Inside the Shapiro Administration’s Plan to Prevent Maternal Deaths

The Shapiro Administration recently launched a five-year strategy to improve maternal health outcomes and reduce mortality for pregnant and postpartum women.

So far, nearly $600,000 to fund these initiatives which also target care gaps in disadvantaged communities.

Spotlight PA explores the statistics around maternal health care gaps in Pennsylvania and the latest state maternal health initiatives. 

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Healing Verse Germantown Uses Poetry and Public Art to Strengthen Community

Healing Verse Germantown is a project surrounding a series of community poetry and art workshops to build community bonds and improve mental health for residents.

Partnered with Creative Philadelphia, this project hopes to serve as a model in Philadelphia and other urban areas across the United States to address mental health and reducing gun violence and trauma.

Billy Penn discusses the use of art and poetry as a transformative approach to community-based healing and connection. 

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Local Schools and Communities Create New Autism Programs

Approximately 1 in 4 students in the Scranton School District receive special education services, an increase from 1 in 5 a decade ago, alongside more than 52,000 students in public schools who have autism across the state.

The number of services provided to students depends on demand and accessibility.

This article explores the new programs and services that local communities and schools are implementing to address students and young professionals in need. 

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Rowan University Gets $10M Gift to Establish Financial Planning School

In what is one of the largest financial gifts of its kind in the United States, Rowan University has been gifted $10M to create a new school to address the nation’s increasing shortage of qualified financial planning professionals.

This new school, named the School of Financial Planning, will operate under the William G. Rohrer College of Business and be considered an accredited business education program.

The program will prepare students to attain the Certified Financial Planner professional designation and will combat the shortage of financial planners with is expected to widen over the next ten years. 



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Assessing the State of AI Adoption Across the Federal Government

The scope of artificial intelligence across the federal government has significantly increased in the last few years.

The recently launched AI Action Plan highlighted the potential to increase efficiency in government operations.

Brookings Research discusses the expanding support for AI literacy across government agencies and how public trust in AI can be increased as it is adapted into government functions.

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European Researchers Are Working with Residents to Restore Urban Soil

Soil is vital to urban ecosystems, acting as a major carbon sink, enabling food, plant, and tree growth, cooling cities, and preventing flood risks.

However, many cities across the world are experiencing soil erosion and degradation, which limit biodiversity and cause challenges to city development.

This article discusses how the new project URSOILL is aiming to revive Europe’s urban soils using nature-based solutions and restoring soils to increase city sustainability. 



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