Center for Civic Literacy Publications
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Item Decision 2024 Your Voices, Your Future: Community Resilience(Center for Civic Literacy, 2024-10) Mincey, Sarah; Filippelli, Gabriel; Brown, Bill; Dorau, Therese; Page-Tan, Courtney; Awaysheh, Amrou; Palmer, Jamie; Van Allen, Elizabeth J.; Vargas, EmanuelMore extreme and frequent weather events and a rapidly evolving economy and energy infrastructure have impacted Indiana’s economic and social landscape. This brief explores how communities can adapt their built environment, infrastructure, economics, and institutional and social capacities to become more resilient as they confront these challenges.Item Decision 2024 Your Voices, Your Future: Indiana's Healthcare Challenges(Center for Civic Literacy, 2024-10) Andres, Unai Miguel; McGuire, Cydney; Wynns, Whitley; Bow, Brendan; Guevara, Tom; Van Allen, Elizabeth J.; Thakur, MedhaviBeing healthy is more than just not having disease or illness. The social conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age can impact their well-being significantly. This policy brief examines how the social determinants of health affect the choices, behaviors, and health outcomes of individuals and families for a selection of health topics. The authors explore the current state of Indiana's maternal and infant health, food security, housing security, the state’s opioid crisis, and Hoosier insurance coverage.Item Decision 2024 Your Voices, Your Future: The Innovation Economy(Center for Civic Literacy, 2024-10) Guevara, Tom; Desai, Sameeksha; Audretsch, David B.; Arun, Nidhi; Van Allen, Elizabeth J.; Menard, Claire; Thakur, MedhaviHow Indiana embraces and fosters an economy where innovation thrives will largely decide its future. Indiana rebounded strongly compared to many states following the COVID-19 pandemic, but the effects of the crisis also laid bare some of the state’s economic weaknesses, including the need for greater technological competitiveness. Innovation involves introducing a new product, service, or process into the economy, and technological advancement driven by innovation links to economic prosperity more than ever before. Indiana has fallen behind in its ability to foster innovation and technology, which has limited its productivity. Investments in advanced manufacturing and life sciences manufacturing offer strong near-term opportunities to maintain or even increase Indiana's economic performance. In the long term, sustained investments in professional and scientific services must be a priority for the state. This brief highlights how policy makers can construct and implement policies to encourage more technological innovation and entrepreneurship so Indiana’s economy can thrive.Item Decision 2024 Your Voices, Your Future: Loss of Confidence in Public Institutions(Center for Civic Literacy, 2024-09) Bodenhamer, David; Guevara, Tom; Perry, James; Van Allen, Elizabeth J.; Menard, ClairePublic trust in government and other institutions is shrinking, which endangers the future of our democratic system. This brief identifies the challenges our important public institutions face, the threats society confronts when trust in our institutions is diminished or lost, and how confidence in them can be restored.Item Decision 2020 Electing Indiana's Future: Civic Health(Center for Civic Literacy, 2020-09) Dunlap, CharlesIndiana’s voter turnout ranking has consistently placed the state in the bottom tier of the country. Indiana has conducted four civic health report cards over an eight-year period from 2011 to 2019 that includes two major election cycles to analyze trends over time. The most recent edition of the Indiana Civic Health Index was conducted in 2019 and includes two specific recommendations for future action. The two recommendations outline strategies for expanding and improving civic education programs and opportunities, as well as improving voting rates in Indiana. These two goals are crucial to advancing the state of our civic health. This brief touches on recommendations and strategies for expanding and improving civic education programs and opportunities, as well as improving voting rates in Indiana.Item Decision 2020 Electing Indiana's Future: Indiana's Black Death Rate from COVID-19, Institutional Sources of Disparity(Center for Civic Literacy, 2020-09) Merritt, BreancaCOVID-19 has resulted in a disproportionate number of deaths among Black, Hispanic/Latinx, and indigenous Americans across the nation. Where data is available for various states and cities, these groups consistently experience worse outcomes. This trend holds true for Indiana’s Black residents. On April 13, 2020, the Indiana State Department of Health began including racial/ethnic demographics of diagnosed cases and deaths in its online dashboard. On that date, Black Hoosiers comprised about 10 percent of Indiana’s population, but 20 percent of COVID-19 deaths. This brief looks beyond differences in racial health disparities to understand the structural and social sources for these trends.Item Decision 2020 Electing Indiana's Future: Reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic(Center for Civic Literacy, 2020-09) Vest, Joshua R.; Sanner, LindseyCurrently, no consistently agreed upon school reopening strategy exists, nor does any consistently defined criteria on COVID-19 transmission levels within a community to guide campus-level decisions. The authors assess the options for K-12 education in 2020 and beyond.Item Decision 2024 Your Voices, Your Future: Childcare, The state of early care and education in Indiana(Center for Civic Literacy, 2024-09) Dilley, Jonathan; Fry, Melissa; Thuranira, Elizabeth; Palmer, Jamie; Van Allen, Elizabeth; Menard, Claire; Vargas, EmanuelHigh-quality early care and education for children ages 0‒5 is proven to have a meaningful impact on a child’s success in school and beyond. Ninety percent of brain development occurs by age 5. Infants and children learn from every interaction and activity. Everyone shares a collective responsibility to make sure interactions in childcare settings nurture, respond to needs, and optimize brain development and early learning. However, systemic barriers related to access, affordability, and program quality prevent children and their families from fully benefiting from early care and education opportunities when needed, ultimately limiting the multigenerational impact of a sturdy learning foundation. The central question facing stakeholders responsible for the growth, maintenance, or regulation of early childhood education programs is how to ensure access to high-quality early care and learning opportunities for all children. This brief discusses actions that can be taken to address systemic barriers related to access, affordability, and program quality which might keep Hoosier children from reaching their full potential.Item Decision 2020 Electing Indiana's Future: Higher Education(Center for Civic Literacy, 2020-09) Lubbers, TeresaHigher education in Indiana, as elsewhere, is at a crossroads. While in the past, those with a high school diploma fueled Indiana’s economy with high-paying jobs in fields like agriculture and manufacturing, education beyond high school is now essential for economic security. And while agriculture and manufacturing remain essential parts of Indiana’s economy, the job requirements have changed, as have the skills needed in other growing sectors such as health, life sciences, information technology, and business services. Our citizens, our employers, and our state need higher education to become more flexible and innovative. To meet these realities, we must flip the model of higher education to put students, not state agencies or institutions, at the center. Creating a state environment that is a hub for opportunity, economic growth, and personal well-being requires an educational system that affords all Hoosiers the benefits associated with a degree or credential.Item Decision 2020 Electing Indiana's Future: Health Care(Center for Civic Literacy, 2020-09) Silverman, RossHealth is a principal public concern in Indiana in 2020. From mid-March through the end of August, nearly 100,000 Hoosiers were diagnosed with COVID-19, and more than 3,000 died. The epidemic has affected all corners of the state, striking hard Indiana’s vulnerable elderly and minority populations, straining its health care, public health, and education systems, and harming the state’s short- and long-term economic outlook. In addition to COVID-19 concerns, Hoosiers continue to face serious issues related to health care access, cost, and outcomes; a significant share of the population is in fair to poor physical and mental health; and systems to protect the public’s health are underfunded. In this brief, Fairbanks School of Public Health Professor Ross Silverman explores the issues related to healthcare access, cost, and outcomes that are impacting Hoosiers and makes recommendations for access to care and better outcomes.