Municipalities fail to report crime statistics to the FBI database in 2021

There are 1,054 law enforcement agencies in Pennsylvania, and not one submitted data to the FBI for all 12 months of 2021.

Only 31 submitted some data to the FBI.

Philadelphia City has the largest agency in the state, and just nine months of the city’s data was reported. 

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Employers must pivot to accommodate workers with disabilities

Workers with disabilities face substantial workforce discrimination, but this group of unemployed individuals could help reduce the labor shortage.

Options to work from home are certainly helpful, but not possible for all occupations, so accommodations and COVID-related safety protocols should always be in play.

Over 84,000 people with disabilities reside in Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties – a proportion more than two percent higher than the rate in the Commonwealth. 

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PA’s Black homebuyers still face discrimination in lending

The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency recently conducted a study of 200 people progressing through the home-buying process.

The resulting report indicates that people of color are likelier than non-Hispanic individuals to be denied loans, and loan applications for properties in areas with high minority populations are likelier to be denied than those for properties in white neighborhoods.

Recommendations for change include training for lenders and easier access to down payment assistance.

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Cities restructure fines and fees to promote equity

Several cities are reducing or eliminating assessment of fines and fees in order to curb negative impact on minority and low-income populations.

As a result, there are fewer arrest warrants and less administrative time is used.

These practices help reshape policing and remove bias from systems.

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Small communities can capitalize on remote worker relocations by stepping up housing

Housing is the key to a number of successful revitalization efforts.

According to Global Workplace Analytics, about 37 percent of remote employees would take a 10-percent pay cut to continue working from home.

Reimagining permitting practices and using grants to help developers maintain profit margins will aid efforts to build housing that attracts remote workers.  

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States mitigate worker shortage by adjusting retiree rules  

Several states have passed bills to increase the hours retirees may work while collecting pensions.

Other states are scrambling to raise pay, allocate hiring bonuses, and offer remote work.

Local and state governments must become entrepreneurial to maintain staffing during the worker shortage. 

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