Originally posted on The Boston Globe. The open market has never had a viable mechanism to resolve the problem of escalating housing prices and rampant real estate speculation. For too long, affordable homes have been out of reach for people across the Commonwealth. But a tool exists that can help communities solve this persistent problem: a […]
Originally posted on WBUR. Megan Sandel, a physician who serves as co-director of Boston Medical Center’s Grow Clinic for Children, cautioned Tuesday that housing displacement can spiral into years of lingering health effects. Evictions, she said, “really alter people’s life courses in ways that are unconscionable.” “In our research and others’, we have seen that […]
Understanding how housing inequities among families with children are rooted in structural racism is important for identifying opportunities to engage in ongoing and collective work as pediatricians to lift children out of poverty. This article discusses the complex mechanisms between housing and child and family health outcomes, and offers potential solutions linking housing, health programs, […]
On October 29, 2021, Children’s HealthWatch submitted testimony to Chairman Gomez, Chairman Finn, and distinguished members of the MA Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities in support of H.202/S.111: An Act to improve emergency housing assistance for children and families experiencing homelessness. As a nonpartisan network of pediatricians, public health researchers, and children’s […]
On October 20, 2021, Children’s HealthWatch sent a letter to Chairwoman Waters and distinguished members of the House Financial Services Committee. During a time families of young children, particularly Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and immigrant families – are experiencing alarming rates of housing instability and homelessness, which imperil their health, we call upon you to invest […]
On October 15, 2021, Children’s HealthWatch submitted testimony to Chairman Keenan, Chairman Arciero, and distinguished members of the MA Joint Committee on Housing in support of H.1385: An Act providing upstream homelessness prevention assistance to families, youth, and adults, H.1428/S.898: An Act codifying the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program / An Act Relative to the Massachusetts Rental Voucher […]
Originally posted on the Community Catalyst Blog. It’s been six months since passage of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), and provisions designed to decrease child poverty and increase health coverage and access are making an impact. Families have been able to afford food and basic expenses to keep their children healthy because of the […]
Originally published on The Boston Globe. As primary care physicians, we are accustomed to receiving hard news from our patients. A recent message came in the form of a text message, a string of crying emojis, from a patient who had already suffered so much Jean (name changed for privacy) though only in her mid-30s, […]
Originally published on The Boston Globe. “The people who are struggling to pay rent could be your grocery worker, your delivery worker, your cleaner, your parent’s home care worker,” said Karen Chen, executive director of the Chinese Progressive Association. “You want them to be healthy. You want them to have a safe and healthy place […]
In the midst of a pandemic and economic crisis that has exacerbated and exposed inequities across our nation, the Trump Administration has finalized two discriminatory and racist rules that will further harm communities of color and our nation’s immigrants. These rules – which include changes to the Fair Housing Act’s disparate impact standard, and resumed […]