Policy Outsider

In this episode of Policy Outsider, Rockefeller Institute Fellows and members of the Institute's award winning Stories from Sullivan research team Patricia Strach, Katie Zuber, and Elizabeth Pérez-Chiqués discuss what has happened to substance-use treatment access and effectiveness during COVID-19. The episode presents audio clips from interviews conducted by the researchers with treatment pr...

The traditional model of criminal justice in the US isolates those who commit criminal acts from both survivors and society and the social support networks that could support their healing and re-integration. At the same time, those who suffer harm are often left without closure and understanding about the harm that took place. On the latest episode of Policy Outsider, guest Jenifer Lee-Gonyea, fe...

As students return to school amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, school districts are using different models to balance instructional and safety needs ranging from fully in-person to fully remote with a spectrum of hybrid approaches in between. On this episode of Policy Outsider , Brian Backstrom, director of education policy studies at the Rockefeller Institute, and Leigh Wedenoja, senior policy...

On the latest episode of Policy Outsider, guest Robert J. Spitzer, a distinguished service professor at SUNY Cortland and member of the Rockefeller Institute of Government’s Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium , speaks with Consortium Executive Director Joe Popcun about recent developments in firearm policy and politics. Over the past five months, the COVID-19 pandemic has completely and sud...

On the latest episode of Policy Outsider, guests Joseph Popcun, Rockefeller Institute director of policy and practice, and Nicholas Simons, project coordinator at the Institute, discuss the role of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium in finding and developing effective policy to reduce gun violence. A recent surge in shooting incidents following months of coronavirus lockdown in metropol...

In a new episode of Policy Outsider, guest Laura Schultz, executive director of research at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, discusses the methods used in the Institute’s Balance of Payments report and how federal economic relief for COVID-19 is likely to impact state balance of payments and rankings. States throughout the nation are grappling with massive budget deficits caused by the eco...

In a new episode of Policy Outsider, guest Nicholas Simons, project coordinator at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, discusses how COVID-19 is affecting the 2020 Census and how the U.S. Census Bureau is adjusting its operations to account for disruptions from the pandemic. In mid-March, as governments in the US began responding to the emerging threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, households rec...

On this episode of Policy Outsider, guest Heather Trela, director of operations and fellow at the Rockefeller Institute, discusses how COVID-19 is affecting the marijuana industry and efforts to legalize adult-use recreational marijuana at the state level. Trela discusses how prohibition of marijuana at the federal level means marijuana businesses throughout the nation are ineligible to apply for...

In a new episode of Policy Outsider, guest Anita Murphy, district superintendent at Capital Region BOCES, discusses how school districts and BOCES are sharing resources and working together to continue supporting students through new challenges imposed by the COVID-19 crisis and planning for a variety of budget and instructional uncertainties in the coming academic year. New York State is anticipa...

On this episode of Policy Outsider, guest Leigh Wedenoja, senior policy analyst at the Institute, outlines existing and future challenges imposed by COVID-19 on students and the education system. Millions of Americans are adjusting to education going suddenly and fully online. The school year will likely finish online and, without a vaccine, schooling will likely be partially or fully online next...

On the latest episode of Policy Outsider, guest Liz Farmer, a fellow at the Future of Labor Research Center, discusses how work-from-home arrangements put in place as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to increase work-from-home trends and alter business operations.

On the latest episode of Policy Outsider, the podcast of the Rockefeller Institute of Government, guest Laura Schultz, director of fiscal analysis and senior economist at the Institute, discusses the outlook of the economy and steps federal, state, and local governments are taking to support businesses and individuals in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schultz discusses how some state governmen...

In episode 17, “Online Learning to Bridge Cultural Divides," Dr. Rhianna Rogers, associate professor at SUNY Empire State College and Ernest Boyer Presidential Fellow at the Institute, calls in via video conferencing software to illustrate how online learning can be structured to improve student engagement. Rogers explains the importance of breaking down barriers to higher education access, such a...

The latest episode of Policy Outsider features Dr. Leigh Wedenoja, senior policy analyst at the Rockefeller Institute. Wedenoja shares research presented at the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) 2019 Fall Research Conference on the effects of teacher looping on student outcomes. Wedenoja explains the practice of teacher looping, or pairing a student with the same teache...

On the latest episode of Policy Outsider , guests Heather Trela, director of operations and fellow at the Rockefeller Institute, and Trevor Craft, graduate research assistant, share insights from their research on the national vaping crisis. Trela and Craft discuss how the growth of vaping tobacco products in teens and the emergence of a vaping-related lung injury created what we now call the vapi...

On the latest episode, Brian Backstrom, director of education policy studies, shares insights from a recent Rockefeller Institute forum on effective early intervention in dyslexia. Backstrom discusses what dyslexia is, the needs of students with dyslexia and of teachers who teach them, what impacts could be in store for New York if a universal dyslexia screening program is enacted, and the experie...

This special edition of "Policy Outsider" was recorded live at a forum hosted by the Rockefeller Institute of Government and features distinguished scholar Robert J. Spitzer's presentation on gun policy. Spitzer notes that gun ownership continues to decline, and that the gun safety movement is newly invigorated, motivated, and financed. He also points out that there is substantial public support f...

On this episode of "Policy Outsider," we have Rockefeller Institute fellow Dr. Lisa Parshall to discuss the New N.Y. Government Reorganization and Citizen Empowerment Act and the effect it has had on village dissolutions. The episode highlights the Institute's recent report on village dissolutions, which detailed the motivation behind New York State's push to dissolve village governments. Parshall...

On the latest episode of “Policy Outsider,” we explain why so many turnaround efforts have failed and identifying the keys for future success. The episode highlights a recent report from the Institute on school turnaround efforts and features an interview with the report's author, Brian Backstrom, director of education policy studies at the Institute. Backstrom lays out the ineffectual fixes polic...

We return to Sullivan County, New York, with our Stories from Sullivan researchers to hear directly from a group of people in recovery at Catholic Charities of Orange, Sullivan, and Ulster Counties  — people who have lost friends to the epidemic, been to jail, and been brought back from the brink of overdose. They share their pathways to addiction, their struggles to begin recovery, and what...

The debate about gun violence in the U.S. seems to be dominated by division and policy paralysis. But it doesn't have to be. Some of the most effective policies in reducing gun homicides are also the most popular — among gun owners and proponents of gun control alike. We talk with the author of the most recent report from the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium, a multistate initiative coord...

What happened to legalized adult-use marijuana in New York and New Jersey? We sit down with Rockefeller Institute Chief of Staff and Fellow Heather Trela to understand why legalization efforts seem to have stalled in both states, and where we can expect things to go from here. Learn more: In the Weeds   *** Policy Outsider from the Rockefeller Institute of Government explores and explains how...

The Rockefeller Institute's Center for Law & Policy Solutions partners undergraduate research interns from the University at Albany with policy experts at the Institute to investigate a single issue of pressing state or national importance each semester. We sat down with three former interns to discuss what it was like to be thrown into the deep end of policy research -- and how they learned t...

Forty-two percent of college graduates in New York State carry some amount student debt, with an average debt load of about $30,000. We sit down with Rockefeller Institute Director of Education Policy Studies Brian Backstrom to break down those numbers and learn what states are doing -- and can do -- to ease the burden of student debt. Learn more: A Deeper Look at Student Loan Debt in New York Sta...

In the balance of payments between states and the federal government, some states "win" and some states "lose." We speak with the authors of our new report, "Giving or Getting? New York's Balance of Payments with the Federal Government," about the factors that shape these funding flows. Read the full report here . *** Policy Outsider from the Rockefeller Institute of Government explores and explai...