Heather M. Stephens, associate professor of regional economics at the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, along with Tony Pipa and Natalie Geismar, co-authored a new policy brief published by the Center for Sustainable Development at the Brookings Institution titled "Defining Distress: Lessons from the Federally Chartered Regional Commissions."
The brief provides insight into how federal programs and regulations identify and enable resources to reach communities that might benefit most from federal funds. It examines the definitions and uses of “economic distress” by the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Delta Regional Authority and the Northern Border Regional Commission.
The report found strategies to more accurately identify communities in distress which are not currently in use by organizations determining need. Those strategies include looking beyond traditional economic indicators as well as classifying communities along a spectrum of distress.