
modeling different levels of energy efficiency using DOE-2 software,
ICF International compared the impacts of a mass reconstruction
built to minimum building codes versus four increasingly
more energy-efficient standards, finding that an initial
investment of US$900 million to efficiently rebuild
the destroyed homes in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi,
and Alabama would have a payback of just 7.5 years—much
less than the term of a typical mortgage.
LEDs for General Illumination: Energy Codes, Lumens per
Watt, and Other Lighting Criteria
Published in LEDs
Magazine, July 2005, by Jeffrey Schwartz
of ICF International. The lighting community needs to be able
to evaluate light emitting diode (LED) lighting products
in the same way as any other competing technologies. The
author describes some of the relevant criteria.
Neighborhood
Schools and Sidewalk Connections: What Are the Impacts
on Travel Mode Choice and Vehicle Emissions?
Published in Transportation
Research News 237,
March-April 2005, pp. 4-10, by William Schroeer of ICF International, Reid
Ewing of the University of Maryland, and Christopher
V. Forinash of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Copyright, Transportation
Research Board (TRB), National Research Council, Washington, D.C. Reproduced
with permission of TRB. This article is a condensed version of the "School
Location and Student Travel: Analysis of Factors Affecting Mode Choice" study,
which quantifies the relationship between school location, the built environment
around schools, student travel to school, and the emissions from that travel.
Findings argue for neighborhood schools and improvements to sidewalk networks
around schools. Centrally located schools to which students can walk or bike
would reduce vehicle emissions significantly. The results have been widely
cited because they confirm that the steep decrease in kids walking to school
is in large part linked to trends toward giant schools in remote areas. Despite
other trends and concerns (increased driving, crime), when kids can walk to
school, they do.
School
Location and Student Travel: Analysis of Factors Affecting
Mode Choice
Published in the Transportation
Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board,
No. 1895, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington,
D.C., 2004, pp. 55-63. Reproduced with permission of TRB. The study, by William
Schroeer of ICF International, Reid Ewing of the University of Maryland, and William
Greene of New York University, is the first to examine the relationship
between mode of travel to school and the full range of factors that might affect
mode choice. Students with shorter walk or bike times to school proved significantly
more likely to walk or bike. Findings argue for neighborhood schools serving
nearby residential areas and for safe routes to school through sidewalk improvements.
Final Study Report for the
Rural Rental Housing—Comprehensive Property Assessment
and Portfolio Analysis
On November 22, 2004, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Rural Development publicly released the final report delivered
by ICF International, which details recommendations for revitalizing
the USDA's Rural Rental Housing portfolio to ensure the continued
availability of decent, safe, and sanitary housing for its
tenants.
Judging
the Quality of a Lighting Project
Published in Today's Lighting Distributor,
November/December 2004, by Jeffrey Schwartz of ICF International.
The first in a series of five articles on energy-efficient
lighting projects explains efficacy, efficiency, watts per
square foot, life-cycle cost tools, and how they relate to
energy efficiency and the quality of a lighting project.
The article explains how lamp efficacy and fixture efficiency
must both be considered when evaluating a project, and how
to use watts per square foot as a true measure of the project's
energy efficiency.
Clusters 2.0: The Local Reality of Globalization
This white paper, written by ICF International's James Gollub,
was produced for the Economic Development Coalition (EDIC)
Partners and funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic
Development Administration (EDA). A condensed version was
published in the Fall 2004 issue of Economic
Development America. The white paper brings together
perspectives from Gollub’s experience with over 50
national, state, and regional cluster strategies worldwide
and discusses why local communities in the United States
must compete globally to be economically successful. To build
and sustain jobs, all public agencies and institutions as
well as businesses in American states and regions must understand
their role as "suppliers" in the global economy
and be prepared to adapt to market demand. This means learning
and adapting, using existing resources in new ways, and making
new investments where needed in education, innovation, infrastructure,
governance, and quality of life.
Analysis
of the Proportion of the Mortgage Market that Meets
the GSE's Affordable Housing Goals: Issues of
Variability and Uncertainty
July 15, 2004. ICF International conducted an independent assessment of the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Government
Sponsored Enterprises (GSE) affordable housing goals,
and to estimate the past and project the future size of the conventional conforming
mortgage market meeting the affordable housing goals. This analysis illustrates
some of the issues relating to the accuracy and reliability of HUD’s
estimates. ICF International provides historical estimates and future projections
of the goal-qualifying market shares.
Design
Focus Report: Residential Lighting
Written by Paul Vrabel of ICF International, and
published in Architectural Lighting, August
1, 2003. As the average home is increasing in size, there
is an ever-increasing demand for more energy-efficient
residential lighting. However, focusing on the technology
is only half the issue. This article examines the many
design techniques for the home that will help utilize
light more efficiently and effectively.
California's
Future: It Starts Here—University of California's Contributions
to Economic Growth, Health, and Culture
May 2003. The University of California (UC) drew on ICF International's
comprehensive report to create a series of fact sheets communicating
the importance of UC's contributions to California's economic
growth, health, and community resources. The fact sheets
outline specifics of the study (broken out by major campus
locations), including investment values, spending impacts,
10-year forecast, and research and development productivity
gains. The impact
analysis underscores the importance of the University
to the state's economic recovery, through direct economic
impacts and research that will help generate new businesses
and industries. The study also demonstrates the significant
return on investment that the state receives for every
public dollar invested in the University's mission of teaching,
research, and public service.
The
Role of Universities Today: Critical Partners in Economic
Development and Global Competitiveness
May 2003. This report discusses the strategic
role of universities as they relate to economics, health,
and quality of life. Business leaders recognize the essential
contributions universities make in providing companies
and regional economies with a competitive advantage through
highly skilled workers, advanced technology, unparalleled
knowledge and practical know-how.
Breaking
Through the Clutter: A Strategic Marketing Plan
Prepared for Million Solar Roofs (MSRI),
an initiative to install solar energy systems
on one million U.S. buildings by 2010. The
June 2002 article evolved from ICF International's
implementation of a 2½-year-long strategic marketing
plan for the California
Energy Commission that promotes renewable technologies
to homeowners and commercial building owners.
Bridging
the Digital Divide: Community Technology Centers in the U.S.
Published in ICF International's Consult, a quarterly
report that provides executive briefs on key insights and
perspectives, Spring 2001.
The
Labor Market for Social Workers: A First Look
Commissioned by the John A. Hartford Foundation as part
of the Geriatric Social Work Initiative, February 2001, by
Michael C. Barth of ICF International, with assistance of Yvon
Pho, American University. The report analyzes findings of
recent national and regional studies that assess the job
experiences of social workers and economic indicators affecting
the social work job market. A summary of this report was
published in Social Work, Volume 48, Number 1, January
2003.
Research Links Childhood Lead Exposure to Changes
in Violent Crime Rates Throughout the 20th Century
The full text is available in Environmental Research, May 2000, by Rick
Nevin. This research summary was distributed at the Office
of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention National Conference
(Washington, D.C., December 13, 2000). This study compares
changes in children's blood lead levels in the United States
with subsequent changes in IQ, based on norm comparisons for
the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) given to representative
national samples of children in 1984 and 1992.
An
Aging Workforce in an Increasingly Global World
Published in Journal of Aging & Social Policy,
Vol. 11, No. 2/3, by Michael C. Barth of ICF International. ©2000 The Haworth Press,
Inc. Binghamton, NY.
This article explores the relationship between the aging
American labor force and an increasingly international
world.
Best Practice Upgrades for Energy Efficient New
Homes
by David Meisegeier and Glenn Chinery. Reprinted with
permission from American Council for an Energy-Efficient
Economy, ©2000, Washington, D.C. Published
in Proceedings of the ACEEE 2000 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings,
1.187-1.96. For information about the ACEEE proceedings, contact http://www.aceee.org. This paper explains the ENERGY
STAR® Homes
technical methodology used to develop the Builder Option Packages (BOPs) and
the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) scores obtained for the various configurations
analyzed.
More
Lessons Learned in the ENERGY STAR® Homes
Program
by Eric Werling, Blaine Collison, and Jay Hall. Reprinted
with permission from American Council for an Energy-Efficient
Economy, ©2000, Washington, D.C.
Published in Proceedings of the ACEEE 2000 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency
in Buildings, 2.335-2.246. For information about the ACEEE proceedings, contact http://www.aceee.org. This paper provides an
update on the ENERGY STAR® Homes
program, including a description of successes, failures, challenges already faced,
and opportunities ahead.
More Evidence of Rational Market Values for Home
Energy Efficiency
Published in The Appraisal Journal, October 1999,
by Rick Nevin, Christopher Bender, and Heather Gazan. A housing
industry survey provides more evidence correlating housing
market value with improved energy efficiency.
Evidence
of Rational Market Valuations for Home Energy Efficiency
Published in The Appraisal Journal, October 1998, by
Rick Nevin and Gregory Watson. The study suggests that residential
real estate markets assign to energy-efficient homes an incremental
value that reflects the discounted valued of annual fuel savings.
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