The Cicero Institute

While state legislatures remained active in introducing telehealth bills in 2024, significant policy reforms were scarce. For busy families or any average patient, telehealth can optimize a healthcare system that desperately needs greater efficiency and more affordable options. It also brings benefits to providers. Our new 2025 State Policy Agenda for Telehealth Innovation has just been released. Informed by Cicero Senior Fellow Josh Archambault's research, it sets a basic policy standard to encourage innovation in care models to emerge, and for patients and providers to have all care options in their toolkits. See how your state ranked in the link in the first comment.

Utah, thanks to Tyler Clancy's leadership, is moving away from the failed, one-size-fits-all "Housing First" approach to employ a Human First approach rooted in principles of recovery and restoration. The Human First framework doesn't just offer shelter; it reclaims lives by prioritizing programs that provide a clean and sober environment, comprehensive treatment services, and the incentives/tools that help the homeless rebuild their lives and become meaningful contributors to their communities. If only we had more Tylers in our midst... #HomelessNOThelpless #FreeUpFoundation https://lnkd.in/gru8Y9_U

? Looking for a new opportunity? We’re hiring! We currently have openings for: ?? State Government Affairs Manager ?? Events Director ?? Accounting and Finance Director ?? Communications Strategist ?? Research Assistant/Policy Analyst ?? Summer Undergraduate Fellows Learn more about each of these roles at the link in the first comment.

The Cicero Institute supports policies that promote meaningful transparency and accountability in higher education. We believe that students deserve transparent information before making critical higher education enrollment decisions and that institutions should be funded based on their demonstrated success serving students. Return on Investment data is not a guarantee of post-graduation outcomes, but represents an average of past performance. The Cicero Institute has just launched a new tool to help students make better decisions about what college or university to attend or what major to select. It can also help state policymakers and higher education leaders make better funding decisions. Explore the tool at the link in the first comment.

New research from Cicero and The Goldwater Institute! States need to update their telehealth laws to improve access to mental health services. By closely examining their telehealth laws, states can ensure greater access to behavioral healthcare through telehealth. This brief examines six states to illustrate the current policy state on behavioral health access over telehealth, with a particular focus on counselors and social workers. This report features new research from Cicero’s McKenzie Richards and Josh Archambault as well as Goldwater’s Amanda Cross Hagerman. Explore the report—and find out how your state ranks—at the link in the first comment.

Despite increased spending, more people than ever are experiencing unsheltered homelessness in America. And this population faces many serious challenges including addiction and severe mental health issues. Predictably, crime in and around street encampments is disproportionately high. Despite the problems associated with allowing homeless encampments to fester, many cities and states have refused to take serious action. To maintain order in our cities, we must hold all citizens, including the homeless, accountable to the rule of law. Learn more about the solutions Devon Kurtz—and the rest of our public safety team—are working on at the link in the first comment.

Despite increased spending, more people than ever are experiencing unsheltered homelessness in America,? ? And this population faces many serious challenges including addiction and severe mental health issues. Predictably, crime in and around street encampments is disproportionately high. Despite the problems associated with allowing homeless encampments to fester, many cities and states have refused to take serious action. To maintain order in our cities, we must hold all citizens, including the homeless, accountable to the rule of law.? ? Learn more about the solutions Devon Kurtz—and the rest of our public safety team—are working on at the link in the first comment.?

? Looking for a new opportunity? We’re hiring! We currently have openings for: ?? State Government Affairs Manager ?? Events Director ?? Accounting and Finance Director ?? Communications Strategist ?? Research Assistant/Policy Analyst ?? Summer Undergraduate Fellows Learn more about each of these roles at the link in the first comment.

As college-bound students and their families navigate the difficult decisions of higher education, the Cicero Institute is shining a light on a critical but often overlooked question: Which college programs provide real value, and which leave students financially worse off? This new tool utilizes?research—originally conducted by Preston Cooper and FREOPP—that can help answer those questions.? ? “The data is clear: not all degrees are created equal,” said Cicero Institute Education Policy Director Michael Brickman. “Students deserve to know which programs will lead to good careers and which will leave them deep in debt with little to show for it—and now at the click of a button, they can.”? ? Our newly released, exclusive web tool offers one-click access to shocking data highlighting the stark differences across lifetime earnings potential between various degrees.? ? Learn more about this tool—and explore it for yourself—at the link in the first comment.?

A bipartisan majority of Arizonans are dissatisfied with current homelessness policy and want meaningful, innovative solutions. A new survey released by the Cicero Institute reveals how Arizonans feel about the homelessness crisis: ?? 83% support making it easier for courts to direct homeless individuals with severe mental illness or addiction into treatment facilities ?? Nearly 75% of Arizona voters say they are avoiding shopping areas, parks, or other public spaces where there are homeless encampments ?? Over 75% support cleaning up encampments in publicly shared areas ?? Nearly two-thirds of Arizonans support establishing drug-free zones around homeless service facilities See more details about the survey's findings at the link in the first comment.