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2020-06-17
Southern Poverty Law Center;
If Louisiana were a country, it would have the second-highest incarceration rate in the world, behind only Oklahoma. In 2017, the state Legislature enacted long-overdue sentencing reforms to reduce the number of people in prison. Though laudable and necessary, the 2017 legislation is expected to reduce Louisiana's prison population by at most 10percent. It is therefore only the first of many reforms that are needed to shrink Louisiana's bloated prisons.Sentencing occurs at the end of the criminal justice process, after the accused individual has been apprehended and adjudicated. Policing occurs at the beginning of the process. An officer's decision of whom to stop, cite, and arrestis the gateway to the rest of the system.Yet Louisianans know shockingly little about police activities in the state – even when compared to other parts of the criminal justice system. The Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, for example, publishes quarterly updates on all prisoners placed under its jurisdiction, including their sex, race, convictions, and information about their physical and mental health.Without better data, Louisiana will not be able to evaluate whether or how its law enforcement officers contribute to the state's astronomical incarceration rate and what reforms should be prioritized. Police will not be able to improve their performance or refute criticisms that their practices unfairly target certain groups or that misconduct persists across an entire department. And communities will remain in the dark about how public servants who are licensed to use force carry out their duties.
2018-04-11
The Date Center;
As New Orleans completes her 300th year, the tricentennial is an important moment to reflect on the city's history and achievements. But in addition to celebrating their storied past, New Orleanians are eager to learn from it. Since 2005, when Katrina struck and the levees failed, New Orleanians have worked hard to rebuild their city better than before, preserving that which they treasure, while reforming and strengthening their institutions, and increasing opportunities for prosperity. The tricentennial represents an auspicious occasion for both celebration and reflection.
2017-01-01
Vera Institute of Justice;
In 2015, government agencies in New Orleans collected $4.5 million in the form of bail, fines and fees from people involved in the criminal justice system and, by extension, from their families. Another $4.7 million was transferred from the pockets of residents to for-profit bail bond agents. These costs have become the subject of considerable public attention. Because many "users" of the system have very low incomes or none at all, there is growing concern that charging for justice amounts to criminalizing poverty, especially when people who can't pay become further entangled in the justice system. In 2015, the city spent $6.4 million to incarcerate people who couldn't pay bail or conviction fines and fees. By focusing on bail decisions and fines and fees assessed at conviction, Past Due, and its accompanying technical report, reveals the costs and other consequences of a system that tries to extract money from low-income people and then jails them when they can't pay.
2017-09-01
PolicyLink;
equity-related data in a searchable and comparable format for every Eew Orleans public school
2010-02-01
Feeding America (formerly America's Second Harvest);
This report presents information on the clients and agencies served by Second Harvest Food Bank GNOA. The information is drawn from a national study, Hunger in America 2010, conducted in 2009 for Feeding America (FA) (formerly America's Second Harvest), the nation's largest organization of emergency food providers. The national study is based on completed inperson interviews with more than 62,000 clients served by the FA national network, as well as on completed questionnaires from more than 37,000 FA agencies. The study summarized below focuses on emergency food providers and their clients who are supplied with food by food banks in the FA network.Key Findings: The FA system served by Second Harvest Food Bank GNOA provides emergency food for an estimated 262,800 different people annually.31% of the members of households served by Second Harvest Food Bank GNOA are children under 18 years old (Table 5.3.2).23% of households include at least one employed adult (Table 5.7.1).Among households with children, 69% are food insecure and 29% are food insecure with very low food security (Table 6.1.1.1).47% of clients served by Second Harvest Food Bank GNOA report having to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel (Table 6.5.1).28% had to choose between paying for food and paying for medicine or medical care (Table 6.5.1).30% of households served by Second Harvest Food Bank GNOA report having at least one household member in poor health (Table 8.1.1)Second Harvest Food Bank GNOA included approximately 217 agencies at the administration of this survey, of which 157 have responded to the agency survey. Of the responding agencies, 138 had at least one food pantry, soup kitchen, or shelter.66% of pantries, 62% of kitchens, and 48% of shelters are run by faith-based agencies affiliated with churches, mosques, synagogues, and other religious organizations (Table 10.6.1).Among programs that existed in 2006, 80% of pantries, 74% of kitchens, and 58% of shelters of Second Harvest Food Bank GNOA reported that there had been an increase since 2006 in the number of clients who come to their emergency food program sites (Table 10.8.1).Food banks are by far the single most important source of food for agencies with emergency food providers, accounting for 83% of the food distributed by pantries, 54% of the food distributed by kitchens, and 36% of the food distributed by shelters (Table 13.1.1).As many as 95% of pantries, 93% of kitchens, and 88% of shelters in Second Harvest Food Bank GNOA use volunteers (Table 13.2.1).
2010-04-15
Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice;
A recent report from the Reason Foundation argues for significant changes in how public education is organized and delivered in large cities. The report argues that city schools should move toward a "portfolio" of schools model. In such a model, the district does not necessarily operate schools, but instead focuses on closing low-performing schools and opening new ones under the management of autonomous people or corporations. The report cites improvements in student achievement in New Orleans that have accompanied a substantial shift in the city towards charter and autonomous schools. However, the heavy reliance on New Orleans is a significant weakness in this report, as there are myriad reasons unrelated to the portfolio approach that likely explain some or all of the gains, including substantial population shift of low-income children post-Hurricane Katrina and a significant increase in resources. The findings from New Orleans are supplemented by examples from other cities, but these examples and other arguments throughout the report rest not on systematic research but instead on carefully selected examples intended to support a particular perspective.
2007-07-31
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation;
Presents detailed findings from a household survey of Greater New Orleans area residents conducted in Fall 2006. Examines the health care status of residents and their access to health care services after the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
2010-08-12
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation;
Presents survey findings on views of the rebuilding and recovery processes; challenges; concerns, including health care, jobs, and crime; and the effects of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Examines race relations and differences in responses by race.
2008-08-10
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation;
Presents survey findings on residents' needs, expectations, and concerns about the rebuilding effort, as well as views on national perceptions, race relations, access to health care, public safety, and job and worship opportunities. Includes next steps.
2007-03-11
Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government;
Explores the extent to which public participation in town meetings following Hurricane Katrina influenced local political leaders' views of the credibility and substance of the Unified New Orleans Plan, which was presented to the City Planning Commission.
2008-08-07
Brookings Institution;
Assesses the progress of the New Orleans region's economic, social, and fiscal recovery. Highlights trends in the population, jobs, housing, and infrastructure indicators, and presents data by neighborhood. Includes comparative data tables from fall 2005.
