Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Access To K-12 Educational Opportunity In The Mountain West, 2017-2018, Yashesvi Sharma, Isabelle G. Graham, Annie Vong, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

K-12 Education

This fact sheet examines K-12 education climate data in the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The original report from Research For Action explores a variety of educational opportunity indicators, such as the presence of STEM certified teachers, experienced teachers, offerings of AP/Dual Enrollment classes, and low student/teacher ratios.

Return On Investment (Roi) For Undergraduate Degrees At The University Of Nevada, Las Vegas (Unlv) And The University Of Nevada, Reno (Unr), Riley Ruff, Miguel Soriano Ralston, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet examines return on investment (ROI) data for undergraduate degrees at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). The original report from the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP) includes data on the ROI for various undergraduate degree programs across the United States.

Biodiversity Loss & Urban Heat: A Nature- Based Wildlife Policy For The Las Vegas Metro, Zachary Billot

Student Research

As the population of the Las Vegas Metro continues to grow, new developments expand on the periphery. As Las Vegas continues to increase in size and develop further into wildlife habitat, not only are native animals and plants endangered, but residents are at risk of increasingly dangerous urban heat given the increase in impervious cover that makes Las Vegas the 2nd fastest warming metro in the U.S. This policy brief examines current policy and practice in place to highlight the need for positive human-wildlife interaction that will address the growing threat of biodiversity loss and heat vulnerability. This policy brief …

Lgbtq+ Municipal Equality Index In Mountain West Cities, 2022, Zachary Billot, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Cities & Metros

This fact sheet examines the status of LGBTQ+ legislation, policy, and services as defined by the Municipal Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRCF). Data are included for “large cities” in the Mountain West, defined as cities with estimated populations larger than 250,000 people according to the United States Census Bureau’s April 1, 2020 Decennial Census population data. This fact sheet includes data on 13 large cities in the Mountain West including five in Arizona, three in Colorado, four in Nevada, and one in New Mexico.

Homelessness In Mountain West Continuums Of Care (Coc), 2022-2023, Yvette Machado, Anna Vu, Annie Vong, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

This fact sheet examines data on the number of homeless per 100,000 individuals and the number of unsheltered per 100,000 individuals in six Mountain West metropolitan areas in 2023. Six continuums of care (CoC) are identified in the Mountain West: the Albuquerque, NM CoC; the Las Vegas/Clark County, NV CoC; the Phoenix, Mesa/Maricopa County, AZ CoC; the Tucson/Pima County, AZ CoC; the Metropolitan Denver, CO CoC; and the Colorado Springs/El Paso County, CO CoC.

Federal Government: Assessing The Impact Of Lithium Mineral Resource Extraction On Indigenous Communities In The State Of Nevada, Zachary Johnigan

Student Research

The research topic for this project is lithium mining which holds significance to indigenous populations in the State of Nevada and mineral extraction companies seeking to mine there. My research objective is to gain a deeper understanding of the direct impacts that lithium mining has had on indigenous communities, throughout history and today. Overall, the purpose of the project is to expound upon the implications of lithium mining on indigenous communities in response to the recent higher demand for the critical mineral in the United States. If it can be understood exactly how lithium mining has affected Nevada’s indigenous population, …

Unlv Mental Health Initiatives: Unifying Through Innovation And Collaboration, The Lincy Institute, Unlv Practice, Behere Nv, Unlv Department Of Psychology

Lincy Institute Events

Nevada persistently ranks at or near the bottom in the country for overall access to mental health services despite the need (Mental Health America, 2015-2023). UNLV faculty are developing initiatives to change this unacceptable situation. The Lincy Institute, in partnership with UNLV PRACTICE, BeHERE Nevada, and researchers from the Department of Psychology, offered a community forum showcasing three mental health initiatives harnessing faculty collaboration and innovation to drive overdue changes in Nevada’s mental-health landscape. Following the presentations policymakers engaged in open discussion with UNLV presenters and the audience. The three main initiatives showcased in this forum …

The Safety Net Should Work For Working Age Adults, Lauren Bauer

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

This lecture focuses attention on a population that is ill-served by the safety net but rarely acknowledged: low-income, working-age adults without dependents or government-determined disabilities. In this lecture, Brookings Scholar Lauren Bauer, a former Special Assistant in the Office of the Secretary at the US Department of Education, argues that a safety net that is inaccessible to ABAWDs (able-bodied adults without dependents) fails to recognize the precarious state of the low-wage labor market or how safety-net programs allow these workers to remain in the workforce. By modernizing the parameters of who qualifies for access to safety-net programs, assistance can be …

Southern Nevada Regional Industrial Study, Brookings Mountain West, Center For Business And Economic Research, Transportation Research Center

Policy Briefs and Reports

Recognizing the ongoing need to diversify the Southern Nevada economy, in 2023 GOED commissioned Brookings Mountain West, the UNLV Center for Business and Economic Research, and the UNLV Transportation Research Center to evaluate how Southern Nevada can leverage its geography and connectivity to neighboring states and metros at the megapolitan level to pursue industrial opportunities in the face of shifting global supply chains, diminishing developable land, the need for efficient management of the regional water supply, and the availability of unprecedented federal resources to support clean energy development, manufacturing, electrification of transportation systems, and supply-chain resiliency.

The study builds on …

Isn’T There A Better Way To Nominate Presidential Candidates?, Elaine Kamarck

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

This lecture examines why every four years the major political parties undertake a drawn-out, confusing series of primaries, caucuses, and conventions to determine their presidential nominees. Over the years, a number of rational and more orderly ways to select presidential nominees have been proposed but none of these ideas have been adopted. Brookings Institution scholar Elaine Kamarck, who has written extensively on the topic and served as a presidential and presidential campaign advisor, addresses these topics and more.

Research Space At Public R1 Universities In The Mountain West, 2021, Zachary Billot, Jesse Fager-Larsen, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet reports data on research space square footage for public R1 universities in five Mountain West States: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. This fact sheet includes national rankings of public R1 universities in the Mountain West states based on total square footage and reports square footage for individual research disciplines for the two public R1 universities in Nevada: the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR).

Suicide Rates Among Adolescents And Young Adults In The Mountain West, Isabelle G. Graham, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Health

This fact sheet shows data on suicide death rates among adolescents aged 10 to 24 years in the Mountain West:Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah. This fact sheet includes data from a report published by the Center for Disease Control in the National Vital Statistics Report which examines adolescent suicide in the U.S.

Nursing Homes In The Mountain West, 2023, Annie Vong, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Health

This fact sheet presents nursing home data in the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. Data from a September 2023 ProPublica publication titled, “Nursing Home Inspect” are presented including the total number of nursing homes, homes with serious deficiencies, homes with infection related deficiencies, the amount nursing homes paid in penalties and the number of payment suspensions for nursing homes in the Mountain West.

Investment Fraud In The Mountain West, Riley Ruff, Vanessa Booth, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Criminal Justice

This fact sheet focuses on investment fraud data in the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. The original report includes data from “The 2023 State of Investment Fraud” study conducted by Carlson Law.

Headwinds And Tailwinds: The Present And Future Of Work For Women, Molly Kinder

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

As part of the Brookings Scholar Lecture Series, Brookings Mountain West presents a lecture titled "Headwinds and Tailwinds: The Present and Future of Work for Women” by Brookings fellow in the Brookings Metro, Molly Kinder. Women comprise nearly half of the US labor force, and today outnumber men on college campuses. Yet the gender pay gap persists and women are overrepresented in the lowest paying occupations. In what ways are jobs and economic opportunities changing for women in the labor force? Over the next decade, how will demographic changes like the aging of the baby boom generation and technological changes …

Metro Migration In The Mountain West, 2018-2021, Saha Salahi, Zachary Billot, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

This fact sheet examines the annual population changes from international migration and net domestic immigration in Mountain West metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) with populations exceeding 1 million from 2018 to 2021. This fact sheet includes U.S. Census data as reported in the Brookings Institution report, “New census data shows a huge spike in movement out of the big metro areas during the pandemic” by William H. Frey.

2022 Midterm Election Voter Turnout In The Mountain West, Ayda Atici, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Elections & Governance

This fact sheet presents voter turnout rates in the Mountain West (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah) for the 2022 midterm election. The data are retrieved from the 2023 Brookings Institution report “New Voter Turnout Data from 2022 shows some surprises, including lower turnout for youth, women, and Black Americans in some states” by William H. Frey.

Priced Out Of Housing In The Mountain West, 2022, Maryam Raja, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Housing & Real Estate

This fact sheet presents data from the National Association of Home Builder (NAHB) 2022 report on "priced out estimates" and the consequences of increased prices and interest rates on homes. Data are included from NAHB on home affordability for median home prices in five Mountain West states and 25 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs).

The Top 1% Of Earners In The Mountain West, Ivan Sun, Zachary Billot, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet examines data from the Smart Asset report, “America’s Top 1% Is Different in Each State: From a $370k to $950k Income,” which examines the thresholds of the top 1% of earners and the tax rates associated with those earners. The original report contains the income threshold, national rankings, and tax rates for the top 1% of earners in all 50 states. This fact sheet focuses on the data for the top 1% of earners in the Mountain West: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

Intentional Conversations: Co-Creating Global Family, School, And Community Engagement Research, Emily Markovich Morris

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

As part of the Brookings Scholar Lecture Series, Brookings Mountain West presents a lecture titled "Intentional Conversations: Co-Creating Global Family, School, and Community Engagement Research" by Brookings fellow in global economy and development, Emily Markovich Morris. The more that families, schools, and communities work in partnership, the more students and schools have the support needed to thrive. This lecture explores a school and community-based research study representing education institutions in 14 countries across 6 continents. The project identifies beliefs held by families, educators, and students on the purpose of school, and global barriers to family, school, and community engagement. Surveys …

Public, Private, And For-Profit Higher Education Institutions In The Mountain West, Annie Vong, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet examines data from a New America report by Olivia Cheche which explores higher education data for each congressional district in the United States. Data include the number of colleges/universities, total expenditures, total amount of Pell grant money awarded, and number of Pell grant recipients for each congressional district. This fact sheet presents the percentage of public, for-profit, and private colleges and universities in each congressional district in the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah.

Firearm Deaths In The Mountain West, 2020, Lana Kojoian, Annie Vong, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Criminal Justice

This fact sheet examines data from the RAND Corporation report “Understanding Firearm Deaths by State—and How to Reduce Them,” which provides data on state and national rates of firearm related deaths, including suicides and homicides for 2020 This fact sheet includes firearm death data for five Mountain West states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

Child Care Costs In The Mountain West, 2021, Mohit Pande, Vanessa Booth, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet examines data on child care costs in five Mountain West states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, from the Child Care Aware of America’s (CCAoA) report “Price of Care: 2021 Child Care Affordability.” The original report includes data on the cost of child care and the percent of yearly income allocated to child care for married and single parents. The report analyzes single family respondents and the impact of child care on work schedules. The report also provides information on the state of the child care workforce, including annual incomes of child care workers and the …

Environmental And Socio-Economic Stress In The Mountain West, Ayda Atici, Caitlin J. Saladino, Fatma Nasoz, William E. Brown Jr.

Environment

This fact sheet examines data on environmental and socio-economic risk metrics including which metrics pose the most risk for Nevada counties.The data are retrieved from “System for the Triage of Risks from Environmental and Socio-Economic Stressors” created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) joint program on the science and policy of global change.

Twitter Trends During The 82nd Session Of The Nevada Legislature, 2023, Annie Vong, Zachary Billot, Mary Blankenship, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Elections & Governance

This fact sheet examines Twitter trends during the 82nd Session of the Nevada Legislature (2023). Data are comprised of tweets posted on Twitter by users located in Nevada addressing the most discussed topics during the session.

Mental Health Care Health Professional Shortage Areas (Hpsas) In The Mountain West, Nicole Diaz Del Valle, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Health

Using data from the Kaiser Family Foundation’s “Mental Health Care Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs)” 2022 report, this fact sheet looks at the mental health care health professional shortage area (HPSA) designations for Mountain West states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

The State Of Homelessness In Nevada, 2020, Annie Vong, Mae Ling Catayong, Christine Guardian, Abigail Boron, Maria Jerinic, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

This fact sheet examines data on homelessness in Nevada between 2007 and 2020. The original report, “State of Homelessness,” by the National Alliance to End Homelessness includes the number of homeless individuals that slept outside on any given night, how many beds in shelters went empty, and the number of homeless individuals per 10,000 individuals in each continuum of care in Nevada.

Rainy Day Funds In The Mountain West, Fy22, Issac Hernandez-Alcaraz, Maryam Raja, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Elections & Governance

This fact sheet examines data from “Record State Budget Reserves Buffer Against Mounting Fiscal Threats,” a 2023 Pew Charitable Trusts report on rainy day fund balances of U.S. states. Data includes information on the strength of rainy day funds and total balances for each Mountain West state: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

Urban And Community Tree Cover In The Mountain West, Zachary Billot, Zachary Walusek, Annie Vong, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Environment

This fact sheet examines data on tree cover and impervious cover in urban land for the United States and for the five states in the Mountain West: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The original report includes data for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia

Traffic-Related Pedestrian Deaths In The Mountain West, 2022, Miguel Soriano Ralston, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Transportation & Infrastructure

This fact sheet examines data from Smarth Growth America’s report, “Dangerous By Design, 2022,” which reports on traffic deaths throughout the United States. This fact sheet highlights pedestrian deaths as well as deaths among specific groups based on age, race, ethnicity, and media household income between 2016 and 2020 in the Mountain West: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. This fact sheet builds upon a 2020 fact sheet, titled “Traffic-Related Pedestrian Deaths in the Sun Belt Region,” which examined Smart Growth America’s assessment of pedestrian safety for the years 2008 to 2017.