Written by: Miriam Northcutt Bohmert & Leslie Wells
The Center for Health and Justice Research at the IU Public Policy recently released its latest project, focusing on probation revocations in Monroe County, Indiana. O’Neill Associate Professor Eric Grommon and IU Associate Professor Miriam Northcutt Bohmert worked with George Mason University’s Evan Lowder to examine what causes probations to be revoked and how to reduce those revocations.
Read the 2021 PIT Count policy brief at this link
For more than a decade, the IU Public Policy Institute and the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention have worked with local organizations to conduct Marion County’s annual Point-In-Time (PIT) Count. The PIT Count provides a critical glimpse into Indianapolis’ homeless community and serves as a resource for policy makers and leaders to learn about the people who make up this population.
Yet, as with so many things, the 2021 PIT Count was different. In previous years, it was conducted on a single night in January, surveying people who live in both sheltered and unsheltered situations. This year, research teams needed to modify their approach to safely gather the information—both for surveyors and for the people they met.
New research on COVID-19’s impact on the nonprofit sector finds that if organizations want to find a way forward, they must first look back at how they have weathered the pandemic thus far. While the past 15 months have been a challenge for every sector, O’Neill IUPUI assistant professor Marlene Walk is optimistic about the future of nonprofits.
“It’s very interesting how nonprofits rose to the challenge while still serving those in need,” Walk says. “For many smaller nonprofits, this was a survival situation for both their clients and them as well.”
After analyzing data and examining trends, Walk has three pieces of advice for nonprofits as they navigate the return to work and the future of their organizations:
Each year, Sustain IU pairs students with organizations through the Indiana Sustainability Development Program’s summer fellowship opportunity. The Climate Fellows program allows students to work in a full-time professional setting, addressing sustainability issues, while also helping to combat the loss of workforce talent in sustainability.
The fellowship places an emphasis on climate change mitigation and adaptation. Four O’Neill IUPUI students are included in this year’s Climate Fellows cohort:
Two O’Neill IUPUI students, Halee Griffey and Jonathon Lewis, shared their experiences in the program and what they hope to accomplish.
In spring 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing. While life as most knew it was put on hold, so were major league sports, including the NBA. The 2020 NBA playoffs were in flux. The league had suspended play in March and was trying to recover what it could of the 2019–2020 season.
League leaders met with officials at Walt Disney World to develop a fix. The two sides determined the solution would be to create the now well-known NBA-Disney Bubble. The games took place at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex and the teams were housed in on-site Disney hotels. The Bubble allowed the league to host its playoffs—sans fans—while protecting the 22 teams and Disney Cast Members involved.
O’Neill alum Zachary McClure (BSCJ’16) was at Disney’s Yacht Club resort during the playoffs, serving on Disney’s security detail.
“We had six NBA teams staying at that property,” he recalls. “We provided access control and credential checks, made sure reporters didn’t get into private areas, and helped ensure the teams were following health rules, among other things.”
McClure says everyone inside the Bubble wore Magic Bands—smart bracelets that typically store Disney guest information. But rather than tracking reservations, these Magic Bands tracked each person’s daily COVID check-ins to make sure they followed procedures.
Access into and out of the Bubble was very limited and tightly controlled.
“We had to be the eyes for Disney and for the NBA so we could maintain the bubble,” he says. “No one was allowed in or out, without following certain protocols, including COVID testing. They really wanted to maintain the integrity of the bubble.”
