For the first time, Ohio’s state operating budget includes a dedicated line item that will fund harm reduction, including syringe services programs (SSPs) across the state. This funding was proposed and then ushered through budget deliberations by Senators Dave Burke (R-Marysville) and Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood). While many harm reduction initiatives, such as naloxone access and...
Category: Blog
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Many of Ohio’s older adults are actively engaged in the workforce
Earlier this summer, the Associated Press released a poll that showed 1 in 4 Americans do not plan to retire. This got me thinking about what older adults in Ohio are thinking about their own employment. Fortunately, we have some data about this very issue handy to look at. In the past four years, The Center...
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What helps poor families? A look at new census data
Officially, nearly 1.5 million Ohioans lived below poverty, according to 2018 data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on September 10. But thanks to a myriad of government assistance programs, the Supplemental Poverty Measure shows only 1.2 million Ohioans live below poverty. In other words, government assistance helped dull poverty’s impact for 280,000 Ohioans. Government...
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Number of uninsured Ohioans, children climbing
According to new information released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Ohioans who do not have health insurance has gone up. In 2018, 744,000 Ohioans did not have health insurance, compared to 686,000 Ohioans in 2017 – an increase of 58,000 people. Ohio was one of only eight states in the country...
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New census numbers, what we’re keeping an eye on
September is an exciting month for the researchers at The Center for Community Solutions. Each fall the U.S. Census Bureau releases updated data on a host of indicators that we watch closely. While the full data set we use most often for our analysis won’t be released until December, we get quite a bit of...
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Mahoning Valley’s ambulance service is in crisis: A report funded by Community Solutions’ Health and Human Services Journalism grant
The following is republished from The Youngstown Vindicator as a part of The Center for Community Solutions’ Health and Human Services Journalism grant. By Jessica Hardin, Youngstown Vindicator Reporter Health and Human Services Journalism Grant Awardee jhardin@vindy.com YOUNGSTOWN – Leslie Murphy recalls feeling helpless as she sat in the living room of a woman who...
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Packed Cuyahoga County budget panel HSAN
Last Tuesday, approximately 80 people attended the second meeting of the Human Services Advocacy Network (HSAN) in 2019. The meeting was held at Eliza Bryant Village, and featured a panel discussion comprised of Cuyahoga County officials who discussed the upcoming 2020-2021 county budget. Moderated by the President and Executive Director of The Center for Community...
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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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Creating quality for kids: A review of Ohio Medicaid’s focus on value based reimbursement
Before taking office, then Governor-elect Mike DeWine signaled that children’s issues would be a central component of his policy platform with the creation of the Office of Children’s Initiatives in January 2019. Ohio Medicaid plays a major role in the health care of Ohio’s children, with nearly half of all kids (1.2 million) receiving coverage...