Category: Government Actions

PDH Alerts Pennsylvanians of Confirmed Measles Case in Out-of-State Visitor in Lancaster County (April 13, 2025)

The Pennsylvania Department of Health (PDH) is alerting Pennsylvanians that an individual from another state tested positive for measles while visiting Lancaster County between April 3rd and 11th after a trip to Texas, creating a potential for exposure to others. People may have been exposed to measles if they were in the following location at the date and time indicated: 

            WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital Emergency Department
            169 Martin Ave., Ephrata, PA 17522
            Tuesday, April 8, 2025, between 9:30 PM and 11:30 PM

WellSpan Health is contacting known individuals who visited this site during this time period. The risk to the general public is low due to high vaccination rates across Pennsylvania. People who are fully immunized are at very low risk of contracting the measles. People unsure of their vaccination status should contact their health care provider.

The individual is an unvaccinated resident of another state visiting in Lancaster County, who became infected after traveling to Texas.

“The best protection against measles is vaccination,” said PA Secretary of Health Dr. Debra Bogen. “With two MMR vaccines, residents are at low risk of getting and spreading the measles. Knowing the signs of sickness and places people may have been exposed will help protect individuals and communities from this disease.”

Measles is a highly contagious illness that is spread when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes. The virus remains infectious in the air and on surfaces for up to two hours after the infected person leaves the area.

Symptoms begin with fever, cough, runny nose, and conjunctivitis, followed by a rash that starts on the face and spreads downward. Without proper protection or supportive care, measles can be deadly.

People who believe they were exposed to measles and are experiencing symptoms should contact their health care provider or call the Pennsylvania Department of Health toll-free hotline at 877-PA-HEALTH. All residents are encouraged to monitor for symptoms.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) people most at-risk are:
-Infants less than one year old who are too young to have received the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine;
-Individuals who are unvaccinated; and
-Individuals from parts of the world where there is low vaccination coverage or where there is circulating measles.

More information on measles is available in DOH’s measles fact sheet. The DOH recently issued a Health Alert Network advisory for health care providers to be alert for measles symptoms.

DHS Highlights Research and Resources for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities, Autism (April 12, 2025)

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) has released the latest issue of the Positive Approaches Journal, which aims to provide the most recent research for people with mental and behavioral health challenges, intellectual disabilities, autism, and other developmental disabilities to help them live an everyday life. This edition provides resources on how to best support the physical and mental health needs of individuals with disabilities.

“The Shapiro Administration believes that every Pennsylvanian with an intellectual disability autism deserves to receive the supports they need to achieve an everyday life with dignity and opportunity to pursue their goals and live, work, and recreate among their families and peers,” said DHS Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh. “It is our hope that the research in this edition of the Positive Approaches Journal can help Pennsylvanians find the resources they need to improve their everyday lives.”

In the 2024-25 budget, Governor Shapiro secured $354.8 million in federal and state funding to ensure more than 40,000 Pennsylvanians with intellectual disabilities or autism have access to the services they need. In less than one year, this investment reduced the adult emergency waiting list for services by nearly 20 percent and decreased the direct support professional (DSP) vacancy rate to 14 percent, the lowest it has been since 2015. The Governor’s proposed25-26 Budget builds on this momentum with additional investments in care worker wages, allowing even more Pennsylvanians to access the supports they deserve.

This edition of the Positive Approaches Journal features research and articles on the following:

  • Data Discoveries details health care shortages in physical and mental health professions, and details where these shortages are creating the most need.
  • Applying Public Health Principles to Health Psychology explores how systemic factors influence mental health, and discusses public health policy solutions aimed at addressing systemic trauma and promoting overall wellness.
  • Cooking with Confidence for Autistic Individuals highlights positive outcomes and lessons learned from the community-based educational program that allows individuals with autism to practice independent living skills, and participate in social and community engagement, through hands-on cooking classes.
  • The Fatal Five and the Importance of Monitoring outlines the five primary conditions that significantly elevate the risk of mortality in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and details ways to prevent these risks.  
  • Voices of Suicide discusses the negative impacts of stigma around behavioral health, and details organizations that are attempting to fight this stigma.  

The journal is a collaboration of DHS’ Office of Developmental Programs and Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. It collects resources, observations, and advancements in mental and behavioral health in order to better serve people in their communities.

Read this edition of the Positive Approaches Journal.

For more information visit www.dhs.pa.gov. 

USDE’s DEI Order put on Hold, Case is Pending (April 9, 2025)

An April 9, 2025 court agreement has given school districts a short reprieve, until at least April 24th, from a Trump administration directive to certify they’re not using diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices, or risk losing federal funding. The agreement postpones the original U.S. Department of Education (USDE) 10-day certification deadline issued on April 3, 2025.

The agreement came between parties in a lawsuit filed March 5, 2025 by the National Education Association (NEA), its New Hampshire chapter, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against the USDE. It ensures that the USDE’s anti-DEI efforts aren’t enforced until after a full hearing in the case, which is scheduled for April 17, 2025 before the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire.

In addition to the certification requirement, other anti-DEI efforts temporarily curbed by the agreement include a Feb. 14 Dear Colleague letter telling schools to cease race-based programs and an anti-DEI portal subsequently launched to collect reports of “divisive ideologies” and “indoctrination.” 

The Trump administration has used the Supreme Court’s decision in SFFA v. Harvard, to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs that were meant to level the playing field for vulnerable students. Several states have rebuked the certification requirement, which threatens to cut federal education funds over DEI initiatives.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

USDE Reneges on ESSER Spending Extensions (April 5, 2025)

On April 4, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) rescinded the liquidation of hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency pandemic funds that were previously approved for extensions for the spending. The unexpected decision notified state education leaders in a letter that said they are responsible for laying out money for the expenses before they can seek USDE reimbursement.

According to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, the spending extensions were “not justified,” and “extending deadlines for COVID-related grants, which are in fact taxpayer funds, years after the COVID pandemic ended is not consistent with the Department’s priorities and thus not a worthwhile exercise of its discretion.” As of late February, about $4.4 billion of $201.3 billion remained in unspent funds from the three federal relief allocations under the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund approved by Congress.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

U.S. Ed. Sec. McMahon: Lack of Transparency on ‘Ideological Indoctrination’ Violates FERPA (April 5, 2025)

On March 28, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) released a statement regarding a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) sent on the same day by U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon to education leaders claiming that states and school districts are violating privacy laws by “hiding critical information, such as a child’s ‘gender transition,’ from parents about their child’s mental and physical wellbeing and safety.” The letter also avers that leaders must make sure that parents are kept informed about “ideological indoctrination” in schools to remain compliant with two federal privacy laws and if schools want to continue receiving federal funds they must abide by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment.

The USDE also said that the DCL follows reports that states and school districts are violating these privacy laws by “hiding critical information, such as a child’s ‘gender transition,’ from parents about their child’s mental and physical wellbeing and safety.”

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.