CR#8: Interview and Research on Root Causes of Community Issues
What? Based on the interview you conducted with a community member, what seems to be the root cause(s) to much of the more surficial issues that become daily obstacles in the community? Cite a few significant quotes/stories/gestures from the interview to demonstrate.
The effects on health care on the population that unapplicable for other healthcare providers. Most of the low income population can’t afford it because of the jobs they have that doesn’t accumulate enough money. Some just don’t qualify. According to Lisa “ It’s difficult to understand who qualifies and who doesn’t. It takes a lot of time and energy to apply for it. I think that there is a miss understanding of who might qualify. For example people that are not here with proper documentation but have a case in process with immigration they qualify until they get denied their case .Then in theory they have to go back to their home country”. It has especially affected immigrants who have just arrived to the U.S are unaware of how to apply but also aren’t able to understand it. RotaCare mainly helps immigrants but also other people that need medical help. Lisa Dickey runs RotaCare in San Rafael and sees about 18 patients a night for free. They fill the need for basic health care needs for undocumented immigrants, U.S citizens that don’t have the right insurances.
So What? Do some research (cite 5+ news media and academic references) to help you understand the implications of the issue(s) identified above and the importance of addressing root causes. Who is directly impacted? What are the larger, indirect impacts for communities, society at large?
https://www.rotacarebayarea.org/volunteer
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-obamacare-insurance-penalty-repeal-1221-story.html
https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/Access-to-Health-Services
http://www.racecounts.org/county/marin/
In the community of novato there is an incident where occured where a 37 year old man was deported right after dropping of his daughter at school. It could have been just a normal day for the man and daughter but near him there were men in ice vest that then comprehended the man. According to NBC news “ one man who had apparently just finished dropping off his child at school. It reportedly was a targeted enforcement of a man who was a longtime Marin County resident. It happened too close to Loma Verde Elementary School’. He was obtained because he was deported in 2007 but then illegally came back to the U.S. The actions of ICE caused fear in people since they had planed out who they were getting where to find him and when to detain him. Now imagine what other undocumented immigrants feel and think in a situation like this, they don’t want to be as involved with any authority that would expose their residency. Now immigrants will think if ICE uses the information from their healthcare information to find them then they just won’t apply.
People that have some healthcare are those of a higher class. Healthcare prices vary on the person’s situation but when it comes to low income families it becomes unaffordable for them. If they do get healthcare but are not able to pay it off they will end up in dept. Many people that don’t have it or people that try to cancel their health plan are fined. According to Lisa schencker says “ The tax bill doesn’t eliminate the penalty until 2019. That means that those who forgo health insurance for 2018 could still face a penalty. The penalty for not having health insurance this year is $695 per adult or 2.5 percent of household income, whichever is greater”. It’s unfair for people that are low income and need to pay for healthcare that they can’t afford. I think that their penalty is forcing people to buy healthcare that leads some people into dept. Free clinics play a big role in low income communities because they don’t charge people for medical assistance and they don’t have to set up an appointment. However if people that don’t apply for healthcare then the hospitals will raise the price for those who do have it to make up for those who don’t have it.
Now What? Are there ways your community partner is working to address this issue, create change, or maybe in your estimation but supported by your research, only performing triage (at least at this point in time)? What are some possible models and theories of systemic change (cite your research materials or course materials) that could be applied to address this particular root issue(s)?
At RotaCare the staff try their best to give their patients the best medical help that they can give. Most people are volunteers who come on their free time to provide health care for those in the community who can’t afford health care. According to RotaCare Bay Area “RotaCare Free Medial Clinics began with volunteers in 1989. Since then, each of our clinics has been run by 95% volunteer staff. RotaCare Clinics would not be in existence without the extraordinary dedication of our volunteers” this show the willingness of other wanting to help the community of San Rafael. In Marin our population is growing and that also means people from poor backgrounds are expanding as well. Now our population is about 254,602 thousand. According to Marin Race Counts 15.7% are latinos”. The amount of people showing u to the clinics are more latinos than any other race.
