See Joe’s story as he follows two possible trajectories for his minor offense: incarceration vs. community-based alternatives.

A productive and efficient juvenile justice system creates a stronger workforce, reduces ongoing expenses related to incarceration, and helps kids avoid pitfalls that could keep them from achieving their potential. The juvenile justice system in Arkansas is in desperate need of reform. If left untouched, it will continue to have severe consequences for the economy and […]

The bipartisan Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which turns 20 this year, provides health insurance to kids from low- and moderate-income families who are not eligible for Medicaid. Like Medicaid, it is jointly funded by federal and state governments. Medicaid and CHIP combined have helped lower the uninsured rate for Arkansas children to a historic […]

Arkansas is a hardworking state. In fact, we have over a million employees who work here. That number has been growing recently, as our unemployment figures hit record lows. That is a positive and welcome change for working families in our state because it means jobs are easier to come by and wages are going […]

The Arkansas legislature has repeatedly reduced the amount of unemployment insurance available to Arkansas workers, lowering both the duration of coverage and the dollar amount of benefits. This puts us well below national averages for unemployment benefits, and puts families and our economy at risk. This might not seem like a big problem given our current […]

The health care system has improved dramatically over the past 20 years in Arkansas. Today, 95 percent of children have health coverage, and we’ve lessened the coverage gap resulting from differences in household income. Also, the state has made strides in recent years to reward the provision of high-quality preventive care through the patient-centered medical […]

Policymakers, parents, and school administrators all want to ensure that students are taught by the best possible teachers, and for good reason. Research has shown that teacher quality is one of the best indicators of student achievement (Kini and Podolsky, 2016). While everyone can agree on the importance of ensuring that students are taught by […]

The U.S. Senate’s health care bill would be devastating to rural Arkansas – not just to the health of its citizens but to its economy, as well. Research on the House-passed Affordable Care Act (ACA) replacement showed that it could result in 42 percent of Arkansas Medicaid enrollees younger than 65 being dropped from coverage. […]

Our latest brief in a series of reports on child poverty in the state focuses on the prevalence of child poverty in the Northeastern corner of Arkansas. While Jonesboro is typically thought of as the economic hub of Northeast Arkansas, the labor market area for the region is made up of 11 counties: Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, […]

Each legislative session brings its own bag of mixed goods, and the Regular Session of the 91st General Assembly was no different. While we were concerned about the constant push for legislation that punishes poor people, there were definitely some wins for families this year. The session began with an aggressive push by Governor Asa […]