Flint Water Crisis

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

In the Media

CLOSUP partnership with XBRL US, City of Flint highlighted

Mar 23, 2023 The Bond Buyer

CLOSUP, The Bond Buyer: "Flint is also at the forefront of the development of XBRL for financial reporting. Flint participated in a pilot project with the University of Michigan's Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy at the school's Ford School...

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

News

EPI examines education impacts of the Flint Water Crisis

Dec 4, 2022

Eight years ago, the Flint water crisis captured national attention when the city’s tap water was shown to be contaminated with lead. Since then, researchers have been rigorously studying this crisis and measuring the effects of this lead exposure...

Photo of the Flint Water Plant water tower in Flint, Michigan

News

A 20-year review of Flint finances shows consequences of lack of investment

Jun 8, 2022

The turmoil surrounding the City of Flint, MI – most infamously the Flint Water Crisis – has become a cautionary tale for other Rust Belt cities struggling to balance their budgets, provide services, and attract new business. A 20-year review of the...

Photo of a large metal arch with a sign reading "Flint: Vehicle city" at a gateway to Flint, Michigan

News

Jacob in the media discussing Flint academic performance study

May 22, 2022

The recent Education Policy Initiative study about Flint, which found Math achievement for school-age children in Flint decreased and the proportion of children with special needs increased as a result of the Michigan city's water crisis during...

Photo of Brian Jacob standing at the Annenberg Auditorium podium, delivering remarks at a public event

Publication

EPI studies Flint water crisis effects on academic outcomes

May 19, 2022

Math achievement for school-age children in Flint decreased and the proportion of children with special needs increased as a result of the Michigan city's water crisis during 2014-16, according to a new University of Michigan study. Those are the...

In the Media

Leiser comments on state disinvestment in local government

May 9, 2022 Michigan Radio

Michigan Radio reports that disinvestment in Michigan's local governments has had a direct effect on the deterioration of basic infrastructure, especially water and sewage systems. Stephanie Leiser, who leads the Michigan Local Government Fiscal...

News

CLOSUP and Ivacko applauded for partnering with city of Flint

Dec 8, 2021

News outlets are applauding Tom Ivacko and the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy's announcement about a project with the city of Flint that will examine whether a new fiscal reporting mechanism can help create transparency in local fiscal...

State & Hill

Breaking down public trust

Jun 10, 2021

By Rebecca Cohen (MPP '09)Americans’ trust in government institutions to “do the right thing” has steadily eroded since the late 1960s,1 correlated for many analysts with events such as the Vietnam War, Watergate, the ’70s oil embargo, and President...

Illustration of a hand, extended for a handshake, crumbling.

Meghan Klaric’s (MPP ’18) “Villanova fans for Flint, MI” fundraiser featured in MLive

Apr 18, 2018

Passions were running high at the NCAA championship basketball game between the University of Michigan and Villanova University on April 2. But Meghan Klaric (MPP ’18) says some Villanova fans crossed the line when they hung a banner near campus...

Kary Moss and Mark Wallace (MPP ’04) named Detroit News Michiganians of the Year

Sep 21, 2017

This month, The Detroit News honors Kary L. Moss, executive director of the ACLU of Michigan and a visiting lecturer at the Ford School, and Ford School alum Mark Wallace (MPP ’04), executive director of the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy, as...

Ivacko: Michigan state legislature should make emergency manager reform a top priority

Mar 15, 2017

An op-ed by CLOSUP program manager, Tom Ivacko (MPP '93), was published by the Detroit Free Press on March 11. In "Fixing EM law should be legislators' top priority," Ivacko makes the case that Michigan's laws regarding the appointment of emergency...

Latest CLOSUP survey shows declining confidence in Michigan’s leadership, direction

Jul 20, 2016

The latest Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), published by the Ford School's Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), finds that local leaders are less optimistic about the state’s direction.Statewide, only 44 percent of local leaders...

New undergrad politics, policy course offers opportunities to work with survey research data

Jun 28, 2016

The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) is offering a new undergraduate course for students looking for opportunities to work with survey research...

News

Discourse, Ford School faculty in the news roundup from spring 2016 State & Hill magazine

May 1, 2016

“The mantra in Michigan was a job, a better job, a career: Through work you would experience upward mobility. There was never any evidence that was the case.” Kristin Seefeldt on the false promise of U.S. welfare reform, The Atlantic, Dec. 1,...

State & Hill

Paula Lantz on testing ‘an ounce of prevention’ with private-sector funds

Apr 24, 2016

A workaround for cash-strapped governments and underserved populations Professor Paula Lantz has spent her career focused on how to improve population health and reduce health disparities. “I think it’s shameful that we live in a very wealthy...

Sam Gringlas (BA '16) receives Avery and Jule Hopwood Award for creative nonfiction

Apr 21, 2016

Congratulations to Sam Gringlas, a graduating senior at the Ford School, who has received an Avery and Jule Hopwood Award and a Helen J. Daniels Prize for "Substratum," a three-essay portfolio including "In Flint, lead contamination spurs fight for...

Moss’s decision to hire ACLU investigative reporter crucial to uncovering Flint water crisis

Apr 20, 2016

In its report released in late March, the task force appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder to investigate the Flint water crisis called the disaster a clear case of "environmental injustice," and a failure of state leadership. Identified as a chief culprit...

Tom Ivacko on emergency financial management and the Flint water crisis

Apr 12, 2016

CLOSUP program manager Tom Ivacko’s “What is lost when a state takes over a city,” was published on April 13 by Governing.com. The piece, which ran in "Voices of the Governing Institute," describes Michigan’s restrictive local government finance...

Davis and independent Flint panel cite environmental injustice, EMF system, and other key factors

Apr 11, 2016

An independent panel convened by Gov. Rick Snyder in the wake of the Flint water crisis concluded that government disregard for low-income residents and people of color contributed to the delay in action, according to a recent New York Times...

Students team up with Red Cross to distribute water, filters, and information in Flint

Feb 15, 2016

On Saturday February 6, nineteen Ford School MPPs volunteered with the Flint Red Cross to help with water delivery and outreach efforts in the wake of Flint’s water crisis. Students went door-to-door delivering water filters and cases of water and...

Gov. Snyder appoints Dr. Matthew Davis to new Flint water crisis-response task force

Oct 22, 2015

In a press release on Wednesday Gov. Rick Snyder appointed a task force to review "actions regarding water use and testing in Flint" and to make recommendations for future guidelines. Among those appointed is the Ford School's own Dr. Matthew...

ACLU's Kary Moss petitions EPA calling for immediate action on Flint’s water crisis

Oct 8, 2015

Kary Moss, a lecturer at the Ford School and executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan, worked with a coalition of groups behind the Flint Water Study to petition the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take...

ACLU's Kary Moss renews call for civil asset forfeiture reform - content image

Policy Talks @ the Ford School, EPI Speaker Series, Gilbert S. Omenn and Martha A. Darling Health Policy Fund

Lead in the water: What are the educational impacts on Flint students?

Nov 30, 2022, 4:30-6:00 pm EST

Weill Hall, Betty Ford Auditorium (room 1110)

Join Professor Brian Jacob for a conversation on the academic impacts of the Flint Water Crisis 7-8 years later, and the big picture implications for young people in the community, featuring Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha - recognized as one of USA Today’s Women of the Century for her role in uncovering the Flint water crisis and leading recovery effort - alongside Dr. Sam Trejo, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Princeton University, and Flint Community Schools Superintendent Kevelin Jones.

Real-World Perspectives on Poverty Solutions

In deep water: The role of municipal debt in environmental crises and racial disparities

Oct 7, 2022, 12:00-1:00 pm EDT

School of Social Work, ECC 1840

Louise Seamster, Assistant Professor in Sociology and Criminology and African American Studies at the University of Iowapresent as part of the Real World Perspectives on Poverty Solutions Speaker Series.

Public Policy and the Ongoing Flint Water Crisis: Community Perspectives

Oct 24, 2016, 4:00-5:30 pm EDT

Weill Hall, Annenberg Auditorium

There are many discussions regarding the water crisis affecting our neighbors in Flint. The Ford School is putting together this panel discussion to help the local public engage in policy-focused dialogue from the perspectives of key Flint community members.

CLOSUP Lecture Series

Michigan’s Municipal Water Infrastructure: Policy Choices and Issues Conference

Mar 22, 2016, 8:30 am-12:00 pm EDT

Lansing Convention Center

The “Michigan’s Municipal Water Infrastructure: Policy Choices and Issues” conference is being sponsored by a consortium of universities across the state, with the hope of bringing a voice of academic research and analysis to the topic of municipal water policy in the state (particularly relevant in the face of the crisis in Flint). Faculty will present on a range of issues: from water supply engineering issues to municipal funding needs to health and environmental impacts to state and federal regulation.For more information and to register, please visit http://events.anr.msu.edu/MMWI/ This conference is free, however space is limited so please register early to secure your spot.

Attisha and Trejo: Lead in the water

Nov 30, 2022 1:24:32

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha and Dr. Sam Trejo discuss the academic impacts of the Flint Water Crisis 7-8 years later, and the big picture implications for young people in the community. November, 2022.

Public Policy and the Ongoing Flint Water Crisis panel

Oct 24, 2016 1:28:09

E. Hill De Loney, Kent Key, Nayyirah Shariff, Chris Kolb, and moderator Donald Vereen and host Paula Lantz discuss how the local public can engage in policy-focused dialogue. October, 2016.