Affordable housing is a priority issue for state and local governments across the country. One unique method these policymakers have to incentivize the creation of more housing is strategic property tax policies that target vacant or underutilized properties.

A snapshot of the work we’ve done this past month.

Across New York City, Community-Based Restorative Justice Initiative organizations are using RJ as a framework for youth services, from elementary to high school and afterschool programming. “Instead of it being something that we use for conflict and peer-to-peer mediation, it's more an overall form of communication, a way to bring the community together.”

When work is grounded in data, community context, and collaboration, projects can pivot and address solutions to all the problems that arise along the way. This is what happened when CUNY ISLG researchers worked with Fulton County partners to launch a Center for Diversion and Services.

A snapshot of the work we’ve done this past month, including why civic engagement matters and the changing use of jail after reform 

A critical component of TI-APIP is how it “centers a unique trauma-informed approach that helps boil down the complexities inherent in relationships with violence.”

A snapshot of the work we’ve done this past month, including prosecutorial data in the Great Lakes and grassroots investments that have paid off.

“This process was about working with grantees, asking them what they needed and helping them get there, not telling them what they had to do with little flexibility.”

As of summer 2025, three new sites in the Great Lakes region have joined the Prosecutorial Data Collaborative to build the infrastructure and culture necessary to effectively use data in their offices, courtrooms, and communities.

A snapshot of the work we’ve done this past month, including the launch of our new Strengthening Public and Human Services landing page, announcing the Civic Engagement Fellows, and the latest research into college in prison across New York. 

In light of the uncertainty facing the human services fields, we’ve taken a look at our data on how to fix these challenges—starting with making the mental health workforce better reflect the communities they serve.