Health

Many of Chicago’s uninsured Latinos could be covered under Obamacare

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Eight in 10 uninsured Latinos qualify for health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Chicago metropolitan area has among the highest concentration of uninsured Latinos in the nation, with nearly six in 10. There are about 288,000 uninsured Latinos in the city. Many of these Latinos could have some type of coverage under the Medicaid expansion and the health insurance market, which started last month as part of the Affordable Care Act. 
A third of uninsured Latinos — or about 3 million — are eligible for state-expanded Medicaid. Twenty-five states have opted out of the plan.

Child and Family

Fewer children killed under DCFS supervision

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The number of children who were killed while under the supervision of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services declined last fiscal year, according to a report released last week by the agency’s Office of Inspector General. The homicide count dropped to 16 from a record-breaking 28 in fiscal year 2012. The report states that 13 children were killed while under DCFS supervision or within a year of the dismissal of a child abuse case. Three children were killed in street shootings, according to the inspector general’s report, which covers homicides between July 1, 2012, and June 30, 2013. The state agency has a history of problems protecting abused children dating back to the late ’80s when the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all children in the custody of DCFS.

TCR Talks: Chicago scholar, former ANC liaison: ‘Mandela was a revolutionary’

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The death of Nelson Mandela, the South African freedom fighter who became the nation’s first black president, hit home for Harold Rogers. From the 1970s through the early 1990s, the Chicago scholar and activist was the Midwest representative for the African National Congress. For years, the ANC was outlawed in South Africa because it opposed the white minority regime that oppressed the country’s black majority. Rogers and Mandela first met after the South African leader was released from prison after 27 years. The two shared many memories, and Rogers organized Mandela’s trip to Chicago in 1993.