Articles and analysis on today's issues

Federal cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could cause some DC-area families to lose an average of $187 in monthly benefits.
ICE Says Immigrant Detention Is “Non-Punitive.” The Evidence Tells a Different Story. Research shows immigrant detention facilities are rife with human rights violations. Significant policy interventions, such as shuttering the most dangerous facilities, should be considered to mitigate these conditions.Closing LGBTQ+ Homeownership Gaps Will Require Better Housing and Mortgage Market Data Ensuring that LGBTQ+ households can equally participate in the mortgage market will require more and better data collection to inform targeted policy action.Which Cities Would Benefit Most from Converting Offices into Housing? Cities in the US experiencing both acute distress in their office real estate markets and the need to boost housing supply should consider policies that enable and ease office-to-residential conversions.Five Charitable Giving Trends to Watch Giving via mutual aid and crowdfunding has slowed since the height of the pandemic, while donor-advised funds and noncash donations have continued to grow in popularity.Doubling the Maximum Pell Grant Isn’t the Best Way to Improve College Affordability Despite calls to support students from families with low incomes by doubling the maximum Pell grant, a Pell supplement that better targets the neediest students would be fairer and more efficient.How Community Foundations Are Boosting Local Health and Vaccine Equity Community foundations, which facilitate and pool donations for nonprofits to use to address residents’ needs, use five key strategies that make them uniquely well positioned to advance community health equity initiatives.