Ways to Make a Difference

ByCommunity Forum
SOUTH BEND COMMUNITY SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
          MONDAY, SEPT. 20, 5:30 PM,
          WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL,
          4747 W. Washington Street
 
Community Action for Education (CAFE), Community Forum for Economic Justice, NAACP South Bend Branch, the Michiana Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression and BLM South Bend call on you to join us for an urgent mobilization at next Monday's School Board meeting. We are calling on all supporters of gun-free and police-free schools to attend.
 
We will be presenting our petitions and responding to the corporation's “survey” on school safety. We intend to make it clear that students can be better served, better educated, and will be less likely to be pushed into the hands of the criminal justice system when police are replaced with trained youth service personnel such as social workers, mentors, and civilian school safety personnel. Please join us!

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Housing is a Human Right
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PUBLIC HOUSING: A CRITICAL PART OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING
 
Public Housing, funded by the federal government, is one of our nation’s main rental assistance programs.  Public housing developments provide affordable homes to 1.8 million low-income residents.  While the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) oversees the public housing program, it is administered locally by about 2,830 public housing agencies.
 
Across Indiana, there is a shortage of rental homes affordable and available to low-income households. Many of these households are severely cost burdened, spending more than half of their income on housing.  Severely cost burdened, poor households are more likely than other renters to sacrifice other necessities like healthy food and healthcare to pay the rent, and to experience unstable housing situations like evictions.
    TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2021 from 6 to 7:30 PM.
 
“PUBLIC HOUSING: A CRITICAL PART OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING”
          With presentations by
          Dr. Catherine Lamberg, South Bend Housing Authority Director and
          Michael Williams, Resident Services Director
 
          Sponsors: Community Forum for Economic Justice
                           Civil Rights Heritage Center
 
This is a virtual event.  To register and receive the zoom link, click HERE.
 
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A request from Cheryl Ashe
 
Please write your Congress persons in support of the Medicaid Reentry Act. 
It will allow a person released from prison to get their medications on a timely basis.
 
            Presently, in Indiana while in prison a person is registered for Medicaid.   Medicaid becomes effective upon release from prison once the person calls a certain number to say he/she is no longer incarcerated.  
            The problem is it takes about 3-4 weeks to get an appointment as a new patient with a doctor.  Doctor offices will not give a person an appointment until the person has the Medicaid member number. 
            Therefore, even if a person calls the certain number on the day he/she is released from prison to get his/her Medicaid number, this person usually sees a doctor 3-4 weeks later. 
That is 3-4 weeks without medicine.  
 
**Note upon release a person is given whatever medicine is left for that month.  Some people get 7 days’ worth of medicine and others get 10 or 18 or 25 etc.  With the Medicaid Reentry Act, a person will have the Medicaid number while in prison and with the help of his/her case manager make a doctor’s appointment while in prison. 
 
Take Action Today to Support the Medicaid Reentry Act
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, over half of those currently incarcerated are struggling with a mental health condition, and approximately 75 percent also have a co-occuring substance use disorder. Without proper health coverage upon release from prison or jail, many of these individuals struggle to find medical coverage when reentering their communities [1,2].
The Medicaid Reentry Act is a bipartisan bill which would grant Medicaid coverage to incarcerated individuals 30 days prior to their release. This would allow for uninterrupted health coverage for the individual upon reentry to the community, decreased recidivism, and savings on healthcare and criminal justice costs for jurisdictions across the nation.  
 
Take Action Today
The Medicaid Reentry Act is currently being reviewed as a potential policy add-on in the upcoming budget reconciliation package before Congress. It is vital to contact your Member of Congress to express your support for this legislation and expand access to addiction treatment and other health services for those leaving jail or prison. 
 

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