November 2021

PHOTO OF AN EXCERPT FROM THE NOVEMBER 3, 2021 RULES COMMITTEE PRINT 117–18 TEXT OF H.R. 5376, BUILD BACK BETTER ACT [Showing the text of H.R. 5376, as reported by the Committee on the Budget, with modifications.] With President Biden signing the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act ( bridges, roads, internet access, etc.) November 15, it’s a good time to focus on the substance—not the legislative sausage-making—of the Build Back Better bill. The House of Representatives could...

By Allison Morrow, Photo: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg/Getty Images, CNN Business, November 15, 2021 Less than a month into her role as the chief executive of Citigroup, Jane Fraser made a decision that shook Wall Street. It was late March, and signs of burnout were everywhere after more than a year of remote work in the pandemic. Deal volume was at record highs and showed no signs of letting up. Over at investment banking rival Goldman Sachs, young analysts made headlines with workplace horror...

By Emily Alpert Reyes, Photo: Jason Armond, Los Angeles Times, November 15, 2021 Maria Guadalupe Reyes was worried about the urgent notice that had arrived, saying that her landlord was seeking to evict her from the house she rents. So she went straight to the usual place: the Martin Luther King Jr. Outpatient Center. There, the 72-year-old handed the document over to paralegal Alejandra Patlán — a familiar face with pink hair and an unflappable manner — and waited outside the little room on...

By Ashley Lopez, Photo: Sergio Flores/Getty Images,National Public Radio, November 15, 2021 The SAFE Alliance in Austin helps survivors of child abuse, sexual assault and domestic violence. Back before Texas' new abortion law went into effect, the organization counseled a 12-year-old girl who had been repeatedly raped by her father. Piper Stege Nelson , chief public strategies officer for the SAFE Alliance, says the father didn't let the young girl leave the house. "She got pregnant," Nelson...

By Roxanne De La Rosa, Photo: Free Art For Abused Children Of Arizona, Azcentral., November 14, 2021 In 1993, Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona was created by art therapist Margaret Beresford. There was zero funding to start the program, but Beresford understood that art can be used to bridge the gaps in services for children who have experienced trauma. Today, the group serves an average of 7,000 children a year. Many come from foster care, homeless and domestic-violence shelters,...

By Jackie Mader, The Hechinger Report, November 3, 2021 A t Aliya Johnson Roberts’ two child care centers in Philadelphia, many employees aren’t done working when they clock out at the end of a long day nurturing and teaching young kids. Instead of heading home, they leave for second jobs, often as home health aides. The grueling schedule is necessary: Without the extra work, they can’t make enough money to cover their basic needs, Johnson Roberts said. She wants to pay her teachers more,...

By Anuja Vaidya, mHealth Intelligence, November 12, 2021 The Federal Communications Commission plans to authorize more than $700 million in funding to broadband providers in an effort to boost internet connectivity in rural areas. Millions of Americans lack access to broadband, though there are quibbles about the exact number. According to the FCC, the number of U.S. residents without broadband access totaled 14.5 million at the end of 2019. But an independent research organization...

By Jodi Fortino, National Public Radio, November 11, 2021 Low-income homeowners are often the target for city code violations. Nonprofits in Kansas City are asking to move away from a punitive code system and toward a restorative one driven by the community. AILSA CHANG, HOST: Maintaining a home can be a challenge for anyone, and that is especially true for low-income homeowners who may struggle to meet city standards. As Jodi Fortino of member station KCUR reports, that can lock them into a...

By Aisling Carroll, Photo: Dr. Atul Nakhasi, California Health Care Foundation, November 2, 2021 A patient was on the phone with Atul Nakhasi, MD, internist at Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Outpatient Center in Los Angeles, after a routine surgery in the summer of 2021. She was recovering well, and she didn’t want anything to mess with that. The vaccine for COVID-19 might, she thought. Similar to the hundreds of conversations he’s had with other patients, staff, friends, and strangers,...

By Aaron Morrison and Kat Stafford, Associated Press News, November 11, 2021 In honor of Veterans Day, a group of Democratic lawmakers is reviving an effort to pay the families of Black service members who fought on behalf of the nation during World War II for benefits they were denied or prevented from taking full advantage of when they returned home from war. The new legislative effort would benefit surviving spouses and all living descendants of Black WWII veterans whose families were...

By Serene Olin and Lauren Niles, Illustration: Matt Chinworth, California Health Care Foundation, October 21, 2021 During the COVID-19 pandemic, the American public developed a deeper appreciation for behavioral health care, the umbrella term for mental health and substance use treatment. While demand for it is soaring, the US health care system is still falling far short. Despite significant spending, people with behavioral health conditions still suffer greatly. They experience more...

Replay Now Available Viewable through Wednesday, November 17 The Forward Together: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Protecting Children from Abuse conference had many powerful voices with empirical data, outside perspectives, culture-shifting steps, policy makers on a mission, advocates with hope and so much more. This not-to-be missed conference that provided perspective on protecting children from abuse is available to replay. The replay is available now through Wednesday, November 12 at...