Welcome to another article from Youth Alliance for Activism in Society. If you are interested in writing for the March edition, please follow THIS link. We hope you have an amazing week ahead of you!
 

Racial Disparities in Cleveland’s Infant Mortality Rate

By: Lelia Durand

For more than five decades, Cleveland has had one of the highest infant mortality rates in the country. Infant mortality is the death of a child before age one and is a key indicator of the overall health of a region. The less healthy a population, the higher the infant mortality rate, which can be caused by birth defects, low birth weight, poor prenatal care, maternal pregnancy complications, etc. In addition to an issue with the high mortality rate, Cleveland has also had difficulties with racial disparities in infant deaths.

This is not a new phenomenon. The racial divide in infant mortality has been an issue for over a century. Surprisingly, even after 100 years, African-American babies are twice as likely to die before reaching their first birthday than white babies, regardless of mother’s income or education level. Of the 13,925 babies born in Cleveland in 2019, 120 didn’t make it to their first birthday. Though the majority of those babies born were white (50%), a disproportionate number of the babies that died were African-American (71%).

While this is troubling, there has been some progress in decreasing the infant death rates. In the last three years, the community movement First Year Cleveland (FYC) has dramatically reduced Cleveland’s infant mortality rates by about 18%. FYC has also had success in reducing the inequality rate, which is the ratio of black infant mortality to white infant mortality, from 6.7 in 2017 to 3.9 in 2019. FYC works to reduce infant mortality in Cleveland, focusing on reducing racial inequalities. Their goal is to execute solutions to reduce infant deaths and eliminate racial inequalities in infant deaths by 2025. In addition to creating awareness for the issues surrounding infant mortality and providing support systems for families, FYC is also supporting interventions that look at the role of structural and institutional racism in infant and maternal deaths.

FYC’s local programs and interventions have been effective in reducing infant mortality in Cleveland and at reducing racial disparities between black and white deaths. Though this is encouraging, Cleveland still has much more room to improve, both on overall infant mortality and its inequality rate.

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Proposed Limits to Food Stamps

By: Nicole Palmer

The US Department of Agriculture is proposing a rule change that would limit the ability for states to exempt people between the ages of 18 and 49 who are childless and not disabled from requiring employment to receive food subsidization through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). With this change, approximately 300,000 households in Ohio would no longer be eligible for SNAP benefits. Current rules require individuals in this category to work at least 20 hours per week for more than 3 months over a 36 month period. However, states are able to provide waivers for individuals in areas with high unemployment, like Cuyahoga County. This proposed change would increase the area unemployment rate to 6%, nearly double the nation’s average.
 

This proposed change would save the government about $5.5 billion over five years while leaving 300,000 households in Ohio without food support from the 688,000 households estimated to be affected. Seasonal workers and those with unreliable hours, like waiters and waitresses are most likely to be affected. 97% of those estimated to lose access to SNAP live in poverty, while 88% have household incomes at or below 50% of the poverty level or less than $600 a month.
 

Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish is backing H.R. 5349, the 'Protect SNAP Act,' which would not allow this change to take place. It is co-signed by U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), who chairs the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight and Department Operations.

You may use THIS script to call your legislators. We suggest calling (888) 398-8702 and entering in your zip code to be routed to the proper representative so that you can give your opinion on the proposed change or the ‘Protect SNAP Act.’ We also suggest signing up with CCEL on their weekly Food Bank volunteer shifts to provide greater access to food across Cuyahoga County.

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Recent Australian Bushfires Are Not The End

By: Nicole Palmer

The most recent Australian bushfires that ravaged the country for months was finally contained ten days ago in New South Wales, the state most affected by the fires. About 25.5 million acres, or about the size of South Korea, was burned. At least 33 people have been confirmed dead and many more still missing. Approximately one million animals have died as well. During the peak of the fires, the air quality index in Australia’s capital was 23 times higher than what is considered “hazardous.” Chris Field, the director of Stanford’s environmental institute says, these fires have been “the iconic representation of climate change impacts.” As climate change progresses, devastating natural disasters such as this one are likely to become more and more common. Experts note that “Australia will lose to climate change,” as will the rest of us if action is not taken soon. Australia was ranked last out of 57 countries on climate change policy by the 2020 Climate Change Performance Index, just behind the United States, Mr. Morrison, the Prime Minister of Australia, was singled out as a “regressive force.” While we here are unable to sway politics on the opposite side of the world, we must set an example of progress.

Use THIS script to find and call your representatives to back the Green New Deal, legislation that aims to fight the climate crisis at the level deemed necessary to limit tragedies like this one from continuing. Or, find a list of donations sites HERE to help Australian Red Cross, Australian firefighting services, Koala Hospitals, and evacuee spaces.

SOURCE1, SOURCE2, SOURCE3