CCRS Fall 2023 Connect, Communicate, Collaborate

​As the fall semester gets underway, two themes predominate. The first is welcome and welcome back. It is a time to regroup and catch up. What we did over our summers becomes a common topic of inquiry, and this newsletter largely asnwers the question of what CCRS has been up to over summer. As you will see when you read on, various things have been brewing in what is traditionally a quieter time in academia.

The other is anticipation about the upcoming academic year. Between various ongoing projects, projects in the works, and new faculty, we are set for an exciting fall. As always, we invite you to contact us on anything in this newsletter for more information, opportunities to get involved, or new ideas and opportunities that CCRS can become involved with.

​CCRS is pleased to welcome new and returning research assistants this fall!

Students - who will be working with CCRS on a variety of projects this fall - include Abdul Dawodu, Michael Donohue, Izzy Ellingsworth, Tiffany Gallop, Anaya Harrison, Caleb Mathis, Madeline Morris, Bradley Moore, Kelly Oberheim, Miranda Perez-Rivera, and Natashia Senade.

​On September 1st, Public Allies Delaware welcomed its 30th class of Allies!

Twenty-one Allies joined the first cohort; nine additional members will begin in October to round out a full class of 30 AmeriCorps apprentices.

Allies will be serving with the following nonprofit organizations: Black Mothers in Power, CHILD Inc., Colonial School District, Community Collaboration of Delaware, Delaware Black Chamber of Commerce, Delaware Theater Company, Delaware Center for Justice, Delaware Public Media, Delaware State University, First State Squash, Green Build, Housing Alliance of Delaware, Jefferson Street Outreach Center, Mental Health Association, Network Delaware, Pathways to Success, Wilmington Sudsbury School and YWCA. A welcome breakfast will happen in early November, be on the lookout for an invitation to the annual "Meet the Allies" breakfast. If you would like to know more about Public Allies and how you can partner, please contact Tina Morrow.

​Associate Policy Scientist Erin Nescott is co-presented a lightening talk led by Christiana Care clinician Dr. David Chen at the 2023 Data Science Symposium on Prevalence of Violent Injuries in Delaware.

Recent health policy and research publication:

• Tolley, A., Scott, V., Mitsdarffer, M.L., & Scaccia, J.P. (2023). If you build it, they might not come: the moderating effect of vaccine hesitancy on the relationship between COVID-19 Vaccine Coverage Index and vaccination coverage. Vaccines.
  

​KIDS COUNT in Delaware has recently released two new publications:

• 2023 KIDS COUNT in Delaware Legislative Wrap-up, highlighting legislation passed in the previous session which affect children and their families, was released in September
• KIDS COUNT in Delaware Issue Brief: Child Nutrition, released in September, examines the condition of child food insecurity in Delaware, federal programs that supplement food quantity, and issues related to child weight. Food insecurity is defined as the lack of consistent access to adequate food to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. In Delaware, over 30,000 children experienced food insecurity in 2020, representing 15.1% of children under age 18.

​Summer was quiet for the housing program. At the beginning to the summer the Delaware Journal of Public Health special issue that we guest-edited on homelssness, poverty, and public health (see spring newsletter) had just hit the newsstands, and we have worked to get the word out. Beyond that, we have been working on various things behind the scenes that should plant seeds for things in the fall. Among the things that we worked on in the summer that are near completion are:

• Stephen Metraux and Hoda Bazzi, an undergraduate Biden School Summer Fellow, have been working with Wilmington community activists to examine that city's practices involving fines and fees, and water billing practices.
• Stephen Metraux and Hannah Rigolioso, now a 4+1 MPA student, have been working with the Delaware Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union to assess the economic impacts of probation in Delaware.
• Stephen Metraux, Mary Mitsdarffer, Becky McColl, and MPH student Natashia Senade are working with Brandywine Community Counseling Center in a study, funded by Delaware's Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, that assesses the extent of ethnic and racial disparity in opioid treatment outcomes.

​CCRS Policy Scientist Signe Bell has presented two workshops for the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations Annual Conference. These included:

• "Fundamentals of Facilitation for New Pilots" on September 19th and
• "Harmony in the Cockpit: Building and Maintaining a Positive Board Culture" at the virtual day of the conference, September 27th

​CDI is a three-year national certificate program that advances individual and community leadership skills through  comprehensive, applied apporach to community and economic development. CDI Mid-Atlantic was launched in July 2022 following affiliation with the Community Development Council, which coordinates a national network of CDI sites. CCRS Policy Scientist Roger Hesketh serves as the site Director for CDI Mid-Atlantic.

In July, 2023, CCRS hosted its 2nd CDI at the Community Education Building in downtown Wilmington, bringing together the returning inaugeral cohort from 2022 for their second year of the program with a new first year cohort, with a total of 31 community development practitioners registered for the 2023 institute. Additionally, 13 experts in the fields served as instructors for the 22 workshops that were offered during the 4-day institute.

Much of the success of the first two years of the program has been due to an ongoing partnership with Healthy Communities Delaware (HCD). HCD has a statewide, Delaware network of community partners, to which it provided a limited number of CDI scholarships in 2022 and 2023. This helped to bolster our registration numbers in these startup years of the program and solidify our presence in Delaware.