Marathon County is a county located in central Wisconsin which hosts outdoor recreation activities year-round. Anchored by its largest city, Wausau, the area is known as a gateway to northern Wisconsin. The county hopes to expand its rural biking program in the future, as they currently only offer bike-focused amenities in the Wausau metro area. […]
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In an effort to gain better insight for outreach strategies, this student team wrote and conducted apublic attitudes survey of Fenwood Creek Watershed farmers and landowners. Their goal was to gain perspectives on broad topics such as local watershed health and conservation efforts. The team’s methodology focused on three areas: communication, research, and survey writing. […]
This student team assessed the County Conservation Plan and Farmland Preservation Plan and held discussions with Marathon County and associates to identify ways they can increase public awareness in Marathon County. They want to influence people to adapt to new sustainable agricultural practices that can enhance soil health. The students focused on finding ways to […]
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The child care industry is vital for a healthy economy and yet there are inherent tensions that make improvements in quality, affordability, and access difficult. Improvements in one area must often come at the expense of another area. A holistic approach is essential to ensure that policy changes meet the needs of all residents in […]
Read More… from Child care availability, issues, and solutions
As identified in the Workforce Innovation for a Strong Economy (WISE) Plan, one of the big issues that our community is facing with regard to available workforce is the lack of available childcare for potential employees. This is a larger issue for the community than just its impact on workforce, because early childhood development is […]
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La Crosse County has been struggling with childcare accessibility for its residents due to lack of viable options. The past two decades have seen significant decreases in the amount of regulated childcare businesses. In 1998, there were over 450 regulated childcare businesses in existence in La Crosse County. By 2019, the number of regulated childcare […]
At the request of La Crosse County, we completed a benefit-cost analysis of three potential alternatives to current policy to increase the availability and affordability of child care. Two of these alternatives involve creating new employer-sponsored child care facilities and one entails a wage subsidy for child care providers. Ultimately, on average, none of the […]
Read More… from A Benefit-Cost Analysis of Expanding Access to Child Care in La Crosse County
Exposure to extreme heat can cause a multitudeof adverse health impacts including heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, andeven death. Because of the significant hazardsthat heat presents, it is important to determine thedistributionof these outcomes. Studying this distribution in Milwaukee County isespecially vital because of the stark health inequities that exist. Although difficult to measure, […]
Access to healthcare is deeply linked with economic standing. Economic standing can be defined by a variety of factors. For the purpose of our project, we are defining economic standingby employment, debt, and income security. We believe this social determinant category to be significant because the disproportionate level of poverty minorities face, especially when analyzed […]
Read More… from Understanding the social determinants of health and legislation
Since the County Executive’s declaration of racism as a public health crisis in 2019, Milwaukee County has taken steps, such as creating this project, towards understanding how the county has historically contributed to the racial disparities still persisting in the community as well as how these issues can be rectified. This document details some findings/suggestions […]
Read More… from Addressing racial disparities in Milwaukee County: Policy and program suggestions