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Health & Human Services

As a member of the Council’s Committee on Health, I am continually working to foster healthy communities in the District. I believe in a comprehensive approach to public health, whether that’s through healthy food access, supporting early child development, and environmental safety, or lowering the costs of care.

Everyone in the District, from newborns to seniors should have access to high-quality services and supports that create a strong foundation for health. That’s why I’ve worked to expand access to home visiting services that help new parents and children thrive, lowered health care barriers for immigrant families, and reduced prescription drug prices.

I’ve also advocated for comprehensive behavioral health services, including school-based behavioral health clinicians and substance use disorder outreach and interventions.

Home visiting programs give new moms services critical to their health and the health and development of their children. This month the Council passed my Home Visiting Services Reimbursement Act, which gives access to these services to families on Medicaid.
Councilmember Nadeau fought hard for the excluded worker payouts, working with Councilmembers Henderson and Lewis George
Would cover services such as postpartum care for new mothers, diet consultation, nutrition education, alcohol and substance abuse screening and other services that are proven to be effective.
Today, in an effort to ensure babies have access to affordable, lifesaving nutrition, the D.C. Council unanimously passed emergency legislation introduced by Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau to prohibit price gouging on infant formula.
After three years of the Council fighting to create and fund a critical new child welfare oversight agency, Shalonda Cawthon has been named the first Ombudsperson for Children.
Along with biweekly reporting on COVID-19 metrics for the District's unhoused population, the Committee on Human Services requested that the Department of Human Services provide an update on STAY DC rent and utility assistance.
Yesterday, D.C. Health acknowledged that it did not submit COVID-19 case counts, testing data, and deaths to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) between April 27, 2022, and May 8, 2022. The agency did not offer an explanation for its failure to do so.
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