Strengthening State Policies For Low-Income Working Families

In the summer of 2014, South by North Strategies, Ltd. prepared an overview of the impact of The Working Poor Families Project (WPFP), a national initiative to assess and strengthen state efforts to help low–income families advance and achieve economic security. To that end, the WPFP partners  with nonprofit organizations in 22 states and the District of Columbia.

Among other findings, the project estimated that the WPFP and its state partners have generated or protected approximately $7.6 billion in state investments on behalf of low-income working families since 2002. These investments have occurred in the broad areas of postsecondary education and skills training; economic development; and social insurance and family benefits, with the bulk of the investments occurring in the area of postsecondary education and skills training.

Understanding & Using Regional Labor Market Information

In the summer of 2014, South by North Strategies developed a seven‐hour introductory course on labor market information for practitioners in local workforce development, economic development, and research organizations. The course was developed on behalf of the North Carolina Workforce Development Training Center, a unit within the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

The day-long course includes modules on “Labor Market Information in Context,” “Labor Market Information in Detail,” “Accessing Labor Market Information,” and “Talking about Labor Market Information,” as well as a practical group exercise. Sessions have been delivered in the North Carolina cities of Raleigh, Hickory, and Boone.

The course is based on material contained in South by North Strategies’ book “Running The Numbers: A Practical Guide to Regional Economic and Social Analysis” (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2014).

Using & Communicating Labor Market Information

In October 2014, South by North Strategies, Ltd. facilitated two 90-minute professional development sessions on ways of using and communicating regional labor market information. The sessions were delivered as part of the 2014 North Carolina Workforce Development Partnership Conference, an annual gathering of approximately 900 workforce development professional organized by the North Carolina Workforce Development Training Center.

The sessions took place on October 16, 2014 in Greensboro and were based on material covered in the book “Running The Numbers: A Practical Guide to Regional Economic and Social Analysis” (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2014).

North Carolina’s Rural Labor Market & “The Great Recession”

In October 2014, John Quinterno of South by North Strategies, Ltd. presented on key economic changes that have occurred to North Carolina’s rural communities as a result of “The Great Recession.” The remarks were delivered to the approximately 400 participants in the 2014 North Carolina Rural Assembly, an event held in Raleigh and organized by the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center, a statewide nonprofit organization.

Among other topics, Quinterno discussed how the the recession spared no community in North Carolina, how the recession occurred alongside the increased “metropolitinization” of the state’s economy, how different types of non-metro communities have fared,  and how the recession has exacerbated certain workforce challenges in rural communities. A copy of the presentation is available online and also is embedded below.

Other presenters discussed demographic changes in rural North Carolina, the outlook for the rural economy, and promising community development models and practices. All of those presentations also are available online.

An Analysis Of NC’s Public Mental Health Workforce

In August 2013, the NC Center for Public Policy Research, a nonprofit organization in Raleigh, released the first comprehensive analysis of the approximately 10,000-person workforce employed in North Carolina’s public facilities that provide mental health, developmental disability, and substance abuse services.

The report provides a snapshot of selected demographic, occupational, and employment characteristics of the workforce employed in North Carolina’s three public psychiatric hospitals, three alcohol and drug treatment centers, three developmental centers for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, two residential treatment centers for children, three neuro-medical treatment centers, and the central administrative office.

An overview of the analysis and a summary of key findings are available here.

John Quinterno of South by North Strategies, Ltd. conducted the basic analysis, which involved a descriptive analysis of administrative data provided by the NC Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services. The data reflect the employment situation as of summer 2012.

The research is part of a longer, multi-year study of mental health reform in North Carolina that the NC Center for Public Policy Research has been conducting thanks to generous philanthropic support. Past reports in the series, including a 2012 piece prepared by South by North Strategies,  are available for purchase in the online archives of the center’s research journal, North Carolina Insight.