WELCOMING THE NEW YEAR 2019!

WELCOMING THE NEW YEAR 2019!

Julie Ann Racino, President

Community and Policy Studies

jar329@cornell.edu

January 15-16, 2019

        American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) announced its March 2019 registration for its Annual Conference to be held in Washington, DC. More information is available online at www.aspanet.org. We are delighted that US Vice President Joseph Biden (D) of the Barack Obama Administration (D) will be leading a Presidential Panel on Workforces and look forward to his continuing leadership in that regard. 

        Meetings will take place, in addition to endorsed panels, of all ASPA Sections and Chapters, including: Science and Technology in Government, Section on the Environment and Natural Resources Administration, International and District Chapters, Public Administration and the Law, Health and Human Services Administration. Budget and Finance holds a separate conference which is available on the web at ABFM (Association of Budget and Financial Management). 

        For those interested in the Chairs of the Sections above in 2018-2019: STIG (Michael Ahn), SENRA (Jill Tao, replaces Sarmisthma Majumdar), International (Hugo Renderos, post David Simpson), HHSA (Alexander Henderson, post Espiridion Borrego and Dorothy Noriss-Tirrell),  and PA and the Law (Dovie Dawson).The journal, Public Budgeting and Financing, indicates the current Executive and Governing Boards. William Shields Jr remains as the Executive Director of ASPA, Amy Omang remains as Webinar and Conference Director, and Karen Garrett replaced Melissa Williams at the PA Times. 

ASPA 2018 Annual Conference

        Reviewing 2018, we were delighted to participate in the March 2018 ASPA Annual Conference in Denver, CO (See, HHSA endorsed panels, this blogspot/Community and Policy Studies). In addition, at the event, Julie Ann Racino met with the Section on Science and Technology in Government, and particularly appreciated the Exhibit Hall and displays ranging from Routledge (Division of Francis and Taylor books), Harvard Executive Education Programs, and Chinese University Public Administration Programs. The book, Public Administration and Disability: Community Services Administration in the US (Racino, 2014) was on display together with a new book on LGBT civil rights. 

     The 2018 Annual Conference featured the Denver Aquarium reception which was absolutely fantastic! Current ASPA President Janice LaChance of the Clinton Administration, and Executive Director William Shields Jr. also appreciated the event. In addition, we had a small meeting and reception for Public Administration and the Law, courtesy of Dovie Dawson, at the Hyatt Hotel and Convention Center. For those looking for Syracuse University, Tina Nabatchi and Syracuse students attended the events, and Dr. Nabatachi was a plenary speaker at the Conference. Dr. Susan Gooden, who is now Dean of the VCU Wilder School of Public Policy, was pleased to have Governor Wilder of Virginia at the event. 

      The International Assembly featured the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and a panel of experts inclusive of the United Nations and the Slovak Republic. Julie Ann Racino spoke from the floor on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), in 2017 celebrating the 10th Convention of the State Parties at the UN located in New York City. In 2018, Julie Ann Racino drafted a new book chapter for International Public Administration, in process with Dr. Hugo Renderos, Chair International Chapter in 2019.  Dr. Lex Frieden, National Council on Disability (NCD) Chairperson, is featured together with Dr. Allan Rosenbaum, International Director of ASPA, and of course President Barack Obama who signed the Convention in 2009. 

ASPA and NeCopa to 2018

       The paper, Deinstitutionalization in the 21st Century: The state of the science in public administration and disability (Racino, 2018) was in final submission status from November 2017 NeCopa in Burlington, Vermont. Slides and handouts from the panel chaired by the University of Vermont are available upon request.  The paper cites a diversity of studies indicating the success of deinstitutionalization (e.g., Jim Conroy, Celia Feinstein, Canada's Alison Pedlar, "Australia's" Roger Stancliffe, Bonnie Shoultz, UK's Jim Mansell, Mary Hayden, Tamara Heller), and introduces/critiques the federal departments and workforces. We appreciated meeting Paul Danczyck at the Free Library reception downtown, and who also attended in Denver, CO and is ASPA's Vice President in 2018-2019. 

      Another paper Community integration in the US and Great Britain was also finished in 2018 (Racino, 2018), and introduces Nation-state reports by our university colleagues (e.g., Rud Turnbull in Tanzania) and critical 40 year results from disability developments in the United States (e.g., Americans with Disabilities Act and President George Bush; State of Long Term Services and Supports, 2005) and in the United Kingdom (e.g., National Development Team; Disability Discrimination Act of 1995). I was delighted to include "reference snapshots and footnotes" from the Clinton (e.g., children and family health care), Cuomo (and the US HUD Appointees, supported housing investments) and Trump (new Cabinet; See above) campaigns in the diverse academic papers. 

        Historical archives in the fields include academic contributions from our colleagues from social acceptance to independent living, normalization, community living, inclusion and equity,  family support, person-centered services, cultural reciprocity, and community integration, among others (E.g., Bogdan and Taylor, 1987; Carling, 1992; DeJong, 1997; Drum, Krahn & Bersani, 2009; Harry, Kaylanpur and Day, 1999; Larson, Hewitt and Lakin, 2004; O'Brien, 1999; Racino, 1999; Thomas and Wolfensberger, 1999; Racino, Rolandi, Bergman and Huston, 2017; Towell & Beardshaw, 1991). We appreciate the newest challenges of the public health-criminal justice-MLTSS ("managed" Long Term Services and Supports) industrial complex in the post-911 era of the 21st Century. 

Conclusion

       We expect 2019 to bring even more challenges than 2018, and hope you have also enjoyed the photoshots (e.g., Carter Center in 2016 in Atlanta, GA, SENRA in 2017 in Seattle, WA), led by the Square Market/Community and Policy Studies international reports (courtesy of David Towell of Great Britain).  We unexpectedly entered the 2016 US Presidential campaigns (delighted by the debates with Hillary Clinton (President's Health Security Plan) facing off against a full slate for the Republican nominees, and life certainly changed from the original plan! Now, who would pass up an opportunity to say hello ("meet and greets") to President William J. Clinton who autographed his book, My Life while lauding the attributes of his life partner in Syracuse, New York.

        More information forthcoming in the weeks ahead, and the Brexit vote (loss for Prime Minister Theresa May) on the European Union in the United Kingdom was yesterday (1/15/2019) together with the State of the State Address of New York by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo (video and news articles online), and a confirmation hearing (Spectrum, Channel 10) on US Attorney General William Barr. Both Cornell and Syracuse Universities (university alumni associations) have new telecast systems which also "google chromecast" lectures to the desktops or televisions. 

Julie Ann Racino

Community and Policy Studies
and
American Society for Public Administration

2018-2019