Centers & Institutes
The Cutler Institute is home to multiple Centers and Institutes.
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Capacity Building Center for Tribes
The Center for Tribes collaborates with American Indian and Alaska Native nations to help strengthen Tribal child and family systems and services in order to nurture the safety, permanency, and well-being of children, youth, and families. The Center offers an array of services, such as products and tools, peer networking activities, and individualized expert consultation. Services are available at no cost to assist Tribal organizations as they work toward improving child welfare practice and performance by building staff capacity, strengthening organizational systems, enhancing programs, and improving tribal-state working relationships.
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Casco Bay Estuary Partnership is a collaboration of agencies, organizations, and individuals working on behalf of the Bay. The Partnership works as a catalyst for action with the goal of keeping Casco Bay and nearly 1,000 square miles of watershed clean and healthy.
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Data Innovation Project (DIP)
The DIP was established in early 2016 to increase the capacity of mission-driven organizations to be data-informed by providing expert, accessible guidance and tools to build internal organizational capability to develop, sustain, and use data to improve outcomes. The DIP has worked with many organizations, nonprofits, foundations, and community collaboratives throughout the state of Maine on a range of projects – from multi-site, multi-year evaluations, to small data collection efforts, to customized capacity-building training.
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National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI)
With the purpose to develop and support a child welfare workforce that can equitably meet the needs of the most vulnerable children and families, NCWWI promotes organizational interventions focused on developing and retaining a diverse and effective workforce by supporting partnerships among public and tribal child welfare programs and schools of social work.
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Maine Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER)
Since 1977, CBER has been a critical resource in supporting Maine’s economy by providing the public and private sectors with university-based expert research and services. CBER is designated by the U.S. Economic Development Administration as a University Center for the state of Maine. In addition to providing sponsored services to organizations across the state, CBER’s core programs are focused on supporting innovation and diversification in Maine’s forest resource economies and communities and supporting efforts that build Maine’s knowledge workforce.
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Maine Public Health Institute (MePHI)
MePHI informs health and public health policy and system development through research, policy analysis, technical assistance, and training. MePHI is committed to effectively integrating the science, tools, and practices of public health and healthcare management to improve access, population health outcomes, and healthcare cost efficiencies. By bridging the cultures and disciplines of public health and health care, MePHI engages individuals, communities, providers, and researchers in the development and management of a more effective and efficient public health infrastructure that addresses health across numerous systems.
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Maine Rural Health Research Center
Established in 1992, the Maine Rural Health Research Center draws on the multidisciplinary faculty and research resources and capacity of the Cutler Institute for Health and Social Policy at USM. The Center’s mission is to inform health care policymaking and the delivery of rural health services through high-quality, policy-relevant research, policy analysis, and technical assistance on rural health issues of regional and national significance.
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New England Environmental Finance Center (NEEFC)
Founded in 2001, NEEFC seeks to advance the shared goal of the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Cutler Institute to research, publish, and extend creative approaches to environmental policy, protection, and management—especially the associated questions of how to pay for needed environmental improvements.
NEEFC strives to build the capacity of public and private clients throughout New England and the nation to pay for the growing costs of protecting the environment and to be better prepared to manage the chronic and acute problems of environmental protection and finance.
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Statistical Analysis Center (SAC)
SAC strives to inform the policy and practice of criminal and juvenile justice by providing research, analysis, training, and technical assistance to help governmental agencies and community-based non-profits build capacity, use data to inform decision-making, and improve their performance. Center staff members strive to fully understand and be able to describe the context of criminal and juvenile justice policy and practice, including the effects of politics, government, the media, and public perspectives about the purpose of criminal justice.
- Substance Use Research & Evaluation (SURE)
The primary aim of the Substance Use Research & Evaluation (SURE) unit is to support the development of novel policies and treatment interventions designed to mitigate the negative public health, social, and economic impacts of substance use on affected individuals, families, and communities. The SURE team provides technical assistance, research, and evaluation services to federal and state agencies, health systems, and practices, as well as community partners to inform the design, implementation, and refinement of evidence-based harm reduction, treatment, and recovery services with a particular focus on identifying solutions to address the unique challenges faced by rural communities. The work of the SURE unit focuses on expanding access to, as well as improving, the quality and effectiveness of services for people with unhealthy substance use or use disorders. The SURE team is committed to working with our partners to identify effective real-world solutions to the complex issues faced by individuals, families, and communities impacted by substance use.
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The Survey Research Center provides research and technical assistance in the generation, processing, and analysis of quantitative data to federal, state, and municipal governments; private nonprofit agencies; businesses; and University faculty and departments. The Center has worked in multiple sectors, including the social sciences, human services, and public opinion fields. The Center's broad range of services includes proposal preparation, market research, needs assessments, program evaluation, policy analysis, and information system design.
Staff have expertise in a variety of research methodologies, including national and local interviewing (telephone and face-to-face), sample design and execution, questionnaire and survey design and administration, data reduction, computing services, data analysis, and proposal and report preparation.