Researchers address Mississippi Senate group

Researchers from the Social Science Research Center, the Mississippi State University (MSU) School of Human Sciences, and the MSU Extension Service addressed a Mississippi Senate Study Group in late September.

Earlier this year, Mississippi Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann announced the Mississippi Senate would hold several hearings to learn about and discuss the state of women and children in Mississippi. These hearings may serve as a starting point for policy changes in the state.

The MSU group was invited to share data on the first hearing held September 27th. The team was comprised of Devon Brenner, SSRC director; Heather Hanna, an associate research professor; Alisha Hardman, an associate professor; Julie Parker, an associate professor; Callie Poole, an SSRC project manager; and Lori Elmore-Staton, an associate professor. They shared data collected from ongoing and completed projects across the state including the SSRC’s Child Health and Development Project: Mississippi Thrive! and Kids Count work.

Some details discussed included data about the well-being of mothers and infants and access to medical care across the state, data about access to childcare and the relationship between childcare and workforce participation, and data about recent increases in screenings to determine young children’s achievement of developmental milestones and access to early intervention services for children not meeting those milestones.

The team spoke to the group of representatives for two hours. The rest of the day the study group heard from state agency heads and officials from the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

To watch the full video recording, visit https://youtu.be/D4p3y7-eifk.