Public Policy "NEWS"

Get housing assistance for transgender individuals Homelessness is the most extreme way LGBTQ Americans endure housing instability. In the case of LGBT youth, “The evidence shows that breakdown in young people’s families is the main driver of homelessness,” explained Laura Durso, vice president of the LGBT Research and Communications Project at the Center for American Progress. D iscrimination also makes finding stable and safe housing more difficult for LGBTQ Americans. A study matched potential housing applicants, or testers, with people similar in every way except for sexual orientation or gender identity. The testers then made the same inquiries about available rental units and expressed the same qualifications and housing needs. “The study found that landlords treated lesbian couples comparably with straight couples, but housing providers were less likely to show gay men available units and quoted them higher prices.  Biden administration extends housing protections to LGBTQ peopl

The ongoing strike is starting to disrupt undergraduate classes, research and grading at the University of California system's 10 campuses as they move toward final exams and holiday breaks. At the system's second-largest school, UC Berkeley, hundreds of striking academic workers picketed a main entrance while passersby cheered, and a supportive band jammed on the lawn.

When "What are you?" does come up — via strangers at the gym, on the bus, in Walmart — I take a deep breath and dive in. "Well, my mother's paternal grandmother emigrated to the U.S. from what would now be called Iberia," I begin, to the dismay of everyone involved. As America becomes more racially diverse and social taboos against interracial marriage fade, a new Pew Research Center survey finds that  majorities of multiracial adults are proud of their mixed-race background (60%)    and feel their racial heritage has made them more open to other cultures (59%). 

For virtually every societal problem, there is likely to be a corresponding public policy. For example. SLO County students’ test scores fall after COVID pandemic 

2023 National Grants Now Available! African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund Today, the National Trust’s  African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund  opened the Letter of Intent (LOI) period for its  2023 National Grant Program . Grants provide a range of  funding from $50,000 to $150,000  for ongoing preservation activities for historic places like sites, museums and landscapes that represent African American cultural heritage. Learn more about the  2022 grantees . Through its National Grant Program, the Action Fund supports projects focused on African American cultural heritage, including capital projects, organizational capacity-building, project planning, and programming and interpretation. There are new priorities for this grant round.  Apply here:  African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund #TellTheFullStory

Today, October 24th, marks the last day to register. However, same-day voter registration will still be available on Election Day. As we experience constant attacks on our democracy, it's so very important that we get everyone to the polls, and elect pro-choice candidates who are committed to fighting for our fundamental rights.  Mail Ballot Drop-Off Map – San Bernardino County Elections – Registrar of Voters 

By1975 board-and-care homes had become big business in California. In Los Angeles alone, there were “approximately 11,000 ex-state-hospital patients living in board-and-care facilities.” Many of these homes were owned by for-profit chains, such as Beverly Enterprises, which owned 38 homes. Many homes were regarded by their owners “solely as a business, squeezing excessive profits out of it at the expense of residents.” Five members of Beverly Enterprises’ board of directors had ties to Governor Reagan; the chairman was vice chairman of a Reagan fundraising dinner, and “four others were either politically active in one or both of the Reagan [gubernatorial] campaigns and/or contributed large or undisclosed sums of money to the campaign.” Financial ties between the governor, who was emptying state hospitals, and business persons who were profiting from the process would also soon become apparent in other states. The majority of mental hospitals in California closed in the late 1990s, when