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-…

COVID-19 has disrupted almost every facet of American life, but the pandemic’s economic impact has been especially challenging for some of Arizona’s renters. Prior to COVID-19, approximately one in seven Arizonans lived in poverty, which is defined as earning less than $13,000 a year for a single adult and less than $22,000 a year for a three-person family. More Arizonans are one crisis away from severe financial hardship and potential eviction than just Arizonans living in poverty. Preventing an eviction “avalanche” after Arizona’s eviction moratorium ends is critical to the state’s finances because the costs, shouldered in part by taxpayers, associated with eviction and homelessness can be staggering. While financial support from unemployment insurance programs, the federal CARES Act, and Arizona’s eviction prevention fund are helping some Arizonans navigate the initial economic fallout from COVID-19, there are still thousands of Arizonans on the brink who have applied for rental assistance and not received support.

The Invest in Education Act (Proposition 208) would generate funds for schools by placing a 3.5% income tax surcharge on taxable individual income that is more than $250,000 for a single person (or married person filing separately) or $500,000 for a married couple (or a single person who is a head of household).

Arizona State University's Morrison Institute policy analyst David Schlinkert is a doctoral student at ASU. He recently traveled to Florence Detention Center to observe an asylum court proceeding for one of his immigration policy classes where he discovered that for many asylum seekers, the purgatory of seeking asylum may seem more like an eternity, and the detention stay more like a prison sentence than any prospect or promise of safety and freedom.

At Morrison Institute for Public Policy, a research center within Arizona State University's Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, we combine academic rigor with the goal of informing real community change. That is why we were eager to collaborate with First Place AZ, the Autism Housing Network and The Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation. A Place in the World: Fueling Housing and Community Options for Adults with Autism and Other Neurodiversities is a shining example of rigorous research informed by and in service to the community. Morrison Institute collected and synthesized viewpoints and data to improve our understanding of residential options for adults with autism and other neurodiversities. This body of research provides information, tools and examples that housing developers, families and individuals can use to expand the number and range of residential options.