CHS Prior Projects Overview

• Prior Projects, United States
• Prior Projects, International
• Overview Current CHS Projects
• Current Project List

United States

Susan Harwood Capacity Building Training Grant
Funded by: U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration
2010-2011
CHS is exploring the feasibility of developing a safety and health training program in Pennsylvania.  The goal of the project is to reduce workplace injuries and illnesses through targeted training, particularly to second-language, immigrant, and low literacy workers. CHS is working in partnership with the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO on this project.

AIDS Partnership Project
Funded by: Hyacinth AIDS Foundation and the New Jersey AIDS Partnership
2009-2011
With support from the New Jersey AIDS Partnership and the Hyacinth AIDS Foundation, CHS is supporting HIV counseling and testing among minority populations in southern New Jersey. The program design is modeled after the RAPP (Real AIDS Prevention Project), a highly successful HIV prevention program.The project aims to increase awareness on how to prevent HIV, encourage safer sex practices, and change community norms by maximizing community participation and making safer sex an acceptable norm.

English Literacy and Civics Project
Funded by: Subcontract to Vineland City Public School System and funded by the New Jersey State Department of Labor and Workforce Development
2005–2009
In partnership with the Vineland, New Jersey Public School system, this project administered a comprehensive program of English as a Second Language instruction for foreign born adult learners at various levels of English language proficiency; civics instruction intended to help build a more personalized knowledge of U.S. history, governance, and democracy; assistance with preparation for the U.S. naturalization test; and training in job skills and strategies. The program also provided assistance with social and health-related issues and provided day-care while the parents study.

100% Insured for Sure
Funded by: The New Jersey Department of Health
2008–2009
100% Insured for Sure focused on increasing the enrollment of eligible low income, minority children residing in Cumberland Country, New Jersey into NJ FamilyCare health insurance. NJ FamilyCare health insurance furnishes children (and qualified parents/guardians) with free or affordable annual check ups, dental visits, hospitalizations, prescriptions, and other medical needs.

Plazas Comunitarias (Communal Plazas)
Funded by: The Government of Mexico
2008–2009
The Government of Mexico selected for its long distance learning program the Center for Human Services’ New Jersey office as a U.S. site. The Mexican Government provided Mexican students in the U.S. an opportunity to earn a Mexican secondary diploma via web-based educational programming. A bilingual online platform integrated the Government of Mexico’s initiative but also incorporated additional content designed to meet the requirements of both the U.S. High School Equivalency Program and vocational rehabilitation.

Prevention of High Risk Drinking Among College Students
Funded by: The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools
2007–2009
CHS conducted a project, known as Late Nights, which aimed to reduce high-risk drinking among first year students and members of fraternities and sororities at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. The project sought to reframe high-risk drinking as a community issue, engaged and empowered students, parents, faculty, staff and various Westminster stakeholders (e.g. police, government, retailers, etc.) in all programming. It offered interventions at multiple levels and provided early intervention and referrals. Please visit the project's website at http://www.latenightsprogram.com.

Loving Support: Building Breastfeeding Competencies for Local WIC Staff
Funded by: Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
2007–2008
CHS developed an interactive breastfeeding training curriculum, addressing
the core competencies needed by those who provide community-based breastfeeding leadership, training and education at the local agency level in the government program known as WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children). The curriculum package included a training manual, a CD-ROM containing PowerPoint presentations, activity handouts, reference materials, and other reproducible materials, selected videos, and companion materials, such as Breastfeeding: A Parent’s Guide.

Migrant Education Resource Center (MERC)
Funded by U.S. Department of Education, Office of Migrant Education
2006–2009
CHS staff worked nationwide to support states’ efforts to improve migrant education programs
(MEP) and to enhance their effectiveness in meeting the needs of migrant children, particularly the most mobile. Activities included providing state migrant education programs with expert technical assistance, and training and supporting migrant child identification and recruitment activities as well as organizing and facilitating a peer-to-peer network to improve the knowledge and skills of migrant educators on MEP-specific requirements. In addition, MERC hosted and facilitated national and regional meetings of state educators and community groups supporting migrant children and maintained a website and web-enabled library to allow state and local migrant educators to share documents and products. CHS developed the first national curriculum/standards for identifying and recruiting eligible children into the Migrant Education Program. And, URC staff organized, facilitated, and hosted the first-ever, Office of Migrant Education (OME) conference which included multiple OME-funded programs and focused on a wide variety of topics such as coordination, services, and program design to promote continual program improvement.

Bilingual Education: Training for All Teachers
Funded by: United States Department of Education, Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages
2001–2006
CHS worked in partnership with McDaniel College (formerly Western Maryland College) to serve as a resource to McDaniel to develop and implement a high quality bilingual education/ESL teacher training program. CHS/McDaniel provided various professional development opportunities to public school teachers and administrators, including workshops, graduate courses in bilingual education, field experiences, and an intensive summer training institute.

Migrant EvenStart
Funded by: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Migrant Education
1994–2004
For five years, CHS administered the adult education component of Migrant EvenStart in
southeastern Pennsylvania. The project was designed to assist migrant and seasonal farmworkers, who were parents of participating children, in gaining life and academic skills, such as remedial math, reading, and writing, art instruction, computer literacy, and English as a second language instruction. In addition, preschool age children received onsite child care (reading and art instruction) while their parents were in class.

Haitian American Training Institute
Funded by: U.S. Department of Education
1981–1982
CHS provided English-as-a-Second-Language training for Haitian refugee entrants into the U.S. in New York City and in the Del-Mar area of Maryland and Delaware.

National Institute for Drug Programs (NIDP)
Funded by: Office of Economic Opportunity and National Institute on Drug Abuse
1971–1975
NIDP was established by CHS in 1971 to provide education and training for former drug addicts to obtain management positions in drug abuse treatment service.

International Projects

Infectious Diseases Capacity Development Project (IDCAP)
Funded by: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through the Accordia Global Health Foundation
2008-2011
The project is investigating cost-effective ways to build capacity to prevent and treat infectious diseases among midlevel practitioners. To determine whether on-site support is more cost-effective than classroom training or distance learning, URC’s Center for Human Services is evaluating the impact of on-site training on clinic performance and patient health outcomes.

Diagnostic Test Cost Analysis for the Developing World
Funded by: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
2007–2009
CHS researched potential demand for six diagnostics of diseases that cause high morbidity and mortality in the developing world. Through this grant, CHS is contributing to the Gates Foundation’s vision of accelerating access to existing vaccines, drugs, and other tools to fight diseases that disproportionately affect developing countries and to find new health technologies that are effective, affordable, and practical for use in poor countries.

Rapid Expansion of Nutritional Recuperation Services for Malnourished Children in Nigerien Facilities
Funded by: Original grant from the American Jewish World Services
Subsequently funded by USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance with funding from UNICEF
2005–2007
As climate conditions in Niger created a “near famine” CHS undertook a pediatric malnutrition program building on work that had been completed by CHS’s for-profit affiliate, University Research Co., LLC. Late in fiscal year 2005, CHS received a grant from the American Jewish World Services to initiate the program which builds on and expands work funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under an earlier project. In the spring of 2006 the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) awarded URC’s Center for Human Services (CHS) a 12-month program grant. Under this project, CHS leveraged its established countrywide Pediatric Hospital Improvement (PHI) Collaborative, run as part of the Quality Assurance Project, to rapidly expand nutritional recuperation services for acutely malnourished children in 15 district hospitals while building local capacity for improved behavior change communication, screening, referral, and recuperation at global district levels.

Quality Assurance Project I & II
Funded by: U.S. Agency for International Development
1990–2007 (QAP III was a URC project)

Formerly operating under CHS, the large-scale Quality Assurance Project (QAP) I & II provided comprehensive technical expertise in the design, management, and implementation of quality assurance interventions to improve the delivery of child and maternal health, family planning, HIV/AIDS, and infectious disease services in over 20 developing and middle-income countries. Now operating under URC, the large-scale Quality Assurance Project (QAP) provides comprehensive technical expertise in the design, management, and implementation of quality assurance interventions to improve the delivery of child and maternal health, family planning, HIV/AIDS, and infectious disease services in developing and middle-income countries.

QAP I was a five-year project funded by USAID to provide international leadership in the area of quality assurance (QA) and continuous quality improvement in health care and institutionalize quality assurance systems in USAID-supported health programs. QAP I carried out activities in 20 countries, providing technical assistance and training in standards development, quality assessment and monitoring, problem solving, and quality improvement. The project supported the development of national or regional QA programs in Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, Jordan, Niger, and Nigeria and implemented smaller scale technical assistance efforts in Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Malawi, Paraguay, the Philippines, Uganda, and other developing countries. The project also sponsored several central level activities to support the development of country programs, including operations research to develop and refine QA methods for use in developing countries and the design of standardized training courses that could be easily adapted to country-specific needs. QAP I also actively disseminated project results and methods to the international health community through newsletters, brief reports, and technical monographs.

Implemented from 1990 to 1995, QAP I was followed by the Quality Assurance Project II. Under QAP II, URC's Center for Human Services continued to serve as a global leader in the advocacy, development, and promotion of cost-effective methods to strengthen healthcare services and systems in developing and middle-income countries. QAP II improved the quality of health, population, and nutrition services through technical support to service delivery institutions, Ministries of Health, USAID missions, and cooperating agencies. The project improved the quality and efficiency of healthcare with innovative, practical approaches carried out primarily by ordinary healthcare providers. Strategy focused on basic services selected for their potential health impact and low cost. The mission of QAP II was to provide the technical assistance to build local capacity for establishing standards of care, assessing the quality of services, and undertaking actions to strengthen healthcare programs and systems.

Kazakhstan TB Project
Funded by: Project HOPE
2000–2001
CHS provided technical assistance and guidelines for Directly Observed Treatment, Short Course Strategy (DOTS) training programs.

Strategic and Policy Assistance to the Agency for Accreditation and QA/Republic of Srpska
Funded by: The World Bank
2000–2001
From 2000-2001, with prime contractor Epsilon Research, Developing and Consulting, Ltd., CHS developed quality improvement and regulatory strategies for the Agency for Accreditation and Quality of the Ministry of Health.

Uzbekistan Health
Funded by: The World Bank
2000–2001
Under this contract which ran for one year from 2000 to 2001, CHS worked in partnership with prime contractor Maxwell Stamp, Inc. to develop plans to rationalize health services delivery in existing health facility networks.

Primary Health Care Operations Research Project (PRICOR I & II)
Funded by: U.S. Agency for International Development
1981–1991

Under PRICOR I (1981-1986) and II (1986-1991), CHS conducted a multi-country research effort to help developing countries strengthen delivery of primary health care services through applied research. CHS pioneered development of a practical, systematic approach to operations research on critical issues facing primary health care services in developing countries, including use of community health workers, organizing the community, community financing of primary health services , and community-based commodity distribution.

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