%0 Journal Article %J Am J Community Psychol %D 2013 %T How has the economic downturn affected communities and implementation of science-based prevention in the randomized trial of Communities That Care? %A Kuklinski, Margaret R %A Hawkins, J D %A Plotnick, Robert D %A Abbott, Robert D %A Reid, Carolina K %K Community Networks %K Economic Recession %K Female %K Humans %K Juvenile Delinquency %K Male %K Reproducibility of Results %K Surveys and Questionnaires %K United States %X

This study examined implications of the economic downturn that began in December 2007 for the Community Youth Development Study (CYDS), a longitudinal randomized controlled trial of the Communities That Care (CTC) prevention system. The downturn had the potential to affect the internal validity of the CYDS research design and implementation of science-based prevention in study communities. We used archival economic indicators and community key leader reports of economic conditions to assess the extent of the economic downturn in CYDS communities and potential internal validity threats. We also examined whether stronger economic downturn effects were associated with a decline in science-based prevention implementation. Economic indicators suggested the downturn affected CYDS communities to different degrees. We found no evidence of systematic differences in downturn effects in CTC compared to control communities that would threaten internal validity of the randomized trial. The Community Economic Problems scale was a reliable measure of community economic conditions, and it showed criterion validity in relation to several objective economic indicators. CTC coalitions continued to implement science-based prevention to a significantly greater degree than control coalitions 2 years after the downturn began. However, CTC implementation levels declined to some extent as unemployment, the percentage of students qualifying for free lunch, and community economic problems worsened. Control coalition implementation levels were not related to economic conditions before or after the downturn, but mean implementation levels of science-based prevention were also relatively low in both periods.

%B Am J Community Psychol %V 51 %P 370-84 %8 2013 Jun %G eng %N 3-4 %R 10.1007/s10464-012-9557-z %0 Journal Article %J J Urban Aff %D 2011 %T A Geography-Specific Approach to Estimating the Distributional Impact of Highway Tolls: An Application to the Puget Sound Region of Washington State. %A Plotnick, Robert D %A Romich, Jennifer %A Thacker, Jennifer %A Dunbar, Matthew %X

This study contributes to the debate about tolls' equity impacts by examining the potential economic costs of tolling for low-income and non-low-income households. Using data from the Puget Sound metropolitan region in Washington State and GIS methods to map driving routes from home to work, we examine car ownership and transportation patterns among low-income and non-low-income households. We follow standard practice of estimating tolls' potential impact only on households with workers who would drive on tolled and non-tolled facilities. We then redo the analysis including broader groups of households. We find that the degree of regressivity is quite sensitive to the set of households included in the analysis. The results suggest that distributional analyses of tolls should estimate impacts on all households in the relevant region in addition to impacts on just users of roads that are currently tolled or likely to be tolled.

%B J Urban Aff %V 33 %P 345-366 %8 2011 Aug 7 %G eng %N 3 %R 10.1111/j.1467-9906.2011.00551.x