Professional Experience
 

1996 - current

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Social Work

M.P.H., Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1988

M.A., Public Administration, Rider College, 1977

B.S., Mathematics, Louisiana State University, 1971

Selected Research Experience

Evaluation of Family to Family: Reconstructing Family Foster Care (1992 – 1999). Evaluation coordinator for multiple states and counties. Used longitudinal data analysis techniques to analyze multiple years of administrative data on child welfare outcomes. Provided consultation and technical assistance to state and local human services staff on analysis and evaluation concepts. Briefed state and local administrators and staff on evaluation results.

Evaluation of START: A Child Welfare Model for Drug-Affected Families (1995 – present). Self-Evaluation Technical Assistance Coordinator. In collaboration with child welfare direct services staff, designed and implemented an evaluation strategy to measure the impact of START on both substance abuse treatment outcomes and child welfare outcomes.

Families for Kids: Redesigning Family and Child Welfare Services (1996 – present). Analysis task leader. Conduct analysis using longitudinal administrative data on children who entered custody in North Carolina since 1992. Supervise data management and file creation activities. Provide technical support to state and county child welfare staff in evaluation, analysis, and data management activities. Conduct data analysis workshops for state and county FFK staff.

Steps to System Reform: IV-E Waiver Project (1997 – present). Outcome analysis task leader. Provide sampling, analysis, and data management support in the use of longitudinal administrative data and survival analysis techniques. In collaboration with others in the School of Social work and at the North Carolina Division of Human Resources, formulate and implement and evaluation strategy that meets the requirements of the federal government.

National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (1997 – present). Analyst. Assist with instrumentation development. Conduct analysis and write reports.

Opening Doors to Health Care (1993 to 1996). Project Manager and Evaluation Task Leader. Collaborated in developing a research design to determine the prevalence of sociocultural barriers to maternal and child health services. Designed an evaluation strategy that utilized both quantitative and qualitative data to determine the impact of health interventions on the access to health services by a rural minority population. Provided technical assistance to partners in community organizations on using information to guide and monitor program implementation. Developed instruments to collect program data from community health organization and community action agencies. Monitored evaluation activities to ensure that comparable data is collected across multiple clinic sites. Collected and analyzed existing health data related to the project's outcome measures

Analysis and Comparison of State Board and Care Regulations and Their Effect on the Quality of Care in Board and Care Homes (1989 to 1996). Project Coordinator and Analysis Task Leader. Collaborated in the technical design for this study of the impact of regulation on the quality of care in board and care facilities. Coordinated technical activities between sampling, survey data collection, analysis, and program staff. Designed and implemented an analysis strategy to fully utilize the survey data collected from residents, staff, and operators. Constructed valid and reliable quality of care measures and measures of resident satisfaction..

National Study of Assisted Living for the Frail Elderly (1994 to 1996). Analysis Task Leader. Designed and implemented an analysis plan that used survey data from multiple questionnaires administered to operators, staff and residents in assisted living facilities. The analysis focused on the use of descriptive statistics to describe the assisted living universe and on analytic techniques to determine the impact of specific domains on the satisfaction of residents with their quality of care. Coordinated all analysis activities including data management and file creation and analysis using Survey Data Analysis (SUDAAN) software designed for analysis of complex survey data

Infant Mortality in North Carolina, 1962-85: A Comprehensive Study (1987 to 1992). Analysis Task Leader. Analyzed infant birth and death records using complex statistical analytic techniques including multiple linear regression and multinomial logistic regression.

Created a database of community-level variables that incorporated multiple community characteristics that were hypothesized to impact on infant birth outcomes. Merged community-level characteristics with individual data from the vital statistics data to study their impact on birth weight and infant mortality.

Journal Articles

The Effect of Regulation on the Quality of Care in Board and Care Homes. J.B. Wildfire, C. Hawes, et al. (1997-1998). Generations Vol. XXI, No. 4.

Measuring Performance in Child Welfare: Secondary Effects of Success. C.L. Usher, J.B. Wildfire, D. Gibbs. (1999). Child Welfare, 78(1).

A Framework for Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating Child Welfare Reforms. C. L. Usher, D. Gibbs, J. B. Wildfire (1995). Child Welfare, 74(4).

Published Technical Reports

Using Data to Guide Policy and Practice: The Self-Evaluation Process in Family to Family (1998). Prepared for The Annie E. Casey Foundation by C.L. Usher, J.B. Wildfire, et al.

START A Child Welfare Model for Drug-Affected Families. (1998). Prepared for The Annie E. Casey Foundation.

The Regulation of Board and Care Homes: Results of a Survey in the 50 States and the District of Columbia: State Summaries (1993). Prepared for the American Association of Retired Persons by M.C. Hawes, J.B. Wildfire, L. Lux.

The Regulation of Board and Care Homes: Results of a Survey in the 50 States and the District of Columbia: National Summary (1993). Prepared for the American Association of Retired Persons by M.C. Hawes, J.B. Wildfire, L. Lux

Selected Project Reports

Evaluation of Family to Family. Submitted to The Annie E. Casey Foundation. (1998). C.L. Usher, J.B. Wildfire, D. Gibbs.

A Description of Board and Care Facilities, Operators, and Residents. Prepared for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, RTI Project 4598 (1995). J.B. Wildfire, M.C. Hawes, V. Mor, V. Wilcox, D. Spore, L. Lux, R. Green, A. Greene, and C.D. Phillips

Report on the Effects of Regulation on Quality of Care (1995). Prepared for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, RTI Project 4598. C. Phillips, 3.

Wildfire, C. Hawes, V. Iannacchione, R. Green, L. Lux, A. Green, G. Dunteman, V. Mor, and D. Spore. Long-Term Care Ombudsman Activity in board and Care Facilities (1994). A paper commissioned by the Institute of Medicine's Panel on Long-Term Care Ombudsmen.

C. Phillips, J.B. Wildfire, and L. Lux. Study of North Carolina Domiciliary Care Home Residents (1995). Prepared for the NC Department of Human Resources by M.C. Hawes, L. Lux , 3. Wildfire, R. Green. L. Packer, V. Iannacchione, and C. Phillips

Evaluation of the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) (1990). Prepared for the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S.D.A. by C.L. Usher, D. Shanklin, and J.B. Wildfire.

Study of WIC Participant and Program Characteristics 1988. Prepared for the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S.D.A. by R. Williams, J. Lessler, S. Wheeless, and J.B. Wildfire.

Presentations

Wildfire, J.B., D. Gibbs, L. Usher, (1999) "Reentry into Out-of-Home Placement: Experiences of Children in Four States." Presented (by J. Wildfire) at the Child Welfare League of America National Research Conference, Seattle, WA.

Wildfire, J.B., L. Usher, D. Gibbs, (1998) "Using Data to Inform Policy and Practice in Child Welfare." Presented (by J. Wildfire) at the American Evaluation Association National Conference in Chicago, IL.

Wildfire, J.B., L. Usher, D. Gibbs, (1998) "Family to Family Evaluation Outcomes." Presented (by J. Wildfire) at the National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect in Cincinnati, OH.

Wildfire, J.B., L. Usher (1998) "Use of Longitudinal Data in the Self-Evaluation of Family to Family." Presented (by J. Wildfire) at the Child Welfare League of America Conference in Detroit, MI.

Wildfire, J.B., R. Green, C. Hawes, and V. Iannacchione, V., (1995) "Effect of Regulation on the Nature and Prevalence of Assisted Living Facilities in the Board and Care Population." Presented (by J. Wildfire) at the Gerontological Society of American Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA.

Wildfire, J.B., C. Hawes, and V. Mor (1995) "Raging Bull or Golden Boy: Does Regulation Improve Quality in Board and Care Homes." Presented (by J. Wildfire) at the Gerontological Society of American Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA.

Wildfire, J.B., C. Hawes, and R. Green (1995). "Alternative Care Facilities." Presented (by J. Wildfire) at the Tenth Annual Private Long Term Care Insurance Conference, Phoenix, AZ.

Wildfire, J.B., C. Hawes, and L. Lux (1994). "Measuring Quality of Care in Board and Care Facilities." Presented (by 3. Wildfire) at the Gerontological Society of American Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA.

Iannacchione, V., J.B. Wildfire, L. Lux, and C. Hawes (1994). "Covering the Population of Unlicensed Board and Care Homes: Problems and Solutions." Presented (by V. Iannacchione) to the American Statistical Association Annual Meeting.

Hawes, C. and 3. B. Wildfire (1992). "Regulating Board and Care: Results of a Fifty-State Study." Presented (by C. Hawes) at the Gerontological Society of American Annual Meeting, Washington, DC.

Wildfire, J.B. and L. Lux (1992). "Unlicensed Board and Care Homes: A Method to Locate Them." Presented (by L. Lux) at the Gerontological Society of American Annual Meeting, Washington, DC.

Wildfire, J.B., C. Hawes, and L Lux (1992). "Analysis and Comparison of State Board and Care Regulations." Presented (by 3. Wildfire) at the American Association of Homes for the Aged Annual Meeting, Washington, DC.

Koo, H.P., J.B. Wildfire, C.M. Suchindran, and J.D. Griffith (1992). "Influence of Contextual Factors on Birth Weight and Infant Mortality." Presented (by H.P. Koo) at the Population Association of American Annual Conference, Denver, CO.

Griffith, J.D., H.P. Koo, J.B. Wildfire. (1991). "Low Birth Weight and Infant Mortality among Births to Young Mothers: The Effect of Maternal Age and Other Factors." Presented (by J.D. Griffith) at the Population Association of American Annual Conference, Denver, CO.

Wildfire, J.B. (1988). ""Low Birth Weight Among Native American Residents of North Carolina, 1980 to 1985." Presented (by 3. Wildfire) to the faculty of the Department of Biostatistics.