Our work
For more than 100 years, Community Solutions has been a leader in Northeast Ohio’s health and human services space. Our policy advocacy, consulting services, and data for the public good informs decision-making, programming, and priorities across the region and statewide.
Transforming data into progress
We help make connections between people and organizations working to improve community conditions and the quality of life of all Ohioans.
Policy Advocacy
Organizations in Northeast Ohio and across the state use our public policy analysis to understand policies that affect their work. Testimony at the Statehouse, education events like the Medicaid Institute, and legislative relationships amplify community voice and explain a complex system.
Research
Governmental entities, nonprofits, foundations, state associations, and other organizations use our research for the public good. Surveys, narrative analysis, demographic research, and community health needs assessments reveal trends, spark conversations, and inform next steps.
Data Analysis
Fact sheets, Census analysis, poverty trends, and social drivers of health research are among the most popular analyses that we produce. Direct service organizations, funders, and policymakers use our analysis to formulate strategies to develop informed policy and plans.
Our priorities
A focus on five health and services priority areas includes behavioral health, maternal and infant health, Medicaid, poverty, and older adults.
Behavioral Health
Ohio ranks 38th in mental health care and overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death. Support for behavioral health access destigmatizes mental health needs and highlights the need to integrate the medical and behavioral health systems.
People with mental health and addiction issues have a shorter lifespan and are often regularly engaged in our criminal justice system, compounding the challenges of successful recovery. Beyond persistent stigma is a fragmented and disconnected care system. Yet most Americans will experience behavioral health challenges at some point in their lives, directly or indirectly.
For some, it’s a life-long struggle that drains resources and fractures families. In a state where mental illness is prevalent and overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death, Ohio cannot afford to allow a disjointed system to continue. We work for better conditions: looking at state efforts to redesign the system, advancing policies to protect lives and avoid overdoses, and improve care.
Maternal & Infant Health
The maternal and infant health crisis is worsening. The March of Dimes gives Ohio a D-rating for preterm births. Comprehensive birth data makes the racial disparities impossible to ignore, and our recent work has focused on Black mothers and babies who suffer from complications more often.
As the United States continues to grapple with a largely preventable maternal health crisis, data reveals Ohio’s families continue to feel the impact of this multifaceted public health issue. While significant strides have been made by providing more support for mothers, the disparities between the outcomes of mothers of color and white mothers persist.
Disparities between Black and white infants persist, and data demonstrates the gap between them may be widening. Regardless of race, the alarming statistics infant and maternal health outcomes continue to produce make the United States the most dangerous developed nation to be pregnant. Recent advocacy wins include extending Medicaid post-partum care and coverage for doula services.
Medicaid
With an estimated $25 billion investment in Ohio, Medicaid covers one in four Ohioans, one in two births, and is responsible for the majority of the care for the elderly and disabled. Ohio’s Medicaid program provides a vital safety net for vulnerable Ohioans and acts as a crucial financial resource for one of Ohio’s largest employment sectors in health care.
There are over three million Ohioans who receive their care through the Medicaid. Additionally, health care employment outstrips that of manufacturing in Ohio, particularly in rural parts of the state. Our work includes in-depth financial model of federal legislation to a multi-state review of policies that examine the intersection of housing and health.
Since 2015, Community Solutions Center for Medicaid Policy aims to increase the capacity of Northeast Ohio’s health delivery system to effectively engage in Medicaid policy at the local and state levels.
Poverty & The Safety Net
Poverty is a complex and systemic problem that requires curiosity and thoughtful analysis. Public policy, economics, and demographics create the context for organizations working on the issues of poverty, and we work to connect institutions with the resources they need to carry out their missions as they align with ours.
Human service organizations may not have the capacity to stay up to date on every development in the ever-changing landscape of regulation and policy. However, if they rely on governmental funding, its critical to stay informed of how policy will impact the clients they serve.
Agencies, governmental entities, policymakers, and the public they serve are impacted by the policy and funding choices at the federal, state and local level. From data analysis on infant mortality and food insecurity to the impact of benefit cuts on household income, we highlight opportunities to address poverty with analysis on the policy, economic and demographic shifts in our region and across Ohio.
Older Adults
Community is built over generations. But after years of social and economic contributions, older adults become one the most vulnerable populations in the community. Many are leading longer lives, but with advancing age comes advancing needs.
The fastest growing demographic in Ohio is older adults. With the shift away from facility-based care to community settings, the medical and social needs of seniors are becoming more decentralized. Issues of nutrition, transportation, and healthcare have become individualized and intersectional.
Older adults also represent one of the largest cost centers in public programs such asMedicare and Medicaid, which means other populations served by those programs are impacted by the economic influence of their care. When seniors leave the workforce, communities must reorient after the loss of their economic contributions.
Our Collaborations
Community Solutions works with and supports organizations and initiatives that align with and amplify our work. Through shared policy advocacy, education, and outreach, we elevate the needs and voices of Ohioans, reaching new and diverse audiences.
Keeping the think in think tank
Our staff are experts in policy, data analysis, community outreach, and communications, and more than 80 percent of our staff hold advanced degrees. Our Board is comprised of executives, educators, and health professionals in legacy institutions in Northeast Ohio.
Work with Community Solutions
Agencies and organizations in Northeast Ohio and across the state contract with Community Solutions for research and data analysis to improve conditions in their communities.