Center for Policy Research News

Children today face three serious mental health crises: death from drugs, alcohol and suicide, says Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion. "They’re much bigger societal issues that need to be addressed quickly or they’re going to manifest into something much more serious and then we’re going to be in big trouble not just now but decades to come."

"Opioids are far more deadly than any drugs that are entering through the U.S.-Mexico border,” says Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion.

Yilin Hou, professor of public administration and international affairs and senior research associate at the Center for Policy Research, has won a prestigious economic policy research award from the Pu Shan Foundation of China, for his paper "Real Property Tax: Ability to Pay, Distribution of Tax Burden, and Redistribution Effects."

Len Burman, Paul Volcker Chair in Behavioral Economics, suggests eliminating a provision of current law in which assets that increase in value can go essentially untaxed across generations as a way to reduce inequality.

Shannon Monnat, Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion, argues that in both rural and urban communities, two key factors—economic distress and supply of opioids—predict the rate of opioid deaths. "I really do want to push back against this cliché that addiction does not discriminate," Monnat says. "The physiological processes that underlie addiction themselves may not discriminate, but the factors that put people in communities at higher risk are are not spatially random."

"Opioids are a symptom and a symbol of far deeper issues in the U.S.," says Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion. She points to deteriorating economic conditions, a lack of investment in schools, a quick-fix culture and a toxic mix of "pain, despair, disconnection and lack of opportunity" as upstream problems that have fed into the nation's current drug crisis.

Perry Singleton, associate professor of economics, was cited in Psychology Today, about his study which found that the association between disability and divorce is greatest among young and educated males who experience a work-preventing, rather than a work-limiting, disability.

 The team, which includes Doug Wolf, professor of public administration and international affairs, Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology, and Jennifer Karas Montez, professor of sociology, will explore pre-emption’s effect on geographic inequities in health, focusing on labor and environmental policies.

“Codifying Data Analytics for Public Policy as an area of study will allow us to deepen and expand our relationships with top employers in this area and ensure that Maxwell remains at the leading edge of this rapidly evolving field,” said Chair and Professor of Public Administration and International Affairs Robert Bifulco about Maxwell's new area of study in Data Analytics for Public Policy.

“All you have to do is map a route wherever you’re at, gather your group and have fun walking!” says Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion. "Many organizations, universities and cities have adopted the Monday Mile activity and have seen great results," she adds.