An estimated 20 percent of the state’s 2.1 million community college students have experienced homelessness or don’t have a stable place to live. A new bill aims to help these students by ensuring they have a secure place to stay in their cars at night.
Riverside County effectively ended veteran homelessness last year. Now, the city of Riverside is hoping to use the same successful model to help non-veterans secure housing. The city has about 400 people living on the street.
The legislature is expected to vote this month on three bills that seek to safeguard and improve the health of Californian residents. The bills take aim at health disparities among people covered by the state’s low-income health program known as Medi-Cal and the improper discharge of homeless patients from the hospital.
“The vast majority of homeless people, what we see in every study—especially here, more than anywhere else—are low-income workers, people who have jobs who don’t make enough to meet the cost of housing,” said Brooke Weitzman, an attorney with the Santa Ana-based Elder Law and Disability Rights Center.
California’s skilled nursing facilities are increasingly putting their residents’ health in jeopardy, yet the state is failing to adequately crack down on the problem, according to a report released Tuesday.
Citations for substandard care at skilled nursing facilities statewide increased by almost a third between 2006 and 2015, according to the report from the California State Auditor. Over the same period, profits for the state’s three biggest private operators of nursing homes soared by tens of millions of dollars, even as the number of nursing facility beds barely changed.
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) are among those who need affordable housing—and they’re much less likely to find it. We believe that people with I/DD should have the same human and civil rights to choose from the broadest range of home, workplace and communities supports and settings.
California’s air pollution levels are among the worst in the country, and climate change is making the situation worse, according to a new report from the American Lung Association.
Despite the state’s efforts to reign in air pollution, 90 percent of California residents are exposed to unhealthy air at some point during the year.
Four out of every five homeless people are sober. Drugs are one reason why many people end up homeless, but they aren’t the only one.
Whenever I tell my story, people are always amazed at how easy it is to unravel a seemingly secure life.
Health care advocates are always working on ways to make sure Medicaid is around to help people living in poverty. This is a good thing, but I also think it’s important to ask: Why do so many people require Medicaid? Why are so many people living and working in poverty? Why are we not working on more ways to lift people out of destitution?
California has a new addiction treatment approach that tackles substance-use disorder much like any other chronic disease, such as diabetes or heart disease. Patients receive ongoing checkups and support to help prevent relapse, and to catch and treat it quickly if it happens.
So far 10 counties have launched the new program, including Los Angeles, Riverside, San Francisco and San Luis Obispo. Another 30 counties are expected to follow suit this year.