Commonwealth Conversations: Health and Human Services

DTA assists low-income households affected by the Back Bay blackout: Replacement SNAP benefits can be requested until close of business April 5

By DTA Commissioner Dan Curley

Few of us will forget the sight of the darkened Prudential Tower and surrounding buildings on the evening of March 13, especially those who live in the immediate area and were forced to evacuate their homes. A fire at an NSTAR substation in Boston’s Copley Square resulted in widespread power outages that affected more than 20,000 people – some for as long as six days. 

Many of the residents cast into the dark that night are elderly and disabled individuals who live in senior, public, and privately-managed low-income housing. The City of Boston and the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) acted quickly on behalf of these individuals to ensure they would not go hungry. Households enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) can request replacement benefits if food is lost due to a disaster or household misfortune such as fire, flood, loss of electricity, equipment (refrigerator/freezer) failure or other disaster.

Additionally, DTA asked for, and recently received, a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to give residents an additional ten days to request replacement SNAP benefits. Requests can be made until close of business on Thursday, April 5. Getting this extension is especially critical because many evacuated residents were unable to contact a DTA office until recently, and others were unaware they could request additional help.

Since the blackout, the Department has received and processed hundreds of requests for replacement SNAP benefits, primarily through the DTA office on Massachusetts Avenue in Newmarket Square.   

As always, I am proud of my team for their work assisting people during challenging times. I am also very pleased with our collaboration with the City of Boston, and I appreciate the Mayor’s concern for affected Boston residents and willingness to partner with the Department to administer replacement SNAP benefits. Working together, we can make a significant difference in the lives of people in need. If you know someone who receives SNAP benefits and lost food during the power outage, please encourage him or her to call us at 1-800-445-6604 by close of business on April 5.        

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A smart step toward reducing alcohol use among our youth

By Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. JudyAnn Bigby

There’s no question that underage drinking is a serious public health problem in communities across the nation. Here in Massachusetts, we’ve made progress in reducing rates of alcohol consumption among our young people, but there’s still much more to be done.

That’s why I’m so encouraged by the recent announcement by the MBTA to no longer allow advertising for alcohol on any of its property, including subway cars and stations, buses and bus shelters, and commuter rail trains.

Why is this so important? We already know that young people are especially vulnerable to peer pressure when it comes to drinking alcohol. What may come as a surprise is just how influential alcohol advertisements are on youth.

Here, the science is clear: the more alcohol ads that young people see, the more likely they are to drink. For example, one recent study showed that each alcohol advertisement that a teen sees above the monthly average (23) causes an increase in alcohol consumption of 1%. That same study indicated that youth in markets with greater alcohol advertising expenditures drank more.

That’s troubling – especially when we consider just how much young people are bombarded by alcohol messages. In 2008, for instance, alcohol advertisers spent close to $8 billion nationwide on outdoor advertising. One recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health showed that in urban areas, young people are exposed to alcohol advertisements almost as soon as they walk out their front doors. What’s more, there is substantial evidence that alcohol advertisements are disproportionately located in African-American neighborhoods.

We know the impact that alcohol advertising has on youth. So it’s important that we do everything we can to reduce the influence of advertising in environments where young people congregate.

For many young people in greater Boston, MBTA buses, subways and trains are a vital part of everyday life; in many cases the MBTA is their school bus. Our children deserve to ride to school, work, and social activities without being encouraged to consume alcoholic beverages.

What’s more, the MBTA is not alone in working to support underage drinking prevention efforts. With its recent decision, the T joins transit agencies in Chicago, Washington DC, San Diego, Philadelphia and San Francisco in rejecting these advertisements and supporting healthy development among our youth.

Working together, we can continue our forward movement in the battle against underage drinking in Massachusetts. I’m proud that the MBTA has joined us in this fight.

 

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Giving Thanks by Giving Back

By DMH General Counsel Lester Blumberg

 

Each year the Wednesday before Thanksgiving I find myself walking into Florian Hall in Dorchester along with dozens of volunteers from the Department Mental Health, kids from local schools, members of the Boston Fire Department Local 718, Friends of Metro Boston, State Senator Jack Hart, and other friends of the mental health community. We proudly welcome and serve a Thanksgiving meal to more than 500 DMH consumers from all over the Metro Boston area.  It’s become a much-anticipated and fun DMH holiday tradition.

With Friends of Metro Boston as co-host of this large-scale annual feast, I’ve had the honor as a DMH staff member to be one of the event volunteers.  Every year we put on our chef’s hats (although we leave the cooking to the pros) and happily join the assembly line piling plates high with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and all the fixings, to deliver them to each of the guests at their seats as the sounds of live Irish and American folk music, laughter and conversation fill the room. It’s one big giant Thanksgiving table where everyone congregates and gets to enjoy themselves!

It always amazes and humbles me how we all come together. We are a community, honoring our fellow community members who every day live with mental illness and work very hard toward a successful recovery.  Individuals in DMH services often have a challenging road ahead as they surmount their illness and the stigma of mental illness that is unfortunately still prevalent in our society. Many are living in poverty, and working and dreaming of the kinds of things we so often take for granted including: a meaningful job, a sense of community, family and friendship.  As I thought about my own family’s Thanksgiving feast that Wednesday morning, I realized how privileged I am to spend a few hours helping to build, and more importantly, sustain that community.

This year’s DMH Thanksgiving Dinner was personally special for many reasons; here are just a few memories that stand out in my mind, the client who recognized me from last year and thanked me for coming again, the Boston firefighters who I have come to know from year to year who bring their own children -- each having grown taller and more mature-- and the glee of a 5^th grader who got to eagerly devour her own piece of pie after serving dozens of guests.  It seemed this year there were more school kids helping to serve dinner – even a group from Medfield High School  that joined us and provided smiles and hard work.  And of course, the satisfaction of having made a difference, even for one day, stays with me throughout the year.

It doesn’t take much effort to give a little of ourselves – but it is that effort, especially at this time of year, that reminds us how important our work is to the lives of the people we serve, and the honor it is to serve them.  I want to thank everyone who was able to attend the event this year and helped make it an event to remember!

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A healthy lunch: This year’s hottest back-to-school fashion

By Lani Telian, health communications specialist at DPH

All across Massachusetts, you can hear the school bells ringing again. If you’re a parent, you know what that means – busy mornings getting the kids ready and out the door with backpacks and lunch bags in hand. With just a little planning, you can help your child make healthy food choices throughout the school day.

School meals and snacks are big topics of conversation this year, and students have already started to see healthier options popping up in the cafeteria. By serving healthy foods and drinks at home, you can help your kids learn how to choose healthy options when they’re away from home.

Packing lunch is another way to make sure they’re getting the right foods and drinks. It’s not always easy to get up in the morning, make breakfast, get ready for work, get the kids out the door AND pack a lunch without feeling frazzled. It may be helpful to pack lunches the night before, either after dinner or before the kids’ bedtime. Encourage your children to help by choosing foods they like to eat, and packing them in a lunch bag or lunchbox. When kids help make it and choose it, they’ll most likely eat it!

When it comes to drinks, water is always the best choice. Adding fruit (like raspberries or lemon) or packing plain or naturally flavored seltzer water are two ways to mix things up a bit.  It’s best not to send flavored milk, which is packed with a lot of added sugar. Instead, send them with low-fat or non-fat plain milk.

Don’t be afraid to experiment.  Include a variety of foods for lunches and snacks that you’ll feel good about packing and your kids will love eating.

Stuck for some new ideas?  Make things easier by choosing one food from each category below to make a delicious and healthy lunch or snack.

Whole Grains:

• Whole grain bread
• Whole grain pita
• Whole grain crackers
• Brown rice
• Whole wheat pasta

Proteins:

• Chicken
• Turkey
• Ham
• Tuna
• Eggs
• Peanut butter

Vegetables:

• Cucumbers
• Carrots
• Celery
• Grape tomatoes
• Bell peppers
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli

Fruits:

• Bananas
• Apples
• Oranges
• Grapes
• Peaches
• Pears
• Cantaloupe
• Watermelon

 Snacks:

• Low fat yogurt
• Whole grain granola bars or crackers
• String cheese
• Popcorn
• Whole grain pretzels
• Baby carrots

Drinks:

• Water
• Seltzer water
• 1% low fat or non fat plain milk
• 4-8 ounces 100% fruit juice

Here are a few combinations you could use:

• A turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with lettuce/tomato/sprouts and mustard, baby carrots, an apple, and 1% low fat milk.  Pack a whole grain granola bar for snack time.
• Tuna salad with low-fat mayonnaise in a whole wheat tortilla with lettuce and red bell pepper strips, a sliced up orange, and lemon flavored seltzer water.  Pack natural low-salt popcorn for a snack.
• Peanut butter and an all-fruit spread on whole wheat crackers, sliced cucumbers, a banana, low-fat yogurt (drinkable or regular), and water.  Pack whole grain unsalted pretzel sticks for a snack. 

The key to good nutrition is to eat a variety of foods. Every time you pack a lunch with foods like fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains, lean meats, and low-fat dairy products, you’re doing something positive for your child’s health. As an added benefit, good nutrition also improves your child’s ability to learn and succeed in school. So, what will be in your child’s lunchbox this year?