CPR Policy Briefs Container

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” Will Deepen the Farm Crisis, Not Solve It

Rebecca Schewe and Rick Welsh

The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) promises billions in new farm subsidies, but most of that money won’t go to the farmers who need it most. This brief describes how the OBBB’s changes to agricultural subsidy programs will disproportionately benefit large farms and non-farming investors, accelerating farm loss and consolidation across the United States.

April 1, 2026

Can Schools Sustain the Rising Cost of Retiree Health Care?

Robert Bifulco and Iuliia Shybalkina

New York State school districts face mounting budget pressures from retiree health care benefits. Without policy changes, these costs could grow from 4.5 percent of district revenues today to over 13 percent by 2075, creating significant budget pressures for districts.

December 10, 2025

See related: United States

Student Alienation in Schools Goes Beyond Low Achievement

Sean J. Drake and Jeffrey Guhin

This brief summarizes findings from a study drawing on over two years of ethnographic fieldwork in two different high schools in Los Angeles, California. The authors identify four types of alienation students experience: feeling like they don't belong, being in schools that can't support their goals, pursuing futures schools don't recognize, and succeeding in someone else's story.

November 19, 2025

See related: United States

Public School Districts Should Close Their “Alternative” and “Continuation” High Schools

Sean J. Drake

“Alternative” high schools are meant to help struggling students catch up on credits, but they often function as dumping grounds that perpetuate inequality.

November 5, 2025

See related: United States

Why Aren’t More People Calling 988 for Mental Health Crises?

Michiko Ueda, Colleen M. Heflin, Yanhong Liu, Qingyi Yu, and Seethalakshmi Ramanathan

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline launched in 2022 is a free, confidential alternative, yet awareness remains low and misconceptions persist. This brief summarizes findings from a study that surveyed nearly 1,900 U.S. adults and found that only 22% knew about 988. Even more striking: nearly 9 in 10 people had concerns about using it, and many of those concerns are based on misconceptions.

October 29, 2025

See related: United States

Policy Recommendations to Reduce Old Age Food Insecurity in the United States

Colleen M. Heflin and Madonna Harrington Meyer

The current policy responses to old age food insecurity are complex, costly, and not nearly effective enough. Based on the book, Food for Thought: Understanding Older Adults Food Insecurity, this brief summarizes five policy recommendations to improve food insecurity among U.S. older adults.

September 10, 2025

See related: United States

Why Are Food System Workers Excluded from Local Food Policy Councils?

Frank Sarfo, Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern and Jonnell A Robinson

This brief summarizes findings from a study that examined the challenges and barriers that have limited FPCs’ engagement with labor issues. The authors find that internal tensions, limited capacity, and weak ties to labor groups hinder FPC engagement in food labor advocacy.

August 20, 2025

See related: United States

How Can Public Sector Employers Improve the Effectiveness of Email Recruitment?

Leonard M. Lopoo, Robert Bifulco, Hannah Patnaik, Ashraf Haque, Christine Ashby, George Theoharis

This brief summarizes findings from a study that examined which email format - a letter with university logos signed by a university official or an informational flyer with a photograph - was more effective in recruiting applicants for a training program for K-12 teaching jobs.

April 30, 2025

See related: United States

Do Schools Have the Capacity to Provide Free Meals to Every Student?

Michah W. Rothbart, Jeehee Han, and Zac Reeves

This brief summarizes the findings from a study that analyzed the effectiveness of Universal Free Meals and Breakfast in the Classroom at increasing student school breakfast and lunch participation in capacity-constrained schools.

January 8, 2025

The Meatpacking Industry Needs Stronger Worker Protections and Enhanced Oversight

India Luxton and Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern

This brief summarizes findings from a study that used data from 39 interviews with local, state, and federal officials and bureaucrats, worker advocates, and workers to analyze meatpacking policymaking and oversight during COVID-19.

December 10, 2024

Waiving Physical Presence Requirements During the COVID-19 Pandemic Increased WIC Caseloads

Colleen Heflin, William Clay Fannin, Leonard Lopoo, and Camille Barbin

This brief summarizes findings from a study that compared WIC caseload data collected across 738 counties in 10 U.S. states between January 2019 and May 2021 to determine how these waives affected WIC participation.

November 19, 2024

How Can We Improve Educational Experiences for Refugee Students in Poland?

Iwona B. Franczak and Amy C. Lutz

This brief summarizes findings from a study that used data from 24 interviews conducted in 2022 with teachers and mothers of Ukrainian refugee children attending elementary schools in Poland to examine the impact of forced migration on academic progress and socio-emotional well-being of refugee students.

October 23, 2024

How Does the Reauthorization of the Farm Bill Impact SNAP?

Colleen Heflin and Camille Barbin

Negotiations on a new Farm Bill have included SNAP proposals to limit state discretion on work requirements during periods of low job availability, indefinitely freeze the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan, and lift the ban on prepared meals. This brief describes how these proposals could increase food insecurity and suggests way the new Farm Bill could better serve the nutritional needs of low-income households.

October 16, 2024

Participating in Childcare Subsidy Programs Increases Employment and Annual Earnings for Working Parents

William Clay Fannin, Colleen Heflin, Taryn Morrissey, Siobhan O’Keefe

This brief describes associations between childcare subsidy program participation and household employment and earnings outcomes among low-income families in Virginia.

July 31, 2024

States’ COVID-19 Restrictions were Associated with Increases in Drug Overdose Deaths in 2020

Douglas A. Wolf, Shannon M. Monnat, Jennifer Karas Montez, Emily Wiemers, and Elyse Grossman

This brief summarizes the findings of a paper that used national data to identify how states’ COVID-19 policies affected drug overdose rates among U.S. adults ages 25-64 during the first year of the pandemic.

May 15, 2024

Adopting the Standard Medical Deduction Increased State SNAP Enrollment and Benefits

Yuwei Zhang, Jun Li, Dongmei Zuo, and Colleen M. Heflin

Simplifying administrative requirements for SNAP would make it easier for older adults and people with disabilities to participate in the program.

February 21, 2024

Waiving SNAP Interviews during the COVID-19 Pandemic Increased SNAP Caseloads

Colleen Heflin, William Clay Fannin, Leonard Lopoo, and Siobhan O’Keefe

Counties that implemented the SNAP interview waiver during the COVID-19 pandemic experienced a 5% increase in SNAP participation.

January 10, 2024

Stronger Regulations on Air Pollution Could Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Mortality Rates

Yue Sun

Cutting air pollution to match the World Health Organization’s proposed standards could have prevented over 300,000 cardiovascular disease deaths in 2016-18.

December 6, 2023

Behavioral Science Interventions Could Increase SNAP Comprehension and Awareness Among Military Families

Colleen Heflin, Hannah Patnaik, Leonard Lopoo, and Siobhan O’Keefe

Making small behavioral science informed changes to SNAP informational flyers increased military & veteran families’ knowledge about benefits & may help to increase SNAP uptake in this population.

November 15, 2023

COVID-19 Mortality Rates were Higher in States that Limited Governments from Enacting Public Health Emergency Orders

Xue Zhang, Mildred E. Warner, and Gen Meredith

The emergency public health policies that state and local governments enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in lower infection and death rates than would have occurred without these policies. New research from CPR & Lerner Postdoctoral Scholar Xue Zhang finds that states with unified Republican control were more likely to limit emergency authority during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in higher COVID-19 death rates in those states.

August 16, 2023