Research by Author & Topic

Publications by Caterina Gouvis Roman on Cities and Metropolitan Regions

The Chicago Family Case Management Demonstration is an innovative initiative designed to meet the challenges of serving the Chicago Housing Authority's (CHA) "hard to house"; residents. It involves a unique partnership of city agencies, service providers, researchers, and private foundations, all with a deep commitment to finding solutions for the most vulnerable families affected by the CHA's Plan for Transformation. The rigorous evaluation allows for continuous learning and mid-course corrections, and helped the team develop a validated model that other housing authorities can use. This report highlights the lessons learned during the first year implementation of the Demonstration.

This report examines the housing landscape of prisoner reentry in the District of Columbia through an analysis of neighborhoods that had high rates of returning prisoners and a survey of housing-related providers. This report fills important gaps in information vital to the District's continuing efforts to implement effective strategies for reintegrating and supervising returning parolees. More specifically, this research has been developed to provide a framework for understanding what types of housing and housing support services exist in the geographic areas to which persons leaving prison return, and to document the needs of communities from the viewpoint of the service providers. The ultimate goal is to sharpen the community's thinking on the issue of housing and prisoner reintegration, and to foster policy innovations that will improve outcomes for individuals, families, and communities.

This study tests the assumption that community-based organizations and other neighborhood institutions help build community well-being, and, in testing the assumption, seeks to develop a measure of these organizations that represents the social-capital generating function of organizations. The study examines: (1) whether the presence (the number or density) of organizations, institutions and businesses is related to neighborhood well-being; (2) if the location (distance) of community-based organizations has a role in neighborhood well-being, and (3) whether the capacity of community organizations factors into neighborhood well-being.

This report synthesizes knowledge derived from our literature review and consultation with other researchers and practitioners about factors that may affect a community's ability to organize, mobilize, and build capacity to serve as an active partner with criminal justice agencies. Time and time again, evaluations of crime prevention and intervention programs have concluded with the same lessons learned: community organizations need to be able to leverage outside resources, collaboration among organizations is key to program success, and lead agencies must recognize and articulate the community's needs and be able to act cohesively for the good of the community. This report seeks to go beyond "lessons learned" and begin to break down the components of capacity for effective partnerships in community justice initiatives.

In October 2001, the Urban Institute and the Alliance of Concerned Men conducted a focus group with individuals who had successfully made the transition from prison to the community. The goal of the focus group was to explore "ingredients for success" as perceived by the focus group participants, and to seek their advice as to ways that the District of Columbia government and non-profit agencies could better support reentry and reintegration for prisoners returning to the District.

This report examines the causes of urban crime, such as neighborhood decay, economic deprivation, and social disorganization. Included are research on neighborhood deterioration, an assessment of whether records routinely maintained by public agencies can be used to identify urban areas at risk, a feasibility study that examines how indicators of urban decay predict crime rates across time, and a discussion of approaches to combat community decay and crime. The report includes a list of the most popular approaches and activities used.

This study discusses the relationship of crime and urban decay, focusing on such areas as social disorganization, economic deprivation, social ecology, neighborhood life cycle, and neighborhood structure and composition. It also outlines the pace and sequence of neighborhood change and lists indicators of neighborhood decay. The authors present models for predicting crime and discuss crime rates and predictor variables for Washington, D.C., and Cleveland, Ohio. A discussion on implications for predicting neighborhood crime risk rounds out this study.

This report evaluates the effects of systemwide drug testing based on the experience of the Multnomah County Drug Testing and Evaluation Program (DTE) to determine whether DTE reduces criminal activity and increases compliance with court orders among defendants or offenders released under court supervision. The authors describe their research on the potential utility of drug testing programs, discuss the key components of systemwide drug testing, and provide details on DTE. Included are the conceptual framework that guided the evaluation and a description of study methodology. The report concludes with a discussion of the effect of DTE during pretrial, probation, and parole.

The issues examined in this report are (1) how to identify areas at risk of worsening crime and (2) comprehensive strategies that are effective in community crime prevention. The report includes a review of the research on the linkage between community decay and crime and examines crime prevention strategies used in innovative local programs in which law enforcement works in partnership with other organizations. Issues and questions for future policy-oriented research are discussed in light of this review.