Digital Commons Network^™

2014 Data Indicate That Four In Ten Children Live In Low-Income Families, Jessica A. Carson, Andrew P. Schaefer, Marybeth J. Mattingly

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In this brief, authors Jessica Carson, Andrew Schaefer, and Marybeth Mattingly use American Community Survey data to explore child poverty rates across the United States by region, state, and place type (rural, suburban, and city). They also examine data on children who are deeply poor (those in families with incomes below half of the poverty line), as well as low-income children (those in families with incomes less than twice the poverty line). They report that in 2014, more than four in ten children (44.1 percent) lived in low-income families. More than one-fifth of children (21.7 percent) were poor, and nearly …

Deaths Exceed Births In Most Of Europe, But Not In The United States, Kenneth M. Johnson, Layton M. Fields, Dudley L. Poston Jr.

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In this brief, authors Kenneth Johnson, Layton Fields, and Dudley Poston, Jr. present important new findings about the diminishing number of births compared to deaths in Europe and the United States from their recent article in Population and Development Review. Their research focuses on the prevalence and dynamics of natural decrease in subareas of Europe and the United States in the first decade of the twenty-first century using counties (United States) or county-equivalents (Europe). The authors report that 58 percent of the 1,391 counties of Europe had more deaths than births during that period compared to just 28 percent …

Campus Community Readiness To Engage Measure: Its Utility For Campus Violence Prevention Initiatives—Preliminary Psychometrics, Katie Edwards, Mary M. Moynihan, Kara Anne Rodenhizer-Stampfli, Jennifer M. Demers, Victoria Banyard

Peer-Reviewed and Other Publications

The researchers present preliminary psychometric information on a recently developed measure—the Campus Community Readiness to Engage Measure (CCREM)—which was developed as a tool for campuses to determine their readiness to address sexual assault (SA) and relationship abuse (RA). Participants were 353 community leaders and administrators at 131 colleges and universities across New England. Factor analytic results demonstrated that the CCREM had three factors for both SA and RA: denial (the campus community is unwilling to acknowledge that SA and RA are issues for the community), initiation (the campus community is beginning to create efforts to address SA and RA and …

Why Do The Children Flee? Public Security And Policing Practices In Central America, Mary Fran T. Malone

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In this brief, author Mary Fran Malone discusses the security crisis in Central America and successful policing strategies for confronting this crisis. She reports that Central Americans’ experiences and perceptions of crime are linked to an increased likelihood of migration. In 2014, approximately 57,000 unaccompanied minors traveled from Central America to Mexico, continuing north to cross the U.S. border illegally. The large numbers of people fleeing Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras testify not only to the violence of illicit markets but also to the failure of these countries’ governments to fulfill their most important task—protecting the lives of their citizens. …

Should I Say Something? Dating And Sexual Aggression Bystander Intervention Among High School Youth, Katie Edwards, Robert P. Eckstein, Kara Anne Rodenhizer-Stampfli

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

Using data from a sample of 218 high school youth from three high schools in New England (one rural, two urban), this brief discusses dating and sexual aggression bystander intervention among high school youth. Authors Katie Edwards, Robert Eckstein, and Kara Anne Rodenhizer-Stämpfli report that an overwhelming majority (93.6 percent) of high school students reported having the opportunity to intervene during the past year in situations of dating aggression or sexual aggression; however, in over one-third of the episodes (37.4 percent) students reported not intervening. Girls were more likely to intervene in situations of dating and sexual aggression than boys, …

Federal Eitc Kept 2 Percent Of The Population Out Of Poverty Greatest Poverty Reductions In Texas, North Carolina, And Arizona, Douglas J. Gagnon, Marybeth J. Mattingly, Andrew P. Schaefer

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

This brief documents the proportion of Americans who would have been poor absent the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), all else being equal, across 2010–2014. It consists of a pooled sample using the Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) between the years of 2011–2015. Authors Douglas Gagnon, Marybeth Mattingly, and Andrew Schaefer examine Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) rates as well as hypothetical increases in the rates of poverty in the absence of federal EITC benefits. They report that the proportion of people who are poor in the United States as measured by the SPM would increase …

Podia And Pens: Dismantling The Two-Track System For Legal Research And Writing Faculty, Kristen K. Tiscione, Amy Vorenberg

Law Faculty Scholarship

At the 2015 AALS Annual Meeting, a panel was convened under this title to discuss whether separate tracks and lower status for legal research and writing (“LRW”) faculty make sense given the current demand for legal educators to better train students for practice. The participants included law professors, an associate dean, and a federal judge.2 Each panelist was asked to respond to questions about the “two-track” system—a shorthand phrase for the two tracks of employment at many law schools whereby full-time LRW faculty are treated differently than tenured and tenure-track faculty. The panelists represented differing views on the topic. This …

Tracking Public Beliefs About Anthropogenic Climate Change, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Joel N. Hartter, Mary D. Lemcke-Stampone, David W. Moore, Thomas G. Safford

Sociology

A simple question about climate change, with one choice designed to match consensus statements by scientists, was asked on 35 US nationwide, single-state or regional surveys from 2010 to 2015. Analysis of these data (over 28,000 interviews) yields robust and exceptionally well replicated findings on public beliefs about anthropogenic climate change, including regional variations, change over time, demographic bases, and the interacting effects of respondent education and political views. We find that more than half of the US public accepts the scientific consensus that climate change is happening now, caused mainly by human activities. A sizable, politically opposite minority (about …

Although Child Poverty Declined In 2014, Persistent Racial And Ethnic Disadvantages Remain, Marybeth J. Mattingly, Andrew P. Schaefer, Jessica A. Carson

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

Poverty data from the American Community Survey were released on September 17, 2015, allowing a detailed examination of poverty in 2014 across the United States. In this brief, authors Beth Mattingly, Andrew Schaefer, and Jessica Carson discuss changes in child poverty between 2013 and 2014 and since 2009, just after the Great Recession ended. They report that in 2014, 21.7 percent of children were poor, representing a modest, but statistically significant decline since 2013 (by 0.6 percentage point), but still 1.7 percentage points higher than in 2009. Though cities and rural places remain home to the highest rates of child …

Official Poverty Statistics Mask The Economic Vulnerability Of Seniors A Comparison Of Maine To The Nation An, Andrew P. Schaefer, Marybeth J. Mattingly

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In this brief, authors Andrew Schaefer and Beth Mattingly compare Maine, one of the oldest states in the nation, to the United States as a whole. Historically, both children and the elderly were regarded as vulnerable groups in need of support from government programs. Traditional poverty estimates suggest that at least since the late 1960s, senior poverty has been on the decline, whereas poverty among children has increased.

Declines among seniors are largely attributable to the advent of programs such as Social Security. Similar to the nation, about half of Maine seniors (51.0 percent) would be poor without Social Security …

Pircnews, Fall 2015, Prevention Innovations Research Center

PIRC Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Conservative And Liberal Views Of Science, Does Trust Depend On Topic?, Lawrence C. Hamilton

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

Conservative distrust of scientists regarding climate change and evolution has been widely expressed in public pronouncements and surveys, contributing to impressions that conservatives are less likely to trust scientists in general. But what about other topics, where some liberals have expressed misgivings too? Nuclear power safety, vaccinations, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are three widely mentioned examples. For this report, five similarly worded survey questions were designed to test the hypothesis that, depending on the issue, liberals are just as likely to reject science as conservatives. The five questions were included along with many unrelated items in telephone surveys of …

Behind At The Starting Line: Poverty Among Hispanic Infants, Daniel T. Lichter, Scott R. Sanders, Kenneth M. Johnson

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In this brief, authors Daniel Lichter, Scott Sanders, and Kenneth Johnson examine the economic circumstances of Hispanic infants using the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey annual microdata files from 2006 through 2010. They report that a disproportionate share of Hispanic infants start life’s race behind the starting line, poor and disadvantaged—an important finding because the proportion of all U.S. births that are Hispanic is growing rapidly. The poverty risk is especially high among rural Hispanic infants and those in new destinations. Despite higher poverty risks, Hispanic infants receive less governmental assistance. High Hispanic infant poverty has immediate and long-term consequences …

Red Rural, Blue Rural; Rural Does Not Always Equal Republican, Dante J. Scala, Kenneth M. Johnson

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In this fact sheet, authors Dante Scala and Kenneth Johnson examine voting data for nearly 9,000 rural residents to identify how voting patterns differ across rural areas comparing farm and recreational counties to those elsewhere in rural America. They also examine voting data from the 2008 and 2012 Presidential elections for each rural county. Scala and Johnson report that rural America is not the undifferentiated Republican bastion depicted by commentators. While Republican presidential candidates do best in rural counties dominated by farming, Democratic presidential candidates do well in rural counties dominated by recreation. In “battleground” states, these rural differences may …

Rates Of Snap Receipt Stabilize Or Drop In All Regions For First Time Since Great Recession, Jessica A. Carson, Paul Anskat

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

This brief uses data from the American Community Survey to document rates of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) receipt in 2013, to track changes since the onset of the recession in 2007, and to monitor receipt by region and across rural places, suburbs, and cities. In addition, it examines levels of SNAP receipt among potentially vulnerable populations to determine how receipt has changed among these groups since the recession began. Authors Jessica A. Carson and Paul Anskat report that the share of households receiving SNAP benefits declined slightly between 2012 and 2013 from 13.6 to 13.5 percent, the first decrease …

Many Eligible Children Don’T Participate In School Nutrition Programs; Reauthorization Offers Opportunities To Improve, Jessica A. Carson

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

This brief uses data from the 2013 Current Population Survey’s Food Security Supplement to document levels of participation in two of the largest programs authorized by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010—the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program—by region and place type (rural, suburban, and city), to identify areas where expanding participation may be especially important. Author Jessica Carson reports that only 64 percent of eligible households participate in the National School Lunch Program, and 52 percent participate in the School Breakfast Program. Fifty-nine percent of eligible suburban households and 63 percent of rural households participate …

Trust In Scientists On Climate Change And Vaccines, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Joel N. Hartter, Kei Saito

Sociology

On climate change and other topics, conservatives have taken positions at odds with a strong scientific consensus. Claims that this indicates a broad conservative distrust of science have been countered by assertions that while conservatives might oppose the scientific consensus on climate change or evolution, liberals oppose scientists on some other domains such as vaccines. Evidence for disproportionately liberal bias against science on vaccines has been largely anecdotal, however. Here, we test this proposition of opposite biases using 2014 survey data from Oregon and New Hampshire. Across vaccine as well as climate change questions on each of these two surveys, …

Diversity Growing Because Births Far Exceed Deaths Among Minorities, But Not Among Whites, Kenneth M. Johnson

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In this brief, Carsey Senior Demographer Ken Johnson analyzes new Census Bureau estimates that reflect two important demographic trends affecting the growing diversity of the U.S. population. The minority population is growing and the non-Hispanic white population is not. This interplay of white and minority population change is fueling the growing diversity of the U.S. population. Non-Hispanic whites currently represent 62% of the population and are projected to remain in the majority until the mid-2040s. Growth is minimal because the non-Hispanic white population is aging, which reduces fertility and increases mortality. In contrast, the minority population now represents 38 percent …

Child Protective Services May Link Families To Needed Income Supports, Wendy A. Walsh, Marybeth J. Mattingly

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

A number of public safety-net programs exist to help improve the economic well-being of vulnerable children, but little is known about the extent to which families with a child maltreatment report receive these services over time. In this brief, we examine the incidence of receiving four types of income support both immediately after the child maltreatment report and eighteen months following. The data for this analysis come from the second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW II), a national sample of children who had a maltreatment report that resulted in an investigation by CPS within a 15-month period …

Polar Facts In The Age Of Polarization, Lawrence C. Hamilton

Sociology

Many drivers of polar-region change originate in mid-latitude industrial societies, so public perceptions there matter. Building on earlier surveys of US public knowledge and concern, a series of New Hampshire state surveys over 2011–2015 tracked public knowledge of some basic polar facts. Analysis indicates that these facts subjectively fall into two categories: those that are or are not directly connected to beliefs about climate change. Responses to climate-linked factual questions, such as whether Arctic sea ice area has declined compared with 30 years ago, are politicized as if we were asking for climate-change opinions. Political divisions are less apparent with …

Coverage Rates Stabilize For Children’S Health Insurance: State Policy Change May Be Needed To Address Remaining Children Without Insurance, Michael J. Staley

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

This brief uses data from the American Community Survey to estimate children’s health insurance coverage from 2008–2013 across the United States as well as by region, place type, and type of coverage. Author Michael Staley reports that decreases in rates of private insurance coverage among children were offset by increases in rates of coverage by public insurance in 2013, keeping national coverage stable at 92.9 percent. Rates rose in the West, continuing a trend since 2008. However, at 91 percent, rates among children there are still lower than in the Northeast and Midwest, where rates have stabilized above 94 percent. …

A Holistic Approach To Child Maltreatment, David Finkelhor, Corinna J. Tucker

Sociology

No abstract provided.

A Community Schools Approach To Accessing Services And Improving Neighborhood Outcomes In Manchester, Nh, Justin R. Young

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

This brief uses data collected by the Manchester Health Department in 2013 and analyzed by the Carsey School of Public Policy in the Bakersville, Beech Street, and Gossler Park neighborhoods in Manchester, New Hampshire, to provide information about how barriers to various dimensions of well-being differ by place and also across race/ethnicity, foreign-born status, and age. Survey data and focus groups also gave residents a voice in the implementation of the Manchester Community Schools Project—a partnership between the Manchester Health Department, city elementary schools, philanthropists, neighborhood residents, and several nonprofit agencies—to improve and enhance educational achievement, economic well-being, access to …

Strategies To Strengthen Youth Leadership And Youth Participation Opportunities In Central Appalachia, Rebecca O'Doherty, Ada Smith, Ben Spangler, Elandria Williams, Katie Richards-Schuster

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

The purpose of this study was to assess opportunities for strengthening youth leadership and participation in the Central Appalachian region. In particular, authors Rebecca O’Doherty, Ada Smith, Ben Spangler, Elandria Williams, and Katie Richards-Schuster sought to understand and document the range of activities and strategies in the region as well as understand the nuances involved in promoting and sustaining youth leadership opportunities. Through interviews with key leaders in the region, they explored critical themes for strengthening youth leadership. To highlight the potential and opportunities for future development, they share a case study of an innovative approach to nurturing and sustaining …

What People Know, Lawrence C. Hamilton

Sociology

No abstract provided.

Modeling Associations Between Public Understanding, Engagement And Forest Conditions In Theinland Northwest, Usa, Joel N. Hartter, Forrest R. Stevens, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Russell G. Congalton, Mark J. Ducey, Paul T. Oester

Sociology

Opinions about public lands and the actions of private non-industrial forest owners in the western United States play important roles in forested landscape management as both public and private forests face increasing risks from large wildfires, pests and disease. This work presents the responses from two surveys, a random-sample telephone survey of more than 1500 residents and a mail survey targeting owners of parcels with 10 or more acres of forest. These surveys were conducted in three counties (Wallowa, Union, and Baker) in northeast Oregon, USA. We analyze these survey data using structural equation models in order to assess how …

Limited Access To Ap Courses For Students In Smaller And More Isolated Rural School Districts, Douglas J. Gagnon, Marybeth J. Mattingly

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

This brief assesses trends in access to, enrollment in, and success in Advanced Placement (AP) coursework in relation to school district poverty, racial composition, and urbanicity. It uses data merged from the 2011–2012 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), the 2012 Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE), and the 2010 Decennial U.S. Census. Authors Douglas Gagnon and Marybeth Mattingly report that nearly one-half (47.2 percent) of rural districts have no secondary students enrolled in AP courses, compared with only 20.1 percent of town, 5.4 percent of suburban, and 2.6 percent of urban districts. Remote rural districts with small populations are …

After Great Recession, More Married Fathers Providing Child Care, Kristin Smith

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

Using the Survey of Income and Program Participation, this brief examines changes in father-provided child care among married fathers with an employed wife. Author Kristin Smith reports that the share of married fathers providing care to their children under age 15 while their mother worked rose from 27 percent in 2005 to 31 percent in 2011. The rise in father-provided child care was driven primarily by the rise in child care provided by black and Hispanic fathers. Between 2005 and 2011, the shares of rural and urban married fathers providing child care began to diverge. In 2005, rural and urban …

Being A "Good Parent" In Parent-Teacher Conferences, Danielle M. Pillet-Shore

Communication

This research advances our understanding of what constitutes a "good parent" in the course of actual social interaction. Examining video-recorded naturally occurring parent-teacher conferences, this article shows that, while teachers deliver student-praising utterances, parents may display that they are gaining knowledge; but when teachers’ actions adumbrate student-criticizing utterances, parents systematically display prior knowledge. This article elucidates the details of how teachers and parents tacitly collaborate to enable parents to express student-troubles first, demonstrating that parents display competence -- appropriate involvement with children’s schooling -- by asserting their prior knowledge of, and/or claiming/describing their efforts to remedy, student-troubles. People (have to) …

Updated Trends In Child Maltreatment, 2013., David Finkelhor, Kei Saito, Lisa M. Jones

Crimes Against Children Research Center

New national data for 2013 show continued declines in child maltreatment, after a one year discontinuity (2012) in which some rates briefly increased. But from 2012 to 2013, sexual abuse declined 4%, physical abuse declined 3%, child maltreatment fatalities declined 7% and overall substantiated child maltreatment declined 1%. Neglect by contrast rose 1%.