Philly Tenants Want to Limit How AI is Used for Property Management 

Philadelphia housing advocates are pushing for new legislation that would limit how property managers use artificial intelligence, particularly for handling maintenance requests and calculating rental arrears.

Advocates argue that AI can create errors, reduce transparency, weaken tenants’ ability to document disputes, create barriers to communication with landlords, and leave renters without a reliable record of requests that may be needed in legal proceedings.

Property managers and industry representatives contend that AI is primarily being used to automate repetitive administrative tasks and improve efficiency, while maintaining human involvement in decisions that require judgment and tenant interaction. 

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An Experiment to Save Rural Hospitals in PA had Mixed Results 

From 2019 to 2024, 18 rural Pennsylvania hospitals participated in the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model, an experiment that provided hospitals with fixed revenue payments instead of traditional fee-for-service reimbursements to improve financial stability and support preventive care.

Researchers found mixed results, concluding that the program did not clearly improve hospital finances or community health outcomes, and one participating hospital ultimately closed despite being part of the initiative.

Even so, several states, including Maryland, Connecticut, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and New York, are pursuing similar models while policymakers debate whether these approaches can provide the long-term funding rural hospitals need. 

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Housing Project in Scranton Aims to Lift People from Poverty Through Partnerships

The Afree Foundation and its community partners have broken ground on the Welby Court Community & Resilience Affordable Housing Project in South Scranton, a $6.2 million development designed to provide affordable housing while helping families build long-term economic stability.

The two-building, 12-unit complex will offer residents access to services including employment training, mental and behavioral health support, and nutritious food, with housing costs tied to wages rather than market rates.

Project leaders hope the development, which will incorporate geothermal energy and solar technology and is expected to welcome its first residents in 2028, can serve as a model for addressing housing insecurity and generational poverty in Northeast Pennsylvania. 



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Partnering with Communities in Research 

The Urban Institute has published a guide, Partnering with Communities in Research, that promotes community-engaged methods that treat residents as experts and active partners in research, policy, and practice rather than as subjects of data collection.

The guide is designed for community-based organizations and provides practical advice on involving communities throughout the research process, from data collection and analysis to tool development and decision-making.

Drawing on lessons from the Catalyst Grant Program, the report highlights how community-centered research can build local capacity, promote equity, and ensure that data-driven efforts better reflect community priorities and needs. 

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How State Policymakers Can Address Unequal Access to Adequate School Facilities 

School building quality is a critical but often overlooked factor in educational equity; students of color are disproportionately likely to attend schools with poorer physical conditions, including problems such as inadequate ventilation, mold, and excessive humidity.

Drawing on research from New York State, Brookings Research found that aging and deficient school facilities can negatively affect student health, academic performance, and overall learning environments.

This article recommends that states direct capital funding toward the schools with the greatest infrastructure needs to help ensure all students have access to safe, healthy, and effective learning spaces. 

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How Do Americans Engage with News Online?

A Pew Research Center analysis found that Americans are far more likely to engage with news online in private than in public, with 56 percent of respondents reporting that they had privately chatted about or shared news in the previous week, compared with 26 percent who had publicly posted, shared, or commented about news.

Younger adults are especially likely to engage with news through private conversations and by liking or saving news-related content, though public posting rates are similar across age groups.

The study also found that people at the ideological ends of both major political parties tend to engage with news online more frequently than moderates within their respective parties. 

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