Policy Topics

Poverty and social policy

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In the Media

Shaefer on the success of the CARES Act

Oct 15, 2020 New York Times

“It wasn’t perfect, but hands down it’s the most successful thing we’ve ever done in negating hardship,” said H. Luke Shaefer. Read the full New York Times article...

News

Poverty Solutions receives grant to develop homelessness data-to-action playbook

Oct 14, 2020

Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan is one of three organizations across the country contributing to a new “Education Leads Home” Data-to-Action Playbook that will offer guidance on how to use student homelessness data to advocate for...

News

Shaefer highlights success of Michigan’s response to COVID’s economic crisis

Oct 9, 2020

“Sometimes, when we’re not looking, government does the remarkable.” That’s the assessment of Ford School professor H. Luke Shaefer, director of Poverty Solutions, on the effectiveness of Michigan’s response to the economic crisis created by...

Luke Shaefer delivers a talk at the Ford School

News

More than $260K awarded for research on confronting, combating racism

Oct 2, 2020

Now that Genesee County has declared racism a public health crisis, what role can residents play in guiding the county’s efforts to eliminate racist policies and practices? That’s one of the research questions University of Michigan faculty will...

A rainy protest with a sign reading "Black Lives Matter"

News

October 2020: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Ford School

Oct 1, 2020

Updates regarding faculty, staff, and student DEI-related activity at the Ford School Diversifying what and how we teach Based on a generous gift from Hal and Carol Kohn and the Kohn Charitable Trust, the Ford School will establish...

News

New U-M report lifts up Detroit residents' priorities for economic mobility

Sep 25, 2020

A new report from the University of Michigan's Poverty Solutions lifts up more than a decade's worth of input from Detroit residents on how to increase economic mobility and decrease poverty in their city. The community-based research project,...

Publication

Employer Resource Networks hold promise to increase retention and improve productivity of entry-level workers - Shaefer

Sep 24, 2020

Employer Resource Networks (ERNs) involve local networks of employers collectively providing work support services to their entry-level workforce. In a paper published for the American Enterprise Institute, Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of...

Publication

Parthasarathy’s report shows innovation policy ignores marginalized communities

Sep 23, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed policymaking biases that have ignored poor and marginalized communities, argues Ford school professor Shobita Parthasarathy. In a paper, Innovation Policy, Structural Inequality, and COVID-19, published in the...

Professor Shobita Parthasarathy leads a discussion in the Betty Ford Classroom

News

Michael Barr joins Kresge Foundation Board

Sep 21, 2020

Ford School Dean Michael Barr has been appointed to serve on the Board of Trustees of The Kresge Foundation. The Foundation was founded in 1924 to promote human progress and today fulfills that mission by building and strengthening pathways to...

In the Media

Stevenson discusses rising permanent unemployment and smart investments on BBC

Sep 18, 2020 BBC World Service

“Permanent unemployment is much harder to solve... It's going to be a long slog getting folks back to work and it's not clear that we're going to get the kind of support from the government that we need, but I do think that policy can mitigate some...

News

Kohn gift establishes two new social policy professorships at the Ford School

Sep 17, 2020

The Karl and Martha Kohn Professorship of Social Policy will advance societal equity and inclusion in the United States. The Arlene Susan Kohn Professorship of Social Policy will address the rights of the disabled in the United States. With a $5...

Karl Kohn, Martha Kohn, and Arlene Susan Kohn

In the Media

Shaefer: Record high 2019 U.S. median income sobering in comparison to coronavirus impacts

Sep 15, 2020 Reuters

“No one yet knows the full impact of the economic and public health crisis that is consuming our lives today and disproportionately impacting the poorest American families,” said H. Luke Shaefer. Read the full Reuters article...

In the Media

Stevenson testifies on the effects of fiscal relief inaction

Sep 11, 2020 Law 360

"One of the problems we've seen is that high-income households have really boosted their savings [with CARES Act funding]. And when you're saving, you're not spending and that's part of what's caused the economy to contract." Read the full Law...

News

Joy Rohde selected as an Institute for Advanced Study Scholar

Sep 2, 2020

Today’s debates about the use of big data, algorithms and computer models in policy-making have deep historical roots. Historian and Ford School professor Joy Rohde argues that the intersection of computing, social science, and public policy is as...

News

Young and Lewis comment on rise in Black gun ownership

Aug 31, 2020

The economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and the upcoming presidential election and the need to assert gun rights are spurring increases in gun ownership, according to an article in the Detroit Free Press . And in the midst of these...

News

Students support local organizations to improve equity

Aug 28, 2020

One element of the struggle for economic equity in Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) communities is the intentional denial of support networks that provide funding, customers, connections or other resources for businesses and...

Three people, wearing masks, at a meeting.

Alumni spotlight

Caroline Andridge (BA ‘14) keeps a person-centered approach to humanitarian relief

Aug 27, 2020

Even in high school, Caroline Andridge (BA '14) had a vision of shaping policy that would impact an individual’s quality of life. She came to Michigan already intending to apply to the Ford School. She said: "I was drawn to the ability to dig...

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

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...

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...

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