Donna Cohen Ross
Donna Cohen Ross is Director of Outreach for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
As the Center’s Outreach Director, Cohen Ross oversees the Center’s highly acclaimed Earned Income Tax Credit outreach campaign.
She also developed and directs Start Healthy, Stay Healthy, a national effort to enlist government agencies, health and human services providers, community-based organizations and institutions and others to help families get their children enrolled in free and low-cost health insurance programs.
The project also provides technical assistance to state child health officials, nonprofit groups and others on policies and procedures to simplify children’s health coverage enrollment and renewal processes.
Cohen Ross joined the Center’s staff after twelve years as a child advocate in New Jersey. A seasoned state EITC campaign organizer, her outreach efforts in New Jersey were recognized as among the best in the country.
As director of Invest in Children, a coalition of New Jersey’s business leaders and child advocates working to improve health and education programs for young children, Cohen Ross spearheaded a statewide WIC Quality Enhancement project and co-founded the Early Childhood Facilities Fund. Her early work in New Jersey resulted in the initiation of a successful state School Breakfast Start-Up Fund.
For individuals living with complex, often chronic conditions, and their families, palliative care can provide relief from symptoms, improve satisfaction and outcomes, and help address critical mental and spiritual needs during difficult times. Now more than ever, there is growing recognition of the importance of palliative care services for individuals with serious illness, such as advance care planning, pain and symptom management, care coordination, and team-based, multi-disciplinary support. These services can help patients and families cope with the symptoms and stressors of disease, better anticipate and avoid crises, and reduce unnecessary and/or unwanted care. While this model is grounded in evidence that demonstrates improved quality of life, better outcomes, and reduced cost for patients, only a fraction of individuals who could benefit from palliative care receive it. 
