Governor DeWine Extends School Closure Order
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine
last week announced that the Ohio Department of Health will
extend its order to keep schools closed through the end of
April.
Ohio's previous order was
set to expire on April 3, 2020. The new order will extend
the closure through May 1, 2020.
"There is the real
possibility that our schools could stay closed longer than
this, but we want to give parents and teachers as much
notice and flexibility as we can," said Governor DeWine.
"Schools should continue to do what they're doing now --
providing the best remote learning that they can, serving
meals to students in new ways, and planning for what the
rest of the year may look like."
*HOMELESSNESS TEAM:*
Governor DeWine announced
last week that he has formed a "Homelessness Team" to help
people who may rely on homeless shelters, domestic shelters,
group homes, and recovery housing - all of which pose
challenges for social distancing.
The Coalition on Housing and
Homelessness in Ohio, the Ohio Chapter of the National
Alliance on Mental Illness, and Ohio Recovery Housing are
working as part of this team to provide localized guidelines
for these shelters. They will also work to incorporate these
populations into the state's ongoing planning for access to
healthcare through community health centers and planning for
quarantine or isolation.
In addition, the Ohio
Housing Financing Agency Board has approved $5 million in
unrestricted Agency General Fund Reserves to be used for
Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing funds and
Emergency Rental Assistance that will be distributed through
the states nine Continua of Care.
The Ohio Development
Services Agency has also established a $1 million Emergency
Shelter Gap Funding Program to support emergency shelter
providers during the COVID-19 state of emergency. The
Development Services Agency will reallocate Community
Development Block Grant dollars to emergency shelter
providers to meet immediate needs for homeless individuals
and households.
Further, the Ohio Department
of Mental Health and Addiction Services is directing some
federal opioid response funding to help people living in
recovery housing or engaged in treatment to maintain their
current housing and prevent homelessness. Federal funds will
be deployed to cover additional expenses that adult care
facilities are taking on because of COVID-19.
The CDC guidelines and
information about all of these funding opportunities are
available on coronavirus.ohio.gov, and anyone with questions
can email COVID19Housing@mha.ohio.gov
*BUSINESS ADVISORY GROUP:*
Governor DeWine also
announced last week that he will develop a business advisory
group to convene over the phone to:
* Ensure businesses are
doing everything they can to keep their employees safe;
* Provide recommendations
(to the greatest extent possible) to mitigate the negative
impact the COVID-19 crisis is having on our economy in Ohio;
* Provide recommendations
on building a platform for economic recovery.
More details on this group
will be released in the near future.
*PRISONS AND PPE:*
Due to the shortage of PPE
in Ohio, the inmates incarcerated at Ohio Department of
Rehabilitation and Correction prisons have begun making some
of these necessary healthcare supplies.
So far, inmates have made
500 hospital gowns and will make 44,000 more when they get
additional fabric. Inmates will also begin making cough
masks similar to surgical masks -- and will be able to make
5,000 a day up to a total of 2 million. They will also make
hand sanitizer. and face shields. Each prison with its own
workshop will also make masks for the people in those
prisons.
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