Registration Now Open for the 2024 TRCC National Summit
Registration is now open for the 2024 National Summit on the Social Drivers of Health, held this October 6-8 in Baltimore, Maryland. Our goal at the National Summit is to facilitate collaboration between and highlight the incredible work being done across the country by every type of organization working to achieve health equity. As such, the agenda reflects the cross-sector nature of our work and focuses on demonstrable, scalable, innovative ideas and programs and discussions with national health equity experts.

Don’t miss out on early bird registration rates starting at $695 for members (beyond member-only complimentary registrations) and $795 for non-members, including access to all sessions, meals and special features of the Summit. TRCC members' primary contacts have been sent an e-mail from Molly Melnick, TRCC Member Relations Coordinator, with instructions on how to redeem their organizations' complimentary registrations as a benefit of TRCC membership.

The Coalition Announces Impact Award Winners
TRCC is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 TRCC Impact Award! This esteemed award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to health equity through their work in elected or career government service. The recipients exemplify the core values of TRCC, demonstrating a deep commitment to SDoH, visionary policy leadership, equity-driven advocacy, and a collaborative spirit. Please join us in congratulating the recipients of the 2024 TRCC Impact Award: Senator Alex Padilla, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Representative Robin Kelly, Representative Michelle Steel and Garrett Devenney, HRSA Chief of Staff. The recipients were recognized during the TRCC Advocacy Day on May 15, 2024. Click here to read the full news release.

Root of the Issue
Check out Root of the Issue, TRCC’s podcast that explores the passion and purpose of individuals from across the nation who have dedicated themselves to championing health equity for all.

This week’s episode features Stacy Wathen, Manager of Community and Child Health at the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) and TRCC Board Member. Stacy leads CHA’s association’s work in community health, community benefit and addressing health related social needs. She joined CHA in 2009 and while her role has evolved, it has always included facilitating member affinity groups of participants focused on peer learning, sharing best practices and advancing hospitals’ work to promote optimal health, development and opportunities for children. Stacy started her career at Children’s Hospital of Richmond, spending eight years working in public relations and marketing on behalf of the hospital. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a minor in Journalism from Randolph-Macon College and a Master’s in Public Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University. Check out the most recent episodes, and all archived episodes, here! Root of the Issue can be accessed on TRCC’s website and on your favorite podcast app, including Apple, Spotify and Google.

Training Opportunity: Our Trauma Informed Community- The Path Forward
Chefalo Consulting, sponsored by Lucas County Care Net, is hosting a free, in-person training session on trauma-informed systems and frameworks, resilience, including development and ongoing factors. Participants will have an increased understanding of key trauma-informed change topics, such as organizational chronic stress, parallel process and collective disturbance, and the paradigm shift. This event is taking place August 20-21, in Toledo, OH. To learn more and register, click here.

Interested in learning more about membership and engagement with The Root Cause Coalition and how your organization can join our work toward health equity for all? Please reach out to Molly Melnick, Member Relations Coordinator at mmelnick@rootcausecoalition.org 

Social Drivers in the News

Reimagining Public Health: Mapping a Path Forward
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted deficiencies in the U.S. public health system, presenting an opportunity to transform it by building a new model which emphasizes social determinants of health and cross-sector partnerships. Based on literature, experience, and interviews with public health leaders, the authors share three ways that would support transformational change. Contextual ways include increasing accountability and addressing politicization and polarization. Topical ways focus on prioritizing climate change and sharpening the focus on equity. Finally, technical ways involve advancing data sciences, building the workforce, and enhancing communication capacity. The authors call for effective transformation of the public health system through improved leadership and funding as well as a combined bottom-up and top-down approach from public health agencies, governments, and academia.

NLIHC Launches Our Homes, Our Votes 2024
NLIHC’s Our Homes, Our Votes campaign is a nonpartisan initiative aimed at increasing voter turnout among low-income renters and making housing a key election issue. Low-income renters often face barriers to voting, leading to underrepresentation in the democratic process and fewer policies addressing their needs. The campaign seeks to close this voter turnout gap and build political support for housing justice. For the 2024 election, the campaign is expanding efforts to empower partners to register, educate, and mobilize voters. It includes new tools like the TurboVote platform, a webinar series, and a resource library. The campaign also engages with both major political parties to prioritize housing needs in their platforms and supports pilot communities to enhance nonpartisan voter engagement activities.

Toward a Climate-Ready Health Care System: Institutional Motivators and Workforce Engagement
Climate change is increasingly recognized as a major health threat with numerous direct and indirect impacts, exacerbating health inequities. Current health-related efforts focus on public health research, climate mitigation policy, advocacy, and sustainability at health care institutions, often on an ad hoc basis. A climate-ready health care system, which minimizes greenhouse gas emissions and is resilient to climate impacts, is urgently needed, as shown by recent natural disasters and initiatives by the Department of Health and Human Services. In this article, the Milkbank Quarterly explores opportunities to move the U.S. health care system toward climate readiness through institutional motivators, efforts to address barriers to action, and broad-based engagement of the health care workforce.

Funding Instability Plagues Program That Brings Docs to Underserved Areas
The Teaching Health Center (THC) Graduate Medical Education program is a program that focuses on community-based outpatient training in underserved areas instead of residencies based in hospitals. THC graduates are more likely to practice in underserved areas, addressing a long-recognized misalignment in the healthcare system. However, this program was established under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, and now faces financial instability which jeopardizes future residencies. Despite bipartisan support, funding issues have caused some THC programs to halt operations and the current funding uncertainty hampers the potential of this effective training model, which consistently fills its residency slots and retains doctors in underserved areas.

TRCC’s Equity Legislation Monitor for 118th Congress
TRCC’s Equity Legislation Monitor (ELM) was developed by TRCC to identify priority issues affecting health disparities and relevant legislation that address them. The ELM provides updates and pertinent information on research, news and legislation in eight priority areas: digital equity; environment and climate change; gun violence prevention; housing; maternal health; nutrition and food security; rural health and payment models.

Advisory on the Public Health Crisis of Firearm Violence
The United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy recently issued an advisory officially declaring firearm violence a public health crisis. This new Advisory is the first publication from the Office of the Surgeon General dedicated to firearm violence and its consequences for the health and well-being of the American public. The advisory details the widespread impact of gun violence, with a recent study showing that 54% U.S. adults or their family members have experienced a firearm-related incident. Firearm violence is now the leading cause of death among children and adolescents and victims of firearm violence experience increased risk of mental health challenges, including depression, anxiety, and post- traumatic stress disorder. The Advisory outlines an evidence-informed public health approach to addressing this crisis including critical research investments, community risk reduction and education prevention strategies, firearm risk reduction strategies and mental health action and support. To view the full advisory, click here.

H.R.8722 - Homes for Young Adults Act
This bill, introduced by Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman [D-NJ], would work to address the needs of an estimated 4.2 million youth and young adults experiencing homelessness each year. This issue disproportionately affects Black, Indigenous and LGBTQ communities who face many barriers to accessing housing assistance. To address this, the bill would provide rental assistance and support services to eligible young adults, including housing navigation, job-skill training, assistance for pursuing higher education and legal and tenant protection services. It would also cover administrative fees in connection to assistance applications and eligibility for assistance may not be limited based on citizenship, immigration, or migratory status. The bill would also convene a task force to identify which housing resources and information need to be translated to improve access to federal assistance programs for individuals with limited English proficiency. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services

H.R.8697- GAIN Act
This bill, introduced by Representative Adam Schiff [D-CA], would establish a pilot program to provide households receiving Medicaid with a monthly guaranteed income for five years. The bill would create a minimum of 10 guaranteed income demonstration programs in cities and states throughout the U.S. Each participant would be given at least $500 each month, with no tax liability or conditions of use to receive payments. Prior to the first distribution of guaranteed monthly income payment under each pilot, the participants will be surveyed on the impact of their financial circumstances on their mental health and physical health. Over the next five years, the program would then regularly monitor and record how the cash payments impact health outcomes among participants to inform future legislative action. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means

H.R.6033 - Supporting Patient Education and Knowledge Act
This bill was introduced by Representative Michelle Steel [R-CA] to improve access to health care by addressing language barriers when providing care. The bill would establish a task force to assess current barriers to health information technology services, including telehealth platforms and patient portals, for people with limited English proficiency. The task force would develop and share recommendations and best practices for addressing identified barriers to maximize access for people with limited English proficiency, including those with additional barriers such as living in rural locations or with communications-related disabilities. It would also direct the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue a request for information (RFI) for health care providers, insurance plans, consumer organizations, language service providers, interpreters and other relevant parties on barriers to providing telehealth services to people with limited English proficiency. The information from the task force and the RFI would be compiled and published online to provide guidance and resources to health care and technology providers working to connect people with limited English proficiency to health care services. The bill passed the Energy and Commerce Committee and now moves to the House for a vote.