Jennifer Battis, M.Res

JENNIFER BATTIS, M.RES. Research Assistant

Jennifer Battis joined Hornby Zeller Associates in 2010 as Research Assistant with a focus on data collection and analysis. For one of Maine’s drug court evaluations she developed an SPSS database to track survey responses. For another she has gathered information at face-to-face interviews and focus groups of both staff and client participants. For Maine’s statewide substance abuse prevention projects, SPF-SIG she has conducted site visits of Coalition partners. For HZA’s evaluation of the Nebraska Family Helpline Ms. Battis has listened to Helpline calls and completed a structured protocol to evaluate the quality of the counselor’s responses. In addition, Ms. Battis provides data management support for Moving Forward; this program is designed to address the needs of transition-aged youth and young adults with emotional disturbances, placing emphasis on youth-directed planning and the development of practical skills leading to independence.

Prior to joining HZA, Ms. Battis worked for AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service To America), a federal public service program. Her position, with the HealthReach Community Health Centers in Waterville, Maine, involved a variety of tasks, including data analysis, research, public health information tracking and reporting. She developed tutorials and other materials for use in health centers and public health websites, and trained health care staff on proper use and tracking of the Prescription Assistance Program. In addition she was also involved in the grant-writing process, and served as HRCHC’s point person for their annual United Way campaign. Ms. Battis is also well versed in information security procedures, having worked in an administrative support role involving security clearances for the Lockheed Martin Corporation at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts.

From Pennsylvania Data Gathering, Analysis, and Reporting; Technical Assistance and Training Proposal – October 2012

Jennifer Battis, M.Res. Analyst Most of Jennifer Battis’ work with HZA involves data analysis using SPSS. For one of Maine’s drug court evaluations she developed an SPSS database to track survey responses. For another she has gathered information at face-to-face interviews and focus groups of both staff and client participants. In addition, Ms. Battis provides data management support for Moving Forward, a program designed to address the needs of transition-aged youth and young adults with emotional disturbances, placing emphasis on youth-directed planning and the development of practical skills leading to independence.

Prior to joining HZA, Ms. Battis worked for AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service To America), a federal public service program. She was assigned to the HealthReach Community Health Centers (HRCHC) in Waterville, Maine, conducting data analysis, research, public health information tracking and reporting. She developed tutorials and other materials for use in health centers and public health websites, and trained health care staff on proper use and tracking of the Prescription Assistance Program. In addition she was also involved in the grant-writing process, and served as HRCHC’s point person for their annual United Way campaign. Ms. Battis is well versed in information security procedures, having worked in an administrative support role involving security clearances for the Lockheed Martin Corporation at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts.

From PA OCYF Data Analysis Re-Bid – May 2012

Jennifer Battis, M.Res. Research Assistant Most of Jennifer Battis’ work with HZA involves data analysis using SPSS. For one of Maine’s drug court evaluations she developed an SPSS database to track survey responses. For another she has gathered information at face-to-face interviews and focus groups of both staff and client participants. In addition, Ms. Battis provides data management support for Moving Forward, a program designed to address the needs of transition-aged youth and young adults with emotional disturbances, placing emphasis on youth-directed planning and the development of practical skills leading to independence.

Ms. Battis holds a Master’s degree in Social Research (with Commendation) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, a competitive, international graduate program focusing on social research methodologies and statistical software tools, including SPSS in which she has three years experience, DataNet and NextGen. She received a B.A. from Elon University in North Carolina. COURT INVOLVEMENT

From Connecticut Public Research Project Proposal – October 2014

Jennifer Battis, M. Res., Research Analyst

Ms. Battis will serve as the lead research analyst, assisting Mr. Rubin with the start-up activities, sample selection, follow-up calls where needed, data analysis of survey responses and report writing. Ms. Battis holds a Master’s degree in Social Research (with Commendation) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, a competitive, international graduate program focusing on social research methodologies and statistical software tools (including SPSS, DataNet and NextGen). Prior to joining HZA, Ms. Battis worked for AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service To America), a federal public service program. Her position, with the HealthReach Community Health Centers in Waterville, Maine, involved a variety of tasks, including data analysis, research, and public health information tracking and reporting.

She currently serves as the lead evaluator for many of Maine’s court-involved evaluations. As the project director for the Statewide Adult Drug Court evaluation, Ms. Battis led the conduct of structured court observations, key stakeholder interviews and drug court participant focus groups. She analyzed case management and court data to measure outcomes and to help develop specific questions to ask in the cross-site evaluation component of Maine’s six adult drug treatment court programs. Ms. Battis also served as the project director for the Bangor Family Drug Treatment Court evaluation. She updated a literature review of federal drug courts, conducted structured court observations and constructed a database for standardized assessments of the participants. Ms. Battis was also responsible for the qualitative and quantitative analyses as well as report writing. She developed an SPSS database to track survey responses for the evaluation of the Cumberland County drug court, and performed similar work for the Kennebec County Co- occurring Disorders Court evaluation and the Anchorage Family Court evaluation.

Ms. Battis has also been a part of the team assembled for the statewide assessment of disproportionate minority contact of juveniles in Louisiana’s juvenile justice system. She conducts site visits to parishes, interviewing District Attorneys, Assistant District Attorneys, Clerks of Court and local law enforcement, while gathering both quantitative and qualitative data to assess the extent to which disproportionality exists and hypothesize the potential reasons for its existence.

From Florida Adult Drug Court Statewide Evaluation Proposal – July 2010

Jennifer Battis, M.Res., Research Assistant: Prior to joining HZA earlier this year, Ms. Battis earned a Master’s degree in Social Research (with Commendation) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. This competitive, international graduate program gave her a solid grounding in a variety of social research methodologies and statistical software tools (including SPSS, DataNet and NextGen). She also served as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the HealthReach Community Health Centers in Maine. Ms. Battis has served as a researcher on five special purpose court evaluations, some of which are ongoing. For the Statewide Adult Drug Court evaluation in Maine she conducted structured court observations; she also assisted with key stakeholder interviews and drug court participant focus groups and was involved in extracting data from MIS files and preparing them for analysis. She analyzed data to help determine specific questions to ask in the cross-site evaluation component of the Maine’s six adult drug treatment court programs. For the Bangor Family Drug Treatment Court, she updated the literature review on federal drug courts; she also conducted structured court observations (completing an HZA observation sheet on participant roles and timeframes), constructed a database for standardized assessments, and performed data cleaning and QC functions for this project. Ms. Battis is developing an SPSS database to track survey responses for the evaluation of the Cumberland County (Maine) drug court; she has performed similar work for the Kennebec County (Maine) Co-occurring Disorders Court evaluation and the Anchorage Family Court evaluation.

GRANT WRITING

From Healthy Maine Partnerships: Request for Information and Request for Proposals Development Proposal – October 2014

Research Associate: Jen Battis, M.Res.: Ms. Battis has experience using NVivo and implemented it with the Maine Families Home Visiting evaluation where she conducted focus groups and key informant interviews with local community agency staff and agency executive directors. She currently serves as the lead evaluator for many of Maine’s court-involved evaluations, leading structured court observations, key stakeholder interviews and drug court participant focus groups. Ms. Battis has experience conducting literature reviews, doing qualitative and quantitative analysis, and report writing. Ms. Battis holds a Master’s degree in Social Research (with Commendation) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. JUVENILE JUSTICE

From Connecticut DMC Evaluation Proposal – January 2015

Jennifer Battis, M.Res., has led the research on several special purpose court evaluations. For the Statewide Adult Drug Court evaluation in Maine she conducted structured court observations and participated in key stakeholder interviews and drug court participant focus groups. Ms. Battis worked with Maine to obtain data extracts from management information systems, prepared the data for analysis of the cross-site evaluation of six adult drug treatment court programs and conducted the quantitative and qualitative analyses.

Ms. Battis has also been a part of the field team assembled for the statewide assessment of DMC in Louisiana’s juvenile justice system. She conducted site visits to several parishes, interviewing local stakeholders while gathering both quantitative and qualitative data. Ms. Battis led a series of follow-up site meetings to present the results of the RRI calculations and identify potential contributing mechanisms. She has also demonstrated use of the automated JJTrac Tool HZA developed for the parishes to use to test their hypotheses and monitor the impact of intervention efforts on an ongoing basis.

From Virginia Cross Systems Assessment Proposal – May 2014

Jennifer Battis, M. Res.

Ms. Battis will serve as the fourth member of the assessment team identifying the populations in each of the three groups: juvenile justice only, child welfare only and dually-involved. She will also quantitatively analyze state and local case management data to measure recidivism and reentry rates for the three populations. In addition, she will assess the extent to which child welfare and juvenile justice youth are known to the behavioral health community. (IV.B.2.b, third bullet)

For the Bangor Family Drug Treatment Court, she updated the literature review on federal drug courts, conducted structured court observations, constructed a database for standardized assessments and performed data cleaning and quality control functions. Ms. Battis created a comparison group based on risk level and quantitatively analyzed Maine Child Welfare Information System (MACWIS) and assessment data to measure in impact of the court on family reunification. Ms. Battis developed an SPSS database to track survey responses for the evaluation of the Cumberland County drug court in Maine; she has performed similar work for the Kennebec County (Maine) Co- occurring Disorders Court evaluation and the evaluation of the Anchorage (Alaska) Family Court. (IV.B.2.b, first bullet, IV.B.2.b, fourth bullet, IV.B.2.b, fifth bullet)

Ms. Battis holds a Master’s degree in Social Research (with Commendation) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. This highly competitive, international graduate program gave her a solid grounding in a variety of social research methodologies and statistical software tools (including SPSS, DataNet and NextGen), and allowed her to develop a unique skillset that has proven valuable to her work with HZA. (IV.B.2.b, first bullet)

From Virginia DMC Assessment Proposal – April 2014

Jennifer Battis, M. Res.

Ms. Battis will serve as the third member of the assessment team. She too will conduct site visits to the select localities to help discern reasons for DMC, identify potential data sources to test those hypotheses and conduct interviews with key stakeholders to obtain additional or supporting evidence of why disproportionality exists at various contact points. Ms. Battis will also participate in the quantitative analysis of state and local data sources, as well as with the qualitative analysis. (B.2.b bullet one, B.2.b. bullet three and B.2.b. bullet four)

Since joining HZA in 2010, Ms. Battis has served as a researcher on five special purpose court evaluations, some of which are ongoing. Working from the firm’s Portland, Maine office, she now leads the court-involved work. For the Statewide Adult Drug Court evaluation in Maine she conducted structured court observations and participated in key stakeholder interviews and drug court participant focus groups. Ms. Battis works with the State to obtain data extracts from management information system files, prepare them for analysis for the cross-site evaluation of Maine’s six adult drug treatment court programs and carry out that quantitative analysis. For the Bangor Family Drug Treatment Court, she updated the literature review on federal drug courts, conducted structured court observations, constructed a database for standardized assessments and performed data cleaning and quality control functions. More recently, Ms. Battis developed a SPSS database to track survey responses for the evaluation of the Cumberland County drug court in Maine; she has performed similar work for the Kennebec County (Maine) Co-occurring Disorders Court evaluation and the evaluation of the Anchorage (Alaska) Family Court. (B.2.b bullet one) She has also been a part of the team assembled for the statewide assessment of disproportionate minority contact of juveniles in Louisiana’s juvenile justice system. Similar to the work performed by Ms. Arthur, Ms. Battis conducted site visits to a number of parishes, interviewing District Attorneys, Assistant District Attorneys, Clerks of Court and local law enforcement, while gathering both quantitative and qualitative data to complete the assessment of DMC. Efforts are currently underway in Louisiana to contract with HZA for a fourth round of assessments; here again, along with the other project members for this engagement, Ms. Battis will be an active participate in the onsite and analytic work. (B.2.b bullet one, B.2.b. bullet four and B.2.b. bullet five)

From Assessment Study of Disproportionate Minority Contact with the Louisiana Juvenile Justice System Part III Proposal – October 2012

Jennifer Battis, M.Res. Jennifer Battis will lead the data collection team. She earned a Master’s degree in Social Research (with Commendation) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. This competitive, international graduate program gave her a solid grounding in a variety of social research methodologies and statistical software tools (including SPSS, DataNet and NextGen). She also served as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the HealthReach Community Health Centers in Maine. Ms. Battis was part of the field team in the assessment of second tier parishes. She conducted site visits, interviewing district attorneys, assistant district attorneys and Clerk of Courts while gathering quantitative data to complete the assessment of DMC. For this endeavor, Ms. Battis will serve as the lead for data collection.

Ms. Battis has served as a researcher on five special purpose court evaluations, some of which are ongoing. For the Statewide Adult Drug Court evaluation in Maine she conducted structured court observations; she also assisted with key stakeholder interviews and drug court participant focus groups and helped to extract data from management information system files and prepare them for analysis for a cross-site evaluation of Maine’s six adult drug treatment court programs. For the Bangor Family Drug Treatment Court, she updated the literature review on federal drug courts, conducted structured court observations, constructed a database for standardized assessments, and performed data cleaning and quality control functions. More recently, Ms. Battis developed an SPSS database to track survey responses for the evaluation of the Cumberland County (Maine) drug court; she has performed similar work for the Kennebec County (Maine) Co-occurring Disorders Court evaluation and the Anchorage Family Court evaluation. From Identification and Assessment Study of Disproportionate Minority Contact of New Hampshire Juvenile Justice Services Proposal – June 2012

Jennifer Battis, Research Analyst Jennifer Battis will assist Ms. Lugas with the onsite data collection effort, meet with local representatives in the select cities, towns and jurisdictions to identify methods for collecting racial and ethnicity data for juveniles involved in the system at each of the nine contact points.

Earlier this year, Ms. Battis played an integral role in the data collection effort used to measure DMC in the 20 parishes across the State of Louisiana. She met with the Clerks of Court, as well as district attorneys and juvenile probation officers, to identify means for collecting data at the identified DMC contact points. For a number of contact points, it was necessary to use contact data from one source and match it to data from a different source to identify the demographics of youth. Interviews were conducted with parish representatives to identify the best ways to track data at each decision point and strategies and services used to divert juveniles from entry into higher levels of care as well as to prevent recidivism into the justice system.

Ms. Battis has served as a researcher on five special purpose court evaluations, some of which are still ongoing. For the Statewide Adult Drug Court evaluation in Maine she conducted structured court observations; she also assisted with key stakeholder interviews and drug court participant focus groups and was involved in extracting data from MIS files and preparing them for analysis. Ms. Battis developed an SPSS database to track survey responses for the evaluation of the Cumberland County (Maine) drug court; she has performed similar work for the Kennebec County (Maine) Co-occurring Disorders Court evaluation and the Anchorage Family Court evaluation.

From Assessment Study of Disproportionate Minority Contact of Kansas Juvenile Justice Authority Proposal – May 2012

Jennifer Battis, Qualitative Analyst Jennifer Battis will serve as a research associate specializing in qualitative analysis. Working alongside Dr. Hutchinson, she will assist in the presentation of quantitative findings to select judicial districts to explore local factors influencing the results, and identify strategies which might be used to reduce DMC. Jennifer Battis earned a Master’s degree in Social Research (with Commendation) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. This competitive, international graduate program gave her a solid grounding in a variety of social research methodologies and statistical software tools (including SPSS, DataNet and NextGen). She also served as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the HealthReach Community Health Centers in Maine.

Earlier this year, Ms. Battis played an integral role in the data collection effort used to measure DMC in the 20 parishes across the State of Louisiana. She met with the Clerks of Court, as well as district attorneys and juvenile probation officers, to identify means for collecting data at the identified DMC contact points. For a number of contact points, it was necessary to use data from one source, i.e., Clerk of Courts, and compare juvenile identifiers to that of the juvenile program, to identify the demographics of youth. Interviews were conducted with parish representatives to identify the best ways to track data at each decision point and strategies and services used to divert juveniles from entry into higher levels of care as well as to prevent recidivism into the justice system.

From Assessment Study of Disproportionate Minority Contact with the Louisiana Juvenile Justice System Proposal – January 2012

Jennifer Battis Jennifer Battis earned a Master’s degree in Social Research (with Commendation) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. This competitive, international graduate program gave her a solid grounding in a variety of social research methodologies and statistical software tools (including SPSS, DataNet and NextGen). She also served as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the HealthReach Community Health Centers in Maine. Ms. Battis will assist with quantitative data collection from each of the parishes and the analyses.

Ms. Battis has served as a researcher on five special purpose court evaluations, some of which are ongoing. For the Statewide Adult Drug Court evaluation in Maine she conducted structured court observations; she also assisted with key stakeholder interviews and drug court participant focus groups and was involved in extracting data from MIS files and preparing them for analysis. She analyzed data to help determine specific questions to ask in the cross-site evaluation component of the Maine’s six adult drug treatment court programs. For the Bangor Family Drug Treatment Court, she updated the literature review on federal drug courts; she also conducted structured court observations (completing an HZA observation sheet on participant roles and timeframes), constructed a database for standardized assessments, and performed data cleaning and quality control functions for this project. More recently, Ms. Battis developed a SPSS database to track survey responses for the evaluation of the Cumberland County (Maine) drug court; she has performed similar work for the Kennebec County (Maine) Co-occurring Disorders Court evaluation and the Anchorage Family Court evaluation. NEEDS ASSESSMENT

From Rhode Island ARRA – Data Scan for Children Birth to Age Five Proposal – May 2013

Jennifer Battis, M.Res. Ms. Battis has been involved in onsite data collection for a variety of projects. She played an integral role in the data collection effort used to measure DMC in 37 parishes across Louisiana. She met with clerks of court, district attorneys and juvenile probation officers to identify means to collect data at federally defined contact points along the juvenile justice continuum and worked with the parishes to retrieve their data.

Ms. Battis has served as a researcher for five special purpose court evaluations in Maine, some which are still ongoing. She conducts structured court observations, interviews with key stakeholders and focus groups with drug court participants to identify enhancements needed to the services for participants. As the lead evaluator, Ms. Battis has been responsible for the data analysis which measures the impact of the specialty court programs in reducing recidivism. She has also been responsible for the longitudinal analysis of a project in Maine which was aimed at building and implementing an infrastructure for providing an integrated system of care for children with serious emotional disturbances.

For a recent study of West Virginia’s Home Visitation program, Ms. Battis conducted interviews across the state with stakeholders at the state and local levels, including home visitors themselves, to learn about the infrastructure of the program as well as what it is lacking. In the second year of the study, she will conduct interviews with families to gauge the impact of the program. She has also conducted interviews with program managers in West Virginia for a pilot prevention program which is aimed at strengthening families to prevent child maltreatment. While Ms. Battis will assist to a limited degree with the on-site data collection, much of her work will involve assisting Mr. Choens with the data analysis.

From Ohio Children’s Trust Fund: Statewide Child Maltreatment Needs Assessment & Evaluation Services Proposal – July 2010

Jennifer Battis will assist Mr. Choens in the design of databases and the development of analysis programs. Together, they will conduct the quantitative and qualitative analyses. Support will be provided, to the extent needed, by other team members, especially for the qualitative analyses. PERFORMANCE EVALUATION/OUTCOME MEASUREMENT

From Philadelphia Performance Audit of the Philadelphia Department of Human Services’ Family Foster Care Program Proposal – 2011

Jennifer Battis, M.Res., HZA Research Assistant; Proposed Contracts/Rate Setting Analyst Ms. Battis earned a Master’s degree in Social Research (with Commendation) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. This competitive, international graduate program gave her a solid grounding in a variety of social research methodologies and statistical software tools including SPSS, DataNet and NextGen. She also served as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the HealthReach Community Health Centers in Maine. For HZA Ms. Battis has served as a researcher on five special purpose court evaluations, some of which are ongoing. For the Statewide Adult Drug Court evaluation in Maine she conducted structured court observations; she also assisted with key stakeholder interviews and drug court participant focus groups and was involved in extracting data from MIS files and preparing them for analysis. She analyzed data to help determine specific questions to ask in the cross-site evaluation component of the Maine’s six adult drug treatment court programs. For the Bangor Family Drug Treatment Court, she updated the literature review on federal drug courts; she also conducted structured court observations (completing an HZA observation sheet on participant roles and timeframes), constructed a database for standardized assessments, and performed data cleaning and QC functions for this project. Ms. Battis is developing an SPSS database to track survey responses for the evaluation of the Cumberland County (Maine) drug court; she has performed similar work for the Kennebec County (Maine) Co-occurring Disorders Court evaluation and the Anchorage Family Court evaluation.

Ms. Battis will assist with the analysis of the provider contracts and the examination of the rate setting methodologies used by DHS.

From Maine CDC Data Analysis Youth Tobacco Rates Proposal – November 2010

Jennifer Battis, M.Res. Research Assistant: Jennifer Battis develops databases and performs analyses of data for drug court evaluations in Maine, mental health courts in Alaska and behavioral health assessments in Nebraska. Ms. Battis holds a Master’s degree in Social Research from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, a competitive graduate program focusing on social research methodologies and statistical software tools (including SPSS, DataNet and NextGen). She received a B.A. from Elon University in North Carolina.

From Maine Healthy Maine Partnership Proposal – May 2010

Jennifer Battis joined the firm as a research assistant in March 2010. Prior to her arrival at HZA, she was an AmeriCorps VISTA with HealthReach Community Health Centers in Waterville, ME. In this position, she performed a wide range of duties such as training health care staff on Prescription Assistance Programs using DataNet database tracking, creating tutorial and informational materials providing health tips and new policy changes for patients, researching grant opportunities, and providing outreach for provider recruitment. At HZA, Ms. Battis’s primary areas of work include substance abuse prevention, mental health and trauma-informed systems of care, and drug courts.

Ms. Battis has assisted in the state, community and program-level evaluation of Maine’s Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (SPF SIG) through the Maine Office of Substance Abuse (OSA). In this capacity, she has helped organize the latest statewide survey and conducted the final round of stakeholder interviews, including rating grantee responses to the Community Infrastructure Assessment. Additionally, she has assisted in analyzing data for the latest report for the Community Epidemiology Surveillance Network (CESN), a workgroup organized by OSA. The reports monitor current trends in substance use and are often cited by local and national media.

She has helped with a number of projects for the Maine Judicial Branch. These tasks include: creating an SPSS data base to compile collected survey data in a study to provide enhancements to the services for participants in the Cumberland County Adult Drug Treatment Court; recording information gathered from interviews and focus groups and analyzing those data. She also helped determine specific questions to ask when gathering information for the evaluation of Maine’s Statewide Adult Drug Treatment Court System which covers the six adult drug treatment court programs in the state that provide intensive, judicially monitored community-based treatment for addicted offenders in lieu of incarceration.

For the Evaluation of Nebraska’s Helpline, Family Navigator and Right Turn programs, Ms. Battis recently completed listening to 100 calls from the Helpline using a protocol developed by HZA to record key measures relevant to the evaluation study. She compiled, cleaned and analyzed those data for the first quarterly report submitted to the client.

Ms. Battis also assists with the Maine’s Trauma-informed System of Care, which is intended to build a statewide infrastructure supporting the trauma-informed approach to mental health services for children with serious emotional disturbances. She provides monthly data entry and quality monitoring, and conducts necessary data clean-up. This task has required her to learn three different data entry systems that interact with one another: a web-based data monitoring system, a PC-based data entry software, and a Microsoft Excel reporting tool that is submitted to the National Cross-site Evaluation Team.

From Florida Operational Process Improvement Review, Florida Abuse Hotline Proposal – April 2010

Jennifer Battis, MR, Junior Consultant Jennifer Battis is a recent addition to Hornby Zeller Associates, working from the firm’s Portland, Maine office. Among her current assignments she is conducting site visits for a state, community and program-level evaluation of one of Maine’s SAMHSA funded projects, designed to create and support a statewide prevention/health promotion infrastructure which is geared to reduce substance abuse. Site visits are used to document progress in building local infrastructure and implementing the prevention framework as well as to collect data to assist in Maine’s compliance with national cross- site evaluation requirements.

Prior to joining HZA, Ms. Battis was employed by AmeriCorps VISTA where she was responsible for training health care staff in the use of a database tracking system. While there, she created materials for providers on health tips and new policy changes for patients. Ms. Battis earned her Master’s in Research from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. PROGRAM EVALUATION

From South Carolina Empowering Communities for Healthy Outcomes (ECHO) Proposal – February 2016

Jennifer Battis, M.Res., Research Associate

Jennifer Battis joined HZA in 2010 with a focus on data collection and analysis. For one of Maine’s drug court evaluations she developed an SPSS database to track survey responses. For another she gathered information through face-to-face interviews and focus groups of both staff and client participants. For Maine’s statewide substance abuse prevention projects, SPF-SIG, she conducts site visits of coalition partners. For HZA’s evaluation of the Nebraska Family Helpline, Ms. Battis has listened to Helpline calls and completed a structured protocol to evaluate the quality of the counselor’s responses. In addition, Ms. Battis provides data management support for Moving Forward, a program designed to address the needs of transition-aged youth and young adults with emotional disturbances, placing emphasis on youth-directed planning and the development of practical skills leading to independence.

From Nevada Grant Project Evaluator Services Proposal – November 2015

Jennifer Battis joined Hornby Zeller Associates in 2010 as a Research Associate with a focus on data collection and analysis. She has served as the lead for the evaluations of Maine’s specialty courts. For one drug court evaluation, she developed an SPSS database to track survey responses and for another she gathered information at face-to- face interviews and focus groups of both staff and client participants. Ms. Battis has conducted literature reviews of promising specialty court practices which are shared with an advisory group to help in refining the state’s program efforts. More recently, Ms. Battis has been providing data management support for Moving Forward; this program is designed to address the needs of transition-aged youth and young adults with emotional disturbances, placing emphasis on youth-directed planning and the development of practical skills leading to independence. She also serves as HZA’s qualitative expert, using NVivo to conduct the analysis of data collected from interviews and focus groups to identify general themes and distinct differences.

From West Virginia Title IV-E Waiver Evaluation Proposal – May 2015

Jennifer Battis, M.Res., Research Associate: Working from the firm’s South Portland, Maine office, Ms. Battis has been recognized for her expert qualitative analytic skills. For an evaluation of the Maine Home Families Statewide Home Visiting Program, where HZA serves as a sub-contractor to the University of Southern Maine, Ms. Battis analyzes qualitative data analysis using NVivo software. Ms. Battis applies NVivo to data collected from site visits and interviews to identify patterns of client satisfaction and to inform program improvement strategies.

Ms. Battis has served as a researcher for five special purpose court evaluations in Maine. The activities of the research are designed to assess fidelity of the program implementation and ability of the specialty courts to achieve successful outcomes. She conducts structured court observations, interviews with key stakeholders and focus groups with drug court participants to identify enhancements needed to the services for participants. As the lead evaluator, Ms. Battis has been responsible for the data analysis which measures the impact of the specialty court programs in reducing recidivism. She has also been responsible for the longitudinal analysis of a project in Maine aimed at building and implementing an infrastructure for providing an integrated system of care for children with serious emotional disturbances.

Ms. Battis is a member of the team conducting on-site reviews to evaluate Arkansas’s Title IV-E Waiver initiatives. Interviews are conducted at baseline and annually to assess the preparedness of local staff to implement the various initiatives and identify the barriers they have encountered as well as promising practices. For the evaluation of West Virginia’s Home Visitation program, Ms. Battis conducted interviews across the state with stakeholders at the state and local levels, including home visitors, to learn about the infrastructure of the program as well as determine what was lacking. In the second year of the study, she participated in interviews with families to gauge the impact of the program.

From Vermont Second Chance Act Statewide Recidivism Reduction Program Evaluation Proposal – May 2015

Jennifer Battis, M.Res., Qualitative Lead

Working from HZA’s Portland, Maine office, Jennifer Battis will serve as part of the research team for this evaluation, taking the lead for much of the qualitative data collection design and analyses. Since joining HZA in 2010 much of Ms. Battis’ work has involved evaluations of drug courts as well as adult and juvenile justice, taking the lead on several of the more recent court-focused evaluations. For the Statewide Adult Drug Court evaluation in Maine encompassing courts in six counties, she conducted structured court observations, key stakeholder interviews and drug court participant focus groups. Those activities were designed to assess fidelity of program implementation and ability of the specialty courts to achieve successful outcomes. She extracted data from management information system files and prepared them for analysis. Ms. Battis developed an SPSS database to track survey responses for the evaluation of the Cumberland County (Maine) drug court; she has performed similar work for the Kennebec County (Maine) Co-occurring Disorders Court evaluation, the Bangor Family Drug Treatment Court (Maine) and the Anchorage (Alaska) Family Court evaluation.

Ms. Battis is currently working with Mr. Rubin to assess the volume of human trafficking victims in Maine. Using data from multiple agencies, including interviews with state and local law enforcement and provider agencies, the extent to which stakeholders are aware and able to identify victims is being explored as well as the capacity to serve them.

Ms. Battis has been recognized for her expert qualitative analytic skills. For an evaluation of Maine’s New Family Visitation Program, she serves as a contractor to the University of Southern Maine to lead and analyze qualitative data collection using NVivo software. Each of the community-based organizations providing home visiting services must commit to rigorous data collection and reporting while using federally-approved evidence-based models. In addition to site visits and interviews, HZA administers surveys to parents and staff to measure satisfaction with the program and to gather information to inform program improvement strategies.

Ms. Battis earned her Master’s degree in Social Research (with Commendation) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. Prior to joining HZA, Ms. Battis was employed by AmeriCorps VISTA, where she was responsible for training healthcare staff in the use of a database tracking system.

From Maine IV-E Waiver Demonstration Project Evaluation Service Proposal – March 2015

Jennifer Battis, M.Res., Research Associate Working from the firm’s South Portland, Maine office, Ms. Battis has been recognized for her expert qualitative analytic skills. For an evaluation of the Maine Home Families Statewide Home Visiting Program, she serves as a contractor to the University of Southern Maine to lead and analyze qualitative data analysis using NVivo software. Ms. Battis applies NVivo to data collected from site visits and interviews to identify patterns of client satisfaction and to inform program improvement strategies.

From Iowa Project AWARE Evaluation Proposal – February 2015

Jennifer Battis, M.Res., Qualitative Lead: Ms. Battis has been involved in an array of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analyses since joining the firm in 2010. She has been recognized for her expert qualitative analytic skills. For an evaluation of the Maine Families Statewide Home Visiting Program, she serves as a contractor to the University of Southern Maine to lead and analyze qualitative data analysis using NVivo software. Ms. Battis applies NVivo to data collected from site visits and interviews to identify patterns of client satisfaction and to inform program improvement strategies. For Drug Free Communities Coalitions, she has also performed quantitative data analysis using school-level survey data.

As the lead evaluator for a number of specialty courts in six counties across Maine, Ms. Battis conducts structured court observations, key stakeholder interviews and drug court participant focus groups. The activities are designed to assess fidelity of the program implementation and ability of the specialty courts to achieve successful outcomes. Ms. Battis has engaged in similar activities for a multi-year evaluation of six initiatives implemented as part of the receipt by the Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services of a federal IV-E grant award. Interviews are conducted at baseline and annually to assess the preparedness of local staff to implement the various initiatives and identify the barriers they have encountered as well promising practices.

Ms. Battis earned her Master’s degree in Social Research (with Commendation) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. Prior to joining HZA, Ms. Battis was employed by AmeriCorps VISTA where she was responsible for training healthcare staff in the use of a database tracking system.

From Maine Human Trafficking Proposal – December 2014

Jennifer Battis, M.Res., Research Coordinator

Working from HZA’s South Portland, Maine office, Jennifer Battis will serve as the Research Coordinator for this evaluation. Since joining HZA in 2010 much of Ms. Battis’ work has involved evaluations of drug courts as well as adult and juvenile justice, taking the lead on several of the more recent court-focused evaluations. For the Statewide Adult Drug Court evaluation in Maine encompassing courts in six counties, she conducts structured court observations, key stakeholder interviews and drug court participant focus groups. Those activities are designed to assess fidelity of program implementation and ability of the specialty courts to achieve successful outcomes. She extracts data from management information system files and prepares them for analysis. Recently, she has also been working on the evaluation of Maine’s Domestic Violence Judicial Monitoring Projects, conducting court observations, interviews, data analysis, and researching best practices.

Ms. Battis has also participated in the conduct of field research and data analysis for the assessment of disproportionate minority contact of juveniles in Louisiana. She conducted site visits across many of the State’s parishes, interviewing parish and jurisdiction stakeholders such as district attorneys, assistant district attorneys, clerk of courts and local law enforcement. Quantitative data are gathered simultaneously to complete the assessment of disproportionate minority contact. Using the results, Ms. Battis meets with parish stakeholders to discuss possible causes for disproportionality and to identify steps to mitigate it.

Ms. Battis has been recognized for her expert qualitative analytic skills. For an evaluation of the Maine Families Statewide Home Visiting Program, she serves as a contractor to the University of Southern Maine to lead and analyze qualitative data collection using NVivo software. Each of the community-based organizations providing home visiting services must commit to rigorous data collection and reporting while using a federally-approved evidence-based model. In addition to site visits and interviews, HZA administers surveys to parents and staff to measure satisfaction with the program and to gather information to inform program improvement strategies. Ms. Battis was instrumental in the earlier needs assessment conducted for the MIECHV funded program. She assisted with the focus groups of at-risk populations and conducted a literature review of current best practices.

From Healthy Homes Mississippi Program Evaluation Proposal – December 2014

Jennifer Battis. M.Res., Qualitative Lead Jennifer Battis joined Hornby Zeller Associates in 2010 as Research Assistant with a focus on data collection and analysis and has been promoted to Research Associate.

Ms. Battis has been recognized for her expert qualitative analytic skills. She is the qualitative lead for Maine’s Home Visiting evaluation working as a subcontractor to the University of Southern Maine. She conducts qualitative interviews and uses NVivo software for the analysis. In addition to site visits and interviews, HZA administers surveys to parents and home visiting staff to measure satisfaction with the program and to gather information to inform program improvement strategies. Ms. Battis has participated in family-focused program evaluations in Nebraska as well. For HZA’s evaluation of the Nebraska Family Helpline, Ms. Battis listened to Helpline calls and completed a structured protocol to evaluate the quality of the counselors’ responses. For the study of West Virginia’s Home Visitation program, Ms. Battis conducted interviews across the state with stakeholders at the state and local levels, including home visitors, to learn about the infrastructure of the program as well as what it is lacking. In the second year of the study, she participated in interviews with families to gauge the impact of the program. She also conducted interviews with program managers in West Virginia for a pilot prevention program which is aimed at strengthening families to prevent child maltreatment.

Duties and Responsibilities: Ms. Battis will participate in qualitative data collection and qualitative data analysis. HZA uses NVivo software to assist and she will be responsible for the deployment of NVivo as she has been for Maine’s home visitation evaluation.

From Research and Evaluation of Worcester County Enhanced Reentry Program Proposal – November 2014

Jennifer Battis, M.Res., Research Coordinator

Working from HZA’s Portland, Maine office, Jennifer Battis will serve as the Research Coordinator for this evaluation. Since joining HZA in 2010 much of Ms. Battis’ work has involved evaluations of drug courts as well as adult and juvenile justice, taking the lead on several of the more recent court-focused evaluations. For the Statewide Adult Drug Court evaluation in Maine encompassing courts in six counties, she conducts structured court observations, key stakeholder interviews and drug court participant focus groups. Those activities are designed to assess fidelity of program implementation and ability of the specialty courts to achieve successful outcomes. She extracts data from management information system files and prepares them for analysis. Ms. Battis developed an SPSS database to track survey responses for the evaluation of the Cumberland County (Maine) drug court; she has performed similar work for the Kennebec County (Maine) Co- occurring Disorders Court evaluation, the Bangor Family Drug Treatment Court (Maine) and the Anchorage (Alaska) Family Court evaluation.

Ms. Battis has been recognized for her expert qualitative analytic skills. For an evaluation of Maine’s New Family Visitation Program, she serves as a contractor to the University of Southern Maine to lead and analyze qualitative data collection using NVivo software. Each of the community-based organizations providing home visiting services must commit to rigorous data collection and reporting while using federally-approved evidence- based models. In addition to site visits and interviews, HZA administers surveys to parents and staff to measure satisfaction with the program and to gather information to inform program improvement strategies.

From Northern Maine RCHC Evaluation Proposal – November 2014

Jenn Battis, M.Res.: Ms. Battis performs both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis. She has experience using NVivo (qualitative software tool) and implemented it with the Maine Families Home Visiting evaluation, where she conducted focus groups and key informant interviews with local community agency staff and agency executive directors throughout rural and urban Maine. She currently serves as the lead evaluator for many of Maine’s court-involved evaluations, leading structured court observations, key stakeholder interviews and drug court participant focus groups. Ms. Battis has experience conducting literature reviews, doing qualitative and quantitative analysis, and report writing. Ms. Battis holds a Master’s degree in Social Research (with Commendation) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. From West Virginia Child Abuse Prevention Grantees Protective Factors Evaluation Proposal – December 2013

Jennifer Battis, M.Res., Research Associate and Data Analyst

Ms. Battis is the project director for the evaluation of Maine’s Family Drug Treatment Courts and Adult Drug Courts. She analyzes data from administrative data sets maintained by drug courts and by the corrections system in Maine to evaluate the success of drug courts in preventing recidivism. This requires examining electronic historical records, comparing the offenders’ criminal histories after the start of services to those of offenders not accepted into the drug courts, as well as estimating the cost savings the drug courts generate. For this project, Ms. Battis will assist with the analysis of results of protective factors, service delivery and demographic information and will provide support with production of county-level reports.

Ms. Battis has also been providing data management support for Moving Forward, part of Maine’s THRIVE Initiative. This program is designed to address the needs of transition-aged youth and young adults with emotional disturbances, placing emphasis on youth-directed planning and the development of practical skills leading to independence.

Prior to joining HZA, Ms. Battis worked for AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service To America), a federal public service program. Her position with the HealthReach Community Health Centers (HRCHC) in Waterville, Maine, involved a variety of tasks, including data analysis, research, public health information tracking and reporting. She developed tutorials and other materials for use in health centers and public health websites, and trained health care staff on the proper use and tracking of the Prescription Assistance Program. In addition to these duties, she was also involved in the grant-writing process, and served as HRCHC’s point person for their annual United Way campaign. Ms. Battis is also well versed in information security procedures, having worked in an administrative support role involving security clearances for the Lockheed Martin Corporation at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts.

Ms. Battis holds a Master’s degree in Social Research from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. This competitive, international graduate program gave her a solid grounding in a variety of social research methodologies and statistical software tools (including SPSS, DataNet and NextGen). Her degree meets the requirements of the RFQ.

From Washington State Competitive Federal MIECHV Program Evaluation Proposal – July 2013

Jennifer Battis, M.Res. will serve on both the data collection and data analysis teams for the evaluation, conducting interviews with LIA staff, family focus groups, case record reviews and analyzing outcome evaluation data. Ms. Battis is actively involved in several projects that benefit from her research methods expertise.

Ms. Battis is responsible for the evaluation of several specialty courts in Maine. She gathers information through face-to-face interviews with court personnel and focus groups. These activities have been carried out for local drug court evaluations and in support of a statewide evaluation of Maine’s drug courts. Ms. Battis conducts outcome analyses and cost benefit analyses of the programs using court data.

She recently conducted on-site interviews with program managers and home visitors in an evaluation of West Virginia’s MIECHV funded home visiting program designed to exam professional development systems, capacity and community collaboration of four different in-home family education curricular models.

Ms. Battis has been providing data management support for Moving Forward, a SAMHSA-funded project designed to address the needs of transition-aged youth and young adults with emotional disturbances, placing emphasis on youth-directed planning and the development of practical skills leading to independence.

Prior to joining HZA, Ms. Battis worked for AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service To America), a federal public service program. Her position, with the HealthReach Community Health Centers in Waterville, Maine, involved a variety of tasks, including data analysis, research, and public health information tracking and reporting. She developed tutorials and other materials for use in health centers and public health websites, and trained health care staff on proper use and tracking of the Prescription Assistance Program. Ms. Battis is also well versed in information security procedures, having worked in an administrative support role involving security clearances for the Lockheed Martin Corporation at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts.

From Wisconsin DMC Program Evaluation Services Proposal – March 2013

Jennifer Battis, M.Res. Research Analyst

Jennifer Battis earned a Master’s degree in Social Research (with Commendation) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. This competitive, international graduate program gave her a solid grounding in a variety of social research methodologies and statistical software tools (including SPSS, DataNet and NextGen). She also served as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the HealthReach Community Health Centers in Maine. Ms. Battis has also been a part of the field team in the assessment of Louisiana’s parishes. She conducted site visits, interviewing district attorneys, assistant district attorneys and Clerks of Courts while gathering quantitative data to complete the assessment of DMC and learning the reasons why disproportionality might exist at various contact points.

From Massachusetts Title IV-E Waiver Demonstration Proposal – February 2013

Jennifer Battis, M.Res., Research Associate. Ms. Battis has served on teams to evaluate systems care, child welfare and special purpose court projects. Ms. Battis recently conducted a series of stakeholder interviews with advisory committee members, advocate groups and families designed to identify target populations and their service needs. She performed qualitative analyses of interview data. For a Child Abuse Prevention grant awarded to the West Virginia Bureau for Children and Families, Ms. Battis met with program managers to evaluate their implementation of the pilot prevention program. Using data from a protective factors survey conducted of families pre- and post-involvement in a prevention program, Ms. Battis analyzed the results to measure the increased capacity of families to keep their children safe and prevent maltreatment. Data are analyzed at the program, regional and statewide levels annually to measure improvement.

From Alaska Technical Assistance Mental Health Trust Beneficiary Study Update Proposal – September 2012

Jennifer Battis, M. Res., Quantitative Researcher Ms. Battis is a Research Associate in HZA’s Portland, Maine office and will serve on the data collection team. She earned a Master’s degree in Social Research (with Commendation) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. This competitive, international graduate program gave her a solid grounding in a variety of social research methodologies and statistical software tools (including SPSS, DataNet and NextGen). She also served as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the HealthReach Community Health Centers in Maine.

Since joining HZA in 2010, Ms. Battis has served as a researcher on five special purpose court evaluations, some of which are ongoing. For the Statewide Adult Drug Court evaluation in Maine she conducted structured court observations; she also assisted with key stakeholder interviews and drug court participant focus groups and helped to extract data from management information system files and prepare them for analysis for a cross-site evaluation of Maine’s six adult drug treatment court programs. For the Bangor Family Drug Treatment Court, she updated the literature review on federal drug courts, conducted structured court observations, constructed a database for standardized assessments, and performed data cleaning and quality control functions. More recently, Ms. Battis developed an SPSS database to track survey responses for the evaluation of the Cumberland County (Maine) drug court; she has performed similar work for the Kennebec County (Maine) Co-occurring Disorders Court evaluation and the Anchorage Family Court evaluation.

Ms. Battis was part of the field team assembled for the recent statewide assessment of disproportionate minority contacts of juveniles in the juvenile justice system of Louisiana. She conducted site visits, interviewing district attorneys, assistant district attorneys and Clerk of Courts, while gathering both quantitative and quantitative data to complete the assessment of DMC.

From West Virginia Action Research Evaluation of West Virginia’s Home Visitation System Proposal – April 2012

Jennifer Battis, M.Res., will serve as a research analyst and one of the field staff who will conduct interviews and site visits. Ms. Battis holds a Master’s degree in Social Research (with Commendation) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. This highly competitive, international graduate program gave her a solid grounding in a variety of social research methodologies and statistical software tools (including SPSS, DataNet and NextGen), and allowed her to develop a unique skillset that has proven valuable to her role as Research Assistant at Hornby Zeller Associates, Inc.

Ms. Battis is currently active in several projects that benefit from her research methods expertise, including a variety of tasks related to West Virginia’s Protective Factors Survey; specifically data entry and cleaning, data analysis, and production of reports based on findings. She gathers information at face-to-face interviews and focus groups in support of a statewide evaluation of Maine’s drug courts, and she is also developing an SPSS database to track survey responses for an evaluation of the Cumberland County (Maine) drug court. She has conducted site visits for evaluations of substance abuse prevention projects, including assessing project sites of coalition partners on behalf of Maine’s SPF-SIG, the Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (a SAMHSA-funded project involving substance abuse prevention); Ms. Battis has also cleaned data for a project conducted on behalf of the Greater Waterville Prevention Coalition. She recently conducted site visits in Louisiana for HZA’s evaluation of 20 parishes in a juvenile justice assessment of Disproportionate Minority Contact. Finally, Ms. Battis has been providing data management support for Moving Forward, another SAMHSA-funded project designed to address the needs of transition-aged youth and young adults with emotional disturbances, placing emphasis on youth-directed planning and the development of practical skills leading to independence. Prior to joining HZA, Ms. Battis worked for AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service To America), a federal public service program. Her position, with the HealthReach Community Health Centers in Waterville, Maine, involved a variety of tasks, including data analysis, research, public health information tracking and reporting. She developed tutorials and other materials for use in health centers and public health websites, and trained health care staff on proper use and tracking of the Prescription Assistance Program. In addition to these duties, she was also involved in the grant-writing process, and served as HRCHC’s point person for their annual United Way campaign. Ms. Battis is also well versed in information security procedures, having worked in an administrative support role involving security clearances for the Lockheed Martin Corporation at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts.

From MeCDC Comprehensive Cancer Control Program Evaluation Proposal – April 2012

Jennifer Battis, Research Associate, has experience in conducting literature reviews, focus groups and key informant interviews as well as statistical analysis. She served as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer for HealthReach Community Health Centers in Waterville, where she trained health care staff on Prescription Assistance Programs and created tutorial and informational materials providing health tips and new policy changes for patients.

From Illinois Multidisciplinary Teams for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Evaluation Proposal – March 2011

Jennifer Battis, M.Res. – Research Assistant

Education: Ms. Battis holds a Master’s degree in Social Research (with Commendation) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, a highly competitive, international graduate program focusing on social research methodologies.

Experience: Ms. Battis joined Hornby Zeller Associates in 2010 as a Research Assistant specializing in quantitative data analysis. During her tenure with HZA, Ms. Battis has assisted with the firm’s treatment court evaluations, including developing databases and managing and analyzing the resulting data (notably for the ongoing evaluation of Maine’s Adult Drug Treatment Court System on behalf of the state’s Judicial Branch, as well as for the recent evaluation of Maine’s Strategic Prevention Framework). She has performed similar work in support of projects involving, transition- aged youth leaving state care. Prior to joining HZA, Ms. Battis worked for AmeriCorps VISTA, a federal public service program, performing a variety of training, research and analytical tasks involving public health data for the HealthReach Community Health Centers in Waterville, Maine. She is also well-versed in information security procedures, having performed security clearances for the Lockheed Martin Corporation at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts.

Technical Ability: Ms. Battis is skilled in the use of several statistical software tools (including SPSS, DataNet and NextGen) for quantitative data analysis. She has also done extensive data management work for HZA, including data cleaning, quality control, and data security functions (including obtaining clearances). Ms. Battis’ role on the evaluation team will be to assist Mr. Ferguson on the quantitative analysis. She will help obtain, clean and analyze the data.

From West Virginia Evaluation of Jacobs Law Implementation Proposal – February 2011

Jennifer Battis, M.Res., Researcher Ms. Battis holds a Master’s degree in Social Research (with Commendation) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. This competitive, international graduate program gave her a solid grounding in a variety of social research methodologies and statistical software tools (including SPSS, DataNet and NextGen), and allowed her to develop a unique skill set that has proven valuable to her role as Research Assistant at Hornby Zeller Associates.

Ms. Battis provides research support to a number of projects. She is has been assisting with HZA’s evaluation of the Nebraska Family Help Line, Family Navigator and Right Turn Post Adoption/Post Guardianship Services in the state of Nebraska. Ms. Battis has listened to taped calls for quality assurance and performed statistical analysis of data from surveys received from families in receipt of Family Navigator or Right Turn services. Ms. Battis has also provided data management support for the Moving Forward program which is part of Maine’s THRIVE Initiative. This program is designed to address the needs of transition-aged youth and young adults with emotional disturbances, placing emphasis on youth-directed planning and the development of practical skills leading to independence. HZA has been responsible for the evaluative component since 2009.

Jennifer Battis, M.Res., Research Assistant: Prior to joining HZA earlier this year, Ms. Battis earned a Master’s degree in Social Research from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. This competitive, international graduate program gave her a solid grounding in a variety of social research methodologies and statistical software tools (including SPSS, DataNet and NextGen). She has also provided training and data management services for AmeriCorps VISTA at the HealthReach Community Health Centers in Waterville, Maine. Ms. Battis has served as a researcher on five special purpose court evaluations, many of which are ongoing. For Maine’s statewide Adult Drug Court evaluation, she conducted structured court observations and helped conduct key stakeholder interviews and drug court participant focus groups; she was also involved in extracting data from MIS files and preparing them for analysis. She analyzed data to determine specific questions to ask in the cross-site evaluation component of Maine’s six adult drug treatment court programs. For the Bangor Family Drug Treatment Court, she updated the literature review on federal drug courts and conducted structured court observations, constructed a database for standardized assessments, and performed data cleaning and QC functions for this project. Ms. Battis is currently developing an SPSS database to track survey responses for the evaluation of the Cumberland County (Maine) drug court; she has performed similar work for the Kennebec County (Maine) Co-occurring Disorders Court evaluation and the Anchorage Family Court evaluation.

From West Virginia Child Abuse Protection Grantees Protective Factors Evaluation Project Proposal – April 2010

Jennifer Battis, M.Res., Research Assistant Ms. Battis holds a Master’s degree in Social Research (with Commendation) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. This competitive, international graduate program gave her a solid grounding in a variety of social research methodologies and statistical software tools (including SPSS, DataNet and NextGen), and allowed her to develop a unique skill set that has proven valuable to her role as Research Assistant at Hornby Zeller Associates, Inc.

Ms. Battis is currently active in a number of projects. She gathers information at face-to face interviews and focus groups in support of a statewide evaluation of Maine’s drug courts, and she is also developing an SPSS database to track survey responses for an evaluation of the Cumberland County (Maine) drug court. She has begun work on a number of substance abuse prevention projects. This includes on-site visits of coalition partners on behalf of Maine’s SPF-SIG, the Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (a SAMHSA-funded project involving substance abuse prevention); Ms. Battis has also cleaned data for a project conducted on behalf of the Greater Waterville Prevention Coalition. Finally, Ms. Battis has been providing data management support for Moving Forward, part of Maine’s THRIVE Initiative. This program is designed to address the needs of transition-aged youth and young adults with emotional disturbances, placing emphasis on youth-directed planning and the development of practical skills leading to independence.

Prior to joining HZA, Ms. Battis worked for AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service To America), a federal public service program. Her position, with the HealthReach Community Health Centers in Waterville, Maine, involved a variety of tasks, including data analysis, research, public health information tracking and reporting. She developed tutorials and other materials for use in health centers and public health websites, and trained health care staff on proper use and tracking of the Prescription Assistance Program. In addition to these duties, she was also involved in the grant-writing process, and served as HRCHC’s point person for their annual United Way campaign. Ms. Battis is also well versed in information security procedures, having worked in an administrative support role involving security clearances for the Lockheed Martin Corporation at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts. WORKLOAD STUDY

From Colorado Judicial Department Weighted Caseload Study Proposal – March 2015

Jennifer Battis, M.Res., Research Associate Ms. Battis will lend her court and data analysis experience to the project. Allocating five percent of her time to this endeavor, Ms. Battis will work closely with Mr. Rubin in the development of the staff survey and Dr. Kiaer in the data analysis phase. Given her court experience, she will assist in the training of court staff in the use of the time data collection tools.

Ms. Battis currently serves as the lead evaluator for many of Maine’s court-involved evaluations. As the project director for the Statewide Adult Drug Court evaluation, Ms. Battis led the conduct of structured court observations, key stakeholder interviews and drug court participant focus groups. She analyzed case management and court data to measure outcomes and to help develop specific questions to ask in the cross-site evaluation component of Maine’s six adult drug treatment court programs. Ms. Battis also served as the project director for the Bangor Family Drug Treatment Court evaluation. She updated a literature review of federal drug courts, conducted structured court observations and constructed a database for standardized assessments of the participants. Ms. Battis was also responsible for the qualitative and quantitative analyses as well as report writing. She developed an SPSS database to track survey responses for the evaluation of the Cumberland County drug court, and performed similar work for the Kennebec County Co-occurring Disorders Court evaluation and the Anchorage Family Court evaluation.

Ms. Battis holds a Master’s degree in Social Research (with Commendation) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, a competitive, international graduate program focusing on social research methodologies and statistical software tools (including SPSS, DataNet and NextGen). Prior to joining HZA, Ms. Battis worked for AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service To America), a federal public service program. Her position involved a variety of tasks, including data analysis, research, and public health information tracking and reporting.

From Colorado Child Welfare County Caseworker Workload Study Proposal – October 2013

JENNIFER BATTIS, RESEARCH ASSOCIATE

Ms. Battis leads the firm’s evaluation of Maine’s Statewide Adult Drug Court programs. She conducts structured court observations, interviews key stakeholders, leads drug court participant focus groups, and extracts management information system data for analysis for a cross-site evaluation of Maine’s six adult drug treatment courts. Recently, she conducted interviews with community stakeholders for the evaluation of West Virginia’s home visiting program. For HZA’s evaluation of Nebraska’s Family Helpline, Ms. Battis monitored Helpline calls and completed a structured protocol to evaluate the quality of the counselors’ responses. She provides data management support for Moving Forward which is designed to address the needs of transition-aged youth and young adults with emotional disturbances, placing emphasis on youth- directed planning and the development of practical skills leading to independence.