Year: 2021

EXCERPT: “Many legal-aid programs don’t work in rural areas because they are designed to serve large cities, a new research study says. The result is that low-income rural residents aren’t getting equal access to justice, according to a new paper published in the paper in the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law Policy.  Researchers Michele Statz, Robert ...

    Monday, March 29th: Childcare – A Complex Crisis Our first Interconnected Conversation focused on the childcare crisis in Minnesota. Panelists discussed the similarities and differences in childcare between urban and rural Minnesota, what potential business models may be a part of the solution and how the childcare crisis relates to other parts of ...

EXCERPT: “More than $10 million in grants are available to fund infrastructure and other enhancements for Greater Minnesota’s regional parks and trails, including $750,000 to make them more inviting and accessible to underserved communities and people with mobility or other challenges. Two Douglas County parks would be eligible to apply for the funding – Lake ...

By Whitney Oachs, Research intern In 2018, CRPD reported that across Minnesota, the “opioid crisis” is much more than just opioids. At the time, statistics indicated that Minnesota isn’t facing an opioid crisis so much as an addiction crisis, and the drug of choice—for many—is meth. Though this report was published almost three years ago, ...

EXCERPT: “When the economy takes a turn for the worse, there is a plan in place. Being proactive and not reactive is the motto for Region 9 Development Commission. ‘How are things going right now and what do we see in the future,’ Region 9 Development Commission Executive Director Nicole Griensewic said. Especially with their ...

EXCERPT: “Nearly 75% of Minnesotans rely on groundwater for their water supply, but that supply can become strained as population grows, land-use changes, and climate change affects precipitation and groundwater use and recharge. These factors mean that many in the state could find groundwater in increasingly short supply in the coming decades— an issue some ...

EXCERPT: “The coronavirus relief law signed by President Biden last week pours nearly $50 billion into child care in a bid to keep struggling daycare centers from closing just as the people who rely on them return to work. Child-care providers will get about $40 billion for operating expenses and tuition assistance for the children ...

By Marnie Werner, Vice President, Research & Operations A lack of reliable child care was the single biggest problem for employees in America before the pandemic. Now, as parents head back to work, they will be looking for child care, whether it’s with their old provider or a new one, and that will drive up ...

EXCERPT: “Broadband access remains insufficient for many in rural America. And northern Minnesota cow/calf rancher Miles Kuschel tells Brownfield the COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated the issue. ‘If it’s given us an insight into one thing, it’s the absolute need for high-speed broadband across all of Rural America. Whether it’s distance learning, telemedicine, Zoom conferences or annual ...