Although employment is one of the primary building blocks leading to inclusion, better income, good health and freedom, it remains an elusive goal for many people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) who wish to work. Equal access to employment for people with disabilities has not improved since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) almost 25 years ago. The disparity in national employment rates between those with no disabilities and those with disabilities remains large and has grown significantly since the ADA’s passage. In 2013, the Arizona gap is significant with approximately 21 percent of workers with disabilities employed, which is 40 percentage points less than the 61 percent of workers without disabilities employed. There has also been an overall decline in employment among people with disabilities in both the United States and Arizona since 1994.

This brief will discuss the importance of transportation, problems accessing it, and the utilization of public transportation by people with disabilities. It will describe the barriers experienced in rural and urban settings, and how public transportation programs in Arizona are addressing these barriers. Finally, it will conclude with best practices and future trends in the wake of government funding cuts, including the establishment of one call centers, volunteer driver programs, and shared vans operated by non-profit organizations.

This two-page primer briefing was handed out at the Jan. 29 Morrison Institute Roundtable Discussion on violence: Recent high-profile events on our streets and playing fields have refocused public attention on the nature and level of violence in our society. While most of us would likely agree that the United States has a violence problem, much disagreement reigns over what it is, why it is, and what to do about it. Few would deny that our individual and societal attitudes about violence are, at the very least, confused, if not conflicted.

The purpose of this report is to provide descriptive statistics about firearm deaths in Arizona from 2015 to 2017. Morrison Institute for Public Policy partnered with the Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety (CVPCS) to compile, analyze and report on all firearm deaths in a three-year period. Through the mechanisms of data integration and abstraction from death certificates, autopsy and toxicology reports, and law enforcement investigations, the Arizona Violent Death Reporting System (AZ-VDRS) as a National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) partner, seeks to contribute to public understanding of firearm deaths in Arizona. Understanding the scope and nature of firearm deaths at state and local levels informs local and state authorities, policymakers and other stakeholders.

In 1995, the Arizona Legislature amended the state's adjudication statutes and other statutes that underlie surface water rights in Arizona. Those amendments led to five years of legal challenges that all but derailed the adjudication proceedings. In the end, the state Supreme Court ruled that most of the amendments were unconstitutional. The Legislature is again considering several measures that would impact surface water rights and the adjudications. To help inform the discussion of these proposals, the Kyl Center for Water Policy offers this analysis of what happened with the 1995 amendments.

This brief, prepared as part of Morrison Institute for Public Policy's Spotlight on Arizona’s Kids project, outlines evidence-based services that help reduce or prevent child abuse and neglect, including home visiting, parent education, domestic violence services, and substance abuse treatment. Morrison Institute, supported by the Arizona Community Foundation, recently released an interactive story map that provides information on child abuse and neglect prevention resources throughout Arizona. To view this resource visit: https://morrisoninstitute.asu.edu/content/interactive-maps-child-abuse-and-neglect-prevention-resources-arizona