Ongoing Research
Arizona Policy Choices
Quality of Life Study
Young Steward of Public Policy
Greater Phoenix Leadership
Current Research
Forum 411: Engaging Arizona's Leaders
Arizona leaders need authoritative, challenging—yet quick and user-friendly—information about current and emerging policy issues. Forum 411, a quarterly briefing series, will inform opinion leaders about the multi-faceted challenges affecting the state and stimulate discussion about big picture issues and solutions. Starting in 2008, the first issue will examine myths and realities about Arizona’s immigrant children and their parents. Forum 411 is sponsored by Westcor.
Arizona Indicators
Arizonans make decisions every day that affect the state’s competitive position and its future. Yet, many decisions are made with a limited understanding of the state’s past and present. ASU’s Arizona Indicators project is a Web-based for the best data in many areas with ready access to explanations, graphs, tables, and maps. As a shared, community-focused repository for metro Phoenix and the state, Arizona Indicators presents neutral, accurate, and contextualized statistical information. As a key contributor, Morrison Institute provides data on health, human services, and quality of life. The project is sponsored by Arizona State University, Arizona Community Foundation, Arizona Department of Commerce, and The Arizona Republic.
Arizona’s Workforce
“Talent” continues to be a top concern among Arizona employers. Morrison Institute is completing a briefing paper and presentation that describes Arizona’s current workforce with particular attention to Latino, older, and younger workers. The policy-oriented products will assess economic and income mobility, migration, and education in relation to work while identifying and dispelling persistent myths about Arizona’s workforce. They will also offer ideas for change. The project is sponsored by Greater Phoenix Leadership, the Helios Foundation, and the ASU Office of Public Affairs.
Health Care in Gilbert
The Town of Gilbert has seen the opening of substantial new hospital facilities and is increasingly considering health-related products and services as a direction for its economic development efforts. Morrison Institute in partnership with the International Research Center is exploring the opportunities in integrative health, complementary/alternative medicine, and women’s health. This second phase is focusing on the outlooks of companies in Gilbert and across metro Phoenix.
Sustainability
Building upon the momentum of the 6th edition of Arizona Policy Choices,
Sustainability for
Arizona: The Issue of Our Age, Morrison Institute continues to
extend its reach and research on sustainability. From working to create
new forums for idea-sharing and resources to the pursuit of ongoing partnerships
with ASU’s
Global Institute of Sustainability, this project began with a report
and has grown in exciting ways. Ongoing activities include repurposing the
report as a Web resource and developing a survey of municipalities on sustainability
in local government. This is in conjunction with ASU’s School
of Public Affairs and Center
for Urban Innovation.
Arizona Policy Choices
A signature series for Morrison Institute since the mid-1990s, Arizona Policy Choices covers timely topics of importance to Arizona. Recent issues have included sustainability and how Arizona compares to other states. Research is currently underway to identify the topic and treatment of the 7th edition of Arizona Policy Choices.
Costs of Chronic Homelessness
No one questions that those who are chronically homeless are likely to use a wide variety of social services, in addition to possibly moving in and out of hospitals, substance abuse treatment programs, and jails. In metro Phoenix, however, a comparison of costs of serving chronically homeless people as has been done in the past and alternatively providing permanent supportive housing has not bee made. In the first phase of a potentially multi-component project with the Arizona Department of Economic Security, Morrison Institute is identifying the costs and developing a research agenda.
Domestic Violence
As part of a multi-year research focus on domestic violence in Arizona, Morrison Institute is analyzing court data from Pinal County to help determine whether the county’s new Domestic Violence Court has helped improved the outcomes for victims and offenders who come before it; it is seeking federal funding for a study of domestic violence prosecution in six large Arizona municipal courts; and it is broadening the scope of its research to consider the co-occurrence of domestic violence, child maltreatment, substance abuse, and mental illness among some of Arizona’s most troubled families.
Human Services in Maricopa County
Morrison Institute is helping prepare and publish a volume of essays on
the challenges facing Maricopa County’s human-service clients and
providers in coming years. Called Greater Phoenix Forward, the publication
is authored by a dozen experts in ASU’s College
of Public Programs. The essays cover topics from poverty to
parks and recreation, and are meant to prompt a dialogue among local government
agencies, non-profit organizations, and other groups that together provide
services to the county’s needy and vulnerable residents.