BY MAX STEPHENSON JR
Director, Institute for Policy and Governance
Trump has brought impunity to the highest office in the land, wielding a wrecking ball to the most precious windowpane of all—American democracy. The message? A president can obstruct special counsels’ investigations of his wrongdoing, push foreign officials to dig up dirt on political rivals, fire inspectors general who find corruption, order the entire executive branch to refuse congressional subpoenas, flood the Internet with fake information about his opponents, refuse to release his tax returns, accuse the press of being ‘fake media’ and ‘enemies of the people,’ and make money off his presidency. And he can get away with it. Almost half of the electorate will even vote for his re-election.(1)
This deliberate and very public embrace of undemocratic impunity is the central question facing not only U.S. self-governance, but also many other would-be democratic regimes around the world. The issue of why millions of Americans, for example, claim to believe Trump’s lie that he won an election that he lost by more than 7 million votes due to a widespread conspiracy that neither he nor his enablers have ever, in fact, explained or proven, provides a critical lens into a psychology that would sacrifice freedom and democracy in the name of fealty to an obvious charlatan. The ongoing concern this situation raises is why otherwise reasonable people from all walks of life would accede to such a Faustian bargain.
EVOLVING COLLABORATIONS
Safe Surfin Foundation
Our faculty is now exploring several community-based partnerships in the area of recovery housing based on the previous work the Institute has been doing in the local region. We will be working in the coming months to align grant and other funding opportunities to recovery housing needs in the Roanoke and Piedmont regions of Virginia. We are also working with a nonprofit organization in Floyd County, Safe Surfin' Foundation, which has developed a curriculum for children and adolescents to keep them safe while using the internet. Internet crimes against children are skyrocketing with everyone working and attending school from home, so the Foundation is keen to share its teaching strategies and to explore additional mechanisms to improve children’s safety. Institute faculty are assisting the organization’s leaders as they define their short, mid and long-term goals and objectives. Thereafter, we will seek to identify additional Virginia Tech faculty who can help in these efforts. If you have interest or expertise in recovery housing or internet crime and security, and wish to be involved in these evolving partnerships, please contact us at ipg@vt.edu
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
VTIPG Senior Research Associate David Moore has collaborated with Roanoke-based Total Action for Progress (TAP) since 2016. TAP is a community non-profit organization, founded in 1964, which has worked since, in a variety of nationally-recognized ways, to fight poverty and to build resilience and opportunities for residents of low-income communities.  TAP partners with low-income residents directly as they identify steps to address their perceived needs. The non-profit now offers an array of programs in education, employment training, family services and more.

Since 2016, Moore has helped TAP expand and deepen its workforce and labor related work in his role as Project Director of the organization’s SwiftStart program. That initiative assists unemployed and underemployed parents with child care responsibilities to access training to prepare for careers in health care, information technology or advanced manufacturing. It does so by bundling substantive education with tuition assistance and child care as well as other supports and intensive mentoring to help ensure that participants successfully prepare for new employment.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Molly Todd
ASPECT PhD student Molly Todd received a grant through The Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention Program, to support her dissertation research. Her project's working title is “Borders, Art, and the Decolonial Imagination.” She is working with Professors Max Stephenson, Jr. and Laura Zanotti as co-chairs of her advisory committee.
Randell Dauda
Planning, Governance and Globalization Doctoral Student Zuleka Woods, who is collaborating with several Institute affiliated faculty and staff in the planning of an international symposium on Decoloniality and Decolonization slated for March 2021 was recently awarded a prize for her poems, which she had submitted to the Roots and Resettlement project, a mixed media art collection addressing displacement, resettlement, place and belonging hosted by The Center for Rhetoric in Society at Virginia Tech. Congratulations to Zuleka! Zuleka is also connected to VTIPG by the fact that Dr. Max Stephenson is serving as Chair of her doctoral advisory committee.
Raj Kumar GC
Congratulations to Raj Kumar GC of the SPIA Planning, Governance and Globalization PhD program! Raj successfully defended his dissertation on November 30, 2020. His effort was entitled, “Exploring the Potential of Multiple Use Water Services for Smallholder Farmers in the Western Middle Hills of Nepal.” Professor Ralph Hall of SPIA chaired Raj’s advisory committee. Other committee members included Professor Max Stephenson, Jr., SPIA, and VTIPG Director, Professor Shyam Ranganathan, Department of Statistics and Professor A.L. Hammett, Department of Sustainable Biomaterials. Congratulations Dr. Raj Kumar GC!
Jake Keyel
Dr. Jake Keyel’s article, “The Country is Completely Destroyed: Toward a National Project of Recognition, Reparation and Reconciliation for the American War Against Iraq," was published in the September 2020 issue of the Peace Studies Journal. Jake received his doctoral degree from the Planning, Governance, and Globalization program in the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Tech in 2019 and now serves as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate with the Calhoun Center in the Honors College.
Nada Berrada
Congratulations to Nada Berrada of the ASPECT (Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical and Cultural Thought) PhD program! Nada successfully defended her dissertation on December 14, 2020. Her effort was entitled, “Contextualizing Everyday Practices of Agency: Young Moroccans Navigating Life Spaces.” Special thanks to Nada’s doctoral committee members, who included Professor Suchitra Samanta, Department of Sociology, Processor Laura Zanotti, Department of Political Science and Professor Ni Zhange, Department of Religion and Culture. Professor Max Stephenson, Jr., SPIA, and VTIPG Director, chaired Nada’s advisory committee. Nada is the 36th doctoral student closely affiliated with the Institute to complete their degree since the Institute’s founding on July 1, 2006. Congratulations Dr. Nada Berrada!
Anna Erwin
Dr. Anna Erwin, an alumna of the Planning, Governance and Globalization (PGG) program in the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Tech, published two articles recently, "Intersectionality shapes adaptation to social-ecological change" in the February 2021 issue of World Development and "Outsourcing governance in Peru's integrated water resources management" in the February 2021 issue of Land Use Policy. Max Stephenson, Jr. served as her advisor during her time at Virginia Tech. Congratulations, Dr. Erwin!
Lindy Cranwell
Congratulations to Lindy Cranwell of the SPIA Planning, Governance and Globalization PhD program! Lindy successfully defended her dissertation on December 17, 2020. Her effort was entitled, “University Comprehensive Internationalization (CI): Faculty Meaning-Making, Motivations, and Perceptions for Engaging Globally.” Professor Max Stephenson, Jr., SPIA, and VTIPG Director, chaired Lindy’s committee and Professor Denise Simmons, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Florida, served as co-chair. Other committee members included Professor Ralph Hall, School of Public and International Affairs and Professor David Knight, Department of Engineering Education. Lindy is the 37th doctoral student closely affiliated with VTIPG to complete their degree since the Institute’s founding on July 1, 2006. Congratulations Dr. Cranwell!
Molly Todd
Congratulations to ASPECT PhD student Molly Todd, who successfully defended her dissertation proposal entitled “ Borders, Art, and the Decolonial Imagination” on December 8, 2020 ! Special thanks to her committee members, Professor Danille Christensen, Department of Religion and Culture, Professor Desiree Poets, Department of Political Science, Co-Chair, Professor Laura Zanotti, Department of Political Science and Co-Chair, Professor Max Stephenson, Jr., School of Public and International Affairs and VTIPG. Kudos to Molly, who is also an active member of the Institute’s Community Change Collaborative!
PROJECT UPDATES
CCC Guest Speaker Series: Alia Malek
Alia Malek
In November 2020, the Community Change Collaborative (CCC) welcomed Alia Malek for a presentation and panel discussion with guests Katherine Randall, Nadine Sinno, and Jake Keyel. Professor Malek’s talk was entitled, “When Home is Unattainable, What Replaces it?” and the group explored questions regarding the meaning of home, as well as relevant local, national and international policies and programs, positive and negative, that affect refugees. The event was co-sponsored by VTIPG’s Community Change Collaborative, the VT Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies and the Center for Rhetoric in Society.

In 2015, Malek traveled from Greece to Germany with a group of Syrians fleeing their country’s civil war. The refugees whom she accompanied met while marooned on a raft together in the Aegean Sea. Each had fled a different part of Syria and they also came from different socio-economic classes. Their sights were set on seeking asylum in Sweden and the Netherlands. Some, however, were forced by circumstances to request asylum in Germany. Malek has been reporting on their lives and displacement as part of a 10-year project. Drawing on this work for her talk, Professor Malek considered what replaces the idea of home when home itself becomes unattainable and its permanence illusory.

PACE to Recovery Program in Martinsville and Rocky Mount, VA
PACE to Recovery
VTIPG researchers Mary Beth Dunkenberger, Associate Director and Principal Investigator, and Lara Nagle, Community-Based Learning Projects Manager, have assisted with program messaging and project management for the development of a continuum of care for people with substance use disorders (SUDs) who are admitted for treatment at Sovah Health – Martinsville and Carilion Franklin Memorial hospitals to longer-term care at the regional community service board, Piedmont Community Services (PCS), in the Martinsville, VA region. The continuum is modeled after a successful initiative called the Bridge to Treatment, operated by Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, in an effort to link emergency department (ED) patients with SUDs more effectively to longer-term treatment and supports. Preliminary evaluation of the Bridge model suggests high treatment retention rates among those with SUD. Peer recovery specialists play a unique role in facilitating coordination of the individual patient’s needs with an array of healthcare providers. Increased medical peer engagement and education among ED professionals concerning medication assisted treatment (MAT) and the biology of addiction has contributed to the program’s initial success.

Virginia Tech Study of New River Valley Adult Drug Treatment Courts Finds 4 to 1 Return on Investment (ROI) for Local Governments Annually
A research team led by Sarah Lyon-Hill with the VT Office of Economic Development including Mary Beth Dunkenberger, Lara Nagle and Neda Moayerian of the VT Institute for Policy and Governance, and Sophie Wenzel of the VT Center for Public Health Practice and Research, presented the results of their six-month study of the programmatic and fiscal impacts of four adult drug treatment courts in the New River Valley (NRV) (in Floyd, Giles, Montgomery and Pulaski Counties) to the NRV Drug Court Advisory Committee in November 2020.

The adult drug treatment courts are an alternative to a traditional sentence for offenders with non-violent, substance use-related charges. Drug court participants undergo intense monitoring, supervision and treatment. Each is also required to complete specific community service and employment requirements in order to graduate from the program with a reduced or expunged sentence. The program typically takes individuals 18-24 months to complete. The drug court teams in each locality are comprised of law enforcement, criminal justice, treatment and case management and peer support stakeholders. All members work together to provide a supportive and positive participant experience.

Call for Student Editorial Board Members for Community Change Journal
Community Change Journal
Community Change (https://www.communitychange.ipg.vt.edu/) is an online, peer-reviewed, graduate student journal that seeks to explore multiple approaches to democratic community development and change. This interdisciplinary journal examines the practices, processes, and individual and collective struggles that produce change at all levels of society. Community Change has adopted a broad definition of community development that includes issues relating to public policy, democratization, collective action, physical and social infrastructure developments, agency and efficacy. Apart from contributing to knowledge in its field, Community Change aims to provide opportunities for graduate students from all related disciplines to become acquainted with academic publication processes.
 
The journal is currently seeking dedicated graduate student editors for its editorial board. The board is responsible for crafting calls for papers, soliciting manuscripts and reviewing submissions. All editors work with peer-reviewers and authors to provide substantive and constructive feedback to authors, oversee revisions of submitted work and to select manuscripts for publication. A rotating Executive Editor is responsible for facilitating meetings and overall issue flow. The Managing Editor coordinates the journal email and website, informs the board about submissions and ensures that authors and peer-reviewers meet deadlines.

Students with editing and publishing experience are preferred, and/or those who can commit a minimum of two academic years. If you have questions or are interested to attend an informational meeting in early Spring 2021, please contact Lara Nagle: lkn4187@vt.edu
Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) Project
A research team from VTIPG and VT’s Center for Public Health Practice and Research (College of Veterinary Medicine) continued to provide ongoing data management and outcomes and process evaluation services for the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) expansion program for New River Valley Health Services (NRVCS) this past fall. The CCBHC project serves adults with serious mental illness, substance abuse or co-occurring disorders and children with severe emotional disturbance. The project seeks to expand capacity and provide more comprehensive care to this population of NRVCS adults and youth who are medically under-or-uninsured.

Funded by the national Substance Abuse Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA), NRVCS’ two-year grant was awarded in fall 2018. During that period, the VT research team has assisted NRVCS in collecting data and processing more than 4,000 surveys concerning more than 1,700 individuals receiving expanded services supported by the grant. The team has delivered regular activity and quarterly updates to NRVCS’ staff, two annual reports with summary presentations to the NRVCS grant advisory group and agency board and is now working on a final report summarizing NRVCS SAMHSA activity, compliance rates and outcome data.

Federal Reimbursement Unit (FRU)
The Federal Reimbursement Unit (FRU) team continues to work remotely with great success and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Fairfax County has provided the group with County-owned laptops and cell phones in order to continue working remotely. Year to date, the FRU team's workload has continued to increase as the number of youths in receipt of foster care and Children's Act services has increased. The team stays in regular contact by replying to the Project Manager's daily emails, texting one another, phone calls and via Zoom. According to Melony A. Price-Rhodes, the Project Director and PI, "The team is quite savvy when using technology to communicate with one another not only during business hours but after the traditional workday has ended. They are all making the best of a challenging environment.”
COMMENTARIES & ESSAYS
SOUNDINGS
A commentary series authored by VTIPG Director Max Stephenson

RE: REFLECTIONS & EXPLORATIONS
Online essay series hosted by VTIPG and edited by Professor Max Stephenson Jr., written by graduate students across the University to reflect on their ongoing work in governance and policy related concerns.
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
Nneka Logan
Dr. Nneka Logan is an Associate Professor with the Virginia Tech School of Communication. Dr. Logan’s research and teaching focuses on public relations, organizational communication, corporate social responsibility, race and diversity. Her work has been published in the Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, Public Relations Inquiry, the Journal of Business Ethics and in other scholarly outlets. Prior to earning her doctorate, Dr. Logan worked in a variety of communication roles for a multibillion-dollar corporation and its subsidiaries where she managed internal, external and executive communication strategies, tactics, projects and programs. She has presented her research at national and international conferences and has won several awards for her academic and industry work. She is especially passionate about pursuing projects that make a positive contribution to society. She is affiliated with VTIPG via serving as Principal Investigator on the "MAT Messaging for Detention Center and Drug Court Stakeholder Audiences (MMDC2)" grant awarded by the Virginia Higher Education Opioid Consortium (VHEOC). She is collaborating with Mary Beth Dunkenberger and Lara Nagle on this grant/research project, which has created comprehensive technical and messaging guidance regarding medication assisted treatment (MAT). The research and resulting communication materials have been tailored for those in the criminal justice and corrections systems, and treatment providers who work with individuals suffering with SUD and who can benefit MAT in their path to recovery.
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Katie Hanton
Katie Hanton is currently a Virginia Tech Master’s student in the Urban and Regional Planning program at Virginia Tech. She is a Graduate Research Assistant with IPG working on the C2C and CCBHC projects, alongside Mary Beth Dunkenberger and Liz Allen. While working on the C2C and CCBHC projects, she has loved the opportunity to help others and hopes to see positive changes to the current opioid epidemic in the area through these initiatives.
 
She completed her undergraduate degree in real estate and worked in the residential property management field for 2 years before returning to Blacksburg to complete her Master’s degree. She has always had a passion for real estate and giving back to the community and has found that those two interests nicely aligned in local government planning. She hopes to bring positive change to her hometown once she graduates in the spring. 
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