Overview of Article

This article focuses on the unaffordable housing crisis in the Dayton area. According to research from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, about a quarter of the renters in Dayton are labeled as extremely low income, and Dayton has 18,300 housing units short of affordable rent for these residents. There have been efforts to decrease the affordable housing gap, however they are very underfunded making the process a lot slower than it could be; the Dayton metro area still has over 31,000 low-income renters (income of less than 30% of the area median income), and almost 20,000 very low-income renters (income of less than 50% of the area median income). Within the last year, Dayton has modestly improved the affordable housing gap and is seen as better off compared to Ohio’s other metropolitan areas such as Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Toledo. Recently, Dayton has added housing to the list of things that the Issue 6 income tax levy will pay for, put a portion of the $138 million given by federal COVID relief funds towards improving housing, and has approved renter protections in an attempt to reduce evictions and keep renters in their homes (Dayton Daily News). Without these programs, many of the affordable housing projects would not be possible due to the low incomes of the target population. They also help expand the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program, which provides housing assistance to those needing to rent units in the private market. By increasing the funding for these programs, families all across the Dayton metro area will be able to gain the support they need and live happier, more fulfilling lives. 

Future Considerations

Approach

Although the article describes several ways that Dayton is attempting to tackle the affordable housing problem such as adding it the list of things that the city’s Issue 6 income tax levy will pay for and putting some of its COVID relief money towards it, the two main solutions include the low income housing tax credit program and the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher. According to the article and the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, “the low income housing tax credit program allows investors to reduce their federal or state tax liabilities in exchange for providing investment equity to develop affordable rental housing.” One advantage of this approach is that it is highly incentivized because the investors receive the benefit of reduced tax liabilities and in turn this allows for the development of affordable rental housing for those in need. Without incentivizing the investors to provide investment equity for the development, the affordable housing projects in the program wouldn’t be feasible financially. However, one disadvantage of this solution is that, according to Riegel in the article, the program is still lacking in funding. 

The next solution is the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher which provides housing assistance for people and families to rent in the private market. The program is designed to allow people to be able to move without the loss of housing assistance. According to the article, more than 4,160 families applied for the housing voucher program during the five days that the waitlist was open. This statistic shows one advantage of this program being that it is highly sought after and desired by families that are eligible. However, one disadvantage of this program is that many people who apply do not receive any assistance. According to the article only one quarter of income-eligible households end up receiving assistance. Another disadvantage of this program is that, even for those who end up receiving housing assistance, they have to wait a long time to actually receive the assistance they are granted. Ultimately, although the solutions presented within this article are making a difference in the lives of families, there is still room for improvement to tackle and abolish the lack of affordable housing.

Additional Recommendations

There are a number of different solutions which could potentially be implemented which could help to increase accessibility to affordable housing. One way to increase access is to create tax credit incentives which make it financially viable for developers to create more affordable housing. “Tax credit programs allow investors to reduce their federal or state tax liabilities in exchange for providing investment equity to develop affordable rental housing, says the Ohio Housing Finance Agency”(Frolik, par. 20). This could potentially make it much more likely that developers will want to build more affordable housing. Another change we could make to increase accessibility to affordable housing would be to reduce zoning restrictions. Burdensome zoning restrictions often make it unprofitable for developers to create more affordable housing. There are a number of reforms that could be made, however reducing or eliminating single family zoning for new homes would be a great start. “By eliminating single-family zoning, developers gain the flexibility to build inherently more affordable housing types like townhomes, duplexes, or even apartment buildings, thus diversifying the housing stock. In some areas upzoning has resulted in immediate changes and increased new housing production”(Hanley, par. 7). 

Abandoned Housing Issue

As Dayton moves to become a more affordable landscape for its local population, an issue that will directly constrain these efforts would have to be the abandoned housing issue that plagues the city. For a quick history lesson, after the closing of businesses in Dayton that contributed a great amount to the economy such as GM during the 2008 housing recession most individuals could no longer afford to pay for their homes and defaulted on loans. This caused thousands of houses to be left abandoned and neighborhoods to become run down. In recent years there have been campaigns to demolish these “nuisance properties”, but one of the biggest constraints is identifying the privately owned houses that owners have stopped investing in. Luckily the city has created a process to legally get the rights to demolish these properties, however the cost of doing so is another burden with the approximation for the demolition of each nuisance property being around $17,865. (ref.https://www.daytonohio.gov/1109/Dayton-Recovery-Plan-Demolition-Strategy). Not only do these houses pose environmental and economic risks to surrounding homeowners, but they also make it harder for efforts such as building affordable housing for individuals in the area.

References

Dawes, S. (2024, March 29). New Dayton-area homeless count down from record-high 2023 totals. Dayton Daily News. Retrieved November 19, 2024, from

https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/new-dayton-area-homeless-count-down-from-record-high-2023-totals/5ASZAB5KKVDUXP7NBYV66DVL6Y/

Dayton-Montgomery County Homeless Management Information System & YWCA Dayton. (2024). 2024 Homeless Snapshot. https://www.mcohio.org/367/Local-Homelessness-Data

Frolik, C. (2021, October 22). Dayton, Montgomery County need 20k new housing units, study says. Dayton Daily News. Retrieved November 19, 2024, from https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/report-dayton-county-need-20k-housing-units-by-2026/BSLID5DG7BBONJ4IJMUKOQHA3I/

Frolik, C. (2024, January 22). Dayton homeless shelter sees record number of kids. Dayton Daily News. Retrieved November 19, 2024, from https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/dayton-homeless-shelter-sees-record-number-of-kids/3VNKRLGPUBGHTIQMXCUDXQT5R4/

Frolik, C. (2024, March 18). Affordable housing: Dayton region 18K units short of need for extremely low income households. Dayton Daily News. Retrieved November 19, 2024, from https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/affordable-housing-dayton-region-18k-units-short-of-need-for-extremely-low-income-households/XFKLQXFYWFG6ZFYLYHCOBPORFI/

Frolik, C. (2024, June 5). Dayton housing survey: 1 in 10 residential properties needs major repairs; city cites progress. Dayton Daily News. Retrieved November 19, 2024, from https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/survey-1-in-10-dayton-homes-needs-major-repairs-city-though-it-would-be-worse/7OR5IAYRMBCONAIDLT5FWATP4A

Hanley, A. (2023, December 22). Rethinking Zoning to Increase Affordable Housing. The National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO). https://www.nahro.org/journal_article/rethinking-zoning-to-increase-affordable-housing/

Student Homelessness in America: School Years 2019-20 to 2021-22 – National Center for Homeless Education. (2023). National Center for Homeless Education. Retrieved November 19, 2024, from https://nche.ed.gov/student-homelessness-in-america-school-years-2019-2020-to-2021-2022/

Overview

The article by Adriana Martinex-Smiley from the NPR Network talks about Wright Patterson Airforce Base and how they are contaminating the public water supply with an extreme amount of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substance chemicals (PFAS). WPAFB pollutes the most PFAS chemicals into the water supply than any other military base in the nation. Right now, there are laws and regulations that are being passed and the city is quickly trying to solve the problem by reducing the amount of PFAS in the water while also trying to clean up exiting PFAS parts that’s already in the system.

PFAS are extremely dangerous, and experts say they can stick around in the human body for years. They affect almost every organ in the body and there are concerns they can and will build up in us. “’For the most prevalent PFAS chemicals, it can take years to exit the body. For at least one type of PFAS, it can top a decade’” (Emanuel 2023). The affects of PFAS’s are causes of many health problems including “risk of testicular and kidney cancers. They may lead to high cholesterol and lower birth weights” (Emanuel 2023). However, we still deliberately use these harmful chemicals in everyday household products (in low quantities) including pot, pans, and fabrics because of their ability or withstand exposure to extreme heat and how they’re nonabsorbent to water and oil.

When looking nationally at the United States and their progress on clean and safe water, it is one of the better goals we are achieving but there are still plenty of problems we still face. From the UN, our status for Sustainable Development Goal 6 is yellow, meaning there are still challenges that remain with a stagnate trend of completing the goal by 2030. The two problems we need to focus on the most are freshwater withdrawal, and scarce water consumption embodied in imports. Comparing that to the story on WPAFB, that kind of data adds up with a report from the Ohio EPA stating, “the Permittee must take all reasonable steps to minimize releases to the environment and must carry out such measures as are reasonable to prevent significant adverse impact on human health or the environment resulting from noncompliance with this permit” (Stevenson 2021).

While an example like this can seem alarming, these kinds of environmental disasters can be seen from almost every major company / government organization. As long as we live in a capitalist society, we will always prioritize profit because it’s all about making as much money as possible. This ecological conflict perspective can be seen throughout our day to day lives with oil companies spilling tons of oil into the oceans, constant advertisements saying we need to buy things and living in a throwaway culture, to examples like WPAFB dumping chemicals that are both bad for the environment and for us as well. The most genius thing companies did was turn it on the individual and make it seem like they are the problem. Buy from us because we use paper straws, but we still use a plastic cup, watch how much of a carbon footprint you’re leaving while our factories pollute more in a month than you will in your lifetime. We clearly need to strengthen our rules for the military and big companies because we have seen time and time again that they will constantly prioritize profit without consideration for the destruction they do to the environment. 

WPAFB is taking advanced measures to reduce the amount of PFAS’s in the water supply by constructing a better treatment facility, applying more regulations, and is working on water bending. They are investing in containment facilities to monitor how many PFAS chemicals are being polluted and trying to remove any “forever chemicals” (Martinez-Smiley 2024) they can that are currently in the water supply. Senator Sharrod Brown sent out a letter saying, “’I write to request immediate action by the Department of Defense to remediate the ongoing PFAS contamination that threatens the region’s water supply,’” (Martinez-Smiley 2024). In total, the estimated cost for this to happen is projected to be between 300 and 500 million dollars. 

Funding

Due to its location, funding for cleanup has been increasingly difficult. Part of that is tied directly to the fact that the problem starts on a military base. Because of that, it’s harder for regular people to come on the base and in order to begin cleanup, someone will first need to gain a military contract. Another reason for difficulty is that many of the residents in the city lack the financial resources to lobby for a cleaner local environment. Combine that with education being a major issue going hand and hand with a lack of publication and information on the problem, and its easy to see how funding quickly becomes an issue.

Health

It’s no secret that Dayton has seen better days. Because of that, many of the people that could afford to leave the area have done just that. Due in no small part to that concept, public health in the area has also taken a steep decline historically relative to other Ohio counties. To combat that, Dayton Children’s hospital opened a Center for Health Equity to address health disparities in the area. 

Pollution

Along with the fact that military bases are normally more highly polluted than residential places, the high amount of PFAS in the water is detrimental to people far beyond the base. When considering this along with other, more common, base pollution, it’s easy to call the area a sacrifice zone. It’s fair to make that assessment based on the fact that pollution is expected at bases but just because it’s common doesn’t take anything away from the fact that because of the high pollution levels make it a sacrifice zone. 

Additional Information

Funding 

In 2024, Dayton was allocated $225 million from federal funds for infrastructure projects, including road repairs and public transportation enhancements. The state invested $5.2 million in safety funding for Dayton-area K-12 schools to enhance security measures and learning environments. (Dayton Children's Public School)

Pollution

 Sacrifice zones” are areas where residents experience disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards due to industrial activities. In Dayton, certain neighborhoods have been identified as such zones, facing elevated levels of soil and water contamination. Industrial operations have led to soil contamination with heavy metals and chemicals, posing health risks to local communities. The Great Miami River, flowing through Dayton, has been subjected to pollutants from industrial discharges and urban runoff, affecting water quality.

Future Considerations

Dayton’s environmental advisory board has written letters to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base asking them to decrease the amount of PFAS they use and leak into the environment. This is to make sure that Wright-Patterson officials are aware that they are now breaking the PFAS regulations set by the Environmental Protection Agency. The city of Dayton is also taking steps to make the drinking water safe again through; water blending, drilling more wells, and construction of an advanced water treatment facility. These steps would work to dilute the PFAS in the water supply and to remove them with filtration systems. While these steps could be effective, they are also expensive, potentially costing 300-500 million dollars (Martinez-Smiley 2024). 

Depending on the amount of money that they are able to get from the WPAFB and from the other pending lawsuits they are undergoing, a potential solution they could look more into would be the advanced water treatment facility. While they already have plans for this treatment facility, more funds could be redirected to building one at a faster pace, and potentially more effective filtration systems. There are water treatment and filtration systems out there that can be used to greatly reduce the levels of PFAS in water supplies, though these may be costly to use on a large scale. Using a combination of granular activated carbon filters and ion exchange resins permanently removes these PFAS from the water supply, which would help bring Dayton’s water supply up to the EPA’s standards. This approach would be more beneficial than just drilling more wells because instead of introducing more, initially clean water into the system that has the possibility of being contaminated over time, filtration systems would be better at removing the risk of PFAS. Drilling more wells sounds like a cheaper, short-term answer to this problem because while the wells would initially have clean water, the PFAS from the Air Force base would still leak into them and infect them over time. The wells also wouldn’t be removing these harmful chemicals from the water supply; instead, they would dilute them.

The city of Dayton is working with Dayton’s environmental advisory board and the Environmental Protection Agency to sue for funds from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to cover the cost of the damages they have done (Frolik 2024). This funding would likely go towards building a new water treatment facility that focuses on removing PFAS from the water supply. The money they could win from the lawsuit would likely not be enough to cover the cost of this facility as it is expected to cost around $250 million (Frolik 2024), which is more than Dayton’s annual budget for projects. This annual fund covers more projects than just the water treatment facility. Much of the funding for this facility, and the other projects happening to fix the environmental damage would have to come from taxpayers. However, they could also attempt to apply for federal or state grants.  Environmental health comes at an extreme cost, and it will take a lot of campaigning and lawsuits for the city of Dayton to heal from the damage done by WPAFB. 

Works Cited

Emanuel, Gabrielle. “Tracing the Path of Toxic ‘forever Chemicals’ inside the Body.” WBUR News, WBUR, 16 Feb. 2023, www.wbur.org/news/2023/02/16/pfas-biology-blood-new-hampshire. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

Martinez-Smiley, Adriana. “Dayton Asks Wright-Patterson to Remediate PFAS Contamination in Its Drinking Water.” WVXU, WYSO, 9 Oct. 2024, www.wvxu.org/2024-10-09/dayton-asks-wright-patterson-base-remediate-pfas-contamination-in-its-public-water. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

Stevenson, Laurie. Ohio EPA’s eDocument Search, 2021, edocpub.epa.ohio.gov/publicportal/edochome.aspx. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

“Sustainable Development Report 2024.” Sustainable Development Report 2024, dashboards.sdgindex.org/profiles/united-states. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

 Frolik, Cornelius. “Dayton Wants to Build $250M PFAS Water Treatment Facility, the Largest in US.” Dayton Daily News, 24 April 2024. https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/dayton-wants-to-build-250m-pfas-water-treatment-facility-the-largest-in-us/IJKLIQJ4BZAJ7I6NUS6GRQ2TVA/

Overview and Summary 

Homefull is a social service organization whose vision is a community without homelessness by providing housing, services, advocacy, and education. This is really important because Dayton is a designated food desert (USDAER) which are low-income communities that lack access to healthy and affordable food. Homefull addresses food insecurity by bringing groceries and choice to neighborhoods where there are concentrations of low income and senior households with limited resources and barriers to accessing food for themselves. A WDTN News article written by Emily Lewis on August 3rd, 2024, finds that Homefull is planning to bridge this gap with a full service grocery store. Gettysburg Grocery will create local jobs with its new grocery store, pharmacy, community meeting spaces, and primary care doctor’s office in partnership with Kettering Health. 

WDTN Article: https://www.wdtn.com/news/local-news/refurbished-school-building-will-bring-grocery-store-health-care-to-local-community/ 

Future Considerations

The approach the article is giving is a one stop facility with multiple services in a Food and Healthcare desert in order to provide resources to the people of West Dayton. Since this area is lacking resources this solution solves multiple issues plaguing the community. Having this full service grocery store will not only provide food access to those in the community but also provide healthy choices. This will improve the health of the residents along with the healthcare center which is located in the same building.

One way we can help combat the issue of food access is to mitigate food waste. In order to do this restaurants and supermarkets can donate unsold food to local food pantries to create a more circular economy. In the supermarket the article mentions, which provides quality and affordable food for those in the Dayton community, we can encourage people to only take what they need in order to not be wasteful and more people can benefit from this resource. We can also encourage the entire community to be less wasteful and donate unwanted and unsold food to those in need. 

While a one-stop shop is a fantastic way of minimizing the food problems that many people face, it is only effective so long as it can stay open. In the WDTN News article written by Emily Lewis, the Homefull chief business development officer, John Patterson was quoted as saying, “It’s well documented all the grocery stores that have closed in [these] communities over the past two decades, especially of late,” acknowledging the fact that closure is a possible outcome for the new one-stop shop. In order to prevent this from happening local trends can be analyzed to reduce the risk of closure. For example, many stores in the area closed because people couldn’t access them due to lack of transportation. One fix for this problem would be to add public transportation to and from residential areas to bring customers into the store. Other causes of closure include unaffordable prices and lack of funds for the stores. These can be solved by keeping the demographics of local communities in mind and setting prices based on average incomes. And lastly, awareness is a fundamental part of any store’s success. The more people that are aware of the new one-stop shop and its goals, the more people can visit, donate, and advertise for it. Donations can be crucial for maintaining fresh and healthy products without the business losing money due to lower selling costs. Overall, the closure of the new one-stop shop would be very bad not only because of the wasted time and resources put into it but also because many communities that will rely on it to feed their families will be reduced to scavengers wondering where their next meal will come from.

Sources: 

Bowen, Jordan. “West Dayton Aldi Closes Leaving Residents with No Access to Fresh Food.” 

WDTN.com, 16 Apr. 2018,

www.wdtn.com/news/local-news/west-dayton-aldi-closes-leaving-residents-with-no-acce

ss-to-fresh-food/. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

Cooksey-Stowers, Kristen, et al. “Food Swamps Predict Obesity Rates Better than Food

Deserts in the United States.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 14, no. 11, 14 Nov. 2017, p. 1366, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5708005/, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14111366.

Dwyer, Marge. “Eating Healthy vs. Unhealthy Diet Costs about $1.50 More per Day.” Harvard 

School of Public Health, 5 Dec. 2013, www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/healthy-vs-unhealthy-diet-costs-1-50-more/.

Dyches, Kiona. “Dayton Residents Feeling the Pinch as Inflation Rises 6.8% from Last 

November.” WDTN.com, 10 Dec. 2021, www.wdtn.com/news/local-news/dayton-residents-feeling-the-pinch-as-inflation-rises-6-8-from-last-november/. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

fuse-support. “The Social Determinants of Health: Connecting the Dots between Race, Health

Equity, and the Food Landscape.” Dayton Foodbank, 1 July 2020, thefoodbankdayton.org/sdoh/.

Henke, Amy. “The Dangers of Diet Culture: What Parents Can Do to Be a Positive Influence on 

Their Children.” Children’s Hospital New Orleans, 13 Apr. 2023, www.chnola.org/news-blog/2023/april/the-dangers-of-diet-culture-what-parents-can-do-/.

Nelson, Robert K., LaDale Winling, et al. “Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America.” Edited by Robert K. Nelson and Edward L. Ayers, American 

   Panorama: An Atlas of United States History, 2023, dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining.

“Poverty Rate in Dayton, Ohio.” Www.welfareinfo.org, 

www.welfareinfo.org/poverty-rate/ohio/dayton/.

“The Demographic Statistical Atlas of the United States - Statistical Atlas.” Statisticalatlas.com, 

2024, statisticalatlas.com/place/Ohio/Dayton/Household-Income. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

“The Demographic Statistical Atlas of the United States - Statistical Atlas.” Statisticalatlas.com, 

2016, statisticalatlas.com/place/Ohio/Dayton/Food-Stamps. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

Ver Ploeg, Michelle, and Ilya Rahkovsky. “USDA ERS - Recent Evidence on the Effects of Food 

Store Access on Food Choice and Diet Quality.” Www.ers.usda.gov, 2 May 2016, www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2016/may/recent-evidence-on-the-effects-of-food-store-access-on-food-choice-and-diet-quality/.

Overview and Summary:

The article titled, "Fire risks surge with unhoused citizens in Dayton's vacant buildings" by Eli Burgett states that as the homeless population is increasing in Dayton, Ohio, people are staying in vacant buildings and abandoned homes to stay warm as winter is approaching. In these buildings, individuals are starting small fires for heat, which can spread quite rapidly, causing safety concerns. Heather Wilson, Program Services Director at Miami Valley Housing Opportunities says, “I would say that this issue is increasing, and I would say that it’s primarily because the homeless numbers, in general, are increasing." Three sociological concepts help us understand this ongoing issue, including low-income communities, access to affordable housing, and urban crime. 

https://dayton247now.com/news/local/fire-risks-surge-with-unhoused-citizens-in-daytons-vacant-buildings (link to article)

Sociological Concept 3: Urban Crime

Urban crime in Dayton, Ohio is closely linked with homelessness, which is due to a lack of resources. Most crimes committed by homeless individuals are theft and vandalism, which are driven out of need for food and shelter. Research shows that roughly 60% of crimes are petty offenses, coming from desperation. Research dictates that when homeless individuals find housing,  crime rates tend to go down. The cycle of homelessness is frequently worsened by the negative effects of arrest and incarceration on finding housing. The economy in Dayton has an unemployment rate that peaked at 10.6% in 2020 which also led to an increase in crime. 

An example of urban revitalization and crime reduction was found in Five Oaks, an affluent middle-class neighborhood in Dayton, OH that was plagued by poverty, and saw an uptick in crime and homelessness. Some things done to restore safety were closing streets to reduce traffic and adding barriers to set clear boundaries, resulting in a 25% reduction in crime. One program to combat homelessness is the Housing First initiative, which prioritizes housing for homeless individuals, and most cities that have adopted this program see a 70% decline in crime. The Interfaith Hospitality Network offers transitional housing and services to those who continue to help until those individuals are in secure permanent housing.  Providing stability and potentially lowering crime by 20%- 50% in some areas, this program addresses immediate needs and equips individuals with resources and support. Places like Los Angeles that have adopted this program saw a 30% reduction in property crime. Another program is The Salvation Army's Pathway of Hope which helps support families to find stable housing, receive job training, and have financial literacy classes. Reducing crime related to financial struggles is essential for having safer communities. Showing that homelessness is a multifaceted problem, there is hope that we can work together to find a complex solution and provide support to empower those around us.

Further Considerations

As homelessness remains a critical issue in Dayton Ohio, the city has taken the right steps to address the challenge. By creating and integrating local programs, including those managed by Miami Valley Housing Opportunities we can offer short-term solutions such as distributing blankets and encouraging residents to report vacant building usage. However, these solutions don't solve the problem they mainly address symptoms rather than the systemic causes of homelessness.

Dayton's population has been declining since the 1960s and also intersects with housing insecurity. While the city has been innovated, the need for affordable housing persists. People have taken efforts to repurpose vacant buildings into shelters could address immediate safety concerns, as fire hazards have been rising in unused structures used for makeshift shelters. We believe that this approach would not only protect vulnerable populations but also reduce property damage and emergency response costs.

There are still challenges in addressing homelessness, like finding the right balance between safety and compassion. Dayton still runs the risk of stigmatization. We can learn from other Ohio cities in this regard. Cities like Columbus offer more solutions, such as housing resource centers, which Dayton could use as a model to improve its approach. The future of homelessness in Dayton depends on community investment and political action. Funding for affordable housing, mental health care, and job programs could help tackle the main causes. Working with local businesses and non-profits can help create long-term solutions. Without these efforts, issues like crime and fire hazards tied to homelessness could worsen, making it crucial to act now with thoughtful and effective policies.

Overview and Summary: 

The article titled, “Group to visit polling locations in hopes to restore West Dayton hospital” by Carlos Martin discusses a group effort to have more hospitals in the West Dayton area and the group is continuing this effort to make a vote possible as the West Dayton area has not had a hospital since 2018. Their efforts failed in the past to get their ideas on the ballot but they are continuing to poll in order to try to acquire more signatures. Furthermore, the article discusses the benefits of a public hospital in the area relating to giving those with low income emergency care or even just increasing jobs in the area.

https://www.wdtn.com/news/local-news/group-to-visit-polling-locations-in-hopes-to-restore-west-dayton-hospital/

The United States Healthcare Model

References 

“Figure 1: U.S. Health Care Spending per Capita, by Category.” The Incidental Economist, 2015,

  theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/wpcontent/uploads/2015/12/selden-fig-1.jpg.

Bruce G., et al. “Fundamental Cause Theory and the Health Inequalities Debate.” PubMed Central, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2019,

 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7029174/#:~:text=Fundamental%20Cause%20Theory,-

Since%20its%20introduction&text=According%20to%20FCT%2C%20it%20is,that%20drives%20population%20health%20inequalities.

“Medicaid in Washington, D.C.” HealthInsurance.org, 2024, www.healthinsurance.org/medicaid/dc/.

Sisko, Andrew M., et al. “National Health Spending in the United States, 2021.” Health Affairs, vol. 41, no. 8, 2021, doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2021.01805.

“United States.” The Commonwealth Fund, 2024, www.commonwealthfund.org/international-health-policy-center/countries/united-states.

Overview and Summary:

Scott Horsley's new story, "Without Immigrants, America's Job Growth Would Have Stalled," follows the stories of multiple Dayton residents from diverse backgrounds and how they have learned to integrate themselves and their culture into the Dayton community. Dayton is an immigrant-friendly city. In 2011, the city rolled out its “Welcome Dayton” initiative which works with the government and the broader Dayton community to provide services and ensure equity for its growing immigrant population. FC Industries, a local Dayton manufacturing company relies on immigrants, who comprise 10% of the workforce, to keep the business going. They work with a local refugee settlement agency to help recruit workers. Over the past year, around 1.5 million foreign-born people have joined the workforce, a period that has seen a decline in U.S.-born workers. 

Original Article: https://www.npr.org/2024/09/20/nx-s1-5108947/immigrants-ohio-dayton-economy-job-growth

Immigration/Multiculturalism: 

As a society where people of different cultures live together and should have equal rights Immigrants often play an important role in meeting labor force demands particularly in the industries experiencing shortages. Montgomery County reports immigrants contributed 1.3 billion to Dayton’s gross domestic product (GDP) in recent years and filled important roles in healthcare, manufacturing, and education. In this view, societal resources are unequally distributed, leading to competition.

Language proficiency significantly affects immigrants' ability to integrate into the community and access essential services. Census data shows that approximately 8% of Dayton households speak a language other than English at home. Programs like the  Welcome Dayton initiative aim to provide support, such as ESL classes and translation services.  A 2023 survey showed 56% of Dayton residents believe immigrants contribute positively to the economy, though this marks a slight decline from 2016. 

Most people think they are immigrant "job takers". This perspective shows the understanding of the importance that immigrants play in labor-scarce areas including construction, hospitality, and agriculture. However, some people still believe that immigrants are in competition with citizens for jobs, this belief is sometimes created by misinformation or financial concerns. Creating educated conversations on immigration's effects on job markets and the overall economy needs an understanding of these issues. Immigrants contribute significantly to economic growth and societal development.

Political Polarization:

Political polarization, the process by which political positions become more and more extreme, has created more hostility from one person to another on a different part of the political spectrum. As such, immigration, as a political issue, has been seen as a more hot button issue, with people feeling very strongly about their views. 

Political polarization relates to conflict theory, defined as “look[ing] at society as a competition for limited resources” because political polarization leads to a perception of citizens working against each other, competing for social control, rather than working with each other for social change (“4.11 Conflict Theory”). Conflict theory is at odds with structural functionalism–which describes any existing inequalities as useful to society–and impacts how immigrants are treated in comparison to local populations. 

We see conflict theory reflected in Dayton’s decreased proportion of happiness with having an immigrant family as a neighbor; in 2020, 70% of Daytonians said they would be happy with that situation–by 2023, that number dropped to 57%. We can further compare awareness of immigration and political polarization via Google Trends, comparing the number of searches with the terms “Dayton Immigration” and “Dayton Political Polarization.” 

Further Considerations

As immigration becomes an increasingly contentious topic, the city of Dayton and Montgomery County have embraced immigration. Dayton tries to market itself as a “immigrant friendly city” and has been promoting immigration to the region throughout the 2010s with the Welcome Dayton program among others. While the end results of these programs will not be known for a long time there are some beneficial trends. The city has had a decreasing population since the 1960s. However in 2020, 10 years into promoting immigration, the city saw its smallest decrease in population of only 3%, compared to the 15% decrease between 2000-2010.

Occasionally issues do come up between immigrants and longtime residents living in the Dayton region. These issues are mediated by three dedicated Welcome Dayton employees. However, there is a way to both mediate disagreements more effectively and efficiently, and decrease the load of work on the Welcome Dayton program while also bringing economic growth to the region. This would be to encourage expansion of diplomatic missions into the region. Embassies and consulates do help with getting passports and other important documents but they can do many more things. They can help mediate disagreements, provide education for both their citizens and American groups and businesses and sponsor educational, professional, and cultural exchanges.

The future position of immigration in the Dayton region relies heavily on the political climate of the next four years. With the result of the most recent election, it is being reported that the Haitian community in Springfield may be seeing an exodus as people move out of the city. If the current political rhetoric continues there will be adverse impacts on immigrants in Dayton. It is already being reported that the amount of people who said they would be happy to have an immigrant family living next to them has decreased from 70% to 50% in the last couple of years. If immigrants start leaving Dayton the economy and population would drop significantly as immigration is nearly outpacing current population and employment loss. 

Pharmacies are places that prepare and dispense medicine, but it does much more than that. Pharmacies often offer additional clinical services such as administering vaccines and giving health screenings. A recent trend nationwide is the closing of pharmacies, most in low-income neighborhoods. The Dayton area is no exception, pharmacies in southwest Ohio are closing which is putting a strain on existing pharmacies. A recent story in the Dayton Daily News covers the many closures that are happening in Dayton and the surrounding areas. The article, published in July of 2024, highlights that most areas that already have limited access to healthcare and other health services are the ones suffering from the closures . Many chains, like Rite-Aid and Walgreens, are closing stores nationwide which has impacted the Dayton area. In May through July of 2019 five different pharmacies closed in Butler, Darke, and Montgomery counties (1). These closures are putting a strain on independent pharmacies, who are struggling to keep up with the influx of patients. This problem isn't an isolated phenomenon, it can begin to take shape when it is looked at through a sociological lens. 

Health and Healthcare

The local shutdown of many pharmacies is closely related to health and healthcare inequalities in Dayton. With limited access to common pharmacy services in many portions of Dayton, communities may be left without protection against illnesses (vaccinations) and without life-saving medications to manage chronic and acute conditions. Missing doses of medications can lead to increased risk of mortality or worsening symptoms that the medication would prevent. According to the article, “Pharmacy deserts can impact medication adherence and other health disparities, Franz said, leading to negative health outcomes.” (2) People living in pharmacy deserts are much less likely to adhere to taking medications, specifically with older adults (3). Closures of pharmacies are also related to lower vaccination rates because roughly 75% of COVID-19 vaccinations were done at pharmacies. 

In Montgomery County, 47.6% of residents received the flu vaccination compared to the state average of 64.8% and the national average of 67.8% (4). This may be strongly due to the pharmacy deserts which prevent residents from receiving vaccinations. 4.7% of adults in the county misused prescription pain relievers in the past year compared to the national average of 3.5%. This shows that the remaining pharmacies can't keep up with drug counseling demands, which leads to misuse of prescription medications in Dayton. 

Conflict theory addresses inequality in healthcare delivery. The closure of pharmacies and its relation to health inequalities is rooted in capitalism and the commodification of health (5). People with high social capital, money, and power create policies regarding access to health, healthcare, and pharmacies which keep them covered and leave people with low social capital uncovered. “People from disadvantaged social backgrounds are more likely to become ill, and once they do become ill, inadequate health care makes it more difficult for them to become well.” In relation to pharmacy closure, those with high social capital will not live in pharmacy deserts because they have the money and power to get their pharmaceutical services. On the other hand, those without power will be left in pharmacy deserts where they lack access to healthcare services.  

Community and Neighborhoods

As the article stated the closures of pharmacies disproportionately affect low income neighborhoods (6). In the United States neighborhoods are incredibly segregated when it comes to wealth and racial makeup. This is due to a history of redlining that has affected where people can get access to housing. 

Income and Wealth Inequalities

Income and wealth inequality are caused by many different things, including historical racial segregation, governmental policies, a low minimum wage, high inflation, and many other reasons. The distribution of wealth in the United States is highly unequal, with the top 1% of households holding a large share of the country's wealth. Given large financial inequalities, patented medicines often exclude most patients needing them. This leads to situations where individuals with lower incomes struggle to afford necessary medications, often due to pharmacy deserts or high drug prices, resulting in poorer health outcomes and increasing existing health disparities. (11) According to the American Public Health Association, “Income inequality harms health by increasing the prevalence of poverty, generating chronic stress due to increased social comparisons, and eroding societal cohesion and destabilizing institutions that protect health.” Income inequality has been demonstrated to correlate with worse outcomes in terms of life expectancy, education, infant mortality, homicides, imprisonment, mental illness, addiction, and things of these natures. (12) The APHA said, “An excess of 884,000 deaths per year in the United States are attributable to income inequality.” Poverty also has an intergenerational effect, where impoverished mothers are more likely to have unplanned pregnancies, reduced access to prenatal care, and worse overall health. 

Pharmacies close down due to a combination of factors, including the "growing influence of Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which can significantly reduce the amount pharmacies are paid for prescriptions, high operating costs, and increased competition, which leads to large chains closing underperforming locations, particularly in low-income areas, to maximize profits." (13) PBMs are third-party companies that negotiate prescription drug prices between insurance plans, drug manufacturers, and pharmacies. This makes it so that pharmacies that serve the publicly insured populations, which tend to be lower income, often make less profit than those that serve privately insured patients.

Future Considerations

Medicaid/Medicare 

Although specific means are unsure, the closure of chain pharmacies is associated with underperformance having a greater impact on pharmacies that serve publicly insured, low income communities than those that serve privately insured, higher income communities. Both chain and independent pharmacies are reimbursed less by Medicaid than by private or commercial insurance for the same medications (16). Although chain and independent pharmacies are impacted, independent pharmacies serving low income communities experience greater Medicaid administrative burden through policies with pharmacy benefit managers, contracts, preferred networks, etc. These regulations demand pharmacy policy advocacy and change focusing on increasing Medicaid/Medicare reimbursement. The regulation of pharmacy benefit managers is also vital to curb practices of overcharging for medications and excluding pharmacies from accepted networks that disproportionately strain medication access for low income communities. 

Pharmacists’ Patient Care Services and Scope of Practice

As contextual effects resulting from redlining practices have disproportionately low-income individuals’ access to healthcare services, the range of accessible patients must be strengthened in tandem with the scope of practice of pharmacists.  Independent pharmacies are emerging to mitigate the impact of pharmacy deserts, amplifying the health care access to low-income, predominantly publicly insured areas. Even as pharmacists have absorbed this responsibility, the current language of the Social Security Act, pharmacists are excluded from the eligible health care services listed in Medicare Part B (17). This omission severely restricts pharmacists ability to exercise patient care services for Medicare beneficiaries. Pharmacists have proven themselves as crucial first responders, principally in their availability and accessibility during the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) emphasizes the importance of congressional legislation to include pharmacists’ patient care service in Medicare Part B. This inclusion will expand patient access and coverage to pharmacy based care services, alleviating the impacts of restricted health care access in low-income areas.

APhA also recognizes the need to expand the scope of practice of pharmacists. Pharmacy, as a profession, has moved from dispensing medications and counseling patients, to aiding in providing comprehensive, cross disciplinary patient care (18). When pharmacists act as integral health care providers in team based care settings, patients practice improved medication use and adherence while experiencing expanded access to health care and reduced health care costs. The scope of practice for pharmacists is regulated by state boards of pharmacies and is not standardized across the nation. The National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations emphasizes the importance of expanding the scope of practice for pharmacists that best aligns with their educational and training background. The expansion of pharmacists’ scope of practice may be achieved through collaborative prescribing agreements (CPAs), autonomous prescribing, and credentialing and privileging.

Expanding the scope of practice for pharmacists equates to expanding patient access to reliable healthcare. This expansion will work to streamline patient interactions with healthcare professionals and will dampen restraints of contextual effects such as reliable transportation and limitations imposed by personal responsibilities to easily visit numerous healthcare facilities consistently. Allowing pharmacists to more readily assume an active role in providing healthcare services will lead to more managed chronic disease such as hypertension and cardiovascular disease in healthcare limited communities (19). 

The Achievement Gap:

The achievement gap is one of the most important sociological concepts that The International School at Residence Park is addressing. According to the International School’s Ohio state report card, the school has a 1 star rating (out of 5) in achievement, but 4 stars in gap closing2. Moreover, the International School met 52.6% of gap closing goals, while another school in Dayton Public Schools with a similar Montessori curriculum, River's Edge, also scored 4 out of 5 in gap closing. However, this school met only 45.9%3 of the gap closing goals. That is to say, the International School is outperforming similar schools within the same district. Although this school’s students are, on average, scoring below the state standards in both English and Math5, this school is exceling at preparing students for success by providing support for English learners and reducing chronic absenteeism. The achievement gap reflects the fact that students’ social class greatly affects their educational outcome, which further impacts their economic situation later in life. For a school like the International School that reaches an underserved population, having a high capacity for closing the achievement gap is very important for more equitable educational outcomes.

Dayton Redlining

Source: https://dps.k12.oh.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Schools_2024-25_Update.pdf

Funding: 

In comparison to the International School, Dayton Public Schools as a whole is rated just 2 stars in gap closing5. This suggests that implementing some of the same programs at the International School in other schools in the district may create more equitable outcomes for the entire city of Dayton. However, funding is an obstacle to achieving this goal. Especially considering Dayton and the connections between historical practices of redlining, intergenerational wealth, and schools being funded by local taxes, there are a lot of factors that hinder public schools from being sufficiently funded. The International School is in a location that was historically “yellow-lined” and near historically redlined neighborhoods6. Even though redlining has been illegal for over half a century, the neighborhood segregation has mostly remained, and the area around the International School is mostly made up of people of color. Due to systematic racism in many different areas of life, most people living in this neighborhood have not had time to build up the generational wealth that families in other parts of Dayton have. Also, due to the history of redlining, property values remain lower than that of some of the more affluent neighborhoods nearby. Since school funding is often tied to property taxes, these low property values also pose an obstacle to Dayton Public School funding, and by proxy the International School. 

Moreover, due to most if not all of the parents that raise these children being foreign-born, there are additional economic boundaries they must overcome. For instance, in Dayton in 2019, immigrant households earned $135.9 million, but after taxes and other costs, were left with only $102.8 million in spending power for the entire immigrant population. This makes up approximately 5.2% of all the household spending power in the city, meaning 94.8% of spending power is left in the hands of the U.S.-born citizens7. This represents a boundary tied to wealth inequality for these families as they may not have the ability to afford at-home learning resources, may have to work multiple jobs, and students may have additional at-home responsibilities that get in the way of their ability to learn efficiently and effectively. 

Furthermore, since public schools get significant portions of their funding from local taxes, many Dayton Public schools are underfunded. This lack of funding then acts as a hinderance for implementing programs, acquiring resources, etc. that would help better close the achievement gap. Moreover, adding the financial obstacles often present at home and underfunding of other institutions such as libraries, these students are even less equipped to combat this achievement gap as there are little to no places with proper resources to effectively facilitate their learning. 

Social Mobility:

Education also has important implications for social mobility throughout life. Despite the sentiment that education is the “great equalizer,” children’s social class is a significant predictor of educational attainment, and low educational attainment can to lead to low social mobility. This means that students who start behind are at greater risk of ending up with low social mobility. This of course applies to students at the International School, given the low achievement rating at the school and the economic barriers immigrant students and their families face. Given the direct relationship between educational achievement and social mobility, it’s critical for this school to have programs to close the achievement gap in order for students to have long-term success. Although social mobility and the achievement gap are not the same, they are very interrelated.

Sociological Theories: 

The International School acts as a stepping stone for immigrant students, meaning their student body is full of students in their early years in the U.S. as they prepare to transition to a neighborhood school with a lower immigrant population. One way the school aims to help students make the switch is by teaching them about American culture1 so that they can more easily transition. This represents the sociological theory of symbolic interactionism as this teaching method focuses on human communication and interaction. It aims to teach students about what is means to be "American," thus emphasizing a belief that the social environment one is surrounded by creates new meanings for aspects of the world and affects the interactions between people. By attempting to teach beyond the language, and also teaching the culture of the country and the city, the International School is aiming to help them learn how to communicate on the surface level with English, and how to communicate via the cultural interactions they will have with their peers in their next school and throughout their whole time in the country. 

Future Considerations:

Before COVID, many immigrant children were placed in regular classrooms. Students were suffering, especially due to the perceived stress of succeeding in a new school system. This would be a difficult adjustment for many people, but especially students learning a new language and adapting to a new country. The Dayton Public Schools’ International School is changing the narrative. The approach is focused on students ranging from kindergarten to 12th grade enrolling in a school that provides English language support and academic success that they may not have been offered before. Once the students reach English proficiency, they will be transferred into their neighborhood schools1. 

Some alternative considerations on how to solve the problems have been established, including Title 1, Part C. This is a federal program that supports high-quality education for immigrants and protects students from penalization by graduation requirements, academic curriculum, etc. There is a strong foundation for supporting immigrants through life adjustments, such as learning a new language and moving to different schools. One beneficial change would be ensuring that the families of immigrant students are also being cared for. When we think of providing educational services to immigrants we tend to only think on the surface level. Many immigrant students drop out or skip school to help with family affairs. UCLA’s Center for the Transformation of Schools says, “Instead of focusing on their education, these students struggle with this uncertainty and, as a result, are often absent from school or inattentive. Their teachers also struggle to motivate them and sometimes to protect them.”8 This quote represents the holistic problem of education. There are more barriers for a student to succeed than performing well in an academic sense.

Future aspects to consider are receiving adequate funding for schools like the International School in Dayton and continually providing benefits and support to immigrant families so that students can concentrate on their education. One of the most common reasons that immigrant students drop out of school is so that they can provide financial support for their families, and since immigrant families in Dayton are especially vulnerable to lower amounts of wealth, as previously mentioned, the likelihood of students needed to provide additional support is high. Therefore, by implementing programs and models to aid the students' families financially, the school can help alleviate outside stressors from their students' lives and create a better environment for academic success.