Maternal care providers, advocates, patients discuss strategic plan

Nov. 16—WILKES-BARRE — Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh this week held a roundtable discussion to inform development of the Shapiro Administration’s Maternal Health Strategic Plan.

The event also promoted the maternal health strategic plan survey, which aims to collect community input primarily focused on woman’s lived experiences during pregnancy and the postpartum period while receiving maternal health 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 Black women especially — having a child can be life-threatening if they cannot receive high-quality, accessible, and equitable care during and after their pregnancy. We must do more to address quality of life issues for women and families in Pennsylvania.”

Since taking office, Gov. Josh Shapiro has prioritized addressing maternal health disparities in access to quality health care and secured a $2.6 million increase in the 2024-25 budget for maternal mortality prevention, managed through the Department of Health.

In addition, 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 receiving maternal health care such as check-ups, preventive services, parenting supports, and other perinatal care. The survey will help DHS inform and expand the planned strategies to improve maternal health outcomes across the state. Pennsylvanians are encouraged to take the survey before the November29, 2024, deadline.

The survey is open to anyone who wishes to share their own experiences surrounding maternal health care. The plan and survey will be pushed out to maternal health leaders across Pennsylvania through the departments of Health (DOH), Human Services (DHS), Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP), and Insurance (PID), as well as the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Women and Pennsylvania’s General Assembly. Right now, all members of the Maternal Health Strategic Plan are tasked with sharing the survey across Pennsylvania online, or in-person though maternal health events and community outreach.

When completed, the maternal health strategic plan will include priorities centering on equity and diversity, with a focus on increasing access to high-quality care, expanding and diversifying the maternal health care workforce, and addressing behavioral health and substance use disorder services and supports.

Rep. Meuser co-sponsors 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 system, which has failed to hold federal employees to a responsible high standard.

The MERIT Act was introduced in response to reports of misconduct by federal employees and the existing lengthy process to discipline them. Most recently, a FEMA supervisor in Florida was caught instructing workers to withhold aid from residents displaying Trump campaign sign and flags in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.

This legislation establishes a streamlined dismissal process for federal agencies to address poor performers and misconduct. The current system is overly time-consuming, and the MERIT Act allows agencies to remove federal employees for misconduct and poor performance rather than merely demoting them.

“Federal employees who fail to take their responsibility to the American people seriously must be held accountable,” Meuser said. “The FEMA supervisor in Florida who neglected hurricane victims based solely on political affiliation is just one example of a larger pattern of misconduct. For too long, abuses within the federal workforce have gone unchecked due to a system that takes over a year to remove bad actors. Under the Trump administration’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), we will work to shrink bureaucracy and implement critical reforms to streamline agency processes. I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation to restore transparency, accountability, and efficiency in our federal agencies.”

The MERIT Act will be referred to the Oversight and Accountability Committee for further consideration.

Lt. Gov. Davis highlights funding to support local law enforcement

Lt. Gov. Austin Davis this week announced 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, Gov. Josh Shapiro and I promised to ensure that our police are well-staffed and well-funded, and we’re delivering on that promise,” said Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, who serves as chair 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’ve awarded grants to 108 local police departments to help them recruit and train 692 new officers. In addition, we’re taking a comprehensive approach to making our communities safer, investing more into community-based programs to reduce violence, doubling our investment in the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, creating a new statewide initiative to provide more after-school learning opportunities and safe spaces for young people, increasing funding for domestic violence services and staffing up a statewide office of gun violence prevention.”

The goal of the Law Enforcement Recruitment Incentives program has been 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 could request up to $7,000 per new officer to support costs associated with the training or apply for up to $5,000 per new officer to support stipends, signing bonuses or marketing efforts.

In addition to funding for local law enforcement agencies, the Shapiro-Davis Administration has secured funding to hire 800 new state troopers for the Pennsylvania State Police. In total, the Administration has provided the funding to help recruit and train nearly 1,500 law enforcement officers.

PCCD report aimed at enhancing protections for domestic violence victims

The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s (PCCD) Offices of Gun Violence Prevention and Victims’ Services this week announced it has collaborated with the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV) to host the second stakeholder listening session for PCCD’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

Aimed to guide the work of the Office, the convening brought together domestic violence advocates, allies, and law enforcement professionals to discuss the intersecting trends of gun violence and domestic violence, as well as policy, programming, and resource needs to strengthen support services for survivors and their loved ones.

In 2023, homicides decreased by 16% across Pennsylvania — greater than the national average. While this is welcomed progress, according to PCADV, during the same time period, gun-related domestic violence homicides increased by 14% statewide, reaching a total of 119 domestic violence-related homicides.

A significant majority of domestic violence homicides involve firearms, and last year, 77% of domestic violence homicides were gun-related — up 10% 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 gathering signifies 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 prevent future tragedies.”

Key topics of discussion from the listening session included local trends, needs and challenges, policies, programs, and resources that are working, and implementation of recently enacted protections through Act 79 of 2018 to increase victim/survivor safety.

Takeaways from the listening tour will drive the work of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention as well as 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 related to ideas about policies, programs, and how funding should be used to help reduce gun violence in Pennsylvania.

In 2018, Pennsylvania enacted Act 79, landmark bipartisan legislation establishing new weapons relinquishment requirements for individuals subject to final PFA orders and misdemeanor domestic violence convictions.

Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.

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