The City of Cleveland is home to more than 70,000 residents age 60 and older, this number is likely to grow over time as people are living longer and healthier lives. Cleveland undertook a comprehensive assessment of community need in 2015 and spent the following year developing a plan to engage in the process of becoming more age-friendly and The Center for Community Solutions was identified as the lead agency for this strategy. Ultimately, the desired future state is that residents have options along the continuum within Cleveland so they are not forced to move out of the community as their needs increase.

Despite mental health parity laws passed more than a decade ago, consumers have very little awareness of insurance coverage rights for mental health and substance use disorder treatment. Ohio’s insurance laws also conflict with federal laws that don’t allow insurers to limit mental health and substance use disorder services in a more restrictive way than for physical health services. Learn more about the quest for parity in this new report.

Cleveland, like most communities around the country, is a place where your life outcomes can be determined by your ZIP code, and where people who are black face significantly more challenges than white people.