Over the last two years the federal government enacted a number of waiver options, flexibilities and enhanced benefits across public programs to promote health insurance coverage and economic stability during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many safety-net programs, reinforced by targeted assistance and suspended payments have held families together, helped keep them safe and supported their most...
February 28, 2022
Racism as a Public Health Crisis: Declarations are only the first step
The year 2020 brought with it two epidemics that have caused the premature and disproportionate deaths of Black and Brown Americans: the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and a slew of publicized police killings and racially motivated murders—Elijah McClain, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Rayshard Brooks, Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd. Public outrage mounted as these...
August 23, 2021
Why Are Some Ohioans Still Resisting Vaccination?
In recent press briefings, Governor Mike DeWine referred to “two Ohios”: one that is vaccinated and largely safe from the harms of COVID-19 and one that is unvaccinated and for whom coronavirus remains a serious threat. As the Delta variant surges through Ohio communities and hospitalizations rise, we are also seeing increases in the number...
June 1, 2021
Federal aid through the American Rescue Plan Act begins to take shape
Throughout the past year, The Center for Community Solutions has written about the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was passed in March 2020 to aid the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), passed in March 2021, was meant to be a supportive catalyst for America’s...
May 24, 2021
County Executive delivers State of the County address amidst recovery
The 2021 Cuyahoga County State of the County speech was sure to be memorable due to the pandemic and its effect on county residents and the economy. That was indeed the case, as Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish presented the first-ever virtual State of the County address. …the county devoted $20 million towards eviction protection...
May 10, 2021
Inability to miss work contributes to vaccine hesitancy and likely, lower vaccination rates
By: Kate Warren, kwarren@communitysolutions.com Taneisha Fair, tfair@communitysolutions.com Loren Anthes, lanthes@communitysolutions.com With about 41 percent of Ohioans having started the COVID-19 vaccine as of May 7, and weekly vaccinations slowing, it remains important to understand what barriers exist for people to get vaccinated. Attitudes and behaviors around the vaccine are complex, and it would be impossible to pinpoint one...
March 15, 2021
Hate has no place in the fight against COVID-19
Last March, before there had been a single case of COVID-19 reported in the State of Ohio there were already disturbing signs that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were being targeted for abuse and hate crimes. At the time I wrote to my colleagues that “as the coronavirus has spread, there have been increased reports...
March 12, 2021
When will I get my stimulus check? And other questions about the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
By: Loren Anthes, Fellow, William C. and Elizabeth M. Treuhaft Chair for Health Planning Tara Britton, Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, Edward D. and Dorothy E. Lynde Fellow Emily Campbell, Associate Director, Senior Fellow, Williamson Family Fellow for Applied Research Hope Lane, Public Policy & External Affairs Associate On March 11, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021...
March 8, 2021
The COVID recession: A tale of two recoveries
What do the letters W, U, V, Z and L have in common? They are all ways to describe the shape of an economic recovery based on trends of the gross domestic product (GDP). A recession is usually defined by two quarters in a row of negative GDP growth. A new letter has been introduced...
March 1, 2021
Engaging in the state budget process in a virtual world
This last year is unlike anything most of us have ever experienced. We have adapted our activities in so many ways, and how we now engage in legislative advocacy is no different. Thankfully, there are virtual tools and electronic communication that make this a smoother process. These are a few tips we’ve picked up along...