Center Library
Modernizing Unemployment Insurance
This report analyzes the opportunity for Vermont to implement new improvements to their Unemployment Insurance (UI) System. This report draws on and synthesizes the key findings of the December 2021 Report of the Unemployment Insurance Study Committee, the Memorandum on the Feasibility of Changing the…
Maternity Care Deserts in Rural New Hampshire
The closure of labor and delivery units across New Hampshire poses numerous problems for the state's mothers and newborns, leaving large numbers of rural residents without easy access to maternity care services. These closures are the product of a variety of factors including a shrinking…
The Peer Support Solution: A community Based Model for Closing the Gap in Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Workforce Shortages
Mental health and substance abuse in the United States is a pressing crisis of mental health. The crisis has only been exacerbated by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the demand for mental health and substance abuse support resources has never been…
Forensic Mental Health in Vermont
In the legal system, incompetent individuals are deemed mentally unfit to testify or stand trial by the court. Competency restoration is the mental health treatment provided to legally incompetent defendants so that they can fully participate in judicial proceedings. The current U.S. competency restoration system…
Non-Driving Related Suspensions in New Hampshire
Eleven million Americans currently have suspended driver's licenses as a result of not paying fees/ fines or missing a hearing date.1 Under current New Hampshire law, a driver's license can be revoked for a number of offenses unrelated to operating a motor vehicle. These categories…
Barriers to Career and Technical Education in New Hampshire
Roughly twenty percent of high school students in New Hampshire attend Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs spread across 32 CTE centers in the state and in Vermont. CTE prepares youth and adults for a wide range of careers. At the secondary level, CTE provides…
HB 1299 and New Hampshire Cervid Importation Policy
Cervids constitute a centrally important aspect of wildlife importation policy. In the past fifty years, the cervid-borne Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has been identified in twenty-nine U.S. states, threatening wild and domestic game while complicating wildlife management and deer importation policy. The prion disease is…
Parental Incarceration in Vermont
This report provides background, context, and insights into the current impacts of parental incarceration of children in Vermont. In addition, it analyzes the expedient factors in H.399, a bill that proposes "to require the sentencing court to consider the criminal defendant's status as the primary…
Rejecting Ethnic Pandering in Urban Africa
Ethnic pandering, in which candidates promise to cater to the interests of coethnic voters, is presumed to be an effective strategy for increasing electoral support in Africa's emerging multiethnic democracies. However, ethnic political mobilization may be disdained by citizens for its divisive and polarizing effects…
Workforce Housing in Hanover, NH
This policy brief explores the issue of and potential solutions for workforce housing in Hanover, New Hampshire. The Upper Valley region is predicted to be in need of an additional 10,000 housing units by 2030, simply to meet ongoing demand for affordable housing. The lack…