Projects

The Temple NEST is involved in a variety of projects that assist nonprofit organizations throughout Eastern and Central Pennsylvania build capacity, evaluate outcomes and generate research that offers new and valuable information to society.

Each project is led by a member of the Temple NEST team. For more information on a particular project, please contact the Principal Investigator (PI).

Barry Nazar, Ph.D.

barry.nazar@temple.edu

1. School Social Work and Abstinence Education: Evaluation of a $2.75 million project over a 5 year period to reduce risk behaviors in adolescents in middle school and high school at various districts within the Lincoln Intermediate Unit catchment area. The project examines both educational approaches and social work interventions to primary and secondary prevention of adjustment problems.

2. Eliminating Perinatal Health Disparities Among Minority Populations: Evaluation of a $2 million project conducted by the Hamilton Health Center and funded by HRSA. African Americans and Latinas experience higher rates of infant mortality and morbidity as well as maternal morbidity. The underlying causes are manifold and the project explores a number of approaches to encourage lifestyle change, early prenatal care, inter-conception care, and perinatal health practice.

3. Offender Reentry Support Service: Evaluation of a $200,000 project over a 24 month period to assistant released convicts successfully reintegrate to mainstream citizenship. The project is conducted by Firm Foundation of PA and funded by PCCD. Emphasis is on lifeskills training, housing transition, family reintegration, and employment support.

4. National Performance Monitoring of HUD Grantees: This is a systems development project for the Office of Departmental Grants Management and Oversight of HUD. The $1.5 million project is a collaboration with The Center for Applied Management Practices (CAMP) of Camp Hill, PA and runs for 5 years. The project uses electronic Logic Models with integrated relational database to track activities and outcomes of discretionary grants.

5. 21st Century Centers for Community Learning After School: Evaluation of a $1.2 million after school project over 3 years. This project explores the operation of a non school-based after school program K-12 serving 14 feeder schools in the Allentown area.