Livability is a key ingredient to be an Age-Friendly community because it impacts your ability to access quality, affordable housing. Older adults who were formally incarcerated have an especially hard time finding healthy housing because Massachusetts’ Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) system is broken. MA’s CORI sealing is still done manually, and the backlog is massive. By law, people’s records are supposed to be sealed after a three- to seven-year waiting period. But sadly for many older adults, their records are not sealed without lots of patience and often, the help of a lawyer. Hear for yourself how the broken CORI system resulted in Springfield advocate Van Thomas losing his housing and separating from his son. But it doesn’t have to be this way. LiveWell Springfield, PHIWM, Justice for Housing, Massachusetts Public Health Association, Greater Boston Legal Services, and lots of other partners are working hard to fix the broken CORI system, but we need your help to convince our State Legislators that this is an important public health problem that we can fix by passing bill S.1037/H.1763, An Act for Easier, Greater Access to CORI Sealing. This commonsense legislation would require the Commissioner of Probation to automatically seal criminal and juvenile records after applicable waiting periods, without the filing of any petition.

If you have questions, please contact PHIWM’s Data to Policy Action Director Andrea Freeman (afreeman@publichealthwm.org, 978-895-0960)

For more information: Fact sheet | Health Impact Assessment | Infographic | Video

The Race and Health Equity Resource Guide was developed by our Board's Race & Health Equity Committee. We continue to add new resources. Our hope is that it will serve not only as a resource for the board and staff but also as a resource for external partners. Read below how our Board Member Sarah Perez McAdoo uses the Guide.

Access the recording and slides from our June 24th webinar, History of Tobacco, Slavery, and Health: Understanding how yesterday influences the decisions we make today, which featured Michael Scott from the Center for Black Health and Equity and Doris Cullen from the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program (MTCP) at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Children ages 6 months and older are now eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Being vaccinated helps keep children from getting very sick from COVID-19 and from spreading it to vulnerable loved ones. Clinical trials have shown that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective. Contact your child’s pediatrician and find other locations to get vaccinated here.

Where to get your child vaccinated? Many pediatricians are offering the COVID vaccine or can direct you where to make an appointment for your child. You can search for appointments specific to certain age groups using the Vax Finder. Pharmacies have varying age requirements, The NY Times reports the following policies from some major chains below: 

Have questions about the vaccine regimen for different ages? This chart can help. Find more answers to your questions here.

Vacuna Para Niños

Los niños de 6 meses en adelante ahora son elegibles para vacunarse contra COVID-19. Estar vacunado ayuda a evitar que los niños se enfermen gravemente de COVID-19 y se lo transmitan a sus seres queridos vulnerables. Los ensayos clínicos han demostrado que la vacuna contra el COVID-19 es segura y eficaz. Comuníquese con el pediatra de su hijo y busque otros lugares para vacunarse aquí.

¿Dónde vacunar a su hija/hijo? Muchos pediatras ofrecen la vacuna COVID o pueden indicarle dónde programar una cita para su hijo. Puede buscar citas específicas para ciertos grupos de edad utilizando Vax Finder. Las farmacias tienen diferentes requisitos de edad, El NY Times informa las siguientes políticas de algunas de las principales cadenas a continuación:

¿Tiene preguntas sobre el régimen de vacunación para las diferentes edades? Este gráfico puede ayudar. Encuentre más respuestas a sus preguntas aquí.

On July 6^th, the FDA gave permission for pharmacists to prescribe Paxlovid, an effective treatment for reducing the risk of severe disease. Now, the more than 300,000 licensed pharmacists in the U.S. can make this treatment more accessible to communities across the country. Learn more about treatment options, eligibility, and more here.

El 6 de julio, la FDA autorizó a los farmacéuticos a recetar Paxlovid, un tratamiento eficaz para reducir el riesgo de enfermedades graves. Ahora, los más de 300 000 farmacéuticos con licencia en los EE. UU. pueden hacer que este tratamiento sea más accesible para las comunidades de todo el país. Obtenga más información sobre las opciones de tratamiento, la elegibilidad y más aquí.