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From YouTube: Joint Committee on Public Health and the Disabled and Persons with Special Needs 7-28-2020 (Part 2)
Description
The Joint Committees on People with Disabilities and Special Needs & Public Health and Human Services of the Council of the City of Philadelphia held a Public Hearing on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at 10:00 AM to hear testimony on the following items:
200310 Resolution authorizing the Committees on People with Disabilities & Special Needs and on Public Health & Human Services to hold joint hearings regarding the racial and ableist disparities of coronavirus infections and impacts in Philadelphia.
Part 2 of 2
See Part 1: https://youtu.be/Bvb4Ural_m0
A
Okay
lonnie.
Thank
you
for
this
reconvening
of
this
council
committee
for
people
with
special
needs
and
disabilities
and
public
health
human
services.
I
want
to
thank
my
fellow
members
of
council
who
are
here
for
being
able
to
stay
with
us
this
afternoon.
I
know
the
chair
of
the
public
health
and
human
services
committee.
A
Cindy
bass
is
present
as
well
as
council,
member,
katherine
gilmore,
richardson,
councilmember
isaiah,
thomas
council
member
maria
quiona
sanchez
and
council
member
helen
kim.
I
want
to
thank
tom
earl
for
his
earlier
testimony
as
well
as
brian
greene.
If
our
clerk,
mr
frank,
inouzi,
could
read
the
next
panel.
A
C
Okay,
great,
thank
you
I'd
like
to
start
by
saying
council,
member
green
council,
member
bass
and
other
distinguished
committee
members.
I
thank
you
for
this
opportunity
to
address
resolution
200310
and
for
hosting
this
joint
hearing
to
address
the
striking
disparities
of
coronavirus
infections
and
the
impact
they've
had
in
philadelphia
communities.
C
I'm
here
representing
my
role
as
director
of
primary
care
at
congresso
de
latinos
unidos,
where
I
oversee
our
federally
qualified
health
center
in
fy,
19
congressional
served
over
15
000
individuals
most
who
reside
in
north
philadelphia,
over
which
sixty
percent
recorded
an
annual
family
income
of
less
than
ten
thousand
dollars.
Sixty-Seven
percent
of
these
individuals
identified
as
latino
and
thirty-three
identified
as
black
and
57
of
our
clients
reported
their
primary
language
as
spanish.
C
Our
fqhc
operates
in
a
federally
designated
medically
underserved
area,
which
means
there
are
not
enough
medical
professionals
in
our
community
to
meet
the
need
at
our
health
center.
We
offer
primary
care
services
and
a
host
of
other
supportive
services
to
our
patient
panel,
which
consists
of
over
3
500
philadelphia
residents,
and
we
also
serve
as
one
of
the
public
chronovirus
testing
sites
in
the
city
of
philadelphia.
C
We
know
that,
from
recent
data
from
the
philadelphia
department
of
health
that
blacks
and
latinos
make
up
over
70
of
total
coronavirus
hospitalizations
in
our
city,
meaning
these
groups
are
disproportionately
experiencing
the
most
severe
outcomes
attributed
to
the
infection.
I
can
affirm
from
the
work
that
I
do.
The
disparities
we
are
seeing
are
less
about
pre-existing
conditions
like
diabetes
or
hypertension,
and
much
more
about
the
structural
factors
and
social
determinants
of
health
that
contribute
to
these
risk
factors.
C
C
The
pensions
served
at
the
progressive
health
center
are
often
dependent
on
safety
net
social
services,
which
have
been
compromised
and
continue
to
remain
in
jeopardy.
Food
insecurity
in
the
first
weeks
of
the
pandemic
was
something
that
our
medical
providers
saw
multiple
times
per
day.
Tylenol's
visits
for
patients,
chronic
diabetes,
turned
into
conversations
about
where
to
acquire
their
next
meal.
This
highlights
just
how
unstable
food
security
is
within
these
communities.
How
close
to
the
poverty
line
people
are
really
living
and
how
another
interruption
could
quickly
put
us
back
into
that
situation.
C
The
congressional
health
center
serves
a
population
of
workers
in
which
many
do
not
have
the
privilege
of
staying
safe
at
home.
Many
of
them
are
working
in
essential
industries
such
as
labor
and
service
delivery
that
keep
the
city
going
through
the
shutdown
most
of
the
workers
in
our
community
also
do
not
have
savings
or
financial
security
to
fall
back
on,
and
many
of
these
essential
workers
also
have
pre-existing
conditions
that
put
them
at
a
higher
risk
for
more
severe
outcomes.
C
In
april,
the
congressional
health
center
experienced
an
influx
of
new
patients
from
a
virus
outbreak
at
a
food
processing
facility,
and
that
outbreak
was
worsened
by
the
fact
that
the
employees
had
mixed
legal
status.
These
employees
shared
with
our
medical
providers
that
they
were
unable
to
stop
working,
even
as
those
around
them
became
sick
that
their
employer
did
not
allow
for
paid
sick
leave,
ppe
or
even
opportunities
for
social
distancing
in
the
workplace.
C
Safety
is
also
a
chronic
concern
in
our
community
and
is
one
of
the
four
domestic
violence
service
providers
in
philadelphia.
Congreso
knows
this
all
too
well
during
one
telephone
session
with
a
domestic
violence
client
our
advocate
noticed
the
client
did
not
sound
well.
The
advocate
assessed
the
client's
symptoms
and
determined
that
she
met
the
criteria
for
possible
coronavirus
infection.
However,
a
client
disclosed
that
she
had
been
sick
for
some
time
and
was
afraid
to
seek
medical
attention
due
to
not
having
legal
documents
and
medical
coverage.
C
C
Unfortunately,
these
are
just
two
of
many
similar
stories.
Philadelphia
leadership
and
decision
makers
have
a
moral,
economic
and
public
health
responsibility
to
protect
all
people,
regardless
of
race
or
socioeconomic
status.
In
terms
of
coronavirus,
we
can
do
this
by
reducing
barriers
to
testing
and
treatment
advocating
to
employers
to
ensure
that
people
can
work
safely
and
quarantine
and
by
building
trust
and
promoting
cooperation
with
culturally
competent
contact
tracing
teams,
but
for
the
ongoing
issues
that
continue
to
threaten
the
overall
health
and
well-being
of
these
communities.
C
I'd
like
to
end
with
a
quote
from
martin
luther
king
jr,
who
said
whatever
affects
one
directly,
affects
all
indirectly.
I
can
never
be
what
I
ought
to
be
until
you
are
what
you
ought
to
be.
This
is
the
integrated
interrelated
structure
of
reality.
Thank
you
for
your
attention
to
this
important
issue
and
your
commitment
to
the
health
of
all
philadelphia
residents.
A
Thank
you
for
your
patience
for
being
here
and
the
work
that
congresso
does
every
day.
I
believe
next
will
be
brenda.
D
Good
afternoon,
everyone
I'd
like
to
thank
you,
councilman
green,
as
well
as
councilwoman,
cindy
bass
for
allowing
me
to
testify
I'm
the
executive
director
of
the
black
women's
health
alliance.
You
know.
D
D
Our
organization
was
on
by
city
council
back
in
june
of
2011,
and
we
are
creating
a
legacy
of
wellness,
mind
body
and
spirit
initiative
in
june,
2nd
that
day
was
creating
a
legacy
of
wellness,
mind
body
and
spirit
day
for
the
city
of
philadelphia.
D
D
D
D
River
has
been
established,
a
black
led
collaborative
looking
through
a
racial
equity
lens
showing
in
on
the
racial
dispurities
of
education,
racism.
We
need
to
explore
all
options.
D
There
also
is
work
and
I'm
involved
in
this
as
well
occurring
with
the
pennsylvania
office
of
health
equity
advice
committee.
I
was
pleased
to
hear
dr
farley
mentioned
that
support
here
in
philadelphia
that
I'd
like
to
get
involved
with,
and
I
will
review
that
report
that
pakistan
was
published
today,
dr
alex
sanford,
when
the
reason
we
need
to
be
at
the
table
for
these
conversations
and
have
individuals
at
all
levels
involved
in
these
compositions
and
meetings
is
because
you're
bringing
different
skill
sets
and
information
that
may
not
be
readily
available.
D
She
zeroed
in
on
hospital
weigh-in
upgrades
and
the
money
is,
and
she
is
absolutely
right.
There
is
opportunity
there.
The
focus
and
purpose
of
those
funds
going
to
the
hospitals
is
for
you,
so
it's
lifting
up
those
conversations
digging
in
and
identifying
where
those
intercepts
occur,
and
sometimes
you
know
we
get
involved
in
our
silos.
D
D
D
Their
time
is
about
also
talked
about
need
for
the
comprehensive
plan
to
focus
on
and
address
going
back
to,
racism,
conscious
and
unconscious,
and
faith
and
systemic
inequities
that
exists
within
our
health
care
system
at
all
levels.
D
Examine
and
improve
those
cultural
competencies,
provide
the
employee
health
providers
and
integrate
comprehensive
racism
courses
into
curriculums
for
students
involved
in
health
professions.
Programs.
We
got
to
go
back
and
forth.
This
racism
issue
is
one
that
is
embedded
into
our
society
into
ourselves.
It's
an
opportunity,
and
it
is
time
for
us
to
bring
that
education.
D
D
D
A
Thank
you.
Thank
you
for
your
testimony,
we're
going
to
wrap
up
with
asher
kemp
and
joe
mancini.
If
you
both
can
summarize
your
commentary
also,
I
want
to
thank
ken
lawrence,
the
vice
chair
of
montgomery
county
commissioners,
due
to
some
work.
He
was
not
able
to
get
on
to
today's
call.
Also
we've
received
written
written
testimony
from
charles
horton,
who
is
now
the
senior
director
of
advocacy
and
inclusion
english
house,
dr
emma
chappelle,
from
the
black
women's
leadership
council.
A
Also
judy
henderson,
who
was
here
through
most
of
the
day
but
was
not
able
to
testify,
did
also
provide
testimonies,
as
well
as
dr
ao,
marie
golden
president
of
the
delaware
valley,
association
of
black
psychologists
dennis
cook,
president
ceo
of
west
health
and
shane
janick
executive
director
of
the
arc
of
philadelphia.
So
we
can
go
with
asher,
kemp
and
then
joe
mancini,
and
then
we'll
wrap
up
the
hearing.
A
A
A
So
why
don't
we
actually
we
try
to
work
with
you
and
technology
wise,
let's
go
to
joe
mancini
and
then
we'll
come
back
to
asher.
B
All
right
everyone!
Thank
you
very
much
for
your
time
today.
My
name
is
joe
mancini.
I'm
the
executive
director
of
region
2
for
ken
crest
services
in
philadelphia,
we're
one
of
the
largest
providers
of
residential
services
for
individuals
with
intellectual
disabilities
in
the
philadelphia
area
and
our
services
span
across
three
different
states.
B
Again,
I
want
to
thank
you
for
allowing
me
the
time
and
although
sunday
was
the
30th
anniversary
of
the
aba,
and
we
have
made
significant
strides
in
the
push
for
equal
rights
for
people
with
disabilities,
individuals
with
disabilities
are
still
often
immortal
when
the
top
of
the
discrimination
is
discussed.
B
This
day
we
are
still
struggling
to
create
appropriate
housing
to
move
individuals
from
institutional
settings.
This
pandemic
is
creating
excuses
for
the
general
public
to
begin
to
hide
those
we
support
back
in
their
homes
and
because
of
the
challenging
access
in
the
community
during
this
pandemic
creates.
B
I
know
we're
short
on
time
and
we
have
written
testimony
here,
so
I
just
really
want
to
skip
down
to
the
part
that
discusses
our
need
for
support.
Direct
support
professionals,
residential
programs
like
ours,
operate
on
a
limited
budget
due
to
the
rate
set.
We
often
lean
on
other
programs
within
our
organization
to
offset
the
cost
of
operating
our
residential
program.
This
pandemic
has
shut
down
day
programs,
early
intervention
programs,
women
in
our
employment
and
supported
living
programs,
all
of
which
we
use
to
assist
our
residential
program.
B
We
need
support
in
educating
legislators
on
the
need
for
rate
increases
to
hire
additional
competent
staff
that
support
our
people
in
the
community.
Smaller
residential
programs
will
close
without
the
support,
and
I
believe
that
was
mentioned
earlier,
some
of
the
support
that's
being
received,
but
we
need
more-
and
this
will
not
only
be
heartbreaking
for
those
that
have
established
comfortable
eyes
with
these
programs,
but
will
also
create
additional
stress
on
those
that
have
to
support
the
needs
of
the
programs
supporting
individuals.
Moving
direct
support
professionals
are
grossly.
B
Underpaid
direct
support
professionals
are
grossly
underpaid,
many
of
whom
are
women,
immigrants
and
people
of
color
that
are
not
earning
a
living
wage.
Due
to
these
rates,
quality
dsps
are
leaving
these
programs
to
find
safer,
less
stressful
and
higher
paying
jobs.
A
recent
study
by
a
large
contortion
of
private
service
providers
found
that
residents
of
group
homes
and
similar
facilities
in
new
york
city
and
surrounding
areas
were
5.34
times
more
likely
than
the
general
population
to
develop
covid
and
4.86
times
more
likely
to
die
from
it.
B
The
pennsylvania
department
of
human
services
reports
that,
as
of
june
2nd,
there
were
801
confirmed
cases,
113
deaths
among
people
with
intellectual
disabilities
and
autism
those
we
served
estimated
at
4.5
times
greater
rate
to
die
from
this
disease,
and
we
are
creating
work
situations
that
drive
away
quality
people
that
support
them,
we'll
have
a
great,
even
household
income.
They
need
a
90
000
per
family
of
four,
and
that's
just
not
something
we're
allowing
with
these
rates
with
a
competitive
wage.
We
can
keep
these
quality
staff
in
place
while
they
work.
B
While
the
work
of
these
dedicated
direct
support,
professionals
has
always
been
challenging.
This
pandemic
has
made
this
work
life
threatening.
We
have
lost
amazing
staff
to
this
disease
and
they
literally
have
put
their
lives
on
the
line,
so
others
can
have
a
semblance
of
an
everyday
life.
They
need
a
rate
that
matches
their
dedication
and
sacrifice
and
allows
these
staff
to
continue
to
support
people
with
disabilities
and
accessing
their
rights
to
full
community
engagement.
A
Your
time,
thank
you,
joe
we'll,
try
asher
kemp
once
again,
if
we
can't
hear
from
him,
I
want
to
thank
him
for
his
testimony.
We'll
have
it
included
as
part
of
the
record,
the
great
work
that
his
organization
does
in
providing
information
and
resources
services
on
culturally
competent
providers
in
the
behavioral
health.
Mr
kim,
can
you
hear
us
okay?
We
can
you
can
hear
me,
but
we
can't
hear
you
so
thank
you
for
your
patience.
A
I
really
do
appreciate
you
being
here
and
all
the
great
work
that
your
organization
has
done
too
often
when
we're
talking
about
these
issues.
We
talk
about
one
aspect
of
health,
but
not
the
behavioral
health
aspect
of
this
and
your
organization
provides
great
work.
I
want
to
thank
all
of
my
colleagues
who
participated
in
this
hearing.
I
know
it's
been
a
long
hearing.
Thank
you
for
your
patience.
A
I
also
want
to
really
thank
my
staff,
frank
guyanuzzi,
for
helping
to
put
together
this
hearing,
as
well
as
all
the
technical
staff
from
the
chief
clerk
mike
decker,
as
well
as
lonnie
and
modesto,
and
all
the
technical
staff
and
city
council.
I
know
it's
been
challenging,
but
thank
you
for
your
work
for
this
great
hearing.
I
also
want
to
thank
my
colleague
councilmember
dom
for
his
indulgence
as
we're
about
to
start
his
hearing,
and
I
recess
this
hearing
to
the
call
of
the
chair
chairs
and
that
will
be
myself
and
council
member
cindy.