Who has legal problem-solving power?
January 2022
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Democratizing Legal Problem-Solving Power: Learning from Early Childhood System-Builders
MLPB has convened a planning process with three partner communities invested in Building Legal Problem-Solving in the Early Childhood Sector, thanks to support from The JPB Foundation. Our newest blog post is an interview with leaders from one of these partner communities based in California, First 5 Orange County and its Engaged Neighborhoods initiative. Our colleagues share important local perspectives on legal information and rights education as a tool for advancing healthy child development and family thriving.
Stay tuned for blogs featuring insight from the other two partner communities — the Rhode Island Department of Health Office of Family Visiting and Smart from the Start — in February and March!
In a similar context, MLPB recently weighed in on several public processes that will impact the future of family-centered ecosystems:
- Jan. 2022: MLPB Response to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Children and Families Support and Stabilization Services RFI
- Dec. 2021: MLPB Response to Rhode Island Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner – Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking – Next Generation Affordability Standards
If these topics are important to you, contact us so we can explore potential collaboration!
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We’re recruiting 2 Law & Policy Consultants to join our team:
| Rhode Island-focused Law & Policy Consultant | Massachusetts-focused Law & Policy Consultant |
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Deadline is Monday, January 31, 2022!
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We want your input!
RIZE’s Your Rights in Recovery Toolkit, launched in April 2021, offers the support and resources people with opioid use disorder need as they navigate things like housing, employment, and treatment. The toolkit is for people in and seeking treatment and recovery, loved ones, providers, allies, and advocates to help understand these systems. To plan for the next version of the toolkit in ways that are productive, stakeholder-informed, and sustainable, RIZE and MLPB have collaborated on this survey. We appreciate you taking less than five minutes to participate. Please feel free to share with your networks and respond by Monday, January 31, 2022. Thank you!
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Designed for teams committed to human-centered social care, MLPB’s Digital Digest distills key law and policy updates across many domains of health-related social need that impact individuals, families, and communities.
Emergency SNAP Benefits Are Available To Families Who Lose Power During Storms!
New England winter storms often bring snow, wind, and power outages! Families who receive SNAP and who have lost power for more than four hours have a 10-day window to request emergency replacement benefits.
Visit MLPB’s Digital Digest to learn more!
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Criminal Legal Systems & Health
- Staff Shortages In Prisons And Jails Highlight Opportunities for Decarceration (Health Affairs, Jan. 21, 2022)
- New Bill Proposes Civilian Oversight For Massachusetts Prisons (The Boston Globe, Jan. 19, 2022)
- A Judge Shamed And Fined A Cancer Patient For His Unkept Yard And Said If Jail Time Was An Option, She’d Order It (CNN, Jan. 14, 2022)
Disparities, Inequity & Care (Re)Design
- Incarceration May Shorten Black Americans’ Life Expectancy—But Not Whites’ (HealthCity, Jan. 4, 2022)
- US Physicians’ Knowledge About The Americans With Disabilities Act And Accommodation Of Patients With Disability (Health Affairs, Jan. 2022) subscription required
- Care Is an Action, Not a Transaction (The Milbank Quarterly, Dec. 17, 2021)
- Racial Equity Will Not Be Achieved Without Investing In Data Disaggregation (Health Affairs, Nov. 29, 2021)
Employment, Income Supports & Health
- Cash Aid To Poor Mothers Increases Brain Activity In Babies, Study Finds (The New York Times, Jan. 24, 2022)
- What The Child Tax Credit Fight Says About America (The Hill, Jan. 22, 2022)
- How $1,000 A Month In Guaranteed Income Is Helping N.Y.C Mothers (The New York Times, Jan. 18, 2022)
- Mass. Seeks To Claw Back At Least $2.7 Billion In Jobless Benefits It Says Were Incorrectly Paid (The Boston Globe, Jan. 17, 2022)
- A Mother Needed Welfare. Instead, The State Used Welfare Funds To Take Her Son (ProPublica, Dec. 23, 2021)
Housing & Health
- Eviction, Healthcare Utilization, and Disenrollment Among New York City Medicaid Patients (American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Feb. 2022)
- Good News On Social Determinants Of Health Through Preventing Tenant Evictions (Milbank Quarterly Opinion, Jan. 24, 2022)
- During A Crisis, Zoning Laws Are Hindering Construction Of Affordable Housing Units (The Boston Globe, Jan. 20, 2022)
- Mass General Brigham Backs Extra Tax On Some Real Estate Transactions To Fund Affordable Housing (The Boston Globe, Jan. 19, 2022)
- New York’s Ban On Evictions Is Expiring. What Happens Now? (The New York Times, Jan. 14, 2022)
- The Bill For My Homelessness Was $54,000 (The New York Times, Dec. 29, 2021)
- BMC Pediatrician Presents a Model for Stably Housing Families in White House Forum (HealthCity, Dec. 21, 2021)
- Wu Launches Push To Expand Affordable Housing, Study Rent Control Rules (The Boston Globe, Dec. 21, 2021)
Spotlight: Updates on Atkinson Street and surrounding areas
in Boston (often referred to as “Mass and Cass”)
- After Tent Encampments Are Cleared At Mass. And Cass, Need For Long-Term Solution Remains Clear (The Boston Globe, Jan. 13, 2022)
- ‘For Some, This Is All They Know’: Boston Workers Clear Tents, Offer Housing Options At Mass. and Cass (The Boston Globe, Jan. 12, 2022)
- Any Solution To Mass. And Cass Must Be Informed By Experiences Of Formerly Incarcerated (The Boston Globe, Jan. 11, 2022)
- Mayor Wu Says 83 People Have Already Moved From Mass. And Cass To New Housing (The Boston Globe, Jan. 10, 2022)
- From Hotel To Homeless Housing: Owner Of The Roundhouse Aims To Help at Mass. and Cass (The Boston Globe, Jan. 9, 2022)
- At Mass. And Cass, Word Is Spreading: The Tents Are Coming Down And Housing Is Available (The Boston Globe, Jan. 8, 2022)
- Walking Mass. And Cass With Bleach Kits, Granola Bars, And A Chance To Get Off The Streets (The Boston Globe, Dec. 30, 2021)
- ‘A Sense Of Community’: Can The Cabins At The Shattuck Be An Answer To The Crisis At Mass. And Cass? (The Boston Globe, Dec. 26, 2021)
Utility Needs, Water & Health
- Nearly Half The World’s Kids Are Exposed To Dangerous Levels Of Lead (Vox, Jan. 14, 2022)
- Cleaning Up America’s Lead Water Pipes (The Boston Globe, Dec. 27, 2021)
- Low-Income Communities Could Be Saving Money On Energy While Helping The Climate, But The DPU Is Standing In The Way (The Boston Globe, Dec. 26, 2021)
