In mid-November, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) released a long-awaited comprehensive report on maternal mortality in Ohio. The report shows that there were 610 pregnancy-associated deaths, of which 186 were pregnancy-related, in Ohio between 2008 and 2016. The report finds that Black women were two and half times more likely to die of a...
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Fact Sheet on Federal Proposal to Cut SNAP Benefit Levels in Ohio by Reducing the Standard Utility Allowance
By: Rachel Cahill Consultant for Cuyahoga County’s Benefits Access Partnership Background On October 3, the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) published a proposed rule that would impose a standardized methodology for calculating the Standard Utility Allowance (SUA) for SNAP.[1] The SUA plays an important role determining a household’s total shelter expenses, which in turn, significantly...
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Harm reduction, drug users’ health take center stage at state HIV planning meeting
This month, the HIV, STI & Viral Hepatitis Interventions and Treatment Section of the Ohio Department of Health’s Office of Health Improvement and Wellness held its Combined Community Planning Group (CCPG) meeting. CCPG is a quarterly meeting of health service providers, community members, community-based organizations and other stakeholders who work across the HIV continuum –...
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Ambulance trouble in Mahoning County: Behind a story funded by a Community Solutions journalism grant
By: Jess Hardin HHS Reporting Grant winner I first learned that ambulance service in the Mahoning Valley was in trouble while writing a routine story about a levy on the ballot in one of the communities I covered for The Vindicator, Youngstown, Ohio’s daily newspaper. Since completing the story, I have heard from paramedics...
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Ohio jails struggle with continuous, dependable feminine hygiene care
During my time in the Ohio Legislature, Representative Brigid Kelly and I worked tirelessly to make feminine hygiene products more accessible to women and girls in our state. This included reintroducing a bill to exempt the products from the state sales tax. For us, this was a part of a much larger effort to assure...
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Plan to end HIV Epidemic: AFC, Community Solutions staff join roundtable discussion in Cincinnati
The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) hosted a roundtable in Cincinnati on August 1 featuring the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Robert Redfield. Dr. Redfield is traveling around the country to states and counties that are eligible for new federal funding as part of the president’s recently announced plan...
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New HIV service eligibility rules will help more Ohioans
In April, the Ohio Department of Health reinstated its HIV services program eligibility to 500 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). The program reduced its eligibility to 300 percent FPL in 2010, at a time when the program was not fiscally stable. The result created a two-tiered system of service provision in the state....
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Syringe services programs in two more Ohio counties
By: Melissa Federman, Treuhaft Chair for Health Planning Sam Sobul, Community Solutions Policy Intern In March, The Center for Community Solutions released a report on Syringe Service Programs (SSPs) in Ohio. The report profiles programs that were created since 2016, when we wrote on a new legal environment that allowed the services and programs to...
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Governor’s budget makes effort to address high infant mortality rate, more work needed on Ohio’s maternal mortality rate
Ohio continues to grapple with an unacceptably high rate of infant mortality, especially among black babies born in the state. Governor Mike DeWine’s budget for 2020-2021 seeks to address this issue through increased funding for home visiting and the continuation of efforts employed over the last few years. Let’s take some time to dig in...