November 16 – WILKES-BARRE – Secretary of the Department of Human Services (DHS) Dr. Val Arkoosh held a roundtable discussion this week to inform the development of the Shapiro Administration’s Maternal Health Strategic Plan.
The event also promoted the Maternal Health Strategic Plan Research, which aims to gather community input primarily focused on women’s experiences during pregnancy and the postpartum period while receiving maternal care in Pennsylvania.
“Pregnancy, childbirth and welcoming a new baby are exciting but often stressful times for parents,” Arkoosh said. “Tragically, for too many women – and especially Black women – having a child can be life-threatening if they cannot receive quality care. , accessible and fair care during and after their pregnancy. We must do more to address the quality of life for women and families in Pennsylvania.”
Since taking office, Governor Josh Shapiro has prioritized addressing maternal health disparities in access to quality health care and has announced a $2.6 million increase in the 2024-2024 maternal mortality prevention budget. 2025 secured, managed by the Ministry of Health.
Additionally, DHS is currently working with the federal government to expand services available to support pregnant women covered by Medicaid.
Recently, the Shapiro administration also launched an online survey to learn more about what women experience and what needs they have before, during and after a pregnancy, or when they receive maternal health care such as checkups, preventive services, support in parenting and other perinatal care. The research will help DHS inform and expand planned strategies to improve maternal health outcomes across the state. Pennsylvanians are encouraged to complete the survey by the November 29, 2024 deadline.
The survey is open to anyone who wants to share their own experiences with maternal care. The plan and research will be distributed to health care leaders across Pennsylvania through the Departments of Health (DOH), Human Services (DHS), Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP), and Insurance (PID) and through the Governor’s Advisory Commission spread. on women and the Pennsylvania General Assembly. At this time, all Maternal Health Strategic Plan members are tasked with sharing the survey online across Pennsylvania, or in person through maternal health events and community activities.
When completed, the Maternal Health Strategic Plan will include priorities focused on equity and diversity, with a focus on increasing access to quality care, expanding and diversifying the maternal health workforce, and addressing behavioral health and substance abuse services and supports.
Representative Meuser is co-sponsoring legislation to hold FEMA accountable
U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Dallas, this week co-sponsored the Modern Employment Reform, Improvement, and Transformation (MERIT) Act.
This legislation takes steps to restore accountability to the civil service, which has failed to hold federal employees to a high standard of responsibility.
The MERIT Act was introduced in response to reports of misconduct by federal employees and the existing lengthy process for disciplining them. Most recently, a FEMA supervisor in Florida was caught directing workers to withhold aid from residents who displayed Trump campaign signs and flags in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.
This legislation establishes a streamlined termination process for federal agencies to address poor performance and misconduct. The current system is too time-consuming, and the MERIT Act allows agencies to fire federal employees for misconduct and poor performance, rather than simply demote them.
“Federal employees who fail to take their responsibility to the American people seriously must be held accountable,” Meuser said. “The Florida FEMA supervisor who neglected hurricane victims based solely on political affiliation is just one example of a larger pattern of misconduct. Abuses within the federal workforce have gone unchecked for too long because of a system that takes more than a year to remove bad practices.” Under the Trump Administration’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), we will work to reduce bureaucracy and implement critical reforms to streamline agency processes.”
The MERIT Act will be referred to the Oversight and Accountability Committee for further consideration.
Lt. Governor Davis emphasizes funding to support local law enforcement
Lt. Gov. Austin Davis announced this week that the Shapiro-Davis administration has provided local law enforcement agencies with $3.04 million in grants to help them attract high-quality recruits and fill 692 vacant positions across the Commonwealth.
“When we first ran for office, Governor Josh Shapiro and I promised to ensure our police department would be well-staffed and well-funded, and we are delivering on that promise,” said Lt. Governor Austin Davis, who serves as chairman of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD). “In our first two state budgets, we secured funding for 800 new state trooper cadets, and we awarded grants to 108 local police departments to help them recruit and train 692 new officers. In addition, we are taking a comprehensive approach to making our communities safer, increasing investment in community-based programs to reduce violence, doubling our investments in the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, creating a new statewide initiative to provide more after-school learning opportunities and safe spaces for youth, increasing funding for home education, violence services and establishing a national gun violence prevention agency.”
The purpose of the Law Enforcement Recruitment Incentives program was to support Act 120 training and recruitment activities for law enforcement officers. (Act 120 is a mandatory training program for municipal police officers in Pennsylvania.) Eligible law enforcement agencies may request up to $7,000 per new officer to support costs associated with the training or request up to $5,000 per new officer to support stipends and bonuses to sign. or marketing efforts.
In addition to funding for local law enforcement agencies, the Shapiro-Davis administration has also secured funding for the hiring of 800 new state troopers for the Pennsylvania State Police. In total, the government has provided funding to help recruit and train nearly 1,500 law enforcement officers.
PCCD report aimed at improving the protection of victims of domestic violence
The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s (PCCD) Offices of Gun Violence Prevention and Victims’ Services announced this week that they have partnered with the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV) to host the second stakeholder listening session for PCCD’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
Designed to guide the Bureau’s work, the meeting brought together domestic violence advocates, allies, and law enforcement professionals to discuss the intersecting trends of gun violence and domestic violence, as well as the policy, programming, and resource needs to support services for survivors and their loved ones.
In 2023, Pennsylvania’s homicide rate dropped 16% – more than the national average. While this is welcome progress, according to PCADV, domestic violence homicides increased 14% statewide during the same period, for a total of 119 domestic violence homicides.
A significant majority of domestic violence homicides involve firearms, and last year 77 percent of domestic violence homicides were gun-related – a 10 percent increase from 2022.
“Addressing the deadly intersections of gun violence and domestic violence is critical to making our communities safer,” said Samantha Koch, interim director of PCCD’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention. “This meeting marks an important step by the Shapiro-Davis Administration to provide a platform for survivors, advocates and community members to share their experiences and insights and shape strategies to protect and support survivors and future prevent tragedies.”
Key topics of discussion during the listening session included local trends, needs and challenges, policies, programs and resources that are working, and the implementation of recently introduced protection measures through Act 79 of 2018 to increase the safety of victims/survivors.
Takeaways from the listening tour will drive the work of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention and inform Pennsylvania’s federal FY 2024 Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program (SCIP) funding plan. Community stakeholders are encouraged to complete PCCD’s Stakeholder Feedback Survey to share their thoughts regarding ideas on policies, programs and how funding should be used to help reduce gun violence in Pennsylvania.
In 2018, Pennsylvania passed Act 79, a landmark bipartisan legislation that establishes new gun surrender requirements for individuals subject to final PFA orders and domestic violence convictions.
Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.
