Policy Topics

Poverty and social policy

Showing 121 - 150 of 1259 results

News

Addressing housing instability important as the school year begins - Erb-Downward

Aug 18, 2023

Back to school brings several challenges, from student learning, expectations of academic success and mental health concerns among children to questioning technology replacing educators and AI and the ongoing shortage of teachers, school staff and...

Photo of a teacher and three young elementary school students around a classroom table

News

Ford School welcomes Justin Holz as faculty

Aug 18, 2023

Economist Justin Holz joins the Ford School as an assistant professor. Holz’s current research explores how economic policies affect racial disparities, how to increase tax compliance in large businesses, and police misconduct. "I am excited to...

News

Chronic housing instability poses educational risk for Detroit students

Aug 16, 2023

As Detroit children prepare to return to school, widespread and chronic housing instability among city residents poses a threat to students’ ability to perform well academically. New research from the University of Michigan’s Poverty...

Publication

Mapping poverty in America: Shaefer’s new book explores “The Injustice of Place”

Aug 3, 2023

America is rife with "internal colonies," where systemic violence, resource extraction, and corruption among decision makers have contributed to generations of poverty and disadvantage. These communities suffer from environmental degradation, lack...

News

PPIA students reflect on their summer of study and social life

Aug 2, 2023

What are the dynamics of inequity in labor markets? How do we determine appropriate categories for people in a multicultural society? How is the U.S. approach to ethnicity and nationality different from what they are doing in Europe? These were...

Group of PPIA students posing in front of Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy courtyard

News

Chicago's public bank discussions should center community needs

Jul 19, 2023

A new University of Michigan study finds Chicago residents are receptive to the idea of a city-run public bank, but they have questions about how the bank would operate and what measures would ensure public banking benefits for their...

News

Leiser and Shaefer comment on Detroit bankruptcy anniversary

Jul 18, 2023

As the city of Detroit marked the 10th anniversary of its declaration of bankruptcy, publications took stock of the progress the city has made. Bloomberg quoted the Center for Local, State and Urban Policy’s (CLOSUP) Stephanie Leiser, who leads...

News

Ford School’s Katherine Michelmore Senate testimony - “Assessing 25 years of the Child Tax Credit”

Jul 13, 2023

Ford School Associate Professor Katherine Michelmore testified before the United States Senate Finance Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight, sharing her insights into the effectiveness, and drawbacks, of the first 25 years of the Child Tax...

News

Engaged Learning Student Projects Catalog: Preparing Ford School students for leadership

Jun 29, 2023

During the Winter Term 2023, Ford School students were involved in projects with federal, state, county, city, and township governments, school districts, non-profit organizations, and commissions. They worked with the school’s numerous research...

Weill Hall entrance with "Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy" etched into the glass

News

PhD alumna Sasha Killewald to direct U-M's Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics

Jun 27, 2023

Alexandra (Sasha) Killewald will be the next director of the Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics at the University of Michigan, effective July 1. Killewald is a PhD alum of the Ford School and is being recommended as a professor of sociology in...

News

Ford School expert: One year after Dobbs decision, restrictive abortion laws part of a 'willful policy vacuum'

Jun 26, 2023

As the one-year anniversary passes on the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade—and with it the constitutional right to an abortion—University of Michigan public policy professor Paula Lantz offers insights on the ramifications of that...

Publication

Thacher on coercion in mental health treatment

Jun 26, 2023

The death of Jordan Neely on a subway car in New York in May remains in the news, as a former marine, Daniel Penny, has been indicted for the chokehold that killed him. In the background, details of Neely’s mental illness has reignited a debate...

In the Media

Seefeldt: "Poverty is a policy choice"

Jun 22, 2023 Newsweek

Kristin Seefeldt, Newsweek: n terms of age, race, and gender identity, America's poor are "a heterogeneous group of people," Kristin Seefeldt, associate director of Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan, told Newsweek. "But children are...

In the Media

Shaefer on child tax credit: It works!

Jun 16, 2023 Minnesota Public Radio

Luke Shaefer, Minnesota Public Radio: Professor Luke Shaefer, who directs the University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions initiative, said he’ll be keeping close tabs on what results. “It's not a silver bullet. It's not going to solve all of the...

Photo of Luke Shaefer in the Ford School's Towsley Reading Room

Publication

$8.2M in emergency rental assistance spent at Detroit properties where landlords still moved to evict

Jun 14, 2023

University of Michigan researchers found that at least $8.2 million in federal emergency rental assistance funds were spent at single-family properties in Detroit where landlords still moved to evict tenants within six months of payment. A new...

Publication

New policy brief from Wayne State University, Poverty Solutions reveals Detroit schools under-identify homeless students

Jun 14, 2023

A recent study conducted by the Wayne State University College of Education’s Detroit Partnership for Education Equity & Research (Detroit PEER) found that students experiencing homelessness and housing instability are severely under-identified by...

News

DMACS to study impact of Strategic Neighborhood Fund in Detroit

Jun 12, 2023

The University of Michigan’s Detroit Metro Area Communities Study (DMACS) was recently contracted by Invest Detroit, a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution, to look at the relationship between community investment and overall trends...

Photo of homes in Detroit's Chaldean Town neighborhood

News

Ann Arbor to pilot guaranteed basic income program in partnership with University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions

Jun 6, 2023

Ann Arbor City Council voted June 5 to approve an agreement with the University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions to pilot a guaranteed basic income program aimed at low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs in Ann Arbor. In April 2022, city...

News

Poverty Solutions research assistants support groups advancing Detroit financial well-being projects

May 31, 2023

Getting money into the savings accounts of some Detroiters is more challenging than one might think. Before people can think about long-term financial planning, they need their immediate needs met. And those opening bank accounts for the first time...

poverty solutions detroit research assistanrts

In the Media

DNEP tech worker training saluted in Detroit Free Press

May 26, 2023 Detroit Free Press

Detroit Free Press: A unique free program that pairs college students and professionals with Detroit small business owners in need of digital and other skills is getting results. Since the start of the Community Tech Workers program, 135 micro...

News

Spelman students chosen for the Youth Policy Lab’s summer policy research experience

May 23, 2023

This summer, four outstanding undergraduate students from Spelman College will participate in the University of Michigan’s Applied Social Policy Internship and Research Experience (ASPIRE)—a seven-week summer program run by the Youth Policy Lab...

In the Media

Shaefer: Child poverty "plummets" with cash transfer programs

May 22, 2023 WDET Detroit Today

Luke Shaefer, WDET Detroit Today: Country and after country, when they apply this cash transfer scheme -- raising kids is expensive and so society has a reason to come alongside parents in that work -- child poverty...

Luke Shaefer delivers a talk at the Ford School

News

New Michigan Medicine Program Seeks to Address Adolescent and Child Health-care Inequities

May 18, 2023

Michigan Medicine has launched a first-of-its-kind program designed to identify and address equity issues for young patients and their families receiving care at U-M Health, throughout Michigan and across the nation. The new Program for Equity in...

News

The impact of Title 42 on disease prevention and migrants' well-being

May 17, 2023

Title 42 was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic under the Trump administration with the aim of restricting the entry of migrants into the United States, citing concerns over potential disease spread and resource strain. However, the...

Photo of Ann Lin in her office at the U-M's Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies

News

U-M’s Poverty Solutions takes an evidence-based approach to improving life in Detroit and beyond

May 17, 2023

Luke Shaefer is the director of Poverty Solutions, a university-wide initiative that partners hundreds of University of Michigan faculty experts and student researchers with community organizations and policymakers to alleviate poverty. Shaefer said...

News

Suburban Detroit Water Unaffordability: Causes, Consequences, and the Need for Comprehensive Policy Interventions

May 16, 2023

A policy brief from Poverty Solutions outlines the need for policy reform in the delivery of clean water, based on assessments of economically diverse communities in the Detroit area. Michigan is blessed with a significant portion of the world’s...

News

Shaefer's Flint collaboration making news

May 12, 2023

A new program that will grant Flint families with new babies $7,500 has been making the news, as it addresses "one of the most fundamental social determinants of health: poverty." The program, Rx Kids, received an initial grant of $15 million from...

Photo of Luke Shaefer seated in Weill Hall's Great Hall

News

Ford School's Paula Lantz: Implications of restrictive abortion policies on maternal health, social welfare

May 10, 2023

Restrictive abortion policies in the U.S. are predicted to have negative effects on maternal health, women's economic opportunities and social welfare systems. A multidisciplinary team of experts from the University of Michigan warns that...

News

Racial justice practitioners help policy students apply new skills

May 5, 2023

How do policy professionals apply racial justice in practice? This semester, the Ford School’s Center of Racial Justice hosted a series of workshops to explore different dimensions of justice, from antiracism and global development to community...

News

Pretrial risk assessment tools found to be subjective and biased

May 4, 2023 Read the full brief

In their attempts to reform the cash bail system, jurisdictions across the country are turning to automated pretrial risk assessment tools that ‘predict’ if a defendant will be arrested for a new crime while waiting for trial or will fail to appear...