July/August 2024 Newsletter | |
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Policy Council Retreat Kicks off MPHA Policy-Setting Process
The MPHA Policy Council held its summer retreat on August 8th and started the four-month intensive process of advising and helping to set our policy priorities for the 2025-2026 Massachusetts Legislative Session. We delved into the political challenges and opportunities in each of our priority areas: local public health infrastructure, transportation, housing, environmental justice, sustainable food systems, and moving healthcare upstream. It quickly became abundantly clear how interconnected these issues are and why a comprehensive, integrated approach to public health driven by local needs and expertise is so necessary.
Stay tuned for updates as MPHA staff and Policy Council members shape a policy agenda and priority legislative items that are responsive to the health inequities, needs, and priorities of communities across the Commonwealth.
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MPHA Advocacy for State Legislation Continues
Last week, we shared our disappointment that the formal legislative session ended without acting on a range of critical public health measures.
Then a few days ago, thanks to the tireless advocacy of Reproductive Equity Now, the Bay State Birth Coalition, and the leadership of three powerhouse women legislators - Senator Liz Miranda, Senator Cindy Friedman, and Representative Marjorie Decker, the Maternal Health Omnibus Bill was signed into law. This new law centered the racial inequities experienced by birthing people, especially Black women, by expanding prenatal, postpartum, mental health, midwifery and doula care, and access to birth centers across the Commonwealth. Congratulations to everyone who helped make this happen!
This progress gives us hope that the legislature will take up other key public health measures over the coming months. Stay tuned for any opportunities for action.
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Protecting the Right to Shelter for Children and Families
Despite the fanfare around the state’s Affordable Homes Act/Housing Bond Bill, the immediate housing crisis is literally pouring onto our streets. MPHA joined with our partners, Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless (MCH), Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, Homes for All Mass, and allied groups, to protest Governor Healey’s plan to divert families out of the Emergency Assistance (EA) family shelter system without alternative housing options or a plan to keep these community members safe and housed.
Under this policy, children and families experiencing homelessness and who have already been deemed eligible for shelter will be forced to make an impossible choice: wait indefinitely in an unsafe place for a shelter placement or stay for five nights in a state-run overflow site, causing them to be ineligible to access EA shelter for at least six months. The policy shift ignores the mounting public health crisis caused by the lack of affordable housing and the catastrophic policy choice to render children and their parents homeless.
MPHA Board Member and Associate Dean of Practice at Boston University’s School of Public Health Craig Andrade spoke against this latest assault on the unhoused. Andrade aptly called the new policy “inhumane” and a surefire way to increase homelessness and ripple effects on public health.
Your voice is needed to protect the right to shelter for families and kids! Use MCH’s click-to-email tool to urge Governor Healey, House Speaker Ron Mariano, Senate President Karen Spilka, and your state legislators to reverse this inhumane policy.
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Planting Seeds for Sustainable Food Systems
This summer, MPHA staff partnered with the Boston Food Access Council (BFAC), the Neighborhood Food Action Collaborative (NFAC), and the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative to develop and facilitate a training series to help residents navigate the state policymaking process to expand access to healthy, affordable food. This series will help the BFAC and NFAC as they determine policy priorities in the upcoming session and mobilize residents to act.
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Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Public Health Museum
You are invited to join Executive Director Carlene Pavlos and Development Manager Ana Hidalgo at a forum on September 30th to honor the Public Health Museum on its 30th anniversary. MPHA was a founding organizational supporter of the Public Health Museum, located in Tewskbury, MA.
Carlene will share a statewide perspective on current public health challenges and share proposals that will strengthen local public health and address inequities brought into stark relief by the pandemic.
Join the discussion and re-connect with old friends and check out the country’s only museum dedicated solely to public health. The reception includes an open house at the museum and light refreshments.
To learn more and to RSVP, click here.
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MetroWest Health Foundation – A Partnership for Housing Justice
MPHA received a one-year grant from the MetroWest Health Foundation to create a new MetroWest Housing Justice Initiative. Led by Jeneczka Roman, MPHA’s Assistant Director of Advocacy and Communications, this new initiative works with a recently established regional housing coalition to assist housing and homelessness advocacy work led by public health, healthcare practitioners, and social service providers.
“The housing needs in the MetroWest region are significant and complex, from lack of affordable options and housing insecurity to poor housing quality conditions such as mold, allergens, lead paint, unsafe structures, and more,” noted Phillip Gonzalez, President & CEO of the MetroWest Health Foundation. “Left unaddressed, these issues manifest in public health crises that could otherwise be averted. We are excited to partner with MPHA to support the capacity of local residents to identify, craft, and advocate for system-change and policy solutions that reflect their needs, priorities, and desired solutions.”
The MetroWest Housing Justice Initiative is well underway. With its key collaboration partner in the MetroWest Housing Coalition, Roman has focused on building relationships with community-based groups and municipal public health departments throughout the region. Next steps will focus on strategies to deepen their engagement in housing related policy efforts. Roman said, “We’ve learned so much from our community partners in MetroWest and are humbled to work alongside them to advance housing justice.”
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Save the Date: MPHA Annual Conference
Mark your calendars now for the MPHA Annual Conference & Meeting on Tuesday, December 10, 2024 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.
Join us for a virtual gathering with advocates, community leaders, and change-makers as we tackle today’s public health challenges.
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2023 Annual Report: Turning MPHA’s Commitments into Action. If you are new to the MPHA list, we thought you might enjoy this snapshot of our work, partnerships, and accomplishments. Check out the full report here.
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Grants Pass: Back in April, we shared that MPHA had signed on to an amicus brief in the Grants Pass, Oregon, versus Johnson lawsuit that went before the U.S. Supreme Court. In a stroke of inhumanity, the decision in favor of Grants Pass effectively greenlit the criminalization of homelessness in the United States. MPHA and our allies are looking to local and state governments to support the rights of the unhoused and continue advocating for public health solutions to poverty, substance use disorders, mental health, and other factors leading to short-term and endemic homelessness.
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Thank you so much for supporting public health solutions. | | | | |
