On Wednesday, April 26th, the Ohio House passed House Bill 33, the state operating budget. The amendments made to the bill changed some of the as-introduced funding levels for the state budget. Within the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (MHAS), several reductions were made to line items that have changed allocations for programs...
Throughout the past year, there has been a steady rise in interest in artificial intelligence (AI). The overall onset of AI technology has provided remarkable innovations in computation, completing a large variety of tasks at speeds that were once deemed impossible. With the recent explosion of AI technologies revolutionizing so many different industries at once,...
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was signed into law by the Biden Administration in 2021. This legislation is meant to address the negative economic and health effects that were caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Here at Community Solutions, we have shared our policy asks related to ARPA and what we hope these funds will...
In our previous examination of student debt, we outlined extensive coverage of President Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan. A lot has happened since then, including an abrupt pause of the program. In the current student debt landscape, what has changed? Let’s review what’s happened since the pause, and what opportunities for student loan forgiveness might...
On February 7th, 2023, Director Lori Criss presented an overview of budget priorities for the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS). Soon after, she testified in the Ohio House of Representatives Finance Committee to present executive budget recommendations. In the previous fiscal year, the largest line-item expense was Subsidies and Shared Revenue, which...
In the late hours of January 31st, the DeWine Administration released the state budget proposal, outlining recommendations for funding, programmatic initiatives, and overall structure of state government programs. One major initiative proposed for the budget is the new Department of Children and Youth. The Department is proposed to be created July 1, 2023. The department...
Applicants who filled out the Biden Administration’s debt relief application in early October have now begun receiving emails confirming their eligibility status. The intention behind the debt relief plan was to provide aid to offset student debt. Since 1980, the cost of four-year public and private college has tripled, making it harder than ever before...
As the November midterm election draws near, 48 county-wide Health and Human Service (HHS) levies will appear on the ballot in 38 Ohio counties. The HHS levies for this midterm election have a vast area of application, spanning over 10 areas of services including mental health and addiction recovery, senior services, public health, developmental disabilities,...
