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Technical Assistance Projects

Technical Assistance Projects

 

Featured Project:
Medicaid Emergency Psychiatric Demonstration

Client:  Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

IMPAQ International is currently providing technical support to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in a Medicaid Emergency Psychiatric Demonstration. This demonstration provides up to $75 million in funding to states over three years, as authorized by the Affordable Care Act, to help care for Medicaid patients (aged 21 through 64) with psychiatric emergencies, in private inpatient psychiatric facilities with 17 or more beds, also known as institutions for mental diseases (IMDs).  The demonstration defines psychiatric emergencies as expressions of suicidal or homicidal thoughts or gestures resulting in a determination that the patient is dangerous to himself or to others. 

IMPAQ’s main activities include: conducting background research on States’ mental health services delivery and inpatient psychiatric services in particular; validating current or develop new estimates on patient census and expenditures in prior-implementation stage; helping CMS to review the state applications and providing summary information for CMS to select Demonstration states; collecting and analyzing claims and other qualitative information from states to monitor states’ program implementation; tracking States’ projected versus actual patient admissions and spending in assisting CMS with funding re-apportion decisions; identifying adverse events due to the program operation; and providing technical assistance to states.

Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment Technical Assistance

Client:  Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor
 
IMPAQ is currently providing technical assistance to states implementing the Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) Initiative, as part of the company’s Unemployment Insurance Benefits Study contract with the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL).  Designed to help reduce unemployment spells among UI claimants and realize cost savings for state UI trust funds, the REA Initiative assists selected claimants in developing a work-search plan, provides them with labor market information and referrals to reemployment services and/or training, and assesses ongoing UI eligibility.   In addition to providing extensive technical assistance to 21 grantee states, this work has also involved conducting a congressionally mandated impact and process evaluation.  In an effort to facilitate ongoing evaluation of the Initiative, IMPAQ has worked closely with state personnel to assist sites  in responding to USDOL’s common data reporting requirements and in establishing state-centric research designs, including rigorous procedures for randomly assigning UI claimants.  This effort has required IMPAQ to:
  • Thoroughly understand the design and implementation of the REA Initiative operating in each state, including the state’s goals and objectives for REA, the current structure of each state’s workforce system and related programs currently in operation;
  • Identify the state-specific constraints associated with developing a rigorous research design;
    Assess the efficacy of the state design with regard to producing data intended to assess program workload and impacts; and
  • Provide recommendations for improving each state’s design. 

This work has been accomplished through significant contact with REA administrators and One-Stop personnel through numerous site visits and telephone conference calls, review of program documentation, and assessment of ETA 9128 and ETA 9128 data reports.

Availability of Medicare Data for Performance Measurement - Program Management Activity

Client:  Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

In response to employers, consumer advocates, and private insurers petitioning Congress to include a provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) to make Medicare claims data available to Qualified Entities (QEs) (Section 10332: “Public or private entities that are determined by the Secretary as qualified to use Medicare claims data to make such evaluations of provider/supplier performance”), the ACA recognizes that such QE functions and how the Medicare claims data are used is very important from the perspectives of (1) protecting Medicare beneficiary privacy and data security; (2) fairness to those whose performance is being measured and reported; and (3) the public, which needs credible and valid information.

CMS contracted with IMPAQ International, LLC (IMPAQ) and its partners—the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), National Opinion Research Center (NORC), and Buccaneer Computer Systems & Services, Inc. (Buccaneer)—as the implementation support contractors to develop processes for applicants and evaluate/monitor their capability to meet CMS’ requirements.

Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) - Ghana Mid-Term Review Consultancy Project

Client: Millennium Challenge Georgia Fund

In 2006, the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Government of Ghana entered into a five-year, approximately $547 million Millennium Challenge Compact to facilitate poverty reduction through economic growth in Ghana.  The Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) selected IMPAQ International to perform a Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the Ghana Compact.  The goal of this Mid-Term Review is to assess the implementation of MiDA-sponsored projects and their progress toward the final targets established by the Compact.  The objectives of the MTR were to:

  • Provide project-specific assessments of implementation approaches, methodologies and strategies to identify the challenges and accompanying risks for redress.
  •  Facilitate a MiDA-wide self-assessment workshop and use the outcome as one of the working documents for the Mid-Term Review process.
  •  Document major successes and/or failures for each activity and advice MiDA on the best way forward.
  • Conduct field visits to selected projects in the Intervention Zones to assess progress of work and compare with reported results of the projects selected for the study.
  • Conduct semi-structured interviews/key informant interviews with various stakeholders to determine issues relating to expectation management and advise MiDA on the outcome.

For this project, IMPAQ-led activities included fact finding missions, document reviews, and a MiDA-Wide Self Assessment Workshop.  IMPAQ staff also met key stakeholders in Accra and completed field visits and interviews in sampled beneficiary districts in the three intervention zones of the project (Northern Intervention (Northern Savanna) Zone; The Afram Basin; and the Southern Horticultural Zone). Additionally, following an analysis of high risk projects (post harvest infrastructure, irrigation, feeder roads, access to credit financial services activity and community services activity), IMPAQ selected two districts per intervention zone, where three teams were concurrently dispatched to conduct the fieldwork using interview protocols, focus group guides and self-administered questionnaires designed for this data collection effort.

Office of Foreign Labor Certification Prevailing Wage Determination Processing Services Support and Help Desk Support (DC)

Client:  Office of Foreign Labor Certification, U.S. Department of Labor

The purpose of this project was to provide analytical, management, and administrative support to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC).  Specifically, IMPAQ and its partner, EXCEED Corporation processed requests from employers or their representatives for prevailing wage determinations (PWD) under the permanent and certain temporary foreign labor certification programs administered by OFLC.  The team also responded to requests for FLC-related information from program users and members of the public received through a variety of media (phone, electronic, and U.S. mail).

For this project, IMPAQ and EXCEED provided approximately 50 full time staff to operate and manage all aspects of the newly established OFLC Prevailing Wage and Help Desk Center in Washington, DC.

DOL Foreign Labor Certification Supervised Recruitment Program (Atlanta)

Client:  Office of Foreign Labor Certification, U.S. Department of Labor

The purpose of this project was to support the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) through provision of administrative support in conducting selective supervised recruitment in the application process under the Permanent Labor Certification program of the OFLC National Processing Center located in Atlanta, GA. 

For this project, IMPAQ and its partner, EXCEED Corporation provided approximately 30 full time staff to operate and manage the Supervised Recruitment program at the Atlanta National Processing Center (ANPC).

Project GATE Technical Assistance Project

Client: Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor
 
The positive findings from the evaluation of the Project GATE demonstration project (conducted by IMPAQ) led the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) to announce a second round of Project GATE grants to implement entrepreneurship services targeted towards dislocated workers.  
 
Applying the service delivery model developed in the first Project GATE Demonstration, IMPAQ is currently providing technical assistance (TA) to the four states that were awarded grants – Alabama, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Virginia.  As part of this assistance, IMPAQ is helping each grantee design a service delivery strategy and develop implementation plans.  IMPAQ is also providing guidance to sites on their evaluation design, providing assistance with marketing materials, developing a Participant Tracking System, and providing on-going TA and monitoring of sites. 
 

Enabling Labor Mobility (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Client:  U.S. Agency for International Development
 
IMPAQ International supported the Deloitte LLP (formerly BearingPoint) team of contractors to provide technical assistance under USAID’s Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Program for Enabling Labor Mobility (ELMO). The ELMO program sets forth an agenda for reform of labor market structures and streamlining of social contributions that will be critically important for the development of BiH’s small and medium enterprise (SME) sector.  This project had three distinct but related components:  1) Tax reform, 2) Social Dialogue, and 3) Labor Inspection.  Each of the components aim for reform and modernization of existing institutions in the light of international standards and best practices in old and new European Union (EU) member states, in the two main jurisdictions (Entities) of BiH, namely the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska (RS).
 
For Component 2 (Social Dialogue), IMPAQ staff arranged seminars, conferences, study tours, and other activities that helped enhance the capacity of the Economic and Social Councils of both Entities to understand their role and function, and transform them into meaningful consultative bodies on which the respective Governments can rely for analysis of, and advice on current economic and social issues.   IMPAQ staff were also active in the revision of the labor laws and carried out detailed analyses of the labor laws and the respective General Collective Agreements of both Entities. The objective has been to bring the legislation into closer conformity with international (ILO) and European Union standards and good labor relations practice.  Among others, these activities helped promote improved labor relations and a regulatory framework that is better suited to a market economy system.
 
For Component 3 (Labor Inspection), IMPAQ staff provided a detailed analysis of existing institutions, their role, scope, functions, organization, and resources; a comprehensive new Labor Inspection policy/strategy; as well as advice and assistance regarding reform of labor inspection relevant legislation.  In addition, a Training Needs Analysis and study tours were conducted. 
 

Workforce Investment System Technical Assistance and Training

Client:  Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor
 
IMPAQ assisted the Regional Offices of the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the U.S. Department of Labor in Regions I (Boston), II (Philadelphia), and III (Atlanta) in developing and implementing a wide range of technical assistance efforts.  Tasks related to this project included:
  • Research and evaluation efforts that examined levels of collaboration among different agencies engaged in workforce development at the Federal, state, and local level
  • The development of materials including webinars and reports that identified ways in which the workforce system is transforming to meet the needs of the global economy.
  • Scheduling and managing conferences and roundtable meetings with a variety of state and local stakeholders on employment and training programs and initiatives. 
Examples of specific technical assistance projects conducted include the development and implementation of a web-portal for information sharing across Federal, state and local governments related to the economic crisis; the conduct of focus groups with state and Federal staff on ways to better integrate the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and Workforce Investment Act (WIA) programs; and the provision of on-site technical assistance/training on fiscal issues. 
 

National Reemployment Technical Assistance Initiative

Client:  Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor
 
For this project, IMPAQ provided technical assistance (TA) to the Designing Reemployment (DREEM) Team, an Employment and Training Administration (ETA) agency-wide workgroup, in administering its Reemployment Technical Assistance Initiative.  The goal of the Initiative was to examine the reemployment function within the public workforce investment system with a focus on improving the system as it transforms to meet the needs of the 21st Century economy.  IMPAQ provided a range of TA support as part of this effort including: 
  • Conducting research to identify best practices in the area of reemployment;
  • Facilitating focus groups and issues conferences with state and local workforce professionals throughout the country;
  • Designing and delivering program and policy assessments; and
  • Developing and delivering webinars.
 

Think Tank:  Impact of Active Labor Market Programs in Transition Economies

(Russia and Romania)

Client: World Bank 
 
IMPAQ International joined with the Centre for Economic and Financial Research (CEFIR) in Moscow, Russia, and the National Research Institute on Labor and Social Protection (NRILSP) in Bucharest, Romania to create a Think Tank to focus on the analysis of Active Labor Market Programs (ALMPs) in Russia and Romania.  For this project, IMPAQ provided CEFIR and NRILSP with the methodological and administrative tools necessary to implement rigorous evaluations leading to improvements in the effectiveness of ALMPs in Russia and Romania.
 
The collaboration helped to enhance the capacity of all collaborators and set an example for future joint research projects.  Furthermore, the results of this research project energized the discussion on the effectiveness of ALMPs in Russia and Romania.  The project also provided policy makers with the input necessary to design effective labor programs.