New York

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Mental Health First Aid: Training People to Help Others

An innovative program trains and empowers people to not look away from those experiencing mental illness, but to listen to them, reassure them, and encourage them to get help. Most trainees of the program in New York City were still using what they had learned five years later.

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State of the Union, Mental Health First Aid, China's Spy Balloon: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on President Biden's State of the Union address, the benefits of mental health first aid training, insights on China’s spy balloon, and more.

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Segregation and Racism—Buffalo's Ignored History

To move policy forward, public policy research will need to take a joint, nonpartisan look at diverse perspectives while, at the same time, giving space to voices that have been historically underrepresented. Changing or challenging fundamental assumptions in racial equity discourse requires a better understanding of the importance of cultural data, the longstanding impacts of systemic -isms on lived experiences, and a push for real-time policy solutions.

Rhianna C. Rogers, Stephen Tucker

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Synthetic Opioids, Ukrainian Grain, the Metaverse: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on countering the illegal flow of synthetic opioids, freeing up Ukrainian grain to prevent famine, the importance of defining the metaverse, and more.

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Community Schools, Brexit, Coronavirus: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the promise of community schools, the costs of uncertainty after Brexit, the coronavirus, and more.

commentary

All Health Policy Is Local: The Case of the Individual Mandate Penalty in New York

As with many Affordable Care Act policies, how New York is dealing with the absence of the individual mandate penalty is a potent reminder that all health policy is local.

Christine Eibner @Chrissyeibner, Sarah A. Nowak, et al.

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Potential Benefits for Most New Yorkers but No Free Lunch: Tough Decisions for Single-Payer Health Care in New York

A single-payer plan in New York would shift health care spending to the state instead of private insurers. As with any far-reaching legislation, there are trade-offs. It's important that policymakers consider the impact of the single-payer plan in totality.

Jodi L. Liu @jodilliu

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New York Terror Attack: Can Vehicle Attacks Be Prevented?

The recent vehicle attack in Manhattan was the deadliest terror attack on New York since 9/11. Preventing every attack is unrealistic, but with increased vigilance, cooperation with law enforcement, and intelligence sharing, citizens can help mitigate the threat of terrorism.

Colin P. Clarke

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September 11: The Day That Changed My Country (and My Career Path) Forever

New York City native Colin Clarke discusses how terrorism has evolved since the September 11 attacks and how the tragedy motivated him to become a terrorism expert.

Colin P. Clarke

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A Symbolic Purging of the NYPD Radicalization Report

The NYPD's purging of its 2007 report on radicalization may give some satisfaction by symbolically breaking the connection between the current mayoral administration and the NYPD's previous intelligence and investigative efforts. But its significance seems questionable.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins, Richard Daddario

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How Terrorist Threats Against LA and New York Schools Exposed Weaknesses

The handling of terrorist threats on Los Angeles and New York City schools calls into question the ability of national and local government to coordinate a terrorist crisis involving two or more cities.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins, Richard Daddario

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Control Disease in a New York Minute

Legionella bacteria are ubiquitous in many warm-water environments, but outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease like the recent one in the South Bronx don't have to be. Effective public health policies and practices can help inhibit Legionella growth, minimize the occurrence and impact of outbreaks, and save lives.

Shoshana R. Shelton, Melinda Moore

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Does Expanding Nurse Practitioner Autonomy Affect the Value of Care Delivered?

Given the high cost of health care in America, policymakers should be very concerned about the effect of expanded nurse practitioner autonomy on the value of care. However, to have a sensible policy debate, we need to admit that we hardly know anything about it.

Grant R. Martsolf

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One Year Later: Hurricane Sandy's Lessons in Resilience and Recovery

The recovery from Sandy shows once again that how well communities bounce back from disasters depends not just on how they react after a crisis, but on how resilient they have made themselves beforehand. Building community resilience should be part and parcel of disaster preparedness.

Mahshid Abir

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A Year After Sandy, a New Threat to New York City

As residents continue to recover from Superstorm Sandy, they are about to confront dramatic changes in the flood insurance landscape. Changes to federal floodplain maps will mean thousands of New Yorkers will suddenly be living in areas designated as high-risk flood, which will send their insurance rates soaring.

Lloyd Dixon

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RAND's Teacher Bonus Research Recognized by U.S. Dept. of Education

The U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences recognized a RAND report on the effects of teacher bonuses in New York City public schools last week. IES added the report, A Big Apple for Educators, to its What Works Clearinghouse.

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What Louisiana Can Teach New York and New Jersey

The massive damage and disruption caused by “Super Storm” Sandy has created a rare moment when New York City, New Jersey and surrounding areas are singularly focused on the infrastructure they need in a changing environment – not just the infrastructure they already have thanks to the vision and investments of past generations.

Debra Knopman, Jordan R. Fischbach, et al.

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Helping Displaced Students in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy

If Hurricane Sandy causes extensive disruptions in public schools—particularly in hard-hit New York City—our research shows that choices made by parents and policymakers could significantly limit the negative short-term effects of changing schools under such difficult circumstances, writes John Pane.

John F. Pane @JohnFPane

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The Debate over Teacher Merit Pay: A Freakonomics Quorum

Motivation alone does not improve schools. Even if incentives inspire staff to improve practices or work together, educators may not have the capacity or resources to bring about improvement, writes Julie Marsh.

Julie A. Marsh