Hamilton looks to Cleveland for tips on public policy

It was an unacceptable and jarring contrast: Cleveland had a higher infant mortality rate than Cuba.

So the Cleveland Foundation gave money to Case Western Reserve University to study how this could be, Ronn Richard, CEO of the 103-year-old charitable organization, told a Hamilton forum Tuesday.

The study showed 80 per cent of the cases involved sleeping parents rolling over on their babies in bed, Richard said.

“Because they didn’t have the money for a crib.”

Now, hospitals ask new mothers if they have cribs — and if not, they’re offered a cheerfully painted box that can serve as one, Richard noted.

He offered this anecdote to illustrate how high-level analytics are critical in forming sound public policy to solve problems.

Richard was a guest speaker for a Hamilton Community Foundationhosted talk at the downtown public library exploring how collaboration between major institutions is crucial in improving cities.

Members of the local Community Foundation recently toured Cleveland, a former industrial heavyweight that’s struggled to reinvent itself.

Richard told how his foundation bridged sharp political divides between Republicans and Democrats, engaged universities and hospitals operating in silos, and convinced corporate leaders to improve their once-booming city on the shores of Lake Erie.

That’s led to “radical” public school reform to help increase what was a single-digit high school graduation rate for African American males and only 33 per cent for all students, he explained.

The overall rate has improved to about 70 per cent, while two-thirds of Cleveland’s 150 schools are doing well, Richard said. “But we have a long, long way to go.”

Cleveland has been pejoratively referred to as the “Mistake on the Lake” and gained notoriety when its terribly polluted Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1969. That image has changed. A New York Times travel feature published in June praises Cleveland’s turnaround to vibrancy, claiming it hasn’t been “this hot since the 1969 oil fire.”

The Cleveland Foundation has pushed the city’s so-called anchor institutions to invest in the poor neighbourhoods that surround them by hiring and training residents.

In Hamilton, there is a similar effort among anchor institutions, including city hall, hospitals, postsecondary institutions, school boards and steelmaker ArcelorMittal Dofasco, among others.

The senior executives who make up HAIL, Hamilton Anchor Institution Leadership, are exploring how to turn closed lower-city schools into community hubs, said city manager Chris Murray.

“When we say hubs, we’re talking about a multitude of services that the neighbourhoods need.”

The hope is to have such projects underway this term of council, Murray said.