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.

With a focus on social connections, Yang's research provides vital data and assesses the impact of messaging efforts on improving social distancing behaviors.

Celeste Watkins-Hayes shows how shoring up and expanding the HIV safety net can target health disparities exposed by COVID-19—and fight two of the present day's most impactful infectious diseases.

Detroit Metro Area Communities Study (DMACS) finds that although most Detroiters view the pandemic as very serious, 60%+ are unlikely to get the vaccine. Black residents are 4x as likely as white residents to hold this position. This is the fifth 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

Betsey Stevenson

Professor of Public Policy and Economics

Stevenson is a labor economist who publishes widely about the effects of the pandemic on the labor market, particularly for women and families. In September she testified to the House Ways and Means Committee on the consequences of inaction on COVID tax legislation.

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. In 2020 she was named to the National Academy of Social Insurance COVID-19 Task Force which examines the potential impacts of the pandemic on the population, the society, and the economy, and the accompanying implications for social insurance programs in the United States.

Faculty expert

The role of FinTech during COVID-19

May 11, 2021| 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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Featured video from The role of FinTech during COVID-19

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