Public News Service - Lack of behavioral health care for children may be undermining West Virginia's efforts to reduce truancy, cut juvenile incarceration and improve foster care, advocates say. They pointed to surveys showing that a much higher than average portion of state high school students complained of mental health issues, such as depression or anxiety. And…
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Join Us in the WVU Mountainlair - In Person or Streaming! Balancing the state budget has meant year after year of cuts to higher education funding in West Virginia. Public colleges and universities have been forced to respond with tuition hikes while the state's Promise scholarship has remained flat, putting college affordability out of reach…
At this week's Lunch and Learn, Tara Holmes, our Summer Research Associate, presented the potential benefits to West Virginia if marijuana were to be legalized for medicinal and recreational use in the state.Her research shows that legalizing marijuana for recreational use would bring in between $26 and $45 million a year in tax revenue from…
Many states have legalized the use of marijuana for medical or recreational use, and several states have similar measures on their ballots in November 2016 election. Tara Holmes presented her findings at the July 2016 Lunch and Learn at the WV Covenant House on what legalizing marijuana could mean for West Virginia's budget, the corrections system…
The Census Bureau released the 2014 American Community Survey (ACS) this week, which contains data on poverty, income, and health insurance coverage for all 50 states. For West Virginia, the data release had both some really good and some not-so-good news.First the good news. The 2014 ACS release was to first to have data on…
Last Week to Register for Our Children Our Future Policy Summit!It's almost here! It's almost time for the Our Children Our Future Policy Summit. Have you registered yet?We are partial but think you'll especially want to attend the panel discussion on Participatory Budgeting, Tax Reform and the state Earned Income Tax Credit featuring our very…
SCORE Initiative AnnouncedYesterday at the state Capitol, Senate President Jeff Kessler announced the kick-off of his SCORE initiative, Southern Coalfields Organizing and Revitalizing the Economy.In a statement released yesterday, Senator Kessler cited these goals for SCORE: Increase funding for tourism advertising and development Education and workforce development and retraining initiatives Dedicating monies for viable redevelopment…
For Immediate ReleaseContact Sean O'Leary Poverty remained high in West Virginia last year, with the number of children living in poverty growing. While the state's economy has grown since the end of the recession, that growth has not been widely shared, as thousands of West Virginians continue to struggle to afford basic necessities like housing, nutritious…
Our Children Our Future Policy Workshops Joining All Corners of the StateThis month people from across the state who want to see policy change have come together in Lewisburg, Clarksburg and Hurricane. There is one more Our Children Our Future Policy workshop to go, next week in Martinsburg. With 23 ideas for positive change up…