Brookings blog on measuring economic need

As staff at RMAPI will be quick to remind us, the federal poverty line is a limited measure of poverty. The measure is far too low. I often think of the scene from The West Wing (click here for a refresher) about the federal poverty line formula.

On June 20th, Brookings published a blog post about measuring economic need, arguing for a calculation of a basket of basic necessities to highlight budget shortfalls. From this vantage point, the Economic Policy Institute at Brookings assembled family budgets, a variety of charts and figures, and an explanation of economic realities for too many families in the US.

This community talks about poverty a lot, let’s make sure we know what poverty actually means.

Curated Article: Rochester Beacon’s take on “Momentum toward 2024”

On June 6th, the Rochester Beacon published an article about Rochester’s comprehensive plan, which is “concerned with planning and designing for people, not cars.”

The article includes user-friendly graphics, a summary of progress, a description of the placemaking theme, and how community engagement plays into this work. As informed citizens, we should have an idea of the ideas and components of these kinds of plans, and this article provides a very approachable outline, with context.

ACT Rochester also participates in the Transportation Impact Collective, a collaborative effort to add intention and momentum to this work.

Curated Post: Next City Covers Rochester as featured case about banking efforts

On June 3rd, 2024, nonprofit resource Next City posted a story titled “Why a Rochester Credit Union Wants the Local Government to Create Its Own Bank” as a case study for lenders meeting residents’ and small business owners’ needs. The Genesee Co-op Federal Credit Union is featured as part of a push to create a Bank of Rochester, a “public bank” intended to hold only government deposits and partner with local private lenders.

The article outlines how the idea of a public bank would work and makes the argument for the potential of such a program. This idea is also a spark for thinking about alternative lending, alternative banking options.

As we learned in Dr. Matthew Desmond’s Poverty, by America, the banking industry is a particularly institutionalized impediment for upward mobility. Consider this alternative, or come up with your own ideas, as you engage in conversations about banking equity, and the potential of this community to encourage home ownership, small business development, and our general upward mobility efforts.

A State-Level Look at the Social Safety Net

The US social safety net is a collection of programs meant to support families experiencing financial hardship. The provision of these programs varies widely by state, and Brookings has published an article and interactive data tool for us to review New York State. These are great references to consider, particularly as we think about the elections coming up in November and the overall well-being of our community.

As you review these tools, also consider New York State tax credit policies, laid out and defined here. Consider looking up other states as well, so you can put New York in context.

Curated Webinar: ARPA and US Placemaking

On Tuesday, June 11th from 1:30pm to 3:00pm Eastern Time, Next City is hosting a webinar to explore ARPA’s significant investment in local governments. The webinar includes representatives from PlacemakingUS, National League of Cities, and Michigan Municipal League to discuss what we have seen with ARPA’s historic investment at the state and local level. Click here to learn more.  

Locally, we have been intentional in our approach to ARPA funds, with an eye toward inclusive and equitable recovery. See our Inclusive Recovery narrative page and Federal Recovery Funds dashboard for more information and relevant case studies.

Guest Post: Navigating Screen Time in Early Childhood

It’s no secret that too much screen time can throw off a child’s bedtime routine or cut into playtime that’s critical for their physical and social development. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests keeping it simple: no screens for kids under 2 (except for video chats) and only an hour a day for children between 2 and 5, focusing on high-quality programming.

Despite the downsides, there's a silver lining to screen use. Educational apps and shows from trusted creators like Sesame Workshop and PBS Kids have been lifesavers, offering engaging ways to introduce concepts like ABCs and 123s. We want to choose programs that are age-appropriate and foster curiosity rather than passive consumption.

My Top Tips for a Balanced Screen Diet

1. Pick Quality Content: Just like we watch what our kids eat, let’s be selective about what they watch. Look for programs that are educational and free of fast-paced, flashy distractions.

2. Set Clear Boundaries: Consistency is everything. Set clear rules about when screens are allowed and when they’re not, and stick to them as much as possible.

3. Watch Together: Whenever you can, sit down and watch with your kids. This lets us talk about what they're seeing and connect it back to things they know or have experienced, which turns screen time into a shared, interactive moment.

4. Designate Screen-free Spaces: Let’s make spaces like bedrooms a no-screen zone, which helps signal that these spaces are for sleeping and relaxing, not digital play.

5. Encourage Other Activities: Let’s also look for ways to get our kids playing outside or with toys that don’t have a power button. It’s important they learn to find joy and engagement in activities that don’t involve screens.

Finding the perfect balance of screen time can feel daunting, but by setting thoughtful guidelines and actively participating in how our children engage with digital media, we can make sure technology acts as a tool for learning and growth, not just a way to pass the time. It’s all about creating a healthy media diet that works for each child’s needs and the family’s values. Here’s to navigating the digital age with a little more confidence and a lot more heart!

Dr. Tyana Velazquez-Smith is the Director of Early Childhood at Rochester Area Community Foundation. With a doctorate in Teaching and Curriculum from the University of Rochester, Dr. Velazquez-Smith is an adjunct instructor at U of R, teaching courses like Race, Class, Gender & Disability in American Schools. She is the Founder and CEO of Sensational Inclusion, dedicated to building equitable educational ecosystems. Dr. Velazquez-Smith is a native Rochestarian, passionate activist, educator, and dedicated researcher.

The University of Chicago Crime Lab and RIT’s Center for Public Safety Initiatives

Public safety, incarceration, and the national gun violence crisis is top of mind, locally and across the US. The concern is clear, but the solutions are not. Enter: higher education-sponsored research and evaluation.

Prestigious universities are directing resources and human capital to learn more about how to increase safety in our communities. The University of Chicago’s Crime Lab is nationally renowned and oft-referenced for its work in this area, and we have a local center dedicated to public safety research at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

The Crime Lab at the University of Chicago’s stated mission is to design, test, and scale data-driven innovations to improve the public sector’s response to the dual challenges of America’s gun violence crisis and a criminal justice system that is not truly just. Their website is a valuable resource for research and findings based in Chicago, and the vision suggests that they plan to expand their work nationwide.

RIT’s College of Liberal Arts hosts a multi-disciplinary research center called the Center for Public Safety Initiatives that examines strategies to reduce crime and enhance the administration of justice. Services of the center include program evaluation, data analytics, and project management. Be sure to visit the website for research, staff and student information, and a story map collection that provides public-safety data for Monroe County.

Curated Article: An Innovative Approach to Traffic Safety

The Stanford Social Innovation Review has an excellent article titled “A New Model for Saving Lives on Roads Around the World” that both highlights a successful program in India and models rigorous problem-solving.

The article begins with descriptive statistics to paint the picture of the safety crisis for vehicles in India. Authors point out that India has only 1 percent of the world’s motor vehicles yet accounts for 11 percent of road crash fatalities. The data story is clear: Intervention is necessary.

This article is particularly notable because of its advanced use of data for decision-making. In one section, authors describe how data indicated a need to prevent rear-end collisions, but that guidance from the West suggested tactile edge lines that didn’t work in India. The solution began with existing guidance and was then customized to suit the Indian community in need. Continuous improvement in action.

The Design Thinking section of the Stanford Social Innovation Review is an excellent resource to train our thinking about problem-solving.

Curated Webinar: Black voters and the complexity of race and politics in the 2024 elections

On May 16, 2024, the Race, Prosperity, and Inclusion Initiative at Brookings held a virtual event where scholars discussed trends and insights specifically about Black voters. The live YouTube event highlighted some myths about Black voters – including debunking the idea that Black people don’t vote – and provided insight into why Black voters may not unanimously support the Democratic party in the way that popular culture would like.

Pro tip: At about 49 minutes in, an audience member asks for how white allies can support Black voters.

Note: Brookings will be hosting similar webinars for other racial/ethnic groups. Sign up for the Race, Prosperity, and Inclusion Initiative events newsletter here.

Guest Post: Census Geographies

To unlock the power of the US Census (data provided every 10 years) and the American Community Survey (data provided every year), an understanding of relevant underlying geographies is crucial. Below are explanations of the nine most relevant Census geographies.

Census Block: The smallest geography in the census, it represents a small segment of housing units in a neighborhood. Limited data is available, especially in lower density areas.

Census Block Group: A collection of census blocks are packaged together to create a census block group. Census block groups roughly represent neighborhoods.

Census Tract: This is the smallest unit in which population-level data from the Census is widely available. There are between 1,200 and 8,000 people in each census tract, but the optimal number per tract is 4,000. 

Zip Code Tabulation Areas: This geography contains all addresses within a postal code. Zip codes can be found in parts of the county in which census blocks, census block groups, and census tracts may not be found. Zip codes follow existing geographic barriers such as county subdivisions and counties to a lesser extent than other smaller geographies. 

County Subdivisions: This geography consists of cities, towns, townships, and villages within a specific county. These geographies are the smallest relevant self-governing geography included in the Census. The geographic boundaries of county subdivisions do not align well with other geographic boundaries such as Zip codes and census tracts.

Place: This geography is very similar to county subdivision, but it contains unincorporated areas in some states and is divorced from county of origin.

Counties: These are a largely administrative geography with a focus on governance. Counties consist of county subdivisions and places, and typically envelop urban high-density cities. This geography varies greatly in population across the United States, but is a strong choice for evaluative geography due to the relatively low standard error in Census and ACS metrics.

Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs): This geography is based around core urban areas and encompasses all areas around this core that have a high degree of economic and social integration. MSAs are not limited by counties, places, or county subdivisions, but can cross relevant political boundaries in order to capture population interest.

Combined Statistical Areas (CSAs): This geography builds upon the concept of MSAs to include surrounding areas with less integration but high economic reliance on major metro areas. This could include hinterlands of major metros that are only semi-urban. CSAs create a boundary to identify regions that transcend metro boundaries.

In light of these definitions, we urge you to consider the geography of the question or problem that you have in mind. In many cases, we may need to consider establishing more localized data collection.

Written by Cameron Caputi, Director of Foundation and Community Analytics at Rochester Area Community Foundation. Cameron has a Master of Public Policy and Management degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and is a skilled data scientist focused on data processes, dashboard creation, and advanced coding.

Curated Chapters: Chapter 3 and Chapter 9 in Matthew Desmond’s Poverty, by America

One of the charges for Poverty Abolitionists in Matthew Desmond’s Poverty, by America is his argument about the inequities of the US banking system. In Chapter 3, Desmond calls out banking. If you have not read the full book yet, I recommend flagging pages 71 to 79. Desmond’s argument is that the poor are trapped in a cycle of debt. From fee structures (think overdraft fees) to overt racial discrimination in banking practices to even banking hours kept, the system is not designed for the poor. Pile on the credit system and qualifying for loans and it’s an uphill battle, to say the very least. So, how can we work toward a more equitable banking system?

Chapter 9 highlights zoning laws as key vehicles for exclusion and a key component of structural inequality. Desmond argues for a diversity of voices in the zoning conversations, where decisions about community development are made by a group that better reflects the community. If we can move toward more inclusive zoning policy, we would move toward setting a norm of inclusivity.

The City of Rochester is updating its zoning code, see Rochester Zoning Alignment Project to learn more.

Representative Data

On May 7, 2024, the Brookings Institution published commentary on the federal government’s updates to standards for defining race and ethnic categories across government agencies. The commentary is quick to note that standards are still not perfect: Identifying information falls far short of inclusivity.

In addition to learning about policy updates, the Brookings commentary is an important reminder of the challenges, nuances, and technicalities of representative data.

Our Community Indicators dashboard uses Census data and data from New York State agencies, all of which have wrestled with these issues. As we note in the Community Indicators section, we know that the racial/ethnic categories may not feel like a direct representation of your racial/ethnic identity and, for some, may not feel empowering. We hope to make bigger strides toward more expansive and inclusive terminology.

New Jersey is Taking Bold Action against Exclusionary Zoning

Local planning boards do not tend to be a hot topic or trendy conversation starter, but they may be a key location for actual social change.

The state of New Jersey has heard the call and, in March 2024, enacted legislation to require affordable housing in communities that have historically been exclusive. According to the write-up by NextCity, the new law will make it harder for wealthy towns in New Jersey to block new developments, and it provides incentives for building near transit, redeveloping underutilized structures, and targeting the neediest families (by income, IDEA requirements, etc.) in addition to tax incentives.

Working Backwards for Social Issue Problem-Solving: Bill Gates on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Social problems are complex and require a structured, rigorous approach to finding solutions. For example, ACT Rochester uses the ‘4 Cs’ as a guide to support systematized problem-solving. The more structured we are in addressing the complex issues, the more accurately we can diagnose a solution and build a persuasive story.

We start with the problem, working backwards to identify what we need to know and identify opportunities to intervene. It’s science. Tried and true.

In a recent episode on popular podcast Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, Bill Gates discusses his rigorous approach to problem-solving in his work for the Gates Foundation. Early in the episode (a little over 14 and a half minutes in), Gates references his reliance on descriptive statistics for contextual understanding. He then makes a quick reference to the fact that his foundation sponsors autopsies on children in India so that they can be sure that they address leading causes of death. The interview doesn’t focus on this point, but it is worth underlining . Since the Gates Foundation is committed to saving lives, Gates and his team acknowledged that first they needed to understand what was taking lives.

Consider this structured way of thinking. Identify a goal. Figure out root causes to identify interventions. Rinse. Repeat.

Some Facts About Rental Housing

On the heels of sociologist Matthew Desmond’s visit to Rochester in March 2024, housing and renting circumstances are top of mind for poverty abolitionists. (See also Eviction Lab resources, but note that none of the counties in our region are included).

In March 2024, the Brookings Institution published an article “Ten Economic Facts about Rental Housing” that provides important information about the average circumstances of renters.

Reading articles like this provides some data about housing realities in Rochester, the full 8-county region, and nationwide.

What story do you have about renters? What did you learn in this article that challenged your story?

The Pursuit of Improvement

In our last post, we shared a bit about the importance of pilot programs and the value of having an end point to analyze impact. Pilots are one example of using improvement science to find solutions and make changes.

Taking a wider view, pilots are often part of a commonly used approach called the Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) Cycle. Data is at the heart of every step in this systematic problem-solving model. It is essential for understanding the problem, identifying potential solutions, and determining whether these changes actually lead to improvement.

Learn more about how the PDSA Cycle works and how it can be applied to almost any improvement project and feel free to contact actrochester@racf.org for assistance.

Testing a Guaranteed Basic Income

In Rochester, one in four people live in poverty. Imagine how our community might change if everyone had enough money to cover living expenses, as well as enough to manage urgent or unexpected ones.

That’s part of what the City of Rochester is exploring in its 12-month Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot Program, which began in 2023. The idea is to see how a guaranteed payment of $500 per month will help residents who live at or below 185% of the federal poverty level. Payments are unconditional — participants do not have work requirements or restrictions on how to spend money.

Other cities across the country are exploring similar programs to find ways to address poverty.

Pilot programs like these are valuable because they allow us to test novel approaches on a small scale in the real world. The key is that these projects last only for a prescribed period of time. Fears of failure and loss of funding can bring the temptation to let them go on indefinitely without analysis, but it is essential to stop and evaluate the data.

Rochester’s Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot made its first payments in October 2023. As the program unfolds over the coming months, city officials and their community partners will be examining its impacts. We will all have to stay tuned!

Who gets in to college, and why does it matter?

On July 26, 2023, Economists Raj Chetty of Harvard University and John Friedman of Brown University published a paper examining the impact of college admissions on upward mobility. They used admissions data, income tax records, and SAT/ACT test scores to study whether a change in admissions policies at the most prestigious colleges could increase socioeconomic diversity of US leaders.

Their work finds that current admissions policies perpetuate privilege, emphasizing legacy status, extracurricular activities, and athletics — all of which are biased toward affluence. The takeaway is that a change in policy toward a focus on other factors could improve socioeconomic diversity in accepted students and therefore improve upward mobility.

For a deeper dive, read the paper and check out this Brookings Insitute webinar.

The 74

The 74 is a nonprofit news organization specifically focused on US education. Per the website, their mission is to use “data, investigation, and expertise” in order to “lead an honest, fact-based conversation about how to give American students the skills, support and social mobility they deserve” and “to challenge the status quo, expose corruption and inequality, spotlight solutions, confront the impact of systemic racism, and champion the heroes bringing positive change to our schools.”

Articles from The 74 include a student’s perspective on financial aid in 2019, research analyses such as “4 Things Districts Should Do Right Now – Before the Fiscal Cliff,” school funding analysis by renowned scholars, and a study of school-family communication.

Consider The 74 as a resource for education narratives.

Curated Report: Common Ground Health “Spotlight: The Decline in Life Expectancy in the Finger Lakes Region, 2013-2021”

In December 2023, Common Ground Health published a report on the trends in life expectancy in our region. Life expectancy is widely regarded as an indicator of equity. In fact, the National Equity Atlas lists life expectancy as an indicator of race inequity.

The Common Ground report highlights a decline in life expectancy of 3 years from 2013 to 2021, as well as the connection of racial and socioeconomic inequities to the life expectancy decline. Common Ground also points to drug overdose, homicide, heart disease, and COVID-19 as explanations for the decreased life expectancy in the region.