The Pennsylvania Health Law Project is excited to share our latest Impact Report highlighting the achievements of our staff over the first few months of 2023. Without the support our donors, wey would not have been able to accomplish what we did last quarter.

This year marks our 30^th anniversary of incorporation as a nonprofit, and we started the year off with a bang! During the first quarter of 2023, PHLP staff provided free legal services to nearly 400 clients and provided over 5,000 hours of legal assistance to Pennsylvanians from across the state.

In the Report, read about our case work and the clients we serve, client spotlights, responses from our client satisfaction surveys, honors and awards our staff received, and policy highlights showcasing our work from the last quarter.

We are so proud of the work we do here at PHLP, and we can’t wait for you to take a look at what we accomplished so far this year. We look forward to coming together to mark our 30^th anniversary with our colleagues, friends, and supporters. Stay tuned for exciting updates about our anniversary celebrations later this year.

Read the report!

We create interactive maps for the Pre-K for PA campaign each year, and the 2023 maps and fact sheets are now available.

The maps show the unmet need for high-quality, publicly funded pre-k and high-quality pre-k locations receiving public funds and eligible provider locations not yet receiving Pre-K Counts funding or not yet serving eligible preschool-age children through Child Care Works. From the mapping application, you can print statewide and county fact sheets. PPC typically can produce fact sheets at the legislative district level, but these are unavailable for 2023 due to delayed census data and redistricting effective this year.

The latest QuickStats article published by the National Center for Health Statistics investigates Rates of Death Due to Unintentional Injury from Fire or Flames, by Sex and Urbanization Level — National Vital Statistics System, United States, 2021.

In 2021, the rates of death due to unintentional injury from fire or flames were 1.3 per 100,000 population among males and 0.8 among females and were higher for males than for females at each level of urbanization. Rates among males were lowest in large fringe (0.8) and large central (0.9) metropolitan areas and then increased with decreasing urbanization to 3.0 in noncore areas. Rates among females were lowest in large central metropolitan areas (0.5) and increased with decreasing urbanization to 1.8 in noncore areas.

The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute County Health Rankings has released their annual ranking of health for nearly every county in the nation.

The ranking takes a closer look at the way health relates to opportunities people have to participate in their communities. The ranking considers civic infrastructure (schools, parks, libraries, etc.) and civic participation (ways people engage in community life).

For rural communities, the research found a strong sense of community, but policies and practices disconnect people from each other.  The report also found that in areas with long-standing disinvestment, such as rural economies, there are fewer social and economic opportunities, leading to lower healthy measures of life and quality of life.

New Brief Highlights Newly Released Vintage 2022 Population Estimates

The U.S. Census Bureau released the vintage 2022 population estimates for U.S counties and Puerto Rico. We’ve created a brief focused on the changes to Pennsylvania’s population. Read more on our Research Briefs page.

New Legislative Resources Available

New resources including maps and data profiles for Congressional and Legislative Districts are available on our site at: https://pasdc.hbg.psu.edu/Data/Legislative. The Census Bureau released new social, economic, housing, and demographic statistics for the 2022 state legislative districts. The four Data Profiles are available for all Pennsylvania Legislative Districts in the upper and lower chambers.

Register now for 2023 PA Data User Conference

This year will feature keynote and plenary sessions related to state and regional efforts to make data open and accessible. Concurrent sessions will feature two tracks: 1) U.S. Census Bureau staff providing updates on Census data products and tools as well as data analysts and 2) researchers across the state sharing applied uses of demographic data to better improve decision-making. Register at: https://pasdcconference.org/.

Census Bureau Updates

• New Work-From-Home Data by Race and Ethnicity Now Available

This month, the U.S. Census Bureau released preliminary data from the Annual Business Survey (ABS) showing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on businesses. The tables explore work from home status and business characteristics such as impact of the pandemic, financial health, outstanding debt, and expectations for continued operations. Click here to explore options for utilizing the latest data. 

• ACCESS BROADBAND Dashboard

The U.S. Census Bureau and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) unveiled the first release of their joint interactive dashboard that allows users to compare U.S. state, county and census tract-level maps displaying broadband availability and adoption statistics to maps of select social and economic indicators. Click here to learn more and explore this interactive dashboard.

• New Report: Women and Men Both Experienced Changes in Occupations During COVID-19

Click here to read this recently released report that focuses on differences in occupational employment shifts for women and men during the COVID pandemic.

The U.S. Census Bureau released today estimates of the total population as of July 1, 2022 at the county level which include both county totals as well as components of population change: births, deaths, and migration.

The Pennsylvania State Data Center’s latest brief explores changes in total county population from the April 1, 2020 Estimates Base to the July 1, 2022 Population Estimate. Key highlights include:

• Twenty-seven counties grew in population while forty declined
• Cumberland County remained fastest growing county since 2020 (+3.5%)
• Philadelphia (-36,541) and Allegheny (-17,332) counties saw largest losses

Click here to read more in this month’s brief.

This policy brief summarizes non-metropolitan and metropolitan health care providers’ participation in different tracks and subdivisions in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality Payment Program and evaluates provider and patient-panel characteristics associated with financial risk acceptance.

Click here to open the full document.