Most local property tax levies supporting health and social services passed, many with large margins, according to unofficial election results. The general Health and Human Services levy in Cuyahoga County passed with 73 percent of the vote, along with all of the mental health, developmental disabilities, senior services, county home and public health levies. The...
Category: Strengthening the HHS Safety Net
May 3, 2018
“Catastrophic” impact if Cuyahoga County levy doesn’t pass, 16 other Ohio communities to vote on Human Services levies
On May 8, 2018, in addition to hotly contested primaries for governor, voters in several communities across Ohio will have the opportunity to approve local property tax levies to support health and human services. Below this article a comprehensive list of these levies, which we complied from all 88 counties’ Boards of Elections. There are...
April 30, 2018
Hungry for Policy: A Deeper Dive on Older Adults
The Center for Community Solutions Public Policy Fellow Loren Anthes recently authored an issue brief on the relationship between food insecurity and Medicaid. One of the key takeaways from the brief is that “as a social determinant of health, food insecurity increases cost and diminishes outcomes in health care.” With a high number of older...
April 5, 2018
Ohio Medicaid Funding for County Program for Children with Autism, and Other Mental Health Needs, Slated to End
In less than 100 days the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) is poised to end a special funding arrangement for a 27-year-old program in Cuyahoga County called Positive Education Program (PEP) Connections. Each year, PEP Connections serves nearly 900 high-risk youth with autism, and or other intensive mental health needs who are also at risk...
April 2, 2018
Addressing Childhood Trauma to Create Positive Outcomes
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine hosted a conference on Tuesday, March 27, that focused on childhood trauma. The conference had roughly 700 registrants and highlighted the work happening every day in Ohio by using a platform for sharing ideas from around the country and the state. The Attorney General began the day by emphasizing that...
March 19, 2018
Does higher senior poverty equal more levy funding?
I recently presented an analysis of senior levy funding across the state of Ohio to the Council of Older Persons, a regularly convened group of aging network professionals and advocates working or living in Cuyahoga County. One of the many insightful questions posed was whether the seniors most in need of publicly funded supportive services...
February 20, 2018
94% of Providers Submitting Claims Have Had at Least One Payment, Nearly 1 in 3 Have Yet to Submit
It has now been more than six weeks since the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) and the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (ODMHAS) launched Behavioral Health Redesign on a fee-for-service basis and via the MyCare Ohio plans. In that time, 433 unique providers have submitted claims to ODM for newly available and recoded...
January 25, 2018
Ohio Benefits Pilot Update
Updated March 1, 2018 OHIO BENEFITS PILOT For the first time since 2013, three of Ohio’s core work support programs – Medicaid, Food Assistance (SNAP), and Cash Assistance (OWF) – are one step closer to being re-integrated into a single eligibility. KEY TAKEAWAYS New eligibility system being piloted in five counties will roll out to...
December 4, 2017
Age Wave to Arrive Sooner in Some County Districts
One of the statistics that caught my eye in the Cuyahoga County district profiles The Center for Community Solutions recently released was the fact that a few Cuyahoga County Council districts appear to quickly be approaching the point where persons over the age of 65 will outnumber those under the age of 18. On a...