New Jersey State Policy Lab

Dr. Patti O’Brien-Richardson was a speaker at the 2023 World Afro Day – Workplace on September 15th in the UK. Dr. O’Brien-Richardson provided hair discrimination policy training for corporations and HR professionals, spoke on the need for policies in the workplace, and the physical and mental health impact of not having hair discrimination legal protection.

NJSPL summer intern Xiao Liang (MPA-Camden ’24) found that although students’ test scores have increased across all racial/ethnic groups in the last few decades, access to equitable educational opportunities among different socioeconomic backgrounds has not led to improvement in overall educational outcomes.

The NJSPL issued a call for proposals in the early summer, and received 28 proposals, including ones from all three Rutgers University campuses and four other universities in New Jersey. Ten projects were chosen that cover a wide array of policy issues, and employ varying research methodologies to evaluate very real problems that innovative policy solutions can address.

NJSPL summer intern Taylor Hughes found that regular, reliable primary care is often considered a valuable resource and a critical gateway into the healthcare system, but not every person has the ability or access to a primary care physician or office.

Research on community-based partnerships is limited in scope; however, literature points to key benefits for Black students’ achievement when parents, schools, organizations, and other community stakeholders work together to invest in students’ educational experience.