COVID-19 insights and action

Our faculty, staff, students, and alumni are leading the charge on public policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis.

Our population, our health care and economic systems, our workforce, housing, and security will all be affected in ways that are yet to be fully seen. The pandemic has laid bare our world’s racism, economic injustice, and other social and structural inequalities: the virus touches all, but the most significant and direct impacts have been and will continue to be on vulnerable people and communities.

Since mid-March 2020, our community has pulled together to find solutions.

Whether it is ensuring that our most vulnerable residents have their basic needs met, assessing the damage to our economy, gathering insights about health preparedness and responses on the ground from Michigan to Mozambique, addressing national security concerns, or providing critical information to residents and small businesses so they can stay afloat, Ford School faculty, students, and alumni are engaged and committed.

Engaging community

“Our goal is to assist local governments to be as prepared as possible for the coming fiscal challenges.”

Thomas Ivacko and Stephanie Leiser on Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP)‘s efforts to help local governments prepare for the anticipated fiscal challenges during the global pandemic.

Detroit Metro Area Communities Study (DMACS) finds a drop in unemployment as businesses reopen, but not everyone is benefiting equally. This is the fourth rapid-response survey measuring the impact of the pandemic on Detroit residents.

COVID-19 Consulting Corps students partnered with the Michigan Townships Association to provide guidance in the face of pandemic challenges.

Youth Policy Lab Fellow Avazeh Attari helped developed the new Michigan policy inspired by the G.I. Bill.

Faculty Expert

Paula Lantz

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; Professor of Public Policy, James B. Hudak Professor of Health Policy

Lantz led a distinguished group of Michigan public health experts in filing an Amicus Curiae brief defending Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home orders, stating these actions prevented 3,500 COVID-19 deaths.

Faculty expert

The role of FinTech during COVID-19

Dec 4, 2020| 11:30

Adrienne Harris, a Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence, explains how “fintech” plays a role during the COVID-19 pandemic. Financial...

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Lin joined U-M Professors to conduct a survey in over a dozen locations around the world which looked at how people feel about the disease and prevention efforts, anxiety, vaccination, and blame.

Michigan Public Policy Survey measures the attitudes about the direction of the state, and the performances of the governor and the legislature amidst pandemic.

Faculty Expert

Luke Shaefer

Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy; Associate dean for research and policy engagement at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy; Director of Poverty Solutions; Professor of Social Work.

Shaefer was named special counselor to the director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and throughout the pandemic advised on the agency's decision to defer work requirements for those receiving TANF benefits, has played a supporting role in the process of rolling out new food assistance benefits, and facilitated connections between U-M housing experts and the state that helped in the Governor’s decision to halt evictions as families struggle with job loss caused by the downturn.

View Shaefer's profile