In June 2019, The Center for Community Solutions announced the winners of our inaugural Health and Human Services Journalism grant. All applicants submitted story proposals, and a panel of judges selected five winners. Below, grant winner Betty Lin-Fisher wrote about her reporting process and why she eventually decided to cover racism as a public health...
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Racial disparities extend to unemployment in Ohio
The unemployment rate for all groups in Ohio has fallen in the past few months. But the pain of not having a job is not spread evenly. For Black Ohioans, the unemployment rate in November was 12.1 percent compared to 4 percent for whites, according to data from the Current Population Survey. [1] This means...
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Doulas play crucial role in maternal health
Throughout our coverage of developments in maternal and infant health, policies and initiatives, we have continuously referred to doulas as a key part of a pregnant woman’s support team. In fact, we even testified before the Ohio Senate Health, Human Services and Medicaid Committee on why we believe doulas should be eligible for Medicaid reimbursement...
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Remembering: the Equal Justice Initiative
By: Dr. Susan Righi, M.D., Guest Author For the past several years, many members of the staff and Board at The Center for Community Solutions have held informal discussions to talk about implicit bias, police brutality and racism. Our goal in the coming months is to encourage communities around our region and the state to begin the...
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Minority health matters
There have long been disparities in health outcomes between Ohioans of color and white Ohioans, with yearly widening gaps in infant mortality rates, average life expectancy rates, maternal mortality rates and more. Minority health in Ohio has long suffered from poor social determinants of health due to policy and system inequities. The COVID-19 pandemic is...
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The Reentry Act: reducing spread and recidivism during COVID-19
Tucked away into the HEROES Act is a relatively underreported but critically important Medicaid provision which could help citizens returning to society after incarceration connect to critical medical supports. It can also alleviate the financial burden of Ohio’s local government spending on corrections-based medical care. The Reentry Act, found in section 30110 of the HEROES...
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The impact of policing on Black mental health
There are two public health crises affecting our country: COVID-19 and racism, both of which disproportionately impact Black Americans. The most recent events in the decades of police violence against Black communities are intensifying the effects of a third crisis: mental health. Due to the pandemic, there is an overall concern about mental health for...
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Don’t forget to support Black elders at this critical time in American history
“What the elders see while sitting, the young ones standing on their toes won’t see.” – African proverb For the past three months, Americans from all backgrounds and of all ages have dealt with COVID-19, and its dramatic alteration of everyday life. The disease, combined with the structural racism playing over and over on screens...