Centers and Institutes

CENTER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
The Center for the Administration of Justice (CAJ) was founded at Florida International University in 1984 to engage in research, training and public education pertaining to the administration of justice in Latin America. With offices in Miami, Colombia and Honduras, CAJ has become a unique international resource at the forefront of justice sector reform in Latin America. CAJ employs a multidisciplinary and international staff of specialists, including lawyers, political scientists, public administrators and public policy analysts. Many are former justice sector officials with experience and skills in justice sector issues. Giving special emphasis on support to local efforts to strengthen and invigorate fair and independent justice systems, the CAJ regularly works with public officials, scholars and practitioners in Latin America. The CAJ has become a leading source of information and leadership on justice sector reform issues in Latin America. Its assessments have been widely disseminated and have been critical in public policy decision-making throughout the region. In recognition of its work the Center has been awarded over $43 million in grants by federal agencies and international development banks. It is currently implementing the largest U.S. Agency for International Development Rule of Law project in the world.

COMMUNITY-BASED INTERVENTION RESEARCH GROUP
The Community-Based Intervention Research Group (C-BIRG), of the College of Social Work, Justice, and Public Affairs at Florida International University, is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary research group devoted to the design, implementation, and evaluation of community-based interventions for problems facing multicultural urban populations. With the support of extramural funding, the main goal of C-BIRG is to bridge applied clinical science, state-of-the-art methodologies, and public health research approaches, in order to address pressing prevention and treatment research problems. The functions of C-BIRG include:

Promoting a community-based intervention research agenda;
Maintaining an expanding portfolio of locally- and federally-funded research projects designed to evaluate the effectiveness of community-based interventions with multicultural populations;
Developing and testing theory and models related to community-based intervention with multicultural urban populations;
Applying and extending state-of-the-art methodologies to community-based intervention;
Developing and testing innovative data collection, data collation, and data management approaches for community-based intervention research;
Mentoring undergraduate, graduate, predoctoral, and postdoctoral students in community-based intervention;
Training professionals in community-based intervention with multicultural urban communities;
Providing opportunities for multidisciplinary research collaboration in community-based intervention research;
Establishing and promoting university-community liaisons in community-based intervention efforts;
Providing community-based interventions to vulnerable populations.

To fulfill the goal and functions of C-BIRG, individuals associated with the research group are committed to broadening the scope of funded multidisciplinary research concerning community-based interventions for problems facing multicultural urban populations. Broadly defined, the objective of community-based intervention is to address some problem(s) of some aspect(s) of a community by working within that community. Individuals, families, social groups, schools, social institutions, neighborhoods, or any combination of the foregoing may be targeted for and participate in community-based intervention. Since the late 1970s, there has been increasing recognition that community-based intervention may be the most effective means for addressing problems facing multicultural urban populations. This stems from the ecological perspective, which rests on the assumption that an individual is nested within a complex of interconnected systems, and these systems influence in substantial ways the behavior of the individual. From an ecological perspective, traditional clinic-based, individually focused approaches are problematic. By treating the “pathology” of the individual outside the boundaries of the community, and without much regard for the ecological systems that influence (and are influenced by) the individual’s behavior, the effectiveness of traditional intervention practices is bound to be disappointing. In contrast, community-based interventions are likely to be more valid and effective than traditional clinic-based approaches in addressing problems facing multicultural urban populations.

The formative research and financial resources of C-BIRG are four currently funded research projects examining the effectiveness of community-based intervention with multicultural populations. The first is a NIAAA-funded, 2.4 million dollar, 5-year project entitled “Alcohol Treatment Targeting Adolescents in Need” (ATTAIN). This project involves testing the effectiveness of community-based substance abuse intervention for Miami-Dade juvenile offenders, and represents a collaboration between FIU and the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office. The second is a United Way-funded, $300,000, 5-year project entitled “Breaking the Link Between Dependency and Delinquency.” FIU serves as the research arm of this unique research/public health collaboration that is designed to develop effective community-based interventions for at-risk children and families. The third is a NIAAA-funded, 1.7 million dollar, 5-year project entitled “The Teen Intervention Project” (TIP). This project is testing the effectiveness of school-based substance abuse intervention for Broward County middle and high school students. In connection with this project, C-BIRG received an additional $100,000 to support adaptation of our intervention model to working with Cherokee youth in Talequah, Oklahoma. This project is entitled “The Teen Intervention Project-Cherokee (TIP-C). The fourth is a NIAAA-funded, 1.75 million dollar, 5-year project entitled “Guided Adolescent Problem Solving” (GAPS). This project is testing the effectiveness of school-based substance abuse intervention for Miami-Dade high school students attending Communities In Schools-Miami high schools.

CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON U.S. LATINO AIDS / HIV AND DRUG ABUSE
The Center for Research on U.S. Latinos HIV/AIDS and Drug Abuse (CRUSADA) at Florida International University is the result of the merger of two research centers: the Latino Drug Abuse Research Center (funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse) and the Latino HIV/AIDS Behavioral Science Center (funded by the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities). CRUSADA came about as a reaction to a lack of research on the twin epidemics of HIV/AIDS and substance abuse in South Florida’s rapidly growing Latino populations. CRUSADA’s geographical location and its association with Florida International University (one of the premier Latino-serving universities in the United States) provide a unique setting to increase our understanding on these epidemics in South Florida’s Latino populations. It also provides an exceptional opportunity to translate research results into best-practice models that could be utilized by community-based agencies to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS and substance abuse in the area.

INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNITY SERVICE
The Institute for Public Management and Community Service was re-established at Florida International University in 1994. Since then, the Institute has had extensive involvement in governance reform projects in North, Central and South America as well as Africa, Eastern and Western Europe and Asia. These projects have involved the Institute's Director, Assistant Director and other staff in working with many national legislative bodies, national chief executives and numerous government ministers. Institute projects have focused on issues of executive-legislative relations, legislative development, decentralization, civil service reform, the strengthening of local and other sub-national government and the promotion of citizen participation and governmental and political accountability. Particularly notable in this regard has been the work of the Institute in Argentina, China, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Sierra Leone and Ukraine where, through USAID and UN funded projects, Institute personnel have worked with national, sub-national and local governments and grassroots communities. In several instances these efforts have brought about important governance reforms at varying levels of society. In addition to its extensive technical assistance and consulting activities, the Institute has carried out, numerous research and training activities, both within and outside of the United States.

In its activities in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Peru, Institute staff have worked very closely with the leadership of the government of Miami-Dade County in carrying out a wide variety of local government technical assistance and democratic development activities. The Institute continues its work with Miami-Dade County through its organization each year for the County of the annual Inter American Conference of Mayors, which typically brings together 600 municipal leaders from throughout Latin America, the Caribbean and North America. This annual gathering has come to be recognized throughout the Hemisphere as the principal recurring meeting on issues of local governance in Latin America. In addition, the Institute has organized numerous conferences and seminars throughout the Hemisphere. It also served as the secretariat for the 1999 annual conference of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration in Miami Beach, the 2000 annual conference of the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration in Beijing, China and organized in 2000 a major international conference focusing upon comparative public administration in France and the U.S..

The Director of the Institute, Dr. Allan Rosenbaum, has worked in local, state and national government in the United States and has consulted extensively both within the United States and in most parts of the world and for the United Nations. He currently serves on the governing board of the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration in Brussels, Belgium and on the Executive Council of and as Chairperson of the International Committee of the US-based National Association of School of Public Affairs and Administration. He has written extensively on issues of democratization, public administration, governance reform, decentralization and strengthening of local governance. Mrs. Cristina Rodriguez-Acosta, the Institute Deputy Director received her Bachelors Degree from Universidad del Salvador in Argentina and a Masters Degree from Georgetown University in the United States. A native of Argentina, Mrs. Rodriguez-Acosta has had considerable experience in various parts of Latin America and oversaw the Institute's extensive activities in Paraguay. The Institute for Public Management and Community Service is located on the University Park Campus, PCA 350B at 11200 SW 8th ST. Miami, FL 33199. For more information call (305) 348-1271 or e-mail: rosenbau@fiu.edu.