It is well established that minorities, especially African-Americans, are overrepresented in the nation’s criminal justice system, and have been since the prison population began to skyrocket four decades ago, and Ohio’s penal system looks no different. Black people in Ohio are nearly three times more likely to be in jail compared to the state’s general...
Category: Blog
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Social isolation: A quiet social determinant of health
How many friends do you have? When was the last time you called a family member to chat? Would you feel comfortable asking your neighbor to borrow a cup of sugar? Did you leave your house today? This week? This month? The answers to these questions could have a larger impact on your health than...
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New Medicaid block grant waiver: Risk disguised as flexibility
On January 30, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled a Medicaid block grant policy guidance to states calling it the ‘Healthy Adult Opportunity’ (HAO). CMS describes the new waiver program as a way for states to seek flexibility in program design for non-disabled adults and to achieve better outcomes. Upon review, however,...
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Homeless services, multi-system youth contracts approved by health and human services committee
At the first 2020 meeting of the Cuyahoga County Council Health, Human Services and Aging Committee, the committee members heard updates on three homeless services contracts. The committee also heard one contract for at-risk youth. The first contract up for discussion was a one-year extension with Lutheran Metropolitan Ministries (LMM) worth $2,231,635. LMM operates the...
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SNAP Benefits: Keeping Track of the Proposed Changes
We at The Center for Community Solutions know that it can be confusing to keep straight the different proposed changes to federal programs that Ohioans depend on, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also called food stamps. Just in 2019 we saw three separate proposed changes to the SNAP program. Each of these proposals...
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GCRTA CEO discusses future of public transportation with Human Services Advocacy Network
Approximately 40 guests attended the winter meeting of the Human Services Advocacy Network (HSAN) on December 10. The event featured special guest India Birdsong, General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA). Birdsong, who came to Cleveland only a few months ago from Nashville, reflected on her time in...
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Data shows drop in unintentional drug overdose deaths in 2018
Drug overdose deaths in Ohio declined in 2018 to a three-year low of 3,764. This comes after a year (2017) where the state saw its highest ever number (4,854) of overdose deaths. This updated information was released by the Ohio Department of Health in early December, much later in the year than it has traditionally...
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Ohio Medicaid’s end-of-year report reveals problems stemming from eligibility system; what does it mean and how will it be addressed?
Yesterday, the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) released a 13-page end-of-year report that detailed myriad issues across the health care program. Being the big, complex program that it is, when issues arise, they’re big and complex too. Here’s our first take as we dive into this. Readers should be fully prepared to read more about...
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Impact SNAP changes will have on Ohio, Medicaid
On January 10, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) submitted a request to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to update its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) work requirement waiver. The number of counties in Ohio that would be exempt from the work requirements would drop from 42 to 13 and...
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Medicaid enrollees asked state for more collaboration from managed care plans and providers. Will they listen?
Each time the Ohio legislature deliberates the state’s $65 billion biennial budget, its members are translating the power granted to them through elections into policy, appropriating dollars on behalf of the 11 million Ohioans who are served by the state government. It is true most of the resources budgeted for Medicaid come from the federal...