Publications
Researchers at the Office for Community and Social Research work with academics and practitioners to produce articles and research on various subjects and trends related to quality of life issues in the St. Louis region and beyond. Find links below to some of this work. (Click titles to view)
Measuring Concentrated Poverty: The Federal Standard vs. a Relative StandardFrom Housing Policy Debate Volume 19, Issue 2, 2008.
By Todd Swanstrom, Rob Ryan, and Katherine Stigers.
How should concentrated poverty be measured? U.S. scholars have almost universally defined it as census tracts in which 40 percent or more of the population falls below the official federal poverty line. This standard, originally based on a minimally acceptable diet, has become increasingly divorced from the realities of our affluent society and ignores differences across metropolitan areas.
We use instead a relative definition of poverty based on 50 percent of median income in each region. We find that the extent, geographic distribution, and trends in concentrated poverty between 1990 and 2000 are very different from those found using the federal poverty standard. For a small sample of metropolitan areas, we show that census tracts of relative concentrated poverty, excluded under the federal definition, rank among the most disadvantaged in their areas. We conclude by recommending that researchers studying concentrated poverty supplement the official federal standard with a relative approach.
The Road to Jobs: Patterns of Employment in the Construction Industry in Eighteen Metropolitan Areas
A RegionWise/Saint Louis University Study Sponsored by the Transportation Equity Network (TEN), August 2007
By Todd Swanstrom with the assistance of Laura Barrett, Shantha Ready, Michele Fontaine, Scott Krummenacher, and Ruth Sergenian.
For workers without a college education construction provides relatively well paying jobs, averaging $19.23 an hour in 2004. Based on a study of the construction industry in eighteen metropolitan areas we found that African Americans are underrepresented in construction jobs. If blacks were employed in construction at the same rate that they are employed in the overall workforce, we estimate that 42,700 more blacks would be employed in construction in our eighteen metropolitan areas. We also found that women are under-represented, making up only 2-6 percent of the workforce in most cities. Whites and Hispanics are generally well-represented in construction jobs. The federal government estimates that the construction industry will need to recruit and train 245,900 new workers each year to meet labor demand. Spending on transportation alone in our eighteen metropolitan areas will generate 68,316 annual on-site construction jobs in the coming years. The looming shortage in skilled construction labor presents an excellent opportunity to open the construction industry up to minorities and women who have been historically excluded. We call for policy reforms at the federal, state, and local level, including devoting 1/2 of 1 percent of funds on all large federal construction projects to workforce development.
Effective Public School Governance: Best Practices, Governance Structures, and Characteristics of Effective School Board Members
A White Paper prepared by the Education Funders of St. Louis Affinity Group, June 2007.
Partnered With James Gilsinan, Bill Rebore, and Christine Luebbert.
Education Funders of St. Louis (Education Funders) is a grantmaker affinity group of the Gateway Center for Giving that was convened in August 2006. Private funders, as well as independent and corporate foundations have been investing millions of dollars in the children of St. Louis and their schools, directly and indirectly, for years. These investments support countless programs dedicated to giving our city’s children an opportunity to get the education they need to lead productive, independent lives as part of this community. While the dollars are significant and the program providers sincere, these investments can not make a lasting difference if the school system does not effectively provide for the day-to-day educational needs of its students.
Education Funders is a forum whose members identify, share and discuss best practices in public education. The priority of the group is that the children of St. Louis have the opportunity to demonstrate their capability to achieve academically and personally. Education Funders’ members developed a set of issues to guide their learning, including governance, student achievement and community engagement. The group’s first project has been to ask, “Is it possible to govern an urban public school district effectively?” For this report, they engaged a team of education experts from Saint Louis University College of Public Service and Patricia Barber, an independent consultant, to study urban school governance. Education Funders is marshalling what is already known about the field and seeding support for innovation in improving governance of the St. Louis Public Schools.
Affordable Workforce Housing - An Agenda for the Show Me State: A Report from an Interactive Forum on Housing Issues in Missouri
From Saint Louis University Public Law Review Volume XXVII, Number 1, 2007.
By Peter Salsich, Rex Gradeless, Laura Schwarz, and Kathleen Zahn.
In the midst of the turmoil caused by the subprime mortgage market collapse in 2007, concerns abound about the ability of working families with below local median incomes to meet their housing needs. Recent reports from the Center for Housing Policy and the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University dramatize the difficulties these families have in obtaining affordable housing, whether they be owners or renters. A recent study of workforce housing needs in the sixteen-county St. Louis metropolitan area estimated that close to twenty-five percent of the almost 1.1 million households in the region were paying more than thirty percent of their incomes for housing, the point at which housing affordability problems attract policymakers' attention. With nearly three quarters of a million people reported to be homeless on any given night and almost fifteen percent of the nation's households "severely cost-burdened," affordable workforce housing belongs on the national, state, and local policy agendas.
Missouri Reporting Public Charities: A Snapshot
Spring 2007
By the Nonprofit Services Consortium with Patrick Kelly, Ruth Sergenian, and Barbara Holmes.
The nonprofit sector is an important and vital aspect of American society, providing numerous programs, services, and resources that enhance the quality of life in communities throughout the nation. Because of their respective mission interests, the Nonprofit Services Consortium, a nonprofit support organization located in St. Louis, MO and RegionWise, an applied research services organization at Saint Louis University, have collaborated to create this report focused on a central segment of the nonprofit sector in the state of Missouri – public charities, providing answers to basic questions regarding the size, structure and impact of this group of nonprofits. By so doing, the information contained within will hopefully serve as a useful tool in guiding decisions regarding planning, strategic development, and investment by various stakeholders who have a vested interest in the well-being of Missouri’s nonprofit sector.
Learning Through Partnering
From The Journal of Community Practice Volume 13, Issue 2, October 2005.
By Bob Mai, Thomas Kramer, and Christine Luebbert.
Organizational partnerships offer a variety of benefits to participants. Besides being able to leverage resources and accomplish broad objectives, organizations can also learn about themselves through the experience of partnering. The article addresses how partnerships, especially those involving universities and community organizations, can best benefit from the learning potential in a partnership. Drawing from the 13 conference presentations of successful partnerships, we conclude that significant organizational learning can occur within these four frameworks: formulating shared objectives; managing personal relationships; creating structures and processes to support, rather than impede, collaboration; and reflecting on purpose and consulting data to assess outcomes.
Advancing a Standard for Processes that Include the Public
Prepared for the Gateway Blueprint Project for the East-West Gateway Council of Governments, June 2004.
This report presents levels of public involvement representing a continuum differentiated by the depth of relationship-building and the degree of decision-making power a convener is willing to share. It suggests that those conveners who are intentional about aligning their goals with the most appropriate public engagement process and who are candid about their limitations can expect more favorable results when engaging their communities.
Economic Development Strategy in St. Louis: An Assessment of Key Industry Clusters
Prepared by Patrick Kelly and Ruth Sergenian in collaboration with David H. Laslo, PhD, Metropolitan Information and Data Analysis Services, Public Policy Research Center, University of Missouri – St. Louis, June 2004.
This report presents an assessment of the key industry clusters that have been the focus of the Regional Chamber and Growth Association’s economic development strategy for the St. Louis region. RCGA has formulated their strategic promotion and resource support efforts in St. Louis around clusters found to be significant in terms of employment, labor income, and output to the local economy. These clusters include advanced manufacturing, financial services, information technology (IT), life and plant science, and transportation and distribution. Appendices include detailed information about each cluster. They are included here as links within the report.
Voting Reform in the St. Louis Region: An Overview of How the St. Louis Region is Preparing for the Help America Vote Act
Prepared by Patrick Kelly in collaboration with Jane Donahue and David Kimball, PhD, November 2003.
This report discusses results of a RegionWise survey of election officials in all 16 counties in the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) to determine how they are preparing to comply with the federal Help America Vote (HAVA) mandates. Appendices of this report include precinct level maps and tables of unrecorded vote rates by county, as well as information about initiatives happening around the region that improve the voting process. The appendices are included here as links within the report.
The Long Journey to Work
This piece represents the outcome of a regional forum in May 2002.
This discussion guide presents four perspectives about the mismatch between where entry level jobs are located and where people with entry-level skills live. It is being used in the Issue Exploration and Public Engagement Process, a pilot project that began in January 2002. In May 2002, a regional forum was held on this topic.
One Region Reports
Upon the inception of RegionWise, one charge to the group was the production of an annual report of the St. Louis region's progress as reflected by several key indicators. Since moving from the United Way to Saint Louis University, RegionWise no longer produces this report. Old reports are available here:
