WHAT'S NEW
This section relates special events and selected accomplishments of the NNIP partnership and local partners. We can only cover a small portion of the effects of NNIP partners, so we encourage you to visit their web sites for more detailed information.
Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Joins NNIP FEBRUARY 2010 – NNIP is pleased to announce that the Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies (IMS) has been accepted into the partnership as its 34th partner. IMS is a research and services center within Portland State University. It supports the metropolitan region by gathering and disseminating credible information, convening regional partners, and stimulating dialogue and action about critical regional issues. Through the IMS-affiliated Population Research Center, the Institute also provides statewide demographic information. The Institute is currently working on the Metropolitan Knowledge Network (http://mkn.research.pdx.edu), a web-based resource that includes data on local indicators, and articles analyzing data at different regional scales within the Portland Metropolitan region and comparing Portland to other regions. In 2007, IMS partnered with the Coalition for a Livable Future to create a Regional Equity Atlas. The Atlas, which includes neighborhood-level information on a variety of subjects, is currently being expanded and updated for a new version. The new version will use a community-based, participatory research approach to track equity outcomes, displaying the up-to-date results using a web-based mapping tool. These efforts, combined with a forthcoming Greater Portland Indicators project, cement IMS’ reputation as a leader in Portland-area local indicators. IMS has also analyzed regional data for a Regional Affordable Housing Study that forecasted local the supply and demand for housing by tenure, type and price ranges. In addition, they are working with neighborhood groups on a Community Geography Project; this series of projects draws on local residents’ knowledge and aspirations to create maps and analysis that can inform and influence community leaders. In another project, IMS is working with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality on an environmental justice mapping project. For that project, IMS will map low income and minority neighborhoods and the environmental and health risks that may disproportionately affect their populations.
For more information, see their website at http://www.pdx.edu/ims/ or the Portland NNIP Partner Profile at http://www2.urban.org/nnip/desc_portland.html.
NNIP launches project on the Effects of Foreclosure on Children and Schools The National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) has launched a cross-site project funded by the Foundation for Open Society to explore how the foreclosure crisis is affecting school -aged children in three cities. The Urban Institute will coordinate the project in partnership with the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance, NeighborhoodInfo DC, and New York University's Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy with the Institute for Education and Social Policy (IESP) . The first stage of the analysis will link property-level foreclosure data to public school student home addresses at the approximate time of foreclosure, resulting in a detailed picture of how many children in both renter and owner families are affected by the foreclosure crisis. The next stage will link these records to student records across time, shedding light on the elusive question of "where do foreclosed families go" along with whether families stayed in their original neighborhoods, if children changed schools, and if foreclosed student's attendance and grades differ from non-foreclosed students. The local partners will produce briefs in Spring and Fall 2010, and the project will culminate in a cross-site brief by the end of the year. In addition to research briefs, we are publishing working documents throughout the project on the NNIP Foreclosure page to help those interested in doing similar analysis for other cities. The analysis plan for each city describes the local foreclosure situation, the data sources available, and method for identifying children affected by foreclosure. We have also posted the NeighborhoodInfo DC's sample Memorandum of Agreement and Research Proposal to the public school system as examples for those just getting started in accessing confidential student data.
Other NNIP partners and researchers are also working in this area, including the Urban Strategies Council in Oakland (see resources from their Funders Briefing on Foreclosures and Children) and Ryan Allen’s analysis on Foreclosures in the Immigrant Community of Minneapolis. We would love to hear about other researchers working in this area or practioners working with school systems on response strategies. If there is enough interest, we can explore featuring the different projects on Foreclosure-Response.org.
New NNIP Report Illustrates Using Data to Strengthen Local Foreclosure Responses JANUARY 2010 - The National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) is pleased to announce the release of Addressing the Foreclosure Crisis: Action Oriented Research in Three Cities , a report which documents findings from its latest cross-site study on using data to improve local responses to the foreclosure crisis. This publication was funded through a grant from Fannie Mae, published by the Urban Institute and written by G. Thomas Kingsley, Kathryn L.S. Pettit and Leah Hendey. Three NNIP partners - Metropolitan Chicago Information Center (Chicago), NeighborhoodNexus (Atlanta), and NeighborhoodInfoDC (Washington, D.C.) - were all challenged to apply their data creatively in tackling the crisis in a one year time frame. All had an impact. The Atlanta group developed neighborhood data on foreclosure trends region-wide and presented it at several major convenings that motivated stakeholders for the first time to work toward a coordinated regional approach to response planning. In Chicago, the group linked the client database of a major housing counseling organization to records on foreclosure outcomes and helped the agency examine outcomes for the households they counseled. The Washington D.C. team also analyzed a mix of neighborhood indicators area-wide (e.g., foreclosure risk, market strength, and access to transportation) and worked with the Council of Governments to use the analysis as a basis for targeting resources more effectively in Neighborhood Stabilization Planning.
The report presents the metropolitan contexts for the three cities and then describes each city’s activities in detail. For the individual site reports and other NNIP resources, visit the NNIP Foreclosure Activities page.
Detroit Area Community Information System Joins NNIP NOVEMBER 2009 - NNIP is pleased to announce the acceptance of the Detroit Area Community Information System (D-ACIS) into the partnership as the representative of the Detroit region. D-ACIS was launched in late 2008 with initial support from the Skillman and the Kresge Foundations, and is current housed at CityConnect. It provides leadership and expertise in community data collection, evaluation, and research to inform positive change in Detroit and its metropolitan area. D-ACIS operates on the belief that better information leads to better communities and that quality data and research empowers communities. Its primary functions include: One current focus of their work centers on improving city planning efforts, such as the implementation of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program and the city's Next Detroit Neighborhood Initiative. They are also part of a collaborative completing a survey of each of the 360,000 residential parcels in the city. In partnership with the Detroit Office of Foreclosure, Community Legal Resources - Vacant Property Campaign, the City of Detroit, and the University of Michigan, teams of three fanned out across the city this fall armed with parcel maps to collect key information on conditions of each property. The partners will then be developing a variety of materials to distribute the information to the community for planning and program improvement. D-ACIS is also an active participant in the Michigan Nonprofit Complete Count Committee for Census 2010 organized by the Michigan Nonprofit Association. D-ACIS and the Community Research Institute (the NNIP partner in Grand Rapids) have launched a Michigan 2010 Census Planning website that lets users look up the Hard-To-Count (HTC) scores for their own address or neighborhood. D-ACIS is also lending technical support to nonprofits responding to outreach grant opportunities, in addition to promoting the importance of census through the media and other opportunities.
Other efforts include work with Social Compact on their retail "Drilldown" analysis, and serving as the data hub for the Detroit Funders Network. For more information see www.d-acis.org and the Detroit Partner Profile.
2009 KIDS COUNT Data Book Now Available
MAY 2009 - NNIP would like to announce that the Regional Housing and Community Development Alliance (RHCDA), in partnership with RegionWise at Saint Louis University, Public Policy Research Center at the University of Missouri - St. Louis, Institute for Urban Research at Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville, and Washington University in St. Louis, has joined NNIP to represent the St. Louis region. RHCDA is a nonprofit intermediary organization with a mission to build strong and healthy neighborhoods in the St. Louis area. They have worked for over ten years in distressed communities throughout the St. Louis metropolitan region as a technical assistance provider building the capacity of local community-based development organizations; as a predevelopment lender, and as a developer and development consultant. In 2005, RHCDA began tracking Neighborhood Indicator data in an attempt to identify correlations between targeted intervention strategies in certain neighborhoods and the progress those neighborhoods were making. Shortly thereafter, they began incorporating neighborhood-level data into all of their work, most importantly into their technical assistance programs. RHCDA now includes "Outcome Measures" training in most of their technical assistance work, which introduces community leaders to neighborhood-level data and helps them utilize the data to achieve their strategic goals. Some of RHCDA’s current projects include working with local governments on their Neighborhood Stabilization Program plans, serving as the community liaison for the National Community Stabilization Trust and a project to map community gardens and increase food security in the St. Louis region. RHCDA, along with the area’s major universities, participates in the local collaborative known as the Metro Data Alliance, to share data and resources. This data sharing arrangement, while currently informal, allows the participating organizations to reduce duplication of effort and to be respectful of data providers’ time by reducing the number of individual data requests to any given entity.
For more information see www.rhcda.com and the St. Louis Partner Profile.
NNIP Launches New Foreclosure Resources Webpage
MARCH 2009 - The National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) has created a new webpage with resources on the foreclosure crisis generated by the partnership and the individual NNIP partners:
NNIP local partners have been at the forefront of analyzing foreclosures effects on neighborhoods and supporting data-driven responses to the crisis. This webpage makes their web sites, presentations, and publications conveniently accessible in one location for the first time. In addition, there are tools and protocols that are being used by partners to study foreclosures, which may be useful for anyone pursuing similar research. The webpage also catalogues cross-site activities, including presentations at the Urban Affairs Association (UAA) meeting in March 2009. Presentations from UAA available at the foreclosure page are:
Visit NNIP’s new foreclosure resources webpage, and check back in the future for updated publications and resources as the foreclosure crisis continues to unfold.
For additional information, e-mail NNIP at nnip@ui.urban.org. |
