Rx for Hunger: Affordable Housing

This report by Children's HealthWatch and the Medical-Legal Partnership | Boston finds that housing plays a significant role in protecting young children from food insecurity and the health risks of being seriously underweight. This report confirms that increased support for subsidized housing must be part of the strategy for ending childhood hunger

Bringing Children in from the Cold: Solutions for Boston's Hidden Homeless

This report describes a population of "hidden homeless" families and new research showing that children in these families are more likely to be hungry and in poor health. Unrecorded by any homeless census, these families move frequently, often into overcrowded apartments, or double up with another family never knowing how long they can stay. The report estimates that there are over 14,800 hidden homeless families in Boston and that this number is likely to grow as the economy declines

Unhealthy Consequences: Energy Costs and Child Health

Substantial and compelling medical and public health evidence indicated that non-medical factors, such as home energy costs, profoundly influence child health and well-being. Child Health Impact Assessment offered an evidence- and experience-based method through which to evaluate the implications of policy, regulations, and legislation for children\u27s health and well-being. Our Child Health Impact Assessment of home energy costs revealed that unaffordable home energy has important and preventable adverse consequences for children\u27s health. The available evidence showed that unaffordable home energy has preventable, potential consequences on the health and well-being of the more than 400,000 Massachusetts children living in low-income households. Low-income families are caught in the gap between rising energy prices and available energy assistance. Energy assistance falls far short of the need, especially when there is a spike in energy prices, such as following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In addition to the exceedingly high housing costs in Massachusetts, our climate means low-income families spend more of their income on home energy (energy burden) to keep warm than families in other regions of the U.S

Additional file 1: of Burden of socio-legal concerns among vulnerable patients seeking cancer care services at an urban safety-net hospital: a cross-sectional survey

Survey Instrument. Copy of administered survey instrument to identify socio-legal concerns that may act as barriers to cancer care. Questions were formulated to fit within five core socio-legal concern categories: Income Supports, Housing and Utilities, Education/Employment, Legal Status, and Personal and Family Stability and Safety. A total of 25 questions were included across the five I-HELP categories. (PDF 180 kb