What We’re Learning

What We’re Learning

We believe that a community of creative problem-solvers, faced with complicated, seemingly intractable challenges, is well-served by thought-provoking, research-based information and analysis. We support the development and dissemination of research in two ways:

Abell Reports

Abell Reports are commissioned reports by subject matter experts, academics, and investigative journalists that provide studies of selected issues on the public agenda.

Abell-Supported Research

These projects – undertaken with grant funding by academics and nonprofit research and advocacy organizations – advance learning on issues key to Baltimore City.

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    Featured Reports

    Abell Reports: Police-Community Relations in Baltimore

    In 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a consent decree for the Baltimore Police Department, mandating wide-ranging reforms. In a pair of companion reports, researchers from the University of Maryland examine the current state of community-police relations and how certain initiatives could help to improve them.

    Abell-Supported Research: Assessment of Maryland’s Need for Eviction Prevention Funds and the Estimated Fiscal Impact

    Eviction prevention programs, which cover up to three months of past-due rent, are a cost-effective way to stabilize families, pay landlords, and reduce costs to the state. This report examines two different scenarios that would prevent disruptive displacements.

    Abell Report: the Trouble with STRIDE

    Ten years ago, Maryland’s legislature passed a bill to expedite utilities’ replacement of their natural gas pipes in the name of safety. Since then, Maryland has adopted ambitious climate goals that will require the near elimination of natural gas use in homes by 2045. Yet the state continues to allow utilities to invest billions in replacing pipes, which consumers will have to pay for — with a profit for the utilities — for decades to come.

    Publications Library

    Actuarial Discrimination

    City residents pay up to198% more for car insurance than county residents. The facts, the consequences, and recommendations for resolving the problem.

    Abell Salutes: Mayor Martin O’Malley, the citizens of Baltimore, and the more than 60 departments that provide for their quality of life

    Their combined efforts are moving Baltimore City in the right direction.

    Commercial Property Assessments in Baltimore

    This report focuses on the city of Baltimore and the issues that should be considered and addressed collectively by jurisdictions throughout the state to prevent an unintentional and unwarranted shift in tax burden or revenues.

    The Road to Nowhere

    The illusion and broken promises of special education in the Baltimore City and other public school systems.

    Abell Salutes: The Baltimore Stars Coalition

    For teaching young basketball players how to “use basketball instead of being used by basketball.”

    Header photo courtesy of Venture for America.