This week, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine released a report from the Insurer Task Force on Opioid Reduction. Joined by many of Ohio’s leading insurance companies, DeWine outlined the goals to fight the epidemic, and ways that insurance company reforms can affect the impact of the opiate crisis here in Ohio. Also this week, The...
June 11, 2018
DCFS Child Safety Protocols at Forefront of Cuyahoga Council HHSA Committee Meeting
Child safety continued to be the focus of the Cuyahoga County Health, Human Service and Aging Committee’s May 23 meeting. It was the second meeting in a row where the issue was discussed, at the May 16 meeting, the Cuyahoga County Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) provided a general overview of the processes...
June 11, 2018
982 Ohioans were diagnosed with HIV last year. This number could be zero.
I recently received updated HIV epidemiology (the study of the distribution of disease in a population) from my public health partners at the Cuyahoga County Board of Health. The good news is the county’s HIV infection rate in 2016 was down, albeit modestly, for the fourth consecutive year, to 194 new diagnoses. Almost 1,000 new...
June 4, 2018
Child Safety the Focus of Cuyahoga Council HHSA Committee Meeting
The May 16 meeting of the Cuyahoga County Health, Human Services and Aging (HHSA) Committee was a content-rich meeting that lasted more than two hours, as the committee was briefed on changes that are coming to the administration of the Cuyahoga County Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS). After several high profile child fatality...
May 31, 2018
When Minds Meet: Transportation Comes Together, But Does it Change?
Meeting of the Minds, a nonprofit, knowledge sharing network that provides a place for cities to develop practical solutions for sustainability and to create smart cities, held a meeting in Cleveland on May 23 to spark a conversation around “Mobility, Equity and Data.” With a significant emphasis on transportation, the meeting began with comments from...
May 29, 2018
Advocacy Tips for HHS Leaders at Capacity Clinic
Last Thursday, The Center for Community Solutions hosted its first ever Advocacy Capacity Clinic. The Clinic offered an opportunity for health and human services leaders in the region to learn the ins and outs of advocacy, and then get specific questions answered about how their organizations could become more involved in the advocacy process. A...
May 29, 2018
A “PEP” talk from Dr. Bruce Perry on Clinical Approach to Combat Adverse Childhood Experiences
Though the impacts of toxic stress and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can be overwhelming, Dr. Bruce Perry of the Child Trauma Academy gave an inspiring and informative talk in Cleveland on May 15 on the effects of such trauma, and ways to build and empower a trauma informed community. Though I have participated in many...
May 21, 2018
New HIV Prevention Resources Coming to Northeast Ohio
This year, The MetroHealth System, in partnership with the AIDS Funding Collaborative and with support from the Elton John AIDS Foundation, is launching a PrEP navigation program. HIV PrEP – pre-exposure prophylaxis – is said to be the “birth control pill” of HIV. It is a single pill regimen of two anti-HIV medications. It was approved...
May 21, 2018
Center for Community Solutions Consulting Services: Direction Home Akron Canton Area Agency on Aging and Disabilities
The Center for Community Solutions provides consulting services to help organizations adjust to the ever-changing environment of health and human services. As the population of Ohio continues to age, communities will need to adapt. Direction Home Akron Canton Area Agency on Aging approached us last year, seeking help to analyze the current state of older...
May 14, 2018
Drug Discount Program, Child Abuse Prevention Focus of Presentations at County HHSA Committee
The May 2, 2018 meeting of the Cuyahoga County Health, Human Services and Aging (HHSA) committee featured two presentations, one, about a federal prescription drug discount program, the other, about the Great Lakes Regional Prevention Council. The 340B program is used locally to reduce prescription drug prices for medications given to those in the county...