• Creation of care response model urged for responding to calls for mental health or behavioral health crises

    Creation of care response model urged for responding to calls for mental health or behavioral health crises (Plain Press, September 2022)                         Progressive think tanks and mental health advocates have joined in a collaborative effort to spur the City of Cleveland to speed its implementation of a care response model for responding to calls it…


  • Education Forward’s report indicates severe impact of COVID-19 on education in Cleveland

    Education Forward’s report indicates severe impact of COVID-19 on education in Cleveland by Chuck Hoven Plain Press, August 2022        At the June 28th business meeting of the Cleveland Municipal School District Board, Cleveland Metropolitan School District Chief Executive Officer Eric Gordon shared some of the findings of a recently completed report by Education Forward titled…


  • Participatory Budgeting Cleveland wants public involved in decisions about spending of American Rescue Act funds

    PHOTO BY TAURUS KINGS PHOTOGRAPHY Members of the Participatory Budgeting Cleveland Team:  Gwen Garth, Trevor Pollack, Laylah Allen, Molly Martin, Austin Davis, Robin Brown, Loh, Daniel Ortiz, Angelique Salizan, Kayla Knight, Chrissy Stonebraker-Martinez, and Jonathan Welle. Participatory Budgeting Cleveland wants public involved in decisions about spending of American Rescue Act funds by Bruce Checefsky (Plain Press,…


  • Peer support group aids with recovery from addiction

    Peer support group aids with recovery from addiction by Christopher Johnston (Plain Press, March 2022)      Four years ago, Rondye Brown reached “the darkest place” in his life. Feeling trapped in an endless cycle of crime, prison and substance abuse, Brown decided on what he believed to be his best solution.      “I asked God to remove his…


  • ADAMHS Board CEO Issues Statement Regarding Mayor Bibb’s Decision to Change City of Cleveland’s Diversion Center Policy

    (Plain Press, February 2022)  “I’d like to thank Mayor Bibb for his swift action to eliminate the requirement for a Cleveland police officer to call a city prosecutor before taking a person to the Cuyahoga County Diversion Center,” said Scott S. Osiecki, Chief Executive Officer of the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board…


  • City Club hosts Clevelanders for Public Comment in a forum and a mock public comments session

    City Club hosts Clevelanders for Public Comment in a forum and a mock public comments session by Chuck Hoven (Plain Press, May 2021)      The resident led movement, Clevelanders for Public Comment, now has a majority of Cleveland City Council — nine members — committed to passing legislation written by Near West Side activist Jessica Trivisonno that…


  • COPING WITH COVID-19: 

    Isolation, lack of technology concerns for seniors during pandemic by Brie Zeltner (Plain Press, February 2021) Angela Smith can’t access her email– she has no computer, no tablet, no high-cost data plan, and the library’s closed. Smith, 48, is taking care of her 74-year-old mother, Minnie, in the Cedar Extension High-Rise senior apartments on East 30th…


  • COVID-19 effects are not just physical

    COVID-19 effects are not just physical by Pat Takacs, MSN, RN (Plain Press, December 2020)           COVID-19 effects are not just physical–as devastating as these are to the person infected. It also has emotional, mental, and spiritual effects. Everyone deals with anxiety from this virus in different ways. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…


  • ‘Step Therapy’ and other insurer practices limit access to critical mental health care

    ‘Step Therapy’ and other insurer practices limit access to critical mental health careby Patrick J. Kennedy (Plain Press, October 2020)           COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on Americans’ mental health.     One in three Americans suffers from severe anxiety, and one in four battles depression, according to recent Census Bureau data. Texts to federal emergency mental health lines are…


  • Cleveland City Council has a chance to do the right thing as it reviews tax abatement policy

    Cleveland City Council has a chance to do the right thing as it reviews tax abatement policy by Chuck Hoven (Plain Press, August 2020)            Cleveland City Council announced in a July 23rd press release that it plans to hear a presentation from the Department of Community Development on a tax abatement study at its…