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Using a multidimensional index weighting factors related to income, health, and social mobility—the Index of Deep Disadvantage (IDD)—we rank the well-being of disadvantaged U.S. counties (initial scores below the median IDD) when they were on the cusp of the Great Recession and then again well into the recovery. We compare the characteristics of counties that saw improvements to those that saw declines. We find that a clear majority of counties were stable in relative rank. Counties showing improvement tended to have been worse off prerecession than counties where well-being declined. Improving counties were less likely to be urban, tended to have smaller fractions of the population identifying as Black and larger fractions as white, and had a lower proportion of jobs in manufacturing. Stable counties were, on average, the worst off prerecession and thus remained the worst off near the end of the recovery. All county groups improved in income and employment through the recovery, but these advances were not consistently associated with gains in other areas such as incidence of low-weight births.

As a growing number of states and municipalities consider reparative policies for Black Americans, it is important to understand what shapes support for and opposition to these policies. We explore the role that awareness of racial inequality plays in shaping attitudes. Drawing on data from a large, representative survey in Detroit and one national survey, we find that awareness of racial inequality plays a powerful role in the likelihood of supporting reparative policies. Yet, in follow-up surveys, we find that exposing respondents to information on the rationale for and importance of reparations does not shift public support. These findings suggest that it is the awareness of racial inequality that is cultivated over time that appears to be the dominant force in building support for reparations. These findings are particularly important during a time when many school districts are severely restricting access to information about the history of Black Americans.

Researchers, practitioners, and policymakers interested in alleviating heirs’ property ownership precarity have long sought to connect these owners to titling and land management resources, but there is limited scholarly evidence on successful interventions. Using administrative data from the Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation® (CHPP®), this article explores the demographic characteristics, types of direct legal services received, and referral pathways of landowners seeking legal assistance from CHPP® between 2017 and 2021. We find that applicants are primarily elderly, Black women, referred through four main pathways: (1) owners’ personal networks, (2) CHPP® Outreach efforts, (3) CHPP® partner organizations—including public, private, and nonprofit agencies, and (4) word of mouth (other individuals/entities not formally connected with CHPP®, including outside legal and forestry professionals). Last, we identify a strong desire for estate planning among applicants, despite documented legal distrust among heirs’ property owners. This analysis has important implications for designing targeted interventions to assist heirs’ property owners beyond the South Carolina context.