July 2024

Community Assessment Annual Update

McAllister Hall, Hannah Lang, Owen Kerr, Simon Richardson

Each year, the Idaho Head Start Association (IHSA) sponsors a Community Assessment to provide relevant information to its 13 member organizations. Idaho Policy Institute worked with IHSA to complete the 2024 Community Assessment. The report provides information on population, economic, and social trends across the state to assist IHSA member organizations in program planning.

HIGHLIGHTS OF FINDINGS 

Head Start-Eligible Children and Families: Unmet Needs 

According to the U.S. Census, there are approximately 20,755 children under the age of six living under the Federal Poverty Line in Idaho. Head Start seats are funded for 18.6% of this population. 

Idaho had 246 fewer funded Head Start slots in the 2022-23 school year compared to the 2021-22 year. Despite the drops in funded slots, only 83.3% of funded slots statewide are filled. 

From 2010 to 2022, Idaho households in poverty decreased by 37%, while households living at the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) threshold increased by 9% overall. In 2022, 303,295 households lived below the ALICE threshold, accounting for 43% of statewide households.

City of Boise Housing Pilots

Vanessa Fry

In 2021, City of Boise (“City”) participated in the Harvard-Bloomberg City Leadership Initiative Innovation Track with a focus on identifying creative new solutions to housing affordability in Boise. Based on its extensive, people-centered research and testing, the team recommended that the city fund and evaluate two innovative housing pilot programs: an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) incentive program and a code change that would enable moveable tiny homes. In spring 2022 the city released an RFP for a firm to:

1. Provide incentives and assistance to 10-12 homeowners to build an ADU and rent it at affordable rates for a period of ten years.
2. Assist selected Boise residents in placing a moveable tiny home(s) (tiny homes on wheels or THOW) on their land within City of Boise borders temporarily (~ 6-18 months). The pilot will include 5-6 moveable tiny homes across multiple sites in different neighborhoods.

LEAP Charities was awarded the contract to carry out the work with the goal to assemble streamline processes and solutions that would be replicable and scalable. In July 2022, City of Boise contracted with Idaho Policy Institute to evaluate the projects. Although there was incredible interest expressed in the program, the ADU Pilot was cancelled due to the high interest rates that made the prospect of a scalable ADU program out of reach and an inability for the Pilot’s incentives to enable ADU participants to agree to deed restricting their property for the required time period.

Although the THOW Pilot was slow to launch, LEAP has sited the first THOW with plans to scale the program. Its website decided to the Pilot is a great resource for both THOW owners and property owners. That said, the siting of the first unit included a number of challenges. For instance, after communicating with the City, LEAP, and the property owner, there seem to be some disagreement in regard to certain aspects of siting the THOW including setback requirements, electrical, water, and sewer hookups, and the temporary nature of the project.

Another issue arose in regard to the temporary nature of the Pilot. Both landowners and THOW tenants are concerned as to what would happen to the THOW tenants if the THOW is required to be removed after only 6-18 months on the property. In addition, landowners may be hesitant to commit to the required site improvements. That said, the City’s financial incentives for landowners to make such improvements may help enable future success.

Due to the small (n=1) THOW Pilot, it is difficult to develop a true sense of the scalability of the program. However, LEAP anticipates being able to site up to four additional THs within the next 18 months as more applicants (5) are in the approval queue. IPI will continue to monitor and evaluate this program as it moves forward.

2024 Mandela Institute

Nisha Bellinger, Vanessa Fry, Ashley Nichols, Heidi Reeder

Over the summer, Boise State University’s School of Public Service hosted the 2024 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. This program brought 25 of Africa’s bright, emerging public management leaders to town for a six-week Leadership Institute, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Mandela Washington Fellowship and Boise State’s second time hosting an Institute. 

The Boise State Institute provided the Fellows and Idahoans the opportunity for cross-cultural exchange. Highlights of the Institute included connecting Fellows with local partners through site visits, and collaborative projects and service opportunities at local nonprofits. Site visits included tours of Life’s Kitchen, Zoo Boise, CATCH, the Red Cross, the Nampa Family Justice Center and more. The Fellows also volunteered at the Boise Farmers Market, visited the amazing mountains around Boise, saw live theatre at the Shakespeare Festival and Boise Little Theatre, and so much more.   

“The School of Public Service is thrilled to host the Mandela Fellows. Their remarkable leadership in their home countries along with their lived experiences will provide extraordinary learning opportunities for Boise State and the broader community,” said Vanessa Fry, director of the Idaho Policy Institute. “It is an honor to be part of the Institute leadership team alongside my peer faculty Nisha Bellinger, Ashley Nichols and Heidi Reeder.”

The Mandela Washington Fellowship, the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), empowers young African leaders through academic coursework, leadership training, mentoring, networking, professional opportunities and local community engagement.  YALI was created in 2010 and supports young Africans as they spur economic growth and prosperity, strengthen democratic governance and enhance peace and security across Africa.  Since its inception 10 years ago, nearly 6,500 young leaders from every country in Sub-Saharan Africa have participated in the Mandela Washington Fellowship. The cohort of Fellows hosted by Boise State are among 700 Mandela Washington Fellows hosted at 28 educational institutions across the United States.

On July 18, IPI Intern Kristi Spalding presented a research poster at the 2024 Idaho Conference on Undergraduate Research. The research was conducted in the Housing Opportunities for All VIP course with Dr. Fry and Dr. Krista Paulsen during the Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 semesters. Her team partnered with the City of Boise Housing and Community Development Division to revise their Annual Community Survey and develop new deployment strategies in order to increase engagement from minority populations that have historically lacked in survey participation. Increasing the participation of different minority groups will help the city be better informed on what services are needed in Boise so that they can direct HUD funding to those services. Ultimately, our survey revisions and new deployment strategies were successful and we were able to increase participation from minority populations to have a demographically representative sample of Boise residents.

As a part of team-level professional development, the IPI team began reading the book Dare to Lead by Brené Brown. This book is designed to develop brave leaders and courageous work cultures.  While reading the book, the team has been working through various activities in the read-along workbook together.

AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer Joy Parsons received a full scholarship to the OSHER learning institute. Joy is on a 12-month contract working on projects aimed at engaging IPI with more rural partners throughout the state. This scholarship allows Joy to take classes during the 2024-25 session. The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is a lifelong learning program offering college-level, non-credit programs designed for intellectually curious adults age 50 and older. You can learn more about the Institute here.