Brownsville Police Sgt. Billy Killebrew knows a lot of children experience divorce, witness domestic violence, and suffer other trauma at home or in the community. He wants to help those children. So he worked with advocates to start the Handle With Care Program at the newly opened Jubilee Leadership Academy campus in Brownsville, Texas. For the program, Brownsville police notify campus leaders when they encounter children at a traumatic scene, so school personnel can provide support the next day, as needed. “We never know what kids go through at home, they come to school, and sometimes they just don't feel like being there. They're in a bad mood, and just like us, as adults, you know, we have a bad day and not everybody knows a source of that bad day,” said Killebrew, the ...
COVID-19 is not over, especially for Latinos. To help people stay vigilant in stopping the spread, the CDC recently published an updated Summary of Guidance for Minimizing the Impact of COVID-19 on Individual Persons, Communities, and Health Care Systems. “To prevent medically significant COVID-19 illness and death, persons must understand their risk, take steps to protect themselves and others with vaccines, therapeutics, and nonpharmaceutical interventions when needed, receive testing and wear masks when exposed, receive testing if symptomatic, and isolate for [greater than or equal to] 5 days if infected,” the CDC reported on Aug. 11, 2022. Vaccines and Therapeutics to Reduce Medically Significant Illness The CDC recommends a strategic approach to minimize the impact ...
Alcoholism in the U.S. has increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. “A one-year increase in alcohol consumption in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic is estimated to cause 8,000 additional deaths from alcohol-related liver disease, 18,700 cases of liver failure, and 1,000 cases of liver cancer by 2040,” according to a press release from the Massachusetts General Hospital. In addition, deaths caused by alcohol are up, too. After increasing 2.2% a year over the previous two decades, deaths involving alcohol jumped 25.5% between 2019 to 2020, totaling 99,107 deaths,” according to a 2022 study. “Deaths involving alcohol reflect hidden tolls of the pandemic. Increased drinking to cope with pandemic-related stressors, shifting alcohol policies, and disrupted ...
Since COVID-19 swept the nation in 2020, it seems that adversity is everywhere. And now – in the summer of 2022 – inflation has reached a record high (9.1%) since November 1981, increasing the cost of gas, groceries, utilities, rent, and other necessities. Could the COVID-19 pandemic be to blame? And how does the rising cost of living impact Latinos? Here’s what you need to know. Update: On August 16, 2022, President Joe Biden announced he will sign the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which will help fight inflation by lowering energy and healthcare costs, and by bringing down the federal deficit – the government's outstanding debt. More information on how this policy will affect healthcare can be found through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and ...
As America continues to struggle with COVID-19 variants, a monkeypox outbreak has reached almost every state. Monkeypox – a rare disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus, which causes similar-but-milder symptoms than smallpox – began appearing in countries where it is not endemic in May 2022. The virus has since spread globally with more than 16,000 cases in over 75 countries. Given the disease’s rapid spread, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared monkeypox a global emergency on July 23, 2022. The Biden Administration declared monkeypox a public health emergency in the U.S. on Aug. 4, 2022. Here’s what you need to know. Update 8/5/22: Monkeypox case numbers from the CDC.
Where is Monkeypox Spreading in the US?
Monkeypox cases have risen to 7,102 ...
The U.S. Latino population has risen to 62,647,044, representing 18.9% of the nation’s population, according to new Census Bureau estimates. The number of Latinos in the U.S. grew by 767,907 from 2020 to 2021, an increase of 1.2%, according to the newest data. Here is everything you need to know.
What Defines “Hispanic Origin” on the Census?
Individuals filling out the Census can choose between two ethnicities, “Hispanic or Latino” or “Not Hispanic or Latino” What defines being “Hispanic or Latino” when filling out the Census? According to the Census website, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines "Hispanic or Latino" as a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of ...
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many schools had the flexibility to offer school meals free to all public-school students. Now, some of this flexibility is expiring and many schools can only serve free meals to certain students starting this 2022-2023 school year, according to the USDA. “As we all get through this change, we ask everyone to be patient with school nutrition professionals and thank them for working to help children during such a tough time. The [USDA] and the Biden-Harris Administration fully support the school leaders and school meal heroes running the school meals programs,” according to the USDA. For Latino students, whose families often face wage gaps and nutrition insecurity, these changes could have a significant impact. Here is what these recent ...
Have you ever wondered how where you live affects your life expectancy? Now you can find out thanks to the first comprehensive, US county-level life expectancy estimates. The analysis, published in Lancet by researchers at the University of Washington and others, estimates life expectancy for five racial/ethnic groups, including Latinos, in 3,110 US counties over 20 years (2000-2019). Let’s explore what the study found about Latino life.
What Is Latino Life Expectancy?
Nationally, the study revealed that life expectancy for Latinos increased an average of 2.7 years – from 79.5 years in 2000 to 82.2 years in 2019 – during the 20-year study period. This increase in life expectancy was larger than average (2.3 years) and the highest life expectancy nationally and across ...
The cost of childcare in the US has skyrocketed – up to 46% – since 2018, and the COVID-19 pandemic is to blame. At the same time, Americans are also struggling to afford baby formula, menstrual hygiene products, gas, and groceries. Women, especially low-income women, are most affected by rising childcare costs. Women of nearly all races and ethnicities experience higher rates of poverty than men, with the highest rates among minority women, such as Latinas, according to the Center for American Progress. While Latinas represent 18.1% of all women in the US population, they constitute 27.1% of women in poverty.
What Does Rising Childcare Costs Mean for Latinas?
The cost of childcare, which is rising in nearly all states due to pandemic worker shortages and childcare ...
