Yes. We're working with -- we're a member of the Reproductive Freedom Task Force and that's part of the work that we're doing there.
I mean, it would be amazing to be able to get 500,000 again because like -- so last year, like I said we were able to get 250,000. That was a line item in the budget for Fiscal Year '25. With that, we were able to help 1000, right --
And you ran up to like 500 -- sorry, good grief, voice of God, 245 was your actual --
Is the average pledge. So when people call our helpline -- people call our helpline, we're the last line when they're about to, you know, they still need to get the money together for the abortion care. The clinic, whether it's Planned Parenthood, Women's Center, any other clinic in Philadelphia, they have their own funding that they're able to give them. And if they still don't have any, we're who they call. And then we just provide the direct money for the abortion care to the clinic. We make that pledge. The average pledge is 245. With the 500,000, the last year that we got that, that year we were able to serve over 3500 people, right, overall that called our helpline, which is amazing. Last year though when there was -- well, we're very thankful for the 250,000 because we were still able to help support folks. But that also came when there was a lot of national cuts, right, and cuts to Planned Parenthood and cuts to a lot of the local clinics, so there was just less that we were able to give them. We had to prioritize folks who were just under extreme circumstances, right, facing homelessness, intimate partner violence, drug addiction, things like that. So that means there were a lot of people who when they called our helpline, they were self-selecting out, right. So now, we're in a place where there seems to be funding that has increased in the abortion access world. I know there's just so much happening in reproductive health overall. That slowly increased. I'm talking about the last couple of months, but we still have a lot of folks that -- we're not able to meet the demands of folks that are calling our helpline. So it would be amazing if we could get again 500,000. That's just like over 2000 people that were directly with that Philadelphia funding that we're able to support with that money.
Okay. The more that we can hear figures, facts and figures --
And we share our client stories every single time because these are Philly mothers, right, every day.
A thousand percent. Thank you so much for your testimony. Much appreciated. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you for that. Quickly before we move on to another witness, are you also seeing -- and I asked this question of Planned Parenthood -- influx of people from elsewhere or are you serving mostly Philadelphians?
So, yes, Pennsylvania is a receiving state and Philadelphia specifically is a receiving city, because there's people coming in from states that have bans, right. A lot of people coming in from Florida because of Philadelphia International Airport. So what we have seen in our helpline also is that there have been longer wait times for even Philly residents here in our city, because there's out-of-state folks coming and they're having to travel to the outer counties, Montgomery County, Chester, Delaware County to receive abortion care. So, yes, that has incrementally been increasing. Pennsylvania is one of the receiving states, as is. What is it like -- Illinois, for all the states out there. But we are one of them here on the East Coast.
The reason I ask is because of all these changes in our national landscape and the cuts and all. I think it's time for our state to sort of, and I said this before, to step up. We don't have the ability to absorb all of this, right. Because you're treating people not just from Philadelphia, you're treating people from outside. I think it behooves our state government to sort of see how they can plug some of the holes. I don't know if your asks have gone there or we are happy to advocate to have that conversation or start not just for you, but other institutions as well, because we are under a lot more stress just because of the federal landscape changing. So thank you for your testimony. I wanted to ask, Janae, I'm so happy the 100,000 is now in operation and the training has begun and you're already seeing impact from medical bias being addressed. Medical bias is an independent variable outside of all these other things, whether it's financial insecurity or other predisposing things you come with, it's separate. And so, that's one of the reasons why I started with that small amount of money to see is there a way to make this work, right. So we would love to get some sort of a report on this in order for the next steps because this is like a proof of concept, right, of how that was done.
We greatly appreciate the initial investment. As you know, $100,000 is a seed that's being planted where we're going to see water. And allowing those seeds to blossom into beautiful flowers is continued investment, not just in training. Training alone will not eliminate medical bias. Training alone will not eliminate disparities, but medical bias partnered off with quality improvement initiatives and a strategic plan where our health centers and our health department are held accountable to track, monitor and trend, measures and data over time will help us get there. But I hope that this will not be the City Council's first opportunity with this training opportunity. Because above and beyond what we want to see at Once Upon a Preemie, our health center staff are demanding more. They're asking if we can come back the next day, the next week for a three-hour inservice. And although we would love to be able to respond to that request, we don't have the internal resources at Once Upon A Preemie to do.
So listen, that's exactly what I wanted to hear. We were afraid that health centers and others would be too overwhelmed to say, oh, one more training, one more thing. And I was told that before I put out that money, and they were like, oh, no one's going to want to do it because it's one more thing. But their outcomes become better. To the whole point of what was said about malpractice, right. You have less cases of that when you have good care from the get-go and your people are being heard and seen in real terms. And to your point from -- I'm sorry, I was calling you Saleemah. You're not Saleemah, I know. The fact of having people live with lived experience at the table, which includes those giving this sort of care, which is why all of you are here, right, this is important, including Lifecycle, even though you're not going to be in existence, maybe you will, there's a lot of learned experience that we could help shape going forward in some of the other spaces. I just want to ask Katia one more question about medically- induced abortions. Do you provide that service as well?
We send the funding to the medical center itself. So whichever type of abortion procedure that the person is seeking, there is no limits, right. There are times where unfortunately sometimes people -there's a something we call chasing the fee, where people wait so long because they can't afford it and it just increases the cost. And in PA, as people know there's a 24-week ban. After that, we cancel. Some people have to go to New Jersey or other surrounding states. And we still will pledge, will pay for that funding that they need to those states as well.
The reason I asked that is we had talked about making sure our communities know everything that is out there. That seems to be one of the biggest barriers to care, is just knowing where to go, what to do, who's giving what. And so, we will need to work with all of you to see what does that look like, what does that education, information-sharing look like. It has to be redundant. More than one place has to do it. They have to get it over and over again, you know, like when we got the whole -- you guys, some of you are much too young. When we had the whole smoking cessation thing, it was redundant. It was everywhere. It was everywhere. So even though this is something else, we need to have it everywhere talking about it so it's a health care issue that is prevalent. And this is again changing the conversation about making this a priority is really what we hope to come out of this hearing is some steps, some things we can do. For example, this implicit bias thing investing in care where budgetary allocations, those are all good, but we need to actually take all of that and have our communities know what these are, because understanding how the money flows will tell them what the priority is, right. The budget is a moral document, as they say. So we need to actually explain that to our communities to see this is what you should look for and where is this coming and how much is it. So I appreciate all your testimony. Colleague, do you have any more questions?
We learned a lot. And I think we have public testimony. How many?
One. Okay. So I want to thank you. We will definitely do followup. And again, thank you for your testimony. Very powerful for all of us to listen to. And we will excuse you and ask our last witness to come forward in public testimony. I'm supposed to say something, right -- what am I -- okay. Will you call the next panel, and you'll say --
Okay. Would you then call up those who are here to do public testimony?
The first speaker on the public comment list is Ali Groves. (Witness approached witness table.)
Thank you. I'm mindful of the fact that I'm the last commenter before this and the break and you guys have been listening to folks for the last four hours. Thank you so much for this opportunity. My name is Ali Groves, and I am a public citizen and also a researcher and a professor at a local university of public health, who examines the effects of cash transfers on health during and after pregnancy. Pregnancy in the first months of a baby's life are critical for a child's development. And as we've heard from all my colleagues who are on their way out today, there are significant inequities in health, both in infant and maternal health outcomes here in Philadelphia. Local innovative programs like the Philly Joy Bank, which you've referenced earlier, Councilmember, can protect infinite maternal health, ensuring the health of children and families for years to come. So launched in 2024, the Philly Joy Bank provides pregnant individuals with cash payments of $1,000 a month during pregnancy and the first months postpartum, and 7 recipients can use this money 8 however they most need it. But the 9 current program is small. It 10 serves only 250 people in just 11 three of our city's neighborhoods. 12 Now is the time to expand it. Having a baby is expensive. A recent survey of pregnant Philadelphians found that financial stress was the most common stressor in the 12 months before giving birth. And we also know from our research that pregnant individuals who applied for the Philly Joy Bank were experiencing significant financial insecurity at the time of their application. That is only 20% of our participants felt confident that they could find the money to pay for a financial emergency that costs about $1,000. Moreover, nearly 1 in 10 reported being evicted in the last three months, which is nearly double the rate of eviction in Philadelphia. These financial stressors are concerns given that household income typically decreases by about 10% during the months surrounding childbirth, and around 40% of Black and Hispanic mothers fall into poverty during these months, often due to lower wages or the need to leave their jobs, especially in states like ours that don't guarantee paid family leave. Such financial instability can have devastating health consequences for birthing mothers and their children. Stress related to this financial instability can increase anxiety and depression. It can prevent expecting parents from getting the needed health care that so many of my colleagues have talked about, and it also increases health care spending down the line, poverty, and the stress that it causes has also been linked to poor birth outcomes for infants with ripple effects into early childhood through these cash payments. The Philly Joy Bank works to counter the stress and improve infant health for people living three of the neighborhoods that experience the worst birth outcomes in the city. However, there are thousands more who could benefit from it in nearly 25% of Philadelphia's neighborhoods. More than in babies are born with low birth weight, a troubling sign of deep-rooted health disparities. That's roughly 33% higher than the citywide average and a staggering 65% higher than the national rate with cuts to SNAP and other federal programs. These numbers may climb. There's growing evidence that cash can improve pregnancy and birth outcomes in North America. A recent study by researchers at the CHOP Policy Lab found that the expanded Child Tax Credit decreased risk of poor birth outcomes among Medicaid-insured pregnant women in Pennsylvania. Another cash transfer that was started in Flint, Michigan and has since expanded across the state, has published peer-reviewed findings that mothers who receive the cash had higher financial stability, including fewer evictions and better mental health given that federal cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and other public benefit programs are expected to widen health disparities in the coming years.
Local policy solutions to protect and promote health and health equity are more essential than ever in the current moment. Cities like Philadelphia have a powerful opportunity and responsibility to improve the health of babies and their parents. Guaranteed income programs are proving to be just one effective way to do that. We need that same bold leadership and visionary investment that launched the Philly Joy Bank to expand this work. And the world is watching us. Thanks.
Thank you so much for your testimony. We already understand the value of the Joy Bank, and I believe they are increasing the number of zip codes. That is the next iteration, but I could be wrong.
We don't have funding for it yet. I mean, I work really closely with my colleagues at the Department of Public Health.
So I will check into that because I had asked about it, and it could be a budget issue we are getting into our budget years. But clearly again, as I said the economic benefits can justify this kind of investment, because down the road we spend much less when we have that early investment. So I thank you for your testimony and stay tuned with what's happening with this. I don't know how -- I thought it was additional three zip codes, but I could be wrong. We will check and --
We'll check and make sure. I'll check with the Health Department to see when and where that might be coming. They might be just trying to figure out how to do this. But clearly, the value is there. That's been proven over and over, not just here, but in other spaces.
Yes, there are other places in the U.S. that have expanded from the city to the broader, you know, to other neighborhoods in the cities and also to the statewide initiative, so we could be one of those places as well. It'd be fantastic.
Yeah, I think rural spaces would benefit a lot. Anyway, if this was a statewide issue, it should become a statewide issue and then it could be a different sort of funding pattern that would just help us. We are just so strapped ourselves, but the state has a surplus and there are other revenue streams supposedly coming on.
We should put our dibs in for what you're going to do with that.
In Michigan and in California State, there's these beautiful public-private partnerships where they're drawing on TANF dollars and other sort of state-funded programs alongside --
Thank you. Mr. Sham, would you call the next speaker.
There are no 7 other speakers on the public comment list, Madam Chair.
Okay. Did you want to make a note for the record about Dr. Hillary Rosenstein?
Yeah. We would like to note for the record that Dr. Hillary Rosenstein with the Mazzoni Center and Dr. Robin Fay submitted written testimony.
Okay. Thank you. I would like to thank all of our witnesses for joining us today. This concludes the business before the Committee on Public Health and Human Services today. Thank you very much for your attendance. I want to especially thank you to my colleague who sat through this whole thing. You know, being a new father, I'll tell your son when he's older that your dad sat and listened to everything because he's on an educational curve here as well. I understand. But before we end, I want to say thank you to my team who did a lot of work, particularly my youngest member, Nakaja Weaver -- (Applause.)
-- who has worked extremely hard at pivoting here, there and everywhere to make this happen under the guidance of Julian Sham, our Legislative Director. Thank you very much and to the entire team for helping us get here. (Committee on the Public Health and Human Services concluded at 4:37 p.m.) C E R T I F I C A T I O N I, hereby certify that the proceedings and evidence noted are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me in the foregoing matter, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. _______________________________ TANEHA CARROLL