CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship, July 25, 2022
CHN Staff,
July 25, 2022
The pandemic fatigue edition. Daily COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are once again on the rise. Daily cases have more than quadrupled since March and hospitalizations have doubled since May. But new polling suggests Americans have moved on – and are less willing than they have ever been to take steps to avoid contracting the virus. One poll finds that fewer than half of Americans are willing to undertake mitigation efforts. Only 36 percent of respondents said they wear a mask when outside their home – the lowest percentage since the pandemic began. And the same number of respondents said they never wear a mask when outside their home, a 14 percent increase since the same time last year.
Making children, families, and the economy thrive: The power of investments
David Elliot,
July 22, 2022
Affordable child care, tax credits for families with children, and offering nutritious meals, particularly to children in families with low incomes, are the three vehicles best suited for driving families, young children, and the nation’s economy down a pathway to success. That’s the testimony offered this week by two academicians and one child advocate who appeared before the House Budget Committee.
How meals programs can help families claim the expanded Child Tax Credit this summer
Leo Nguyen,
July 15, 2022
While Tax Day has passed, families can still claim the expanded 2021 Child Tax Credit (CTC). A new portal, GetCTC.org, relaunched in May, making it easier for families to do so. Many of the children most at risk of missing out on the CTC are in summer meals programs. Organizations running these programs can steer families to the new portal to help them claim the credit.
Homelessness is a policy choice — and we can choose differently
CHN Staff,
July 14, 2022
Much of my adult life has been spent homeless or incarcerated. Now I help homeless people and returning citizens. I’ve lived on the streets, been in Hollywood films, owned my own footwear service, rubbed elbows with a Saudi Prince, and even sung for Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago — while in and out of homelessness. I’ve also been to federal prison and battled substance abuse. We all make our own choices. But I’ve learned that our social and political systems often make choices for us, too. And those are the choices we can change together.
CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship, July 11, 2022
CHN Staff,
July 11, 2022
The reinfections edition. It has been said that although weary Americans may be done with the pandemic, the pandemic is not done with us. Unfortunately, this truism surfaced again within the past few weeks. The latest bad news is delivered by Omicron subvariant BA.5, which is taking the nation by storm – and which, in terms of infectiousness, is worse than all of its predecessors. “The Omicron subvariant BA.5 is the worst version of the virus that we’ve seen,” writes Eric Topol, a Professor of Molecular Biology at Scripps Research.
