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2019-01-01
One Voice;
The challenges experienced by Jackson Public Schools are not unique in that urban school districts across the country face dire circumstances related to school funding, poor student outcomes, dwindling student populations, and tense relationships with oversight bodies. However, the students, the people, and the communities in Jackson are unique in their culture, history, economic, and political experiences. The purpose of this report is to provide a review of the canvassing and field research project to assess the community perception of the Jackson Public School district.Through a mixed approach of community canvassing and community conversations, we uncovered a comprehensive view from the perspective of community stakeholders on the status of the district. Among the most pressing concerns regarding the Jackson Public School District were teacher quality, district leadership, and test scores. These concerns were consistent across racial and age groups. Additionally, the report highlights the importance of early childhood learning, parent engagement, and a focus on college and career readiness.
2018-04-05
Georgetown University Health Policy Institute Center for Children and Families;
Mississippi has joined a handful of states seeking federal permission to require parents and caregivers who qualify for Medicaid to prove they are working at least 20 hours a week or participating in an approved work activity before receiving health coverage. Called the "Mississippi Workforce Training Initiative," the application for a Section 1115 demonstration waiver pledges to bring more Medicaid beneficiaries into the workforce and move them onto other forms of health insurance. The proposal, however, ignores the fact that only the poorest and most vulnerable parents now receive Medicaid in Mississippi—and that few of them will be able to afford insurance even if they find jobs. In fact, the state's own estimates suggest that about 5,000 of these Mississippi parents will lose their Medicaid coverage in the first year if the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approves the state's request.1 The vast majority of these parents are likely to become uninsured.Approval by the federal government is not certain. While CMS has given approval to three states—Arkansas, Kentucky and Indiana—to impose work rules, those states have all expanded Medicaid to adults making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Mississippi, however, has not accepted the Medicaid expansion funding provided under the Affordable Care Act. The only Mississippi families affected by the proposed change would be those living at 27 percent of the poverty level or lower. That works out to $5,610 a year for a family of three or $468 a month—among the most restrictive eligibility limits in the nation.The new requirement would also apply to workers using Transitional Medical Assistance who have jobs, but don't yet make enough to afford private insurance. These beneficiaries, by definition, are already working and are temporarily eligible as their income rises due to earnings. As such, this aspect of the proposal contradicts its stated goals.
2018-02-01
Institute for Women's Policy Research;
Research conducted in collaboration with the Institute for Women's Policy Research, finds that for sustained economic security and stability, work should pay a living wage, provide workers with sufficient hours of work (full-time, full-year employment), and provide access to health insurance, a pension, and the flexibility for working women and men to balance work and family. Too many jobs fail the test. The earnings of women workers, especially Black and Hispanic women, are even lower than the median for all Mississippi workers.
2018-09-19
W.K. Kellogg Foundation;
In the coming years, Mississippi stands to realize a $54 billion gain in economic output by closing the racial equity gap. This report seeks to expand the narrative associated with racial equity by adding a compelling economic argument to the social justice goal. Beyond an increase in overall economic output, advancing racial equity can translate into meaningful increases in consumer spending and tax revenues, and decreases in social services spending and health-related costs. The potential economic and social gains are significant.
2018-05-01
Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative (MLICCI);
This brief describes why employment equity is critical to Mississippi's economic future and lays out a policy roadmap toachieve employment equity. It is based on data analysis and modeling of a "full-employment economy" (defined as when everyone who wants a job can find one), which was conducted by the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) at the University of Southern California, and on policy research and focus groups conducted by PolicyLink and the Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative (MLICCI).
2020-08-01
National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy;
In light of the national uprising sparked by the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor (and building on other recent tragic movement moments going back to the 2014 murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri), NCRP is analyzing grantmaking by community foundations across the country to find out exactly how much they are – or are not – investing in Black communities.We started by looking at the latest available grantmaking data (2016-2018) of 25 community foundations (CFs) – from Los Angeles to New Orleans to New York City to St. Paul. These foundations represent a cross section of some of the country's largest community foundations as well as foundations in communities where NCRP has Black-led nonprofit allies.
2017-09-07
Guttmacher Institute;
Unintended pregnancy can have significant, negative consequences for individual women, their families and society as a whole. An extensive body of research links births resulting from unintended or closely spaced pregnancies to adverse maternal and child health outcomes and myriad social and economic challenges. In 2011, the most recent year for which national-level data are available, 45% of all pregnancies in the United States were unintended, including three out of four pregnancies to women younger than 20, and there were 45 unintended pregnancies per every 1,000 women aged 15–44, a rate significantly higher than that in many other developed countries. If current trends continue, more than half of all women in the United States will experience an unintended pregnancy by the time they reach age 45. And economically disadvantaged women are disproportionately affected by unintended pregnancy and its consequences: In 2011, the unintended pregnancy rate among women with a family income lower than the federal poverty level, at 112 per 1,000, was more than five times the rate among women with an income greater than 200% of poverty (20 per 1,000).
2017-11-01
Council For A Strong America;
Mississippi's school discipline procedures have prompted nationwide concern for several years, as the state's schooldistricts have some of the highest suspension, expulsion, and involvement of law enforcement rates in the nation,particularly for students of color. Fortunately, Mississippi law enforcement leaders know several alternative procedures that work to both address disruptive classroom behavior and promote educational achievement throughout the school.We believe that school administrators must have the authority to suspend, expel or take other school action when dealing with weapons offenses, violent crimes or drug sales, yet we know that less serious offenses, such as talking back to a teacher or using inappropriate language, can be better addressed with other approaches. Models such as the Good Behavior Game, the Incredible Years, Restorative Justice, and Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supportshelp reduce suspensions and expulsions while ensuring that schools are safe. Research has found that these models help ameliorate students' behavior, lead to improvements in the schools' environments, increase academic achievement for all students, and prevent later crime. When students succeed academically, their likelihood of coming into contact with law enforcement decreases tremendously. This is how, together, we will build safer communities.
2017-11-08
ChangeLab Solutions;
Breastfeeding produces health benefits for both child and mother, including optimal nutrition for the infant,1 decreased risk of infant morbidity and death due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and decreased risk of maternal morbidity.2Nationally, breastfeeding rates have been rising, with 4 in 5 (81.1%) mothers who gave birth in 2013 initiating breastfeeding and more than half (51.8%) of mothers who gave birth in 2013 still breastfeeding at 6 months.3 Despite this progress, many states fall short of the Healthy People 2020 breastfeeding duration and exclusivity targets. These targets include increasing the proportion of infants who are ever breastfed to 81.9% and increasing the proportion of infants who are breastfed at 6 months to 60.6%.4 There are also inequitable disparities in breastfeeding rates, notably along racial5 and socioeconomic6 lines.
2017-09-01
Hope Policy Institute;
Creating opportunities for young men and boys of color to reach their full potential helps to advance individual opportunity, family sustainability, community prosperity, and Mississippi's overall economic competitiveness. One way to support the development ofyoung men and boys of color involves creating safe and enriching school climates that fulfill the socio-emotional needs of students while offering a reprieve from external burdens. Focusing on school climate, which reflects school life and norms, goals, values, interpersonal relationships, teaching and learning practices, and organizational structures, for young men and boys of color provides an opportunity to influence student success and longer-term economic security.
2017-09-01
Hope Policy Institute;
Creating opportunities for young men and boys of color to reach their full potential helps to advance individual opportunity, family sustainability, community prosperity, and Mississippi's overall economic competitiveness. Early supports, like positive school climates that fulfill students' socio-emotional needs, help build a foundation for young men and boys of color to succeed and establish economic security into adulthood.
2010-02-01
Feeding America (formerly America's Second Harvest);
This report presents information on the clients and agencies served by The Mississippi Food Network. 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 The Mississippi Food Network provides emergency food for an estimated 228,600 different people annually.23% of the members of households served by The Mississippi Food Network are children under 18 years old (Table 5.3.2).20% of households include at least one employed adult (Table 5.7.1).Among households with children, 73% are food insecure and 32% are food insecure with very low food security (Table 6.1.1.1).47% of clients served by The Mississippi Food Network report having to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel (Table 6.5.1).44% had to choose between paying for food and paying for medicine or medical care (Table 6.5.1).42% of households served by The Mississippi Food Network report having at least one household member in poor health (Table 8.1.1)The Mississippi Food Network included approximately 311 agencies at the administration of this survey, of which 229 have responded to the agency survey. Of the responding agencies, 169 had at least one food pantry, soup kitchen, or shelter.73% of pantries, 50% of kitchens, and 35% 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, 74% of pantries, 84% of kitchens, and 57% of shelters of The Mississippi Food Network 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, 52% of the food distributed by kitchens, and 32% of the food distributed by shelters (Table 13.1.1).As many as 96% of pantries, 73% of kitchens, and 75% of shelters in The Mississippi Food Network use volunteers (Table 13.2.1).
