Category: Government Actions

Pennsylvanians Encouraged to Get Respiratory Virus Vaccinations Ahead of the Holiday Season (November 11, 2024)

Leaders from the Pennsylvania Departments of Health (DOH) and Aging are encouraging all Pennsylvanians to stay up to date on their annual vaccinations to protect against flu, COVID-19, and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) heading into the holiday season. 

Since the start of the respiratory virus season on September 29, emergency department visits resulting in a flu, COVID-19, or RSV diagnosis have remained low; to help these numbers remain low, Pennsylvanians should get vaccinated against respiratory viruses. During the current respiratory virus season, the DOH has recorded 1,083 laboratory-confirmed flu cases and three deaths; 96 COVID-19-related deaths; and 470 confirmed RSV cases.

Most insurance plans cover COVID-19, flu, and RSV vaccinations at no cost, but for people who are underinsured or uninsured, the COVID-19 vaccine is available through local State Health Centers and Federally Qualified Health Centers. For children who qualify, COVID-19, flu vaccines, and other routine childhood immunizations are available at no cost through the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program.
The flu and COVID-19 vaccinations are regularly updated to protect against current virus variants. Health care providers recommend these vaccinations for people six months and older.

Respiratory viruses share similar symptoms, including fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, a runny or stuffy nose, headaches, body aches, chills, and fatigue.

For residents at higher risk for more severe illness due to age or health status, it is recommended that they visit a health care provider and get tested early to be eligible for antiviral medications. These medications are available for the flu, COVID-19, and RSV. If started early in the illness course, these medications ease symptoms, shorten the length of a viral infection, and reduce the risk of severe health outcomes.

For more information and to find a nearby vaccination location, visit vaccines.gov.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health provides weekly updates throughout the respiratory virus season on its respiratory virus dashboard to keep residents informed.

USDA to Eliminate School Meal ‘Junk Fees’ for Low-income Families (November 6, 2024)

On November 1, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that, starting in the 2027-28 school year, schools will be prohibited from charging junk fees to low-income families for meals served through the School Breakfast Program and the National School Lunch Program.

The new policy will only apply to students who are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals, but the USDA wants to eventually expand the ban on school meal junk fees for more students.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

Secretaries of Education, Labor & Industry Visit Assistive Technology Event to Promote Tools for Students with Vision and Hearing Needs (October 31, 2024)

Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Secretary Nancy A. Walker and Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid N. Mumin recently teamed up to promote services for individuals with disabilities and reinforce the Shapiro Administration’s commitment to ensuring that all Pennsylvanians have real freedom and opportunity to chart their own course toward success.

The Secretaries visited an event hosted by the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) – the training arm of the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s (PDE) Bureau of Special Education (BSE) — to showcase assistive technology (AT) tools and resources for students with sensory impairments across the Commonwealth. The Technology Adventure for Students with Vision and Hearing Needs series brings together families, educators, and AT vendors to share information about advancements in assistive technology for individuals with vision and/or hearing loss.

More than 6,000 PreK-12 students in Pennsylvania have sensory impairments. Assistive technology plays a vital role in the education of those students by allowing them to fully participate in the general education curriculum alongside other students.

To help ensure that Pennsylvania students have the resources they need to learn and grow all year long, the state’s 2024-25 budget prioritizes services for Pennsylvanians with disabilities that support independence without barriers by investing an additional $787,000 in vocational rehabilitation. More than 50,000 individuals with disabilities receive services through the vocational rehabilitation program and an additional 17,000 students with disabilities utilize OVR’s pre-employment transition services program annually. Pre-employment transition services become available to Pennsylvania students with disabilities starting at age 14.

L&I’s Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) helps Pennsylvanians with disabilities achieve independence through competitive, integrated employment. Services available at no cost to eligible individuals include diagnostic services, vocational evaluation, counseling, job training, placement assistance, assistive technology and more. Within OVR, L&I also offers specialized assistance to individuals with visual impairments and individuals with hearing loss.

For more information on the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry and its workforce development initiatives, please visit the website or follow L&I on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

For more information on the Pennsylvania Department of Education, please visit the website or follow PDE on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or Pinterest.

PDE Provides ‘Governor’s Breakfast Champions’ Program (October 30, 2024)

The Governor’s School Breakfast Challenge is a three-month program to encourage increased participation in the Universal Free Breakfast Program and recognize schools for increasing breakfast participation while implementing sustainable changes that incorporate more nutritious and local foods in their meal offerings.

Participating schools raise awareness about the free breakfast program, boost participation by improving access within school buildings, offer more low-sugar options, and include more locally sourced foods. This year, 37 schools successfully completed the Challenge.

The top 10 schools with the greatest increase in participation received a banner to hang in their school, a certificate, and a breakfast recipe book including recipes submitted by schools that completed the Challenge.

The program delivered free breakfast for Pennsylvania’s 1.7 million students last year. The 2024-25 budget builds on that progress with a $16.7 million increase to continue the universal free breakfast program, making sure students have access to healthy meals to start their day on the right foot, and making sure no kid goes hungry during the summer by funding the summer food service program.

Over the past school year, 91.4 million breakfast meals were served in schools, an increase of nearly 10 million since the 2022-23 school year. More than 7 million of those breakfasts were served to students at-risk for hunger or from low-income families.

For more information, please visit the website or follow PDE on Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube, or Pinterest.

Leaders Convene 2nd Annual PA MASLOW Convening (October 30, 2024)

On October 29th, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) hosted school leaders, state officials, and advocates in Harrisburg for the second annual PA MASLOW convening to support postsecondary students in meeting their basic needs.

Collegiate Basic Needs are important at every institution of higher education across the Commonwealth, including public two- and four-year institutions, private, not-for-profit institutions, and business trade and technical schools. Students in higher education institutions throughout the Commonwealth and nation experience anxiety and other mental health issues, food insecurity, housing insecurity, sexual violence, and more.

PA MASLOW is a cross-agency partnership that expands upon the mission of PDE—ensuring every student not only has access to education, but that the education pursued provides them with support and resources to create optimal learning environments. This initiative complements investments in higher education and engages postsecondary institutions in several pillars of work, including digital equity, housing and transportation, mental health, personal needs, adult student needs, financial, and safety and belonging.

The 2024-25 budget provides nearly $60 million to make postsecondary education more accessible and affordable to Pennsylvanians, with a $35.1 million increase for Pennsylvania State System universities, a $15.7 million increase for community colleges, and an additional $143 million to PHEAA to make college more affordable for PA students, including: a $54 million increase for student grants, a $5 million increase for disadvantaged students’ scholarships, a $36 million increase for the Ready to Succeed Scholarship and expanded criteria to increase the number of eligible students, and $25 million for the new Grow PA Scholarship Program.

Earlier this year, PDE launched a new anti-stigma campaign to ensure students know it’s okay to ask for help. Through the PA MASLOW “You Good?” campaign, PDE developed posters that colleges and universities can personalize, print, and post on their campuses directing students to critical resources. PDE convened student panel discussions around the state as a proactive way to inform the anti-stigma campaign as well as the programs and policies that postsecondary institutions are implementing. Through quarterly virtual meetings, the department has been engaging with the field on ways to expand upon and improve anti-stigma efforts. 

While most of PA MASLOW’s efforts have been to help practitioners support their learners, PDE also created the EmpowerU landing page, directed to the Commonwealth’s diverse learners themselves to provide health, safety, and basic needs supports by connecting them with important resources right on their campuses and at their fingertips. For more information from PDE, please visit the website or follow PDE on Instagram, X, YouTube, or Pinterest.