Nancy Shank, M.B.A.
e-mail: nshank@nebraska.edu
Nancy Shank, Associate Director, has been with the PPC since 1998. Currently, Ms. Shank is the principal investigator for a Transforming Healthcare Quality Through Information Technology-Implementation Grant recently awarded to the PPC by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The Regional Health Records for Nebraska 's Panhandle Project is a collaborative work with Rural Healthcare Cooperative Network, Panhandle Partnership for Health and Human Services, and Panhandle Public Health District to create a sustainable electronic method for sharing medical records within the Nebraska Panhandle region. Ms. Shank is also the principal investigator for a U.S. Department of Commerce Technologies Opportunities Program grant that joins the PPC with national and state partners to develop the technological link between propriety software and xml standards to enable interoperable information and referral resource sharing. She recently joined the board of the National Human Services Data Consortium, which seeks to develop effective leadership for the best use of information technology to manage human services. Its goal is to provide information, assistance, peer to peer education and lifelong learning to its membership and other interested parties in the articulation, planning, implementation and continuous operation of technology initiatives to collect, aggregate, analyze and present information regarding the provision of human services.
Ms. Shank has also taken lead roles at the PPC in several major projects including: a study of Nebraska's service coordination system for persons with Developmental Disabilities through a contract with the Unicameral; a study involving a survey of existing information and referral services and a cost/benefit analysis of a statewide 211 model that has served as a model for other states implementing 2-1-1 systems; the Partnering to Reach Integrated Competitive Employment (PRICE) project presenting alternatives for a statewide system to support persons with disabilities engaging in competitive employment; the Nebraska Child Support Collection and Disbursement System Implementation Project that presented recommendations for the statewide implementation of child support payment and customer support systems.
Her research interests include database interoperability for information sharing between organizations, information and referral, economic and community development, organizational systems and behavior, social capital, and human services systems
Ms. Shank has served on national grant review panels for the U.S. Department of Commerce. She has also served on a national advisory panel for a national benefit/cost analysis of three digit-accessed telephone information and referral services convened by the Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin. She is a member of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management and the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems.
Ms. Shank is currently a doctoral student in Human Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She holds a Master's degree of Business Administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Bachelor's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.
Immediately prior to joining the PPC, Ms. Shank was the project manager for a successful 1996 Technology Opportunities Program (formerly TIIAP) grant to the University of Nebraska that developed a still-active Internet-based information and support network for families of children with disabilities, foster and adoptive families, services coordinators and other caregivers across Nebraska. The Network was cited by Vice President Gore at a national conference as a promising model for Internet utilization and was selected as a National Demonstration Project by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Ms. Shank has been involved in a wide range of initiatives including those involving major federal grants, such as Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Community Development Block Grants, Urban Development Action Grants, Enterprise Zones, Community Services Block Grants, U.S. Department of Commerce Telecommunication Infrastructure Improvement Grants, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Maternal and Child Health Bureau Special Projects of Regional and National Significance, and others. She worked in economic and community development in both urban and rural municipalities in Pennsylvania and in non-profit and University-related programs in Nebraska. Ms. Shank previously served as Deputy Director for a community action agency and oversaw numerous human service programs, including the area's Head Start program.
Her published work includes:
Shank, N. (in press). The role of faith communities as referral agents to behavioral health resources. In Tomkins, A. J. (Ed.), Faith-based resources and mental health: challenges and opportunities for effectively integrating faith-based and community-based resources in the behavioral health system. Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press.
Tomkins, A., Shank, N. , Tromanhauser, D., Rupp, S. & Mahoney, R. (2005). United Way and University partnerships in community-wide human services planning and plan implementation: The case of Lincoln/Lancaster County, Nebraska. Journal of Community Practice, 13 (3), 55-72.
Shank, N. (2004) Database interoperability: Technology and process for sharing resource information. Information & Referral, 26 , 45-54.
Tomkins, A., Shank, N., Tromanhauser, D., Rupp, S. & Mahoney, R. (2005). United Way and University partnerships in community-wide human services planning and plan implementation: The case of Lincoln/Lancaster County, Nebraska. Journal of Community Practice.
Shank, N. & Rosenbaum, D. (2003). Examining the potential benefits of a 2-1-1 system: Quantitative and other factors. Information & Referral, 25, 1-25.
Shank, N., Laible, D., Murphy-Berman, V. & Wright, G. (1999). Internet based information and support: use by parents of children with disabilities. New Technology in the Human Services, 12, 7-19.
Shank, N.C., Roesch , S.C. , Murphy-Berman, V. A., & Wright, G. F. (1996). Use of the Internet for at-risk families receiving service coordination. In B. Glastonbury (Ed.), Dreams and Realities Information Technology in the Human Services (pp. 133-147). STAKES: National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health.
She has authored numerous research reports including:
University of Nebraska Public Policy Center . (2004). Security and prosperity: A preliminary report on the January 2004 By the People citizen deliberations (with Alan Tomkins and other PPC staff). University of Nebraska Public Policy Center Web site: http://www.ppc.nebraska.edu.
University of Nebraska Public Policy Center . (2003). Recommendations on creating a statewide information resource for human services. University of Nebraska Public Policy Center Web site: http://www.ppc.nebraska.edu.
University of Nebraska Public Policy Center . (2003). Intermediary service organizations providing personal assistance services: Implementation lessons (with Teri Perkins). University of Nebraska Public Policy Center Web site: http://www.ppc.nebraska.edu.
University of Nebraska Public Policy Center . (2002). The impact of earnings of Nebraskans with disabilities on their eligibility for selected services and programs (with Teri Perkins and Brent Wilson). University of Nebraska Public Policy Center Web site: http://www.ppc.nebraska.edu.
University of Nebraska Public Policy Center . (2000). Survey of existing I&R services and a Nebraska 211 system cost/benefit analysis (with Dave Rosenbaum and Gregg Wright). University of Nebraska Public Policy Center Web site: http://www.ppc.nebraska.edu. This report has generated considerable national interest and has served as the basis for analysis and policy discussion in Arizona , California , Maryland , Pennsylvania , and Washington , as well as for support of the national Calling for 2-1-1 Act of 2003 introduced as bipartisan legislation (HR 3111 and S 1630) that would expand 2-1-1 service nationwide.
University of Nebraska Public Policy Center . ( October 15, 1999 ). Nebraska child support collection and disbursement system implementation project (with Alan Tomkins and other PPC staff). University of Nebraska Public Policy Center Web site: http://www.ppc.nebraska.edu.