The Carsey Forum

Issue #8, January 2007

Spotlight On

Everyone’s Talking about Biofuels and So Are We

In this New Year, energy alternatives to foreign oil will continue to be a hot item on the public agenda. Biofuels are being touted as a panacea for U.S. energy challenges, and they are expected to be discussed this year in Congress with the rewriting of the Farm Bill. The Carsey Institute takes a look at the burgeoning biofuels industry from the perspective of rural communities in our most recent publication, Biofueling Rural Development: Making the Case for Linking Biofuel Production to Rural Revitalization. This primer is a good read for anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of biofuels made from biomass – crops, trees, manure, sludge, and other organics – and offers suggestions for biofuel policies that will emphasize and support rural development. Read the brief at http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/documents/Biofuels_final.pdf and impress all your friends at after-New Year’s parties with your knowledge about the promise of biofuels for rural development.

Carsey Finds 48,000 New Hampshire Families Struggling to Make Ends Meet

In New Hampshire, a state boasting the nation’s lowest percentage of people living in poverty, it is easy to wear rose-colored glasses. But for the 48,000 families earning a low income, this happy statistic doesn’t put food on the table or pay for health care. A new issue brief authored by Carsey Institute policy fellow and Ph.D. candidate, Allison Churilla, finds one in seven families in the state to be low income. Despite strong economic growth in the state, low income families have increased 30 percent between 1999 and 2004. The news is especially troubling for children: 62,000 children are living in low-income families. Over half of these children live with a single mother. After removing your rose-colored glasses, visit http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/documents/LowIncNHFam_final.pdf to see the facts about New Hampshire’s low income families.

A New Report Finds Recent Immigrants Settling in Rural Places

As Americans prepared to celebrate their Thanksgiving feasts in memory of the first immigrants to a new America, Carsey’s report on New Immigrant Settlements in Rural America: Problems, Prospects, and Policies was released to a nation digesting the debate on illegal immigration. Penn State professor Leif Jensen, author of the report, finds that the same concerns and stereotypes about immigrants are as alive today as they were when our own parents and grandparents came to this great country. Today, however, many immigrants– mostly Hispanic–are bypassing traditional gateway cities in favor of settling in the country, where new employment opportunities lure newcomers who may reinvigorate dying communities. The report states that rural communities need more support in absorbing new residents, whose presence in these small towns may be more acutely felt than in the big cities. Read about who these new immigrants to rural America are and how policies can help ease the transition at http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/documents/Immigration_Final.pdf.

Nonprofit Leaders Hit the Ground Running at First Policy Leadership Seminar

In our last issue of the Carsey Forum, we wrote that our first ever “real world” policy leadership fellows would be required to swim through shark-infested waters and eat live slugs. Now that the first Policy Leadership Seminar, held in late November, has come and gone, we can give you a more accurate report. Robert Greenstein from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities kicked off the two-day event with a presentation about the shark-infested waters of federal revenues and expenditures. The next day, the 24 fellows joined by funders and friends “dove” into discussion about the states’ economic and fiscal policy environments, and later met in working sessions with their state teams to develop collaborative ideas for new and proactive approaches to reframing public investment in programs for families and communities. One highlight of the packed schedule was a dynamic presentation by the Frameworks Institute and Demos Center on how we talk about government to change and implement effective public policy. The group discovered strong common ground and began to establish a foundation for new collaborative approaches to improving situations for families and communities across northern New England. More news will come as the project develops. Presentations from the November workshop are available on-line at http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/policyleadership.html.

Carsey Center for Rural Families and Communities Receives $1 Million

America ’s rural communities and families face enormous changes that are having far reaching effects. At Carsey, we believe these demographic and economic changes are on a par with mechanization and the Great Migration that fundamentally altered rural America in the 1950s. A new award from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation supports our continuing efforts to help Americans better understand what is happening and to foster dialogue leading to improved policies to enable rural people to cope with the changes. The award, distributed over four years, also provides funding for building knowledge of changing conditions in natural resource-dependent communities in the Northeast and Southeast. Learn more at http://www.unh.edu/news/cj_nr/2006/dec/as11kellogg.cfm; the 100 th visitor will win a million bucks (just kidding!).

Coming Soon!

New Hampshire Says a Tearful Goodbye to Young Adults

When the face of the Old Man of the Mountain went tumbling down, this dramatic event may have signaled the potential for a new, younger face to define New Hampshire. Unfortunately, recent analysis by Professor Ross Gittell, Carsey Senior Fellow, indicates that a younger face is not likely to come anytime soon. A Carsey fact sheet on changing demographics in New England shows a troubling decline in the young adult population (ages 25-34 years), which lags the national average by 18 percent and contrasts sharply with the double digit growth of this age group in some of the western mountain, northwest, and southeast states. Find out more about this demographic shift when this fact sheet is posted to http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu later this week.

New Hampshire’s Stellar Healthy Kids Program Offers Promise for Other States

New Hampshire boasts one of the lowest rates of uninsured children in the nation, and many attribute this success to the New Hampshire Healthy Kids (NHHK) program. NHHK was a creation of the 1993 N.H. Legislature to provide access to quality healthcare insurance coverage for uninsured children. Early success of the program made it the logical choice to administer the federal State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and to coordinate outreach for SCHIP as well as Medicaid. The goal of SCHIP is to provide coverage for families who earn too much for Medicaid, but not enough for private insurance. Currently, Carsey researchers are surveying and interviewing family resource and community health center staff, school nurses, and the New Hampshire public, as well as drawing from U.S. Census data to assess the program’s effectiveness. An upcoming brief on children’s health insurance in New Hampshire will have implications for state policy, as well as public policy in other states. The release of this publication will come in February.

SCHIP Reauthorization Brings Up Questions about Rural Children

With the State Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) coming up for re-authorization in 2007, many people are looking more closely at the kind of health insurance children have, or don’t have. SCHIP is one of the most significant policy measures enacted in the past decade, because it allows low-income parents in low-wage jobs without health care benefits to obtain health care for their children. A new policy brief from Visiting Senior Fellow William O’Hare will examine rural children’s reliance on both private and public health care programs and the particular importance of SCHIP for these children. This new Carsey publication is also due for release in February.

The Face of the Women Who Care For Our Parents and Grandparents

Direct caregivers, who are mostly women earning a low wage, play an increasingly important role in caring for a growing elderly population. Kristin Smith, Carsey family demographer, and Economics Professor Reagan Baughman are teaming up to write a policy brief looking at who these direct caregivers are and how they compare to female workers in other low-wage occupations, including child care, food service, and retail operations. This publication, due out in February, will look at direct caregivers nationally, with information on how rural direct caregivers fare in relation to caregivers in urban counties.

Other News

Spring Brings Seminars on Policies for Children and Families

Back by popular demand, the Institute kicks off yet another seminar series this spring semester. Carsey’s fine team of evaluation researchers – including Senior Fellow and Professor Sally Ward, Research Fellow Nena Stracuzzi, and Research Assistant Sarah Savage – will lead off the series on February 15 to discuss their study of the New Hampshire Healthy Kids Program. They will discuss characteristics of the program that make it one of the most effective children’s health insurance programs in the country. Other seminars will examine policies for working mothers and public health. A full seminar schedule is available at http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/seminars_spring07.html.

Rural Americans Are Paying the Ultimate Sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan

According to a recent Carsey analysis of U.S. Department of Defense data, a higher percentage of rural soldiers are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan than urban soldiers. This higher death rate makes sense considering that rural areas have higher rates of military recruitment, reflecting the lack of good rural employment and educational opportunities. Vermont, a primarily rural state, has the highest rural death toll at 61 killed per million adults. Since 2001, 825 rural recruits have been a casualty of war, representing a death rate of 24 per million. Urban soldiers are dying at a rate of 15 per million. To put a face on the numbers, visit http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/documents/ruralsoldiers_spreadsheet.xls t o see a list of rural soldiers killed, by name and county. To read the fact sheet, go to http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/documents/RuralDead_fact_revised.pdf.

Fishing for the Rural Vote in a Big, Wide Sea

Prior to Election Day November 2006, the Carsey Institute released two publications about the rural voter. One brief, Values and Religion in Rural America, examined attitudes toward the hot-button issues of abortion and same-sex relations. The authors, Professor Michele Dillon and Carsey research assistant Sarah Savage, examined religious involvement by rural Americans. They find that people who live in rural places are not a homogeneous group, as is often assumed in the political rhetoric. Significant regional differences exist, with rural Southerners more likely than rural Americans in other areas of the country to be highly religious. While rural people are more likely to oppose abortion and same-sex relations than their non-rural neighbors, the brief offers evidence of variation in their attitudes towards these issues. Find out more at http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/documents/Rural_Values_final.pdf. An accompanying essay by sociologist Julie Ardery on changing church in the South takes a specific look at religious attitudes in one of the most conservative areas of the South and finds that even here, a variation exists. Read the essay at http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/documents/Changing_Church_final.pdf.

Rural America’s Red is Really More Purple

The second publication in the pre-Election Day series focused on rural voting in the 2004 election. In this election, George Bush’s win was attributed to the rural vote. Television viewers across the nation watched as states turned red or blue, and a clear divide identified rural voters as Republicans. However, Professor Lawrence Hamilton, a Carsey Senior Fellow and author of the rural voting fact sheet, takes a closer look at this rural-urban pattern and finds many exceptions. The fact sheet identifies several different “rural Americas” and shows that many of these red states are really more “purple,” with rural Americans casting their vote according to ethnic composition, educational levels, and other demographic factors, not just simply by where they live. Paint the town purple after going to http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/documents/RuralVote_final.pdf.

A Win-Win Situation for UNH Students and Nonprofit Organizations

University of New Hampshire students are now invited to apply for Winant fellowships, competitive awards that pay $3000 stipends for summer internships with New Hampshire nonprofits. “The Winant Fellowship allowed me wonderful opportunities to make a difference within the community, while gaining helpful work experience for the future,” says Laura Haselton’06, a former Winant fellow who interned with the NH Coalition against Domestic and Sexual Violence. Many Winant fellows, like Joseph McGuiness’07, get more than a summer internship out of their fellowships; fellows often are offered continuing employment with their internship host. Juniors and seniors from New Hampshire with an interest in public service are invited to apply. Application information can be found at http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/fellowships.html. Nonprofits looking for excellent interns who come bearing their own paychecks are encouraged to contact the Carsey Institute at amy.seif@unh.edu.

New Projects

Carsey Research Informs Economic Development in the North Country

Carsey is partnering with geographical information systems (GIS) experts to present the results of our socioeconomic research on the Northern Forest through easy to understand maps and images. As a component of the Northern Forest Sustainable Economy Initiative implemented by the North Country Council and the Northern Forest Center, the Carsey work will inform the development of new, innovative, and sustainable economic development strategies in the traditionally natural resource-dependent region that stretches from New York to Maine. In addition to GIS planning products prepared by NH GRANIT, this project will offer a report on issues and forces affecting community and family life in the Northern Forest. More information will come.

Carsey’s Growing Pains

On some days, the walls of the Carsey Institute groan and shout with the sounds of growth as construction on our new office space next door proceeds. With each whirr of a drill, bang of a hammer, and thump of large objects being torn down or built up, we smile a little more, knowing that the day will come when we will move into our expanded space. A peek into the construction zone on the ground floor of Huddleston Hall reveals a large, sunlit space with new walls for the Survey Center and five offices. Come April, the Carsey Institute will grow to three times its current size. And you thought the few pounds you put on over the holidays was a lot!

New Staff

Trendsetter William O’Hare Becomes first Visiting Senior Fellow

If you have been following the Institute’s work, you have already seen William O’Hare’s name associated with Carsey in The New York Times, USA Today, and Associated Press stories in large and small papers all around the country. Dr. O’Hare is co-author of Carsey’s rural child poverty and rural soldiers fact sheets and our first visiting senior fellow. No stranger to being a press celebrity, Dr. O’Hare is also a senior fellow with the KIDS COUNT project at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The Carsey Institute is thrilled to be benefiting from Dr. O’Hare’s 30 years experience as an applied demographer and his strategic guidance. He has worked at the Population Reference Bureau, the Joint Center for Political Studies, and the University of Louisville, and was a contributing editor to American Demographics. Dr. O’Hare is courageously blazing a new trail for all visiting senior fellows to come at Carsey. Read William O’Hare’s bio (and check out his great tie) at http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/ohare.html.

We Hired Susan Colucci in the Nick of Time

The weeks that led up to Carsey’s Policy Leadership Institute were characterized by a flurry of papers, boxes, and mailings that could have all come crashing down on our heads if it were not for Susan Colucci. Our new office assistant was hired just before the start of this paper tornado. Susan has worked as a legal assistant at law firms in Maine and attended Husson College. She often volunteers in the Rochester School District assisting students, parents, and educators. Read Susan Colucci’s bio at http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/colucci.html.

Spotlight on Carsey Affiliate

Biomass Energy Resource Center

To explore the potential of woody biomass to provide sustainable, renewable energy while also supporting rural economies in the Northeast, the Carsey Institute has partnered with the Biomass Energy Resource Center (along with the Northern Forest Center) in launching the Northern Forest Biomass Energy Initiative. In November, the project convened a working session conference, held at the Mt. Washington Hotel amid the splendor and promise of the trees of the Northern Forest. The event brought together an energetic and diverse group to identify challenges and begin to frame strategies and approaches to realizing the potential of wood-energy for rural communities in today’s dynamic energy environment. Carsey looks forward to our continued partnership with BERC, a nonprofit organization located in Montpelier, Vermont, that assists in the development of biomass energy programs, policy, information, and education for the purposes of achieving a healthier environment, strengthening local economies, and increasing energy security. Visit BERC on-line at http://www.biomasscenter.org.

The Carsey Forum is published by The Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire. Inquires and requests to subscribe and unsubscribe should be addressed to Amy Seif, Forum editor, at amy.seif@unh.edu.