Evaluation Review current issue

Development of a Medicaid Behavioral Health Case-Mix Model

Robst, J. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:50:43 PST

Many Medicaid programs have either fully or partially carved out mental health services. The evaluation of carve-out plans requires a case-mix model that accounts for differing health status across Medicaid managed care plans. This article develops a diagnosis-based case-mix adjustment system specific to Medicaid behavioral health care. Several different model specifications are compared that use untransformed, square root transformed, and log-transformed expenditures.

An Approach for Addressing the Multiple Testing Problem in Social Policy Impact Evaluations

Schochet, P. Z. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:50:43 PST

In social policy evaluations, the multiple testing problem occurs due to the many hypothesis tests that are typically conducted across multiple outcomes and subgroups, which can lead to spurious impact findings. This article discusses a framework for addressing this problem that balances Types I and II errors. The framework involves specifying confirmatory and exploratory analyses in study protocols, delineating confirmatory outcome domains, conducting t tests on composite domain outcomes, and applying multiplicity corrections to composites across domains to obtain summative impact evidence. The article presents statistical background and discusses multiplicity issues for subgroup analyses, designs with multiple treatments, and reporting.

Evaluation of the CSEC Community Intervention Project (CCIP) in Five U.S. Cities

Ferguson, K. M., Soydan, H., Lee, S.-Y., Yamanaka, A., Freer, A. S., Xie, B. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:50:43 PST

In response to the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) within five U.S. cities, the CSEC Community Intervention Project (CCIP) was created to enhance collaboration among nongovernmental organization (NGO) representatives, law enforcement officials and prosecutors in Chicago, Atlantic City, Denver, Washington, D.C., and San Diego. A total of 211 participants were surveyed during a 3-day CCIP training institute held in each city. Evaluation data suggest that participants were positively influenced in their knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding CSEC. Our findings inform NGO representatives, law enforcement officials, and prosecutors of the importance of professional training and the benefits of cross-disciplinary collaboration in addressing CSEC.