Policy Topics

Poverty and social policy

Showing 481 - 510 of 1219 results

Alumni spotlight

Sen. Chang (MPP/MSW ‘14) commitment to public service

Aug 21, 2020

Senator Stephanie Chang (MPP/MSW '14) entered graduate school with the long-term goal of running a non-profit. With community organizing experience under her belt, she started at the Ford School and School of Social Work to enhance her quantitative...

News

Detroit unemployment rate drops, but 1 in 5 residents in financial trouble

Aug 13, 2020

More Detroiters have returned to work amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but many families continue to have difficulty affording basic necessities and worry more hardship is ahead. That's according to the latest representative survey of Detroiters from...

News

Barr seeks financial inclusion for underserved communities

Aug 12, 2020

Throughout his career in academia and in government, Ford School Dean Michael S. Barr has sought ways to help low-income people get better access to the financial system, and to change the financial system to work better for low-income...

In the Media

Economic future of Michigan "an incredible question mark", Shaefer tells Free Press

Aug 11, 2020 Detroit Free Press

While Michigan’s economy didn’t “fall off a cliff” in April, and the state acted quickly to help children and families access a federal meals program, more income support is required, Shaefer says in an article in the Detroit Free...

Alumni spotlight

Bart Édes (MPP ‘87) forges international partnerships to assist Asia’s developing countries

Aug 11, 2020

As the Asian Development Bank’s North American representative, Bart Édes (MPP '87) raises awareness of the economic, environmental and social challenges facing Asia and the Pacific, and builds partnerships in Canada and the United States to meet...

News

Meet our new faculty: Charlotte Cavaillé

Aug 5, 2020

Charlotte Cavaillé is an assistant professor of public policy at the Ford School, who is arriving at the Ford School after a year as a visiting fellow at Princeton University's Center for the Study of Democratic Politics. She comes to the Ford...

News

New Faculty Funding Opportunity for Action-Based Research to Combat and Confront Racism

Jul 30, 2020

Poverty Solutions and the Center for Social Solutions announce the inaugural faculty grants competition to pursue action-based research aimed at ending systemic and institutional racism. The awards, which range from $10,000 to $50,000, are open to...

Alumni spotlight

Zara Ahmed (MPP/MPH ‘09): Dual degree fostered her ‘Swiss Army Knife’ mindset

Jul 28, 2020

Zara Ahmed (MPP/MPH '09), associate director for federal issues at the Guttmacher Institute, spent seven years overseas with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Rwanda, Namibia, and Haiti, before coming back to the U.S. to...

Alumni spotlight

Alan Cohen (MPP ‘75) improves U.S. social security under 7 administrations

Jul 27, 2020

Alan Cohen (MPP '75) has led an impressive career in social security policy, means-tested programs, and federal budget policy. Working for both the executive and legislative branches, Cohen has transformed aspects of social security, means-tested...

Alumni spotlight

Sarah Perrine (MPP/MIRS ‘06) removes barriers to early education access in Bulgaria

Jul 27, 2020

Sarah Perrine (MPP/MIRS '06) has been a lifelong advocate for the Roma population in Bulgaria. Her Peace Corps placement in Bulgaria and homestay with a Roma family was formative. "I was shocked and troubled by the level of prejudice and...

News

Conflict and peace-making in focus as Christian Davenport joins the Ford School faculty

Jul 24, 2020

The Ford School welcomes Christian Davenport as faculty with a courtesy appointment. Davenport’s primary research interests include political conflict (particularly that involve governments and those affiliated with them) and peace and peacemaking...

Alumni spotlight

Steve Tobocman (MPP/JD ‘97) advocates for immigrant economic inclusion

Jul 20, 2020

Steve Tobocman (MPP/JD '97) has been a leading advocate for immigrant inclusion in Detroit over the past two decades. After serving in Michigan’s House of Representatives for six years–his final term as the second highest ranking legislator–he...

News

Combating poverty and inequality amidst a pandemic

Jul 19, 2020

Ford School Dean Michael S. Barr, Associate Dean and Poverty Solutions Director Luke Shaefer and Alford A. Young Jr., Professor of Sociology and African and African American Studies and courtesy faculty at the Ford School, discussed some of the ways...

Luke Shaefer, Michael Barr, and Al Young

Alumni spotlight

Fernandes-Alcantara (MPP ‘06) addresses barriers facing vulnerable youth

Jul 15, 2020

As a specialist in social policy at the Congressional Research Service, Adrienne Fernandes Alcantara (MPP '06) addresses the barriers vulnerable youth face, including youth who experience homelessness, foster care, sex trafficking, challenges in the...

Alumni spotlight

Tannistha Datta (MPA ‘09) protects children’s rights in India

Jul 13, 2020

Since volunteering with a children’s nonprofit in high school, Tannistha Datta (MPA '09) wanted to pursue children’s rights protection work. At the Ford School, this desire was confirmed. "Through policy and international development frameworks, the...

News

Unemployment remains steadily high in Detroit

Jun 30, 2020

As everyday activities in Detroit begin to resume, four out of 10 working Detroiters remain temporarily or permanently laid off, and many residents say they feel the state is reopening too soon. According to the third rapid response COVID-19...

News

Watkins-Hayes joins U-M Sociology and the Ford School of Public Policy

Jun 24, 2020

The University of Michigan is pleased to welcome Celeste Watkins-Hayes as a collegiate professor of public policy (pending Regental approval) in the Department of Sociology and Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. "I am thrilled to join the...

Alumni spotlight

Dr. Demessie (PhD ‘10) advances underserved communities

Jun 22, 2020

As the vice president of policy research and analysis at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Dr. Menna Demessie (PhD '10) strives to analyze and synthesize data and equip stakeholders with information to have constructive dialogue about...

Boom in demand for “anti-racist” books should lead to action - Lewis

Jun 15, 2020

Since the death of George Floyd and the nationwide flood of protest about racial inequity in policing, bookstore owners around the country have found a flood of interest in books addressing racism. An article entitled "Bookstore Owners Struggle...

Ford School’s Alex Ralph reports on mental health court during a pandemic

Jun 12, 2020

Alex Ralph, lecturer at the Ford School, reports for the Cincinnati Enquirer about the Hamilton County Felony Mental Health Court, established in 2010 and guided by the principle of “treatment in lieu of conviction.” The program looks after some...

Alumni spotlight

Schneidewind (MPP/MBA ‘15) practices international development at home and abroad

Jun 5, 2020

Serving in Mozambique with the Peace Corps, Jimmy Schneidewind (MPP/MBA '15) became frustrated by deep-rooted, operational red tape. "You become aware of what you don’t know," said Schneidewind, recalling the information disconnect between field...

News

Dean Michael Barr addresses racist violence

Jun 2, 2020

Dean Michael Barr sent the following letter to the Ford School community last night, Monday, June 1: Dear friends, I am writing to you at a time of great sorrow and upheaval. I write to acknowledge the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor,...

Alumni spotlight

Eric Rodriguez (MPP ‘19) innovates to reach vulnerable populations in San José with virtual local assistance center

May 29, 2020

Meeting the needs of vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 crisis was Ford School alum Eric Rodriguez’ (MPP ‘19) top priority. As senior executive analyst for the City of San José, Rodriguez launched the first virtual local assistance center...

News

Hampshire receives NSF grant to address food insecurity during the pandemic

May 27, 2020

Ford School professor Robert Hampshire works at the intersection of public policy and engineering, with a specific focus on using better transportation systems to overcome inequities in society. Since early fall 2019, he and his colleagues had been...

News

More than 4 in 10 Detroiters have lost jobs during pandemic

May 26, 2020

DETROIT—Forty-three percent of Detroiters who were working before the COVID-19 pandemic have since lost their jobs, either on a temporary or permanent basis, according to a new University of Michigan survey. The latest rapid-response COVID-19...

State & Hill

Toward a brighter future

May 22, 2020

New gift from Joan and Sanford Weill supports education and employment initiatives By David Pratt Longtime friends of the Ford School Joan and Sanford Weill have made a generous new investment in the school's work with a gift of $5...

News

Detroit housing shortage, evictions set stage for COVID-19 housing crisis

May 12, 2020

New research from Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan highlights the need for more robust eviction protections in Detroit in light of the number of people who have lost income during the COVID-19 pandemic, existing instability in the...

News

Two Ford School faculty awarded the prestigious Carnegie Fellowship

May 12, 2020

Two faculty members at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy have been chosen from hundreds of nominees as part of the prestigious Carnegie Fellows program. Professors Susan Dynarski and H. Luke Shaefer are among only...

Ford School alum supports efforts to tackle COVID-19 in developing Asia

May 12, 2020

In mid-April, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced an enormous $20 billion aid package to help Asian and Pacific developing countries address the negative economic and social impacts of COVID-19. ADB’s point person in North America, Ford...

News

TANF left out of coronavirus relief efforts

May 8, 2020

Temporary Assistance For Needy Families, or TANF, was created as part of the 1996 Welfare Reform bill as a way to give cash assistance to those most vulnerable. Yet at a time when millions of Americans are in dire need of cash assistance, the...

Luke Shaefer delivers a talk at the Ford School