1. Research | Training | Policy | Practice Poverty and Food Security Research in Wisconsin Lawrence M. Berger Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) and School of Social Work University of Wisconsin-Madison **based on research by Judith Bartfeld IRP RIDGE Center Director, UW-Extension, and School of Human Ecology University of Wisconsin-Madison 2016 North Central Regional Association Mini Land-Grant Meeting July 31, 2016 Chicago 1

2. The Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) Nation’s longest-standing poverty research center Multi-disciplinary research focus on causes and consequences of poverty and policies to address them Extensive training, dissemination, policy, and practice activities Home to IRP RIDGE Center for National Food and Nutrition Assistance Research since 2010 2

3. IRP Ridge Food and Nutrition Assistance Research Supported by the Economic Research Service, USDA Primary mission is to: – stimulate innovative research related to food assistance programs; – enable training of researchers interested in food assistance issues; and – provide timely and accessible information on new research findings. Addressed though policy-relevant research agenda, dissemination, and training/mentoring (small grants and visiting scholars programs) 3

4. Food Security Research at IRP Applied, policy-relevant research agenda: Broad focus on patterns, correlates, and consequences of food insecurity as well as participation in and impacts of food assistance programs Projects at local, state, and national levels Range of (primarily quantitative) methodologies, including analysis of secondary data, analyses of complex administrative data, and primary data collection efforts 4

5. Example 1: 5 Food Security and Family Finances: An Extension-based research project

6. Wisconsin Schools Food Security Survey Collaboration among IRP, School of Human Ecology, UW-Extension Funded by University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research as part of large USDA-sponsored research initiative on causes and consequences of child hunger, with additional support from IRP Anonymous surveys of parents of elementary school children in 26 Wisconsin schools during 2012-14 (largely rural and low income); school incentives for high response rate ($ for ‘classroom party’) Surveys focused on food insecurity, sources of food, program participation, financial circumstances and hardships High quality data in terms of response rates, representation of low- income families, and validity of food security scale Highlights unique potential and value of Extension as research partner Extension agents played key role both in recruiting local schools to participate, and in sharing local results back with schools and communities

7. Why this project? Locally: to learn about extent of food security, use of food assistance programs, food choices, and household economic circumstances and experiences. Big picture: to learn about family food hardships in broader context of household financial experiences and behaviors: how does food insecurity relate to other (non-food) hardships, financial shocks, and financial coping strategies and behaviors?

8. Why Extension? Uniquely situated in community to partner with local schools Uniquely situated to share meaningful local findings Capitalizes on potential of Extension to support bi- directional flow of information – from communities to academia, from academia to community

9. Why schools? Schools are a good place to get a reasonable ‘slice’ of the local population Schools are the ‘front line’ in seeing and dealing with food insecurity and child hunger Food insecurity – even at relatively low levels – is linked to worse outcomes for kids, ranging from worse health, to poorer performance in school, to behavioral and socioemotional difficulties Schools are potential leverage points for addressing food insecurity and child hunger – e.g. school meal programs, school-based food pantries and backpack programs, summer food programs, financial education for parents, helping link families to benefits, etc.

10. What did we learn? Food insecurity goes hand in hand with other kinds of financial hardships – its not just access to food, its also inability to pay rent, pay bills, etc. Volatility in income and expenses puts families at greater risk of food insecurity, above and beyond the risk that stems from being poor or low income Financial coping strategies change as food insecurity progresses: reliance on family and friends increases dramatically, and at more severe levels use of riskier strategies like payday loans and pawn loans are much more common Families are increasingly likely to rely on the food assistance safety net as food insecurity worsens – but food pantries and summer food programs are still used by fewer than half of households struggling with child hunger Savings for emergencies, college, and retirement are uncommon in this sample; emergency and college savings fall dramatically in the face of any sign of food hardships

11. Example 2: 11 School meals and educational outcomes: Using administrative data to explore policy impacts

12. School breakfast and educational outcomes Research linking the School Breakfast Program with educational outcomes has produced mixed results We leverage information on which schools participated in the School Breakfast Program (and when) to examine links between Program adoption and test scores over time Unique ability in WI to link school records to data on SNAP participation and family earnings (and a range of other social welfare programs) provides additional leverage Hoping to learn how both short and longer-term access to SBP are linked to standardized test scores Will be expanding to also look at impact of new Community Eligibility Provision, which allows qualifying schools to offer free meals to all children

13. Advantages of being in a land grant institution Linkages throughout the state, particularly as a result of the Extension program Emphasis on research that benefits the state (and beyond, e.g., WI Idea) Strong relations with State agencies (and related data sharing agreements) Joint State agency/University research agendas 13

14. Contact Information Lonnie Berger University of Wisconsin–Madison Institute for Research on Poverty and School of Social Work lmberger@wisc.edu (608) 262-6379 14