A curated collection of timely and topical policy alerts that shine a light on issues related to child well-being, healthy youth development, family welfare and racial equity.
St. Louis voters approved $5 million for affordable housing, but budget routinely falls short
May 22, 2017 St. Louis is on track to underfund the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund for the sixth straight year, despite a $5 million minimum annual allocation voters passed in 2002. This comes about a month after voters approved a half-cent sales tax increase for public transit and affordable housing. Washington University assistant professor Molly […]
Aldermen host second Housing Urban Development public hearing to discuss development incentives
June 13, 2017 City residents were invited to voice their opinions on how the city should support housing and economic development at the second public hearing before the HUDZ committee of the Board of Aldermen, chaired by Alderman Joe Roddy (17th). Brown School MSW ’17 Alum, Jessica Payne, along with Molly Metzger, PhD and chairperson […]
Some ACA costs are offset by societal savings linked to fewer home delinquencies
June 13, 2017 Low-income people who gain health insurance are much more likely to make their rent and mortgage payments, according to a new Washington University study of families living near the poverty line. Lead researcher Emily Gallagher, with the Center for Social Development (CSD), says “the spin-off benefits to the community may offset a substantial share […]
Senate plan is biggest cut yet to health-care safety net
June 26, 2017 Timothy McBride, professor at the Brown School and co-director of the Center for Health Economics and Policy, expects that the bill will lead to over 24 million people being uninsured and very large, perhaps devastating, cuts to the Medicaid program, which currently covers about 75 million children, disabled, aged and other adults. Source: https://source.wustl.edu/2017/06/washu-expert-senate-health-care-plan-will-dramatically-increase-uninsured/
Parker Leads Community Discussion on Communications and Social Justice
On January 20, 2018, Gary Parker, Associate Dean of External Affairs and Director of the Clark-Fox Policy Institute at the Brown School, moderated a panel discussion hosted by the Community Service Public Relations Council (CSPRC) titled Aligning Our Work with Action: Communicating During Times of Unrest and Uncertainty. Parker led the group through a conversation […]
Three questions on economic insecurity with Mark Rank
August 21, 2017 Rank and Hirschl are the authors of Chasing the American Dream: Understanding What Shapes Our Fortunes, which uses the Panel Study of Income Dynamics — the longest-running longitudinal household survey in the world — to paint a picture of income inequality in the United States. Using the same data, the two created a poverty risk calculator that […]
School health clinics are growing in number in St. Louis region
August 23, 2017 Research has shown that poor health is a barrier to student learning, is associated with lower grades and is a common reason why students miss school or drop out. School-based health clinics such as Normandy’s are one of a number of ways educators are seeking to address not just their students’ educational needs, […]
Missouri Children’s Leadership Council advocacy efforts bring policy efforts to federal attention
August 30, 2017 Last week, Rep. Kathy Swan (R-147, Cape Girardeau) wrote an OpEd urging Congress to reauthorize and fund the Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting program (MIECHV). You can read Rep. Swan’s OpEd here. Additionally, Dana Carroll, Springfield’s Child Advocate, had a letter to the editor published asking congress to act before CHIP funding expires […]
Sheretta Butler-Barnes: Equity in Education
September 12, 2017 In summer 2017, Assistant Professor Sheretta Butler-Barnes continued her work with the Girls Inc. Eureka! Program, which exposes high school girls of color to an intensive STEM-based curriculum. Her research addresses structural racism and inequalities in education and youth development.
Disparities in educational experiences of black youth
September 20, 2017 A more comprehensive picture of mental health that includes subjective well-being and other positive mental health characteristics could lead to more successful educational experiences among black youth, finds a recent study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. “We demonstrated the need to use a dual-factor model of mental health […]
WashU Expert: CHIP demise devastating to millions of American children
October 5, 2017 An estimated 9 million children are now covered by the CHIP program across the U.S. In Missouri, more 624,000 children are covered by a combination of CHIP and Medicaid, though most children are covered by Medicaid. “CHIP has led to a substantial reduction in the uninsured rate for children, to the point […]
Washington People: Sheretta Butler-Barnes
October 25, 2017 Sheretta Butler Barnes, assistant professor in the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, focuses her research on structural racism and inequalities in education. In this video, she talks about her motivation and her work, including a program to encourage girls of color in STEM subjects.