Tom Pristow, director of the Cuyahoga County Department of Health and Human Services, presented a budget allocation approval request that increased the amount distributed for the Cuyahoga County Tapestry System of Care from $5.7 million to $8.1 million. The Cuyahoga County Tapestry of Care is a partnership with government and non-government agencies to create a...
Category: County Budget
March 20, 2017
JMOC: Behavioral Health Redesign Update
The Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee (JMOC) received testimony from two state directors who provided operational updates and policy changes for the state’s upcoming behavioral health redesign implementation on July 1, 2017. The directors touched on many of the changes the Department of Medicaid and the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services have made since...
December 14, 2016
Food Insecurity, Autism Discussed at Final HHSA Meeting
In what was probably the final meeting for the year of the Cuyahoga County Council Health, Human Services and Aging (HHSA) Committee, the committee heard a presentation from David Merriman, administrator of the Cuyahoga County Job and Family Services, and Bob Math, Department of Health and Human Services contracting office. The five members of the...
October 27, 2016
Neighborhoods to Watch, For Better or Worse
In this blog, I’ll share some of the neighborhood that stood out to me as I explored the data in the neighborhood profiles. For some highlights from the data, check out my blog from earlier in the week. Click here to view the Cleveland Neighborhood Profiles. The Central Neighborhood Struggle There are neighborhoods in Cleveland that...
August 24, 2016
HHSA Committee Approves Office of Homeless Services Request to Receive Federal Funding
The relationship between the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Cuyahoga County Office of Homeless Services was discussed at the August 17, 2016 Cuyahoga County Council Health, Human Service and Aging committee meeting. Ruth Gillett, manager of the Office of Homeless Services, testified and requested authorization of a consolidated federal...
June 8, 2016
Ohio Announces Initial Approval of HCBS Transition Plan
On Monday, June 6th, the Ohio Office of Health Transformation released a statement announcing the recent initial approval of the state’s Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Transition Plan, by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The plan, submitted originally in March, 2015, was developed in response to new CMS rules for states operating 1915(c)...
March 3, 2016
Poverty is everywhere…even in Geauga County
According to the most recent data made available by the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), Cuyahoga County is home to the greatest number of low-income residents in the state. About 18 percent of the population lives at or below the poverty threshold, about $19,000 for a family of three. In the city of...
October 29, 2015
Living on $2 A Day
About a year ago I did something that I hadn’t done before. I came back to work at an organization I had left at the end of 2007 — The Center for Community Solutions. I was fortunate enough to return as the President and Executive Director. During my previous time at CCS, I had worked...
October 16, 2015
County Executive Armond Budish Presents Proposed Two-Year Cuyahoga County Budget to County Council
On Tuesday Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish went before Cuyahoga County Council to kick off the public portion of the county budget process. Executive Budish began his presentation by saying that he was sending council a balanced budget that would ensure the “long term stability and success of our region.” He commented that the county’s...
October 5, 2015
Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish Poised to Introduce His First Two-Year Budget
At the end of this week, Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish will be submitting his first two-year budget to Cuyahoga County Council for review. This will mark Executive Budish’s most significant opportunity to date to put his stamp on what county government does, and does not do. Many observers argue that how public policy makers...