Director Kimberly Murnieks of Ohio’s Office of Budget and Management (OBM) and Director Mark Flanders of the Legislative Service Commission (LSC) testified to the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, as part of the first day of informal hearings on HB 166, the main operating budget. Murnieks went first, providing an explanation of how OBM went...
April 22, 2019
Where’s the data? A look at data collection among the LGBTQ community
One in five LGBTQ people face employment discrimination. That was one of the statistics shared by American Progress’ Caitlin Rooney before a sold-out room of health and human service leaders, advocates and community members. More than 100 people gathered at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank last week to attend The Center for Community Solutions’ event...
April 22, 2019
Data Days CLE: What’s all the data about?
April 15 marked Cleveland’s third year of Data Days CLE, an event for which The Center for Community Solutions is a proud sponsor. As a member of the planning committee for the event, I can honestly say that the folks behind Data Days are some of the coolest, grittiest nerds I know—they are people who...
April 22, 2019
Emergency assistance services contract focus of county health, human services and aging committee
The April 17 meeting of the Cuyahoga County Health, Human Services and Aging committee consisted primarily of a discussion about a resolution to extend the master contract for emergency assistance services through Cuyahoga County’s Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Currently, the contract is set to expire at the end of April 2019. The...
April 22, 2019
The Chopping Block: How Medicaid Block Grants Will Create Access Problems for Ohio’s Kids
More than 1 million children, or 40 percent of all children in Ohio are covered by the Medicaid program. As the largest single source of health coverage in the United States, Medicaid plays an integral role in ensuring successful outcomes for children from birth and throughout adolescence. It is primarily responsible for decreasing the uninsured rate...
April 18, 2019
State Budgeting Matters Podcast: The intersection of transportation and health and human services
Will Tarter and Dani Carlson talk about Governor Mike DeWine’s transportation budget and why it has an impact on health and human services in Ohio. Listen here or download it today!
April 15, 2019
Tracking data on maternal mortality and morbidity should be a priority in Ohio
The Center for Community Solutions and other Ohio advocates have called for the prioritization of maternal health, at a level parallel to the focus on infant health in Ohio. Maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity (described as ‘near misses’) have increased nationally and due to delays in data collection and dissemination in Ohio it has...
April 8, 2019
Transportation budget gains bi-partisan approval, Governor’s signature
By Sam Sobul, Public Policy and External Affairs Intern William Tarter Jr., Public Policy and External Affairs Associate House Bill 62, otherwise known as the 2020-2021 transportation budget was signed into law by Governor Mike DeWine on Wednesday, April 3. With DeWine’s signature on the legislation, which featured no line-item vetoes, the process came to an...
April 8, 2019
Where is the Justice? Addressing Racial Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System
This is the third blog in a series responding to the infographic report on racial disparities in Cleveland that I authored in December. You can go back and read the first blog on infant mortality and the second blog on racial disparities in childhood. It would be impossible (and irresponsible) to write anything about the...
April 1, 2019
County HHSA Committee hears update on JFS call center, and approves contracts worth more than $12 million
The March 20 meeting of the Cuyahoga County Health, Human Services and Aging committee featured a presentation from the Director of Cuyahoga County Job and Family Services about the county’s phone system for determining assistance program eligibility, and testimony about multiple contracts for child support and the Board of Developmental Disabilities. Kevin Gowan, the new...