Policy paths to what Black Michigan communities need
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First-generation homeowner assistance and block club matching grants are among ways to improve the lives of Black Michiganders, a new policy report finds.
Why it matters: Using feedback from residents, researchers with the nonprofit Brookings Institution suggest policymakers should focus more on apparent areas like housing, health and wealth-building — but their recommendations also go deeper into some unique ideas.
State of play: Amid federal spending cuts, prioritizing budgets around what communities need is crucial, says Andre Perry, director of Brookings' Center for Community Uplift and report co-author.
Between the lines: The report builds on Brookings' analysis of the quality of life in Michigan's majority-Black municipalities and neighborhoods.
- Those include an array of communities and life quality outcomes: Detroit, Benton Harbor, Flint, Kalamazoo, Muskegon and Pontiac.
- It pulls together documentation, state policies and new interviews from more than 150 residents and local leaders.
Some of the recommendations:
🏘️ Housing: Statewide programs could be expanded, including one that saw overwhelming demand and has exhausted its $8 million in funding.
- The state housing authority's first-generation down payment assistance program offered up to $25,000 to homebuyers.
- "We met one family where it was three generations of renters over time, and so, there's no surprise that purchasing, renovating and retrofitting housing stock rose in terms of policy priority for Michiganders," Perry tells Axios.
🤝 Community-centered investment: Leaders should engage neighborhood associations more in economic development planning, and fuel them through a neighborhood matching fund, a la Seattle, or block party grants like in Boston.
- "There are block clubs … that you don't see [in] many places other than Michigan," Perry says. "I mean, you can see it in New Orleans or Chicago, but Michigan, there's such a thick tradition of neighborhood associations … and what people recognize is that they must invest in these organizations because these are the anchors that have really held down communities through good and bad times."
🎒 Supporting children through entering the workforce: "There was a great amount of energy around investing in young people, more so than probably any other area," Perry tells Axios.
- Researchers call for funding evidence-based solutions like the cash assistance program Rx Kids, which recently expanded to Wayne County, but not yet Detroit.
- Communities should integrate trauma-informed behavioral health care into after-school and summer programs.
🩻 Health equity: Michigan should increase the number of Black social workers, therapists and doctors in these cities, including by expanding the state behavioral health internship stipend program.
Go deeper: Read the full Brookings report