Quinn: The Poor, Disabled and Elderly Will Not be 'Thrown Overboard' in Illinois
from the Belleville News Democrat
 Gov. Pat Quinn last week blamed the General Assembly for possible cuts in social services, and gave a crowd in Belleville "marching orders" to contact their legislators. Hundreds of social service providers and recipients gathered outside the office of LINC Inc. to hold a rally and hear Quinn. LINC, an acronym for Living Independently Now Center, helps people with disabilities live independently. The crowd, which consisted mostly of social workers, social service recipients and their families, cheered several times during the address. More
Springfield Rally Against Budget Cuts
from NASW IL
 The caravan of buses was evident on I-55, as providers, consumers, kids, advocates all descended on Springfield. I am currently standing in the Capitol rotunda, on the rail on the second floor. As you can see, the Capitol is mobbed, with folks from all over the state, all carrying the same message: "FIX THE BUDGET!" The most creative and distressing sign I have seen today reads: Illinois RIP: 1818 – 2009." More
Reconsidering Claims
from Crain's Chicago Business
A bill headed for approval in Springfield gives patients new power to challenge health insurers when they refuse to pay for medical treatments. The measure would entitle anyone covered by a private health plan to an independent review. Subscription required.
Chicago School Helps Inner-city Teens Help Themselves
from USA Today
On the gritty, gang-filled streets of Chicago's West Austin neighborhood, Kyara Lee, 15, remembers crying as she heard: Her cousin was shot dead two blocks from her house. "He lost too much blood," Kyara says. "I just pray to God to protect me." Her prayers, like those of many others on the West Side, are being answered by Christopher Devron, a Jesuit priest who last year made it his mission to found Christ the King Catholic High School, where students can feel safe and work for their education. The school is part of a network of 22 schools established in inner-city neighborhoods from Baltimore to Portland, Ore. More
Nursing Homes in Crosshairs
from Crain's Chicago Business
Illinois nursing home operators are fighting a proposal to move thousands of patients out of their facilities in a state cost-cutting move. It's among recommendations made this month by a panel. Subscription required.
Gay Senior Lives Less Openly in Care Facility
from The Chicago Tribune
The love of Victor Engandela's life was a Czech immigrant, an older, square-jawed man, olive-skinned and Hollywood handsome with a shock of white hair and an unfailingly gentlemanly manner. Joseph was his name. There are pictures of him pressed in a yellowed photo album buried on a shelf in Engandela's room at an Evanston home for seniors. "I was with him," Engandela said, "until he took his final breath." He shares these photos, and stories of a rich life, with no one but the occasional visitor, spending most of his days isolated from his past, surrounded by contemporaries born in an age when homosexuality was taboo. More
Numbers on Welfare See Sharp Increase
from The Wall Street Journal
Welfare rolls, which were slow to rise and actually fell in many states early in the recession, now are climbing across the country for the first time since President Bill Clinton signed legislation pledging "to end welfare as we know it" more than a decade ago. Twenty-three of the 30 largest states, which account for more than 88 percent of the nation's total population, see welfare caseloads above year-ago levels, according to a survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal and the National Conference of State Legislatures. More
Bost Walks Out on Rally with Social Service Workers After Being Heckled
from The Southern
Hecklers at a social service workers rally drowned out State Rep. Mike Bost as he addressed the crowd crammed under Carbondale's Town Square Pavilion in Southern Illinois, leading the Murphysboro Republican to abruptly end his speech and walk out early. Speakers from a handful of social service agencies proceeded Bost often drawing cheers from the crowd as they demanded the state pass a budget, and a tax increase, to fund their services. More
Recovery Act Funds to Strengthen Your Capacity to Meet Your Community's Needs
from National Association of Black Social Workers
The Federal Government recognizes the important work carried out by nonprofit organizations to address the needs of disadvantaged and hard-to-reach populations suffering economic hardships and intends to empower these organizations to be part of economic recovery through the new Strengthening Communities Fund. The Strengthening Communities Fund is now available and applications are due July 7. More
How a Navy Vet Earned Social Worker of the Year
from University of Central Florida Today
Andrea Predl, a graduate of UCF’s Bachelor of Social Work program, was named the state’s 2009 Student Social Worker of the Year at the National Association of Social Workers - Florida Chapter’s annual conference. This is the fourth time in six years a student of the UCF College of Health and Public Affairs has won this award. More
An Emotional Hair Trigger, Often Misread
from The New York Times
In the popular 1999 movie "Girl, Interrupted," Winona Ryder portrays a young woman who tries to commit suicide, then spends nearly a year in a psychiatric hospital with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. The film, based on a 1993 memoir by Susanna Kaysen, was gripping. But experts say it oversimplified this common yet poorly understood mood disorder. More
|
|
