Education decisions are among the most important choices people ever make. So we were surprised and disappointed to see an article so loosely reasoned and reckless in its conclusions as “Five Reasons to Skip College” published in Blank Slate at Forbes.com on April 18, 2006. The article never provides a numerical assessment of the costs and benefits of going to college, uses statistics inappropriately and in a way that biases the conclusions against college, contains conceptual errors on how to evaluate the return on a college education, and greatly exaggerates the only substantive criticism of typical evaluations of the financial worth of a college degree.

Discusses the results of the 2010 decennial census for Arizona, with comparisons to the nation and other states, and for Arizona counties and places. Changes between 2000 and 2010 are included. In addition to the total population, the population living in households, and the population living in group quarters, the following topics are discussed: household type, race and ethnicity, age, housing units and vacancies, and homeownership. The data are available in two accompanying Excel files.

Volume I: Facts
Analyses of Arizona state government finance, using data of the Arizona Joint Legislative Budget Committee, and of the combined finances of all state and local governments within Arizona, using data of the U.S. Census Bureau. A historical perspective is provided for both datasets. For combined state and local government finance, comparisons are made to other states and to the national average. In addition, other measures of the tax burden by state are examined.

Volume II: Concepts and Issues
Addresses the conceptual and empirical relationships between taxes, government revenue, and economic growth. Also discusses current issues specific to Arizona state government finance. This is a revised version of the report "Tax Reductions, the Economy, and the Deficit in the Arizona State Government General Fund," incorporating new and updated material.

Volume III: Options for Managing the Arizona State General Fund
Presents options and offers recommendations for managing the Arizona state government general fund. The near-term budget deficit is addressed as well as ways to prevent budget deficits from recurring every time economic growth slows.

From its inception, the “Spotlight on Arizona’s Kids” project was a different type of initiative undertaken by Morrison Institute for Public Policy and none more important – the safety and well-being of children whose lives intersect with the child welfare system. This multi-year project, funded by Arizona Community Foundation (ACF), includes data and expertise provided by Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS), along with input from national and local child welfare experts. To date, the project has produced five publications that examine the breadth and complexity of issues related to child neglect with the goal of informing effective policy in Arizona.

From its inception, the “Spotlight on Arizona’s Kids” project was a different type of initiative undertaken by Morrison Institute for Public Policy and none more important – the safety and well-being of children whose lives intersect with the child welfare system. This multi-year project, funded by Arizona Community Foundation (ACF), includes data and expertise provided by Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS), along with input from national and local child welfare experts. To date, the project has produced five publications that examine the breadth and complexity of issues related to child neglect with the goal of informing effective policy in Arizona.

From its inception, the “Spotlight on Arizona’s Kids” project was a different type of initiative undertaken by Morrison Institute for Public Policy and none more important – the safety and well-being of children whose lives intersect with the child welfare system. This multi-year project, funded by Arizona Community Foundation (ACF), includes data and expertise provided by Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS), along with input from national and local child welfare experts. To date, the project has produced five publications that examine the breadth and complexity of issues related to child neglect with the goal of informing effective policy in Arizona.

This is the fourth in a series of briefs in which Morrison Institute for Public Policy will report on selected aspects of Arizona’s child welfare system. Morrison Institute’s first white paper discussed the less visible but more common side of child maltreatment: neglect. The second white paper examined family conditions that can influence a family’s subtle “drift” towards unsafe situations that often correlate with neglect, as well as how different types of prevention might help interrupt the “drift into failure.” The third paper analyzed Arizona Department of Child Safety data to identify the prevalence of various types of neglect in Arizona reports. This paper highlights some key conclusions from the neglect analysis and identifies future areas for study and analysis as part of the Spotlight on Arizona’s Kids project. Future papers will research, analyze and discuss prevention services in Arizona and elsewhere, with an emphasis on best practices. These collective efforts are intended to help state leaders, child advocates and others discuss and identify the most-effective child abuse and neglect prevention strategies. Spotlight on Arizona’s Kids is funded by the Arizona Community Foundation