Publications

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CDFI Industry Analysis: Summary Report
May 2, 2012
The Carsey Institute, under contract to NeighborWorks® America and the U.S. Department of Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, conducted a detailed analysis of a large sample of community development financial institutions (CDFIs) on issues of capitalization, liquidity and portfolio, and risk management by CDFIs from 2005 to 2010. This work is part of the CDFI…
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New Hampshire Demographic Trends in the Twenty-First Century
May 1, 2012
This brief summarizes current population redistribution trends in the Granite State and shows how fertility, mortality, and migration contributed to these trends. According to the 2010 census, New Hampshire gained 80,700 residents (a 6.5 percent increase) between 2000 and 2010, mostly during the earlier years of the decade.
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Mapping Food Insecurity and Food Sources in New Hampshire Cities and Towns (co-publication with the Children's Alliance of NH)
April 25, 2012
Using a series of detailed New Hampshire maps, this brief presents a geographic picture of the towns and cities at risk for food insecurity as well as the food resources available across the state. By detailing places with high food insecurity risk and comparing them to places where food is available, these maps show areas of unmet need. This information will enable organizations partnering with…
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Forest Views: Northeast Oregon Survey Looks at Community and Environment
April 12, 2012
This brief reports on a survey conducted in fall 2011 as one component of the ongoing Communities and Forests in Oregon (CAFOR) project. The CAFOR project focuses on the people and landscapes of three counties in northeast Oregon (Baker, Union, and Wallowa), where landscapes and communities are changing in interconnected ways.
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Demographic Change in the Northern Forest
March 20, 2012
This brief examines the population redistribution in the Northern Forest, which includes thirty-four counties scattered across northern and central Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont.
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The Local Agricultural Community Exchange: Outcomes and Lessons Learned from a Public-Private Initiative to Revitalize a Downtown Community
February 28, 2012
This brief describes a revitalization project in Barre, Vermont, led by a public-private partnership involving the Agricultural Community Exchange, the Central Vermont Community Action Council, and the private businesses that operated out of the storefront.
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Rural Demographic Change in the New Century: Slower Growth, Increased Diversity
February 21, 2012
This brief examines rural demographic trends in the first decade of the twenty-first century using newly available data from the 2010 Census. The rural population grew by just 2.2 million between 2000 and 2010—a gain barely half as great as that during the 1990s. Population growth was particularly slow in farming and mining counties and sharply reduced in rural manufacturing counties.
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Pembroke Listens: What considerations are most important to the Pembroke Hill Road intersection?
February 15, 2012
The goal of these community conversations was to create an opportunity for citizens to share their thoughts on the challenges, opportunities, issues, and needs relating to changes to an intersection with a history of accidents and assessments for change. An emphasis was placed on hearing citizen's views about unmet needs and innovative approaches to meeting those needs. The community…
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Lack of Protections for Home Care Workers: Overtime Pay and Minimum Wage
February 14, 2012
This brief examines overtime hours and hourly wages among home care workers (home health aides and personal care aides) and compares them with hospital and nursing home aides. These aides engage in similar work for their clients, even though they work in different institutional settings.
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Public Knowledge About Polar Regions Increases While Concerns Remain Unchanged
February 7, 2012
The authors of this brief conduct the first comparative analysis of the polar questions that were part of the National Opinion Research Center's 2006 and 2010 General Social Survey. Developed by scientists at the National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs, these questions covered topics such as climate change, melting ice and rising sea levels, and species extinction.
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Changes in New Hampshire’s Republican Party: Evolving Footprint in Presidential Politics, 1960-2008
December 13, 2011
This brief describes a series of dramatic changes in New Hampshire's political landscape over the past four decades. Examining presidential elections from 1960 to 2008, author Dante Scala uncovers a series of significant shifts in New Hampshire's political geography at the county level.
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NH Outdoor Recreation Report
December 11, 2011
The goal of these community conversations was to create an opportunity for citizens to share their thoughts on the challenges, opportunities, issues, and needs relating to local and state outdoor recreation. Special emphasis was placed on hearing citizen’s views about unmet needs and innovative approaches to meeting those needs. While the community conversations were open to all, additional…
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Rates of Public Health Insurance Coverage for Children Rise as Rates of Private Coverage Decline
December 7, 2011
This brief uses data from the 2008, 2009, and 2010 American Community Survey to document changes in rates of children’s health insurance, between private and public. The authors report that, nationally, private health insurance for children decreased by just under 2 percentage points, while public health insurance increased by nearly 3 percentage points.
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Do You Believe the Climate Is Changing? Answers From New Survey Research
December 6, 2011
This brief explores how political views influence Americans’ understanding and perception of science. The research is based on a national version of the Community and Environment in Rural America survey called NCERA, and on New Hampshire’s statewide Granite State Poll.
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Teen Stress and Substance Use Problems in Coös: Survey Shows Strong Community Attachment Can Offset Risk
November 29, 2011
This brief explores how social stress and community attachment are related to problem alcohol and drug use for girls and boys in Coös County, New Hampshire.
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Reliance on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Continued to Rise Post-Recession
November 1, 2011
This brief uses data from the 2007, 2009, and 2010 American Community Survey to provide an up-to-date look at changes in SNAP receipt over the course of the recession. The author reports that receipt of SNAP continued to rise in 2010, increasing 4 percentage points since the recession began in 2007, and 1.6 percentage points since 2009.
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Coös Teens’ View of Family Economic Stress Is Tied to Quality of Relationships at Home
October 25, 2011
Family economic hardship during adolescence affects family relationships and the social, emotional, and behavioral development of a substantial number of American youth.
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More Poor Kids in More Poor Places: Children Increasingly Live Where Poverty Persists
October 18, 2011
The authors of this brief examine child poverty rates using decennial census data from 1980, 1990, and 2000, as well as American Community Survey five-year estimates between 2005 and 2009, to identify those counties where child poverty has persisted. They find persistent child poverty in nearly twice as many U.S. counties as those that report high persistent poverty across all age groups. In all…
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Stretching Ties: Social Capital in the Rebranding of Coös County, New Hampshire
October 5, 2011
Place rebranding is gaining in popularity as cities and rural communities alike attempt to expand their revenue streams through innovative marketing strategies that seek to revitalize or create tourism destinations. These efforts tend to come about as part of an economic development strategy pursued by communities that have borne steep economic losses resulting from global economic restructuring…
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Jobs, Natural Resources, and Community Resilience: A Survey of Southeast Alaskans about Social and Environmental Change
September 27, 2011
As part of the Community and Environment in Rural America (CERA) project, researchers at the Carsey Institute surveyed 1,541 residents of the ten boroughs and unincorporated census areas in Southeast Alaska to better understand social and environmental change in the region and their implications for Alaskan community and families. The authors of this brief report that social problems in the…