Virginia Studies

We can expect the number of Virginians with disabilities to increase in coming years, leading to increased demands for services such as Social Security Disability or home-health services. There are for two reasons for this: 1.Increases in life expectancy. Disability is much more common at older ages; as people live longer, they will be more likely to live long enough to develop a disability. 2.Aging Baby Boomers. The large cohort of Baby Boomers began to turn 65 in 2010; disability rates increase substantially after age 65. Statewide and nationally, the population 65 and older will grow as the Baby Boomers age

Legislative Review This Legislative Brief summarizes major federal regulatory developments that have an impact on plan sponsors in 2010 and 2011. Please read below for more information and contact your 360 Corporate Benefit Advisors LLC representative with any questions

WASHINGTON, January 4, 2012 ― Trafficking victims in Virginia have few options for help. Unlike other states, Virginia is continuing to struggle to implement a comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation. Without strong laws, children remain particularly vulnerable to traffickers and have nowhere to turn.

The CDC’s first multi-year estimates from its national HIV incidence surveillance find that overall, the annual number of new HIV infections in the United States was relatively stable at approximately 50,000 new infections each year between 2006 and 2009. However, HIV infections increased among young men who have sex with men (MSM) between 2006 and 2009, driven by alarming increases among young, black MSM – the only subpopulation to experience a sustained increase during the time period.

US Department of Health and Human Services-National Partnership for Action to end health disparities

Hispanic Immigrants and Citizens in Virginia

Communities across the globe are developing quality approaches to health based on a new way of thinking: one that examines the root causes of illness and injury. In the April issue of the international journal Environment & Urbanization, Prevention Institute makes the case that community prevention is indeed a global concern.

Surveillance of Health Status in Minority Communities — Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health Across the U.S. (REACH U.S.) Risk Factor Survey, United States, 2009*

The report, “Hispanics in Virginia,” presents analysis of the latest 2010 Census and 2009 American Community Survey data and includes these findings

It has been more than four decades since the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act of the mid-1960s brought an official end to the system of legal segregation known as Jim Crow. After the passage of those hard-won landmark laws, signs were removed that had demarked public space and private establishments throughout the South into separate and unequal zones.

“Virginia is among a number of southern states in the United States, such as North Carolina, Arkansas and Georgia, which have experienced a sudden growth in Latino immigration during the past decade…Drawing on social network theory, the paper examines how social networks among Latino immigrants become activated in new settlement areas. It presents a case history of the historic process of “Latinization” involving the settlement of a number of diverse Latino populations (from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Cuba and Uruguay) in Harrisonburg and the surrounding Central Shenandoah Valley.”

The Migration Policy Institute provides migration facts, statistics and maps for Virginia in the topic areas of Language & Education, Demographic & Social, Workforce, and Income & Poverty.

“In the vast literature on immigrant and ethnic entrepreneurship in the United States, relatively little attention has been paid to Latino entrepreneurship, perhaps because Latinos (except Cubans) tend to be perceived as labor migrants. For the same reason, even less attention has been given to the Latino small businesses that have quickly become a ubiquitous part of new Latino settlements in the rural South over the past two decades…”

35 distinct health district language needs assessments have been created by the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Health Policy and Planning. Each of the needs assessments contain the top languages spoken in each health district, language trends over the past ten years and language access policy recommendations based on health district specific data and federal guidance on language access services. The data used to create the assessments include Department of Education ESL data, US Census 2000 data and Virginia Department of Health WebVision data.

Data table available from the U.S. Census Bureau, listing ability to speak English by language spoken at home for the population 5 years and over for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

“VCU Clark-Hill Institute for Positive Youth Develpopment Faculty member Rosalie Corona, Ph.D., recently completed a Latino Needs Assessment in the city of Richmond that will help health and human service providers better serve a growing Latino population. Corona worked with the city’s Hispanic Liaison Office and the Richmond Behavioral Health Authority on the assessment, which will boost understanding of the health and safety concerns and service needs of Latino children and their families.”

Acclimation of Virginia’s Foreign-Born Population

HJR 604 of the 2003 General Assembly directed the Joint Legislative Audit Review Commission (JLARC) to study the acclimation of the Commonwealth’s ethnically diverse population. The study report reviews government policies and programs, needs, benefits and costs, and options for facilitating acclimation. Related study documents, including a review of initiatives employed by other states and localities, spreadsheet of primary countries of origin, as well as maps displaying the distribution of foreign-born residents are also available.

Senate Joint Resolution 122 of the 2004 General Assembly directed the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) to develop coverage of interpretation and translation services for Medicaid eligible persons with limited English proficiency. This progress report, for SJR 122, describes the details of the pilot project expected to increase such coverage and be implemented by July 1, 2005. Essentially, it provides administrative reimbursement opportunities for interpretive and translation services provided to the Medicaid fee-for-service population in the Northern Virginia area as a first step to increasing coverage.

This guide, prepared by the Northern Virginia Area Health Education Center on behalf of the Virginia Department of Health, “will assist you not only in discovering and utilizing your current resources, but also in building upon them to create an ongoing system to reach your language minority communities.”

This VDH report analyzes a needs assessment survey (Risk and Emergency Crisis Communication Capabilities) to better understand how to meet VDH’s Emergency Response Protocol of having “systems in place to communicate quickly and effectively with all groups including the LEP population.”

Through grant support from the Bon Secours National Health System and developed in cooperation with the Central Virginia Health Planning Agency and more than twenty health and human service providers, community groups, and community resources that serve the immigrant and refugee populations, the assessment evaluates the health needs of the Hispanic and Asian populations in the greater Richmond area, with particular focus on those living in the Counties of Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico and the City of Richmond and the members of these populations who have lived in the area for three years or less.

This sixth edition Virginia Department of Health report documents the state of health for Blacks, Asian/Pacific Islanders, Hispanics/Latinos and Native Americans in the year 2002. It records basic health events such as birth, natural fetal death, induced termination, teen pregnancy, infant death, leading causes of death, selected cancer death. Analysis of this data is then used to determine statistical trends for each of the four groups.

A master’s thesis research project that reviews the refugee resettlement process, refugee health, and findings from interviews with local health district personnel.

Summary of findings of 17 focus groups with representatives of various ethnic and cultural populations in Virginia conducted by bilingual, bicultural facilitators. Participants responded to questions regarding their knowledge and understanding of the health care system, their use of the system, potential barriers to access, and their experience with the system and recommendations for improving the system.

A report and eight brochures profiling immigrant and refugee communities that speak Spanish, Urdu, Farsi, Korean, Vietnamese, Kurdish, and Somali in Fairfax County. This series of publications contains information on community strengths, financial well being, employment, educational attainment, family structure and living arrangements, ability to speak English, and community attachment.

This legislative study report looks at the financial impact of immigrants, other state approaches to immigrant issues, and the Virginia immigration experience.