As a new state commission recommends policies, programs, and investments to expand the supply of housing for seniors, devising strategies to help older adults move into smaller homes should also be on their agenda.
Ben Forman
Benjamin Forman is MassINC’s research director. He coordinates the development of the organization’s research agenda and oversees production of research reports. Ben has authored a number of MassINC publications and he speaks frequently to organizations and media across Massachusetts.
Posted inCriminal Justice
What to do with the state’s half-empty prison system
MASSACHUSETTS IS POCKMARKED by a web of correctional facilities, 484 buildings in total with nearly 10 million square feet of space among them. Picture the Hancock, the Pru, the Boston […]
Posted inOpinion
Low-income commuter rail fares are a no-brainer
LAST MONTH, members of the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board took one last stand to advance a low-income fare program before their tenure over the agency expired. The board […]
Posted inOpinion
It’s time to scale up early college in Mass.
STUDENTS FROM FAMILIES with financial means are two and half times more likely to earn a college degree in Massachusetts than students who come from low-income families. This disparity isn’t […]
Posted inOpinion
Corrections data raise big questions
CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM rolled through state legislatures with unusual bipartisan support throughout the 2010s. There was rare consensus on what would happen: Rolling back tough-on-crime-era policies that spiked prison populations […]
Posted inEducation
5 ideas for generating better school district improvement plans
GATEWAY CITY EDUCATORS returned to school following the winter break pinching themselves. Just before the holidays, Gov. Baker signed the Student Opportunity Act (SOA), a landmark bill that promises to […]
Posted inOpinion
Justice reinvestment gets seed funding in budget
AS MASSACHUSETTS IMPLEMENTS last year’s sweeping criminal justice reform package, we must stay focused on justice reinvestment—the effort to squeeze more public safety from limited resources by reducing prison terms […]
Posted inOpinion
A third way on the school funding/accountability debate
BEACON HILL LEADERS are searching for ways to provide public schools with a significant infusion of new dollars. Taking a page from Massachusetts’s landmark 1993 Education Reform Act, some have […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Finding Better Ways to Allocate Limited Public Safety Resources
Massachusetts’s criminal justice reform legislation is arguably the most wide-ranging and comprehensive in the country, at least as far as progress in a single legislative session goes. However, unlike most […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Harnessing the ‘Third Way’ to improve communities
WHEN I WAS in graduate school studying urban planning in the early-2000s, there was a lot of talk about how cities need “good” schools, but surprisingly little discussion or study […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
Massachusetts should clear juvenile records
A WHO’S WHO crowd of criminal justice leaders gathered at the Seaport Hotel on Monday for the annual fundraising breakfast for the Chelsea-based nonprofit Roca, which works to steer high-risk young […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Providing opportunities for all
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER introduced a major economic development package last week. Reading the tea leaves, one conclusion can be drawn for sure: The administration is serious about empowering its leaders […]
Posted inEducation
Universal, broader screenings of students needed
THE OPIOID LEGISLATION taken up by the House this week excludes a controversial provision from the Senate bill requiring public schools to screen all students in grades 7 through 10 […]
Posted inEconomy, Gambling
Moving beyond Boston
SPRINGFIELD WAS ONCE synonymous with innovation. Today the city that produced the first tire, the first car, the first motorcycle, and the first commercial radio station is counting on a casino […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion, The Back Story
Fact-checking the state’s incarceration rate
In the debate over mandatory minimum sentences and corrections reform, those resisting major changes say there is little need for wholesale reform because the state incarceration rate is so low. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
We need to reverse course on mandatory minimums
AT LAST MONTH’S second annual Massachusetts Criminal Justice Reform Summit, we heard two opposing views on the public safety impact of mandatory sentences for drug offenders. One camp, represented by […]
Posted inOlympics, Opinion
How about a Gateway Cities Olympics?
EVEN NAYSAYERS BELIEVE the 2024 Olympic bid is a rare opportunity to generate fresh ideas about the future of the Commonwealth. For a productive conversation, a shared understanding of priorities […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Collaborative leadership up against the charter school cap
Leaders in Brockton and Fitchburg are distressed by the reaction to last week’s news that charters will not be awarded to applicants looking to open new schools in their communities. […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Secretary of State John Kerry soldiers on
As John Kerry embarks on his “Thank you, Massachusetts” tour, his move out of the shadow of Ted Kennedy is complete. While Kennedy’s heart was solidly in Massachusetts, the Vietnam […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Patrick’s new spending needs ‘place’ component
FOR WELL OVER A DECADE now, squeezing growth out of the Massachusetts economy has felt a bit like getting that last ounce of toothpaste from the tube. Gov. Deval Patrick […]
Posted inEconomy
Half full or half empty?
from the sound bites blanketing the airwaves, it’s clear that politicians everywhere are concerned about the impact of the recession and slow recovery on the middle class. Elected leaders intuitively […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Assets, not need, should define Gateway Cities
Recent efforts on Beacon Hill to expand the Gateway Cities definition to include more communities are understandable and even expected. The Legislature is a collection of communities all with different […]
Posted inEconomy, Education, Health Care
97.4
the bay state economy expanded by more than 10 percent last decade—8 percent growth on a per capita basis after accounting for inflation. It’s not the Massachusetts Miracle, but given […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Student churn hinders progress
Massachusetts education officials are celebrating the dramatic MCAS test improvements posted by the state’s most chronically underperforming schools. These impressive gains are testimony to hard work and a stubborn unwillingness […]