Health

October 3, 2024 by WVCBP
Food Bank Provides 500,000 Meals Through Hunger Action Month

Huntington Herald-Dispatch - September was Hunger Action Month at the Facing Hunger Foodbank, where staff received enough donations to provide more than 500,000 meals, according to Chief Development Officer Samantha Edwards. Read the full article. “It’s a really big month to bring more awareness to hunger, because we have a lot of people that we…

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October 1, 2024 by Rhonda Rogombe
Making Doulas Accessible is a Cost-efficient Way to Improve Birthing Outcomes in WV

West Virginia has some of the worst birthing outcomes in the nation. The WVCBP has previously focused on racial disparities in infant and maternal mortality, but the state must also address infant and maternal morbidity, or serious health complications that do not result in death. These are far more common and have a significant bearing on quality of…

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August 29, 2024 by Renee Alves
Expert: W.Va.’s Drug Epidemic Is Holding Back Its Economy And Hurting Its Children

West Virginia Public Broadcasting - Despite the state’s billion dollar response, West Virginia has led the nation in overdose death rates since 2010, according to a senior policy advisor to the legislature. Read the full article. Jeremiah Samples, former deputy secretary at the now reorganized Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) and current senior policy advisor…

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August 19, 2024 by WVCBP
Children of Abuse and Neglect Gain Advocacy Program in Raleigh County

Beckley Register-Herald, Bluefield Daily Telegraph - A West Virginia organization centered on advocating for children who have been abused or neglected to find them a permanent home now has a base in Raleigh County. Read the full article. In July, Kristi Williams Dumas was named the executive director of CASA of New River, based in…

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July 10, 2024 by Rhonda Rogombe
Black Infant and Maternal Health Must Be Prioritized in the Mountain State

Infant and maternal health outcomes are just two of many factors indicating the overall health of West Virginia. They create a narrative about connections with health and communal care and indicate areas for improvement. Over the past several years, the data around infant and maternal mortality have lagged in West Virginia, making it difficult to…

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June 24, 2024 by Sean O'Leary
West Virginia Ranks 35th in 2024 Kids Count Data Book Analysis

West Virginia News - Recent reports have shown positive improvements in children’s health in West Virginia. Read the full article. The 2024 Kids Count Data Book ranked West Virginia 35th nationally in the category of health, a four-place improvement from last year’s ranking. Indicators such as low birth-weight babies, children without health insurance, child and…

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June 12, 2024 by Seth DiStefano
Us & Them Encore: SNAP — Do The Hungry Get More Policy Than Nutrition?

West Virginia Public Broadcasting - Forty-two million Americans, or about 12 percent of the the population, need help feeding their families.  Read the full article. That help often comes from a federal program called SNAP — which stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps. The Mountain State is one of the top…

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June 11, 2024 by Kelly Allen
WV Ranks Near Bottom of Country for Education Outcomes as Childhood Poverty Increases, Data Shows

West Virginia Watch, News from the States, Beckley Register-Herald - One quarter of children in West Virginia live in poverty, and new data shows the number has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full article. The Kids Count Data Book ranked West Virginia 47th out of 50 states for children’s economic well-being. The data, released Monday by the…

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June 10, 2024 by Kelly Allen
Report: WV Kids Face Sliding Reading, Math Scores

Public News Service - Math and reading proficiency among West Virginia kids has worsened over the past five years, according to new data. Read the full article. The latest Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation showed in 2022, 85% of the state's eighth graders were behind in math and 78% of fourth graders…

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