Policy & Practice articles from December 2005

Policy & Practice archives from December 2005

Reflections on Katrina.(director's memo)
December 1, 2005... As a lover of Jazz, New Orleans has always had a special allure for me. As I watched the tragic events of Katrina unfold, the classic blues lyrics, "Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?" kept reverberating in my head. I kept thinking...

A partner in deed.(inside story)
December 1, 2005... If the disaster brought out the worst in nature--its unpredictability--it also brought out the best in the human spirit, its dependability and solidarity in times of need. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] While the flooded New Orleans, Louisiana...

Partnership for schools.(my turn)
December 1, 2005... We know all too well the scourge of substance abuse, especially the devastation of methamphetamine on our communities; we see first hand the effects of poverty; and we need no special reminders of the impact of domestic violence on families....

New Hampshire unveils Medicaid waiver proposal.(first things first)
December 1, 2005... The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has unveiled its Medicaid waiver proposal resulting from House Bill 691. The waiver, formally known as "The Transfer of Assets Section 1115 Research and Demonstration Waiver...

Grandparents seen as substitute for foster care.(first things first)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... According to a new report from Fostering Results, children adrift in foster care can find safety, permanence and security with grandparents and other caregivers as an alternative to remaining in foster care. The report, "Family Ties," uses...

Washington improves health care quality.(first things first)
December 1, 2005... As government policy-makers try to wrestle with the expanding cost of delivering health care, the quality of care within their programs seems like a luxury concern. Washington's new Gov. Christine Gregoire thinks a higher level of quality...

Local human service offices receive Hunger Champion awards.(first things first)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... On October 4, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) announced the first Hunger Champion awards, given to local FSP offices rated as providing the best customer service. The offices were nominated by local staff, anti-hunger advocates, program...

HHS announces bonuses for out-of-wedlock birth reduction and TANF.(first things first)(Health and Human Services Department)(Temporary Assistance for Needy Families )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The U.S. Health and Human Services Department has announced awards to states for reductions in out-of-wedlock births and for high performance in the TANF program during FY 2003. Bonuses of $25 million each were awarded to New York, Utah,...

Grants awarded for Mentoring Children of Prisoners affected by Katrina.(first things first)(Administration for Children, Youth, and Families)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The Administration for Children, Youth, and Families announced the award of 28 urgent grants for mentoring services to children who were evacuated due to Hurricane Katrina. The grants, totaling about $3.8 million, were awarded to grantees in...

Staff spotlight.(first things first)
December 1, 2005... Name... Pat Shapiro Time at APHSA... 22 years Title... Senior Research Analyst Place of Birth... Brockton, Mass. A Typical Day Starts With... 30 minutes of exercise--usually a walk with my 11-year...

In the eye of recovery.(Hurricane Rita, Katrina)
December 1, 2005... Human service work at the Louisiana Department of Social Services (DSS) took on a new dimension on August 29, when Hurricane Katrina--and later Hurricane Rita--ravaged the state. The Louisiana DSS had experience in providing short-term...

USDA, Louisiana and APHSA collaborate in hurricane relief.(Department of Agriculture and American Public Human Services Association )
December 1, 2005... Shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana in August, the state's Department of Social Services (DSS) began collaborating with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Hundreds of thousands of people were eligible for the state's disaster...

APHSA thanks these volunteers.
December 1, 2005... Volunteers from State Agencies that Assisted Hurricane Katrina Victims Ten states sent a total of 163 human service workers to Louisiana and Alabama to help with hurricane relief work, mostly with the Disaster Food Stamp Program. The...

The terrible two: Katrina and Rita: cooperation across agencies and the private sector was the watchword for the urgent evacuation of eight nonambulatory, special-needs people living in a Louisiana Intermediate Care Facility for the Mentally Retarded.
December 1, 2005... Announcing its arrival with 145-mph winds, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, submerging entire neighborhoods, swamping Mississippi's beachfront casinos and killing 1,193 people. Following the evacuation of New...

Florida aids Hurricane Katrina survivors.(Florida. Department of Children and Families)
December 1, 2005... In response to the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina, Florida's Department of Children and Families (DCF) partnered with other state agencies to help Gulf Coast evacuees while they relocate within the state. Under Gov. Jeb Bush's...

New Mexico helps organize Katrina relief efforts.
December 1, 2005... Like most of the country, New Mexicans watched with apprehension the developments of Hurricane Katrina as it approached the Gulf Coast in late August. Little did we know that once it hit Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi, our lives at the...

A call for partnership now.
December 1, 2005... When Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf Coast in August and September, they left in their path a trail of devastation unparalleled in our history. The storms not only uprooted physical structures in communities, they also brought to...

Pennsylvania Training Program: a story of partnership and collaboration.
December 1, 2005... SINCE ITS FOUNDING in 1992, the Pennsylvania Child Welfare Training Program has forged a shared vision and commitment among child welfare professionals throughout the state to improve the lives of children and families. Professionals in the...

Role of states in the Faith-Based Initiative.(legal notes)
December 1, 2005... Over the past four years, the president's Faith-Based and Community Initiative (FBCI) has transformed federal rules and policies concerning the public funding of faith-based social service providers (FBOs). The basic principles of the FBCI...

Did someone say 'collaborate?'.(technology speaks)
December 1, 2005... The use of words such as collaborate and cooperate is often contradictory when mentioned in the same sentence among government agencies. Competing priorities, turf battles, resources, and skill constraints make cross-agency initiatives often...

Say what?(technology speaks)
December 1, 2005... This month's euphemism for being fired comes from a friend in the attorney general's office of a neighboring state: "The staff of that section were zeroed out." Another is from a friend at the recent training conference of the APHSA's lawyers...

Indiana starts solving family caseworker shortage with 16 trainees.(state and local news)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Department of Child Services reached an important milestone on September 27, graduating the first of hundreds of new family caseworkers who are being added to shore up an overworked staff looking out for abused and...

Iowa, Illinois share resources to ensure payment.(state and local news)(child-support payments)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... DAVENPORT, Iowa -- Parents can now expect to collect child-support payments easier and faster as a result of a new Quad-City office being operated jointly by the states of Iowa and Illinois. The child-support enforcement satellite office...

Mississippi using technology to improve social services.(state and local news)(Mississippi Department of Human Services)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... JACKSON, Miss. -- The Mississippi Department of Human Services has stepped into the future with the use of software from Information Builders, a business intelligence company, and ESRI, a leader in geographic information system (GIS) software....

North Carolina County has a crisis recovery and detox center.(state and local news)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Cabarrus County now has a crisis recovery and detox center where those in a mental health or substance abuse crisis can get help. Stays of four to six days are possible for crisis stabilization and can help people avoid...

North Carolina County starts unique child-care credential program.(state and local news)(Catawba County, North Carolina)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... CATAWBA, N.C. -- A child-care health and safety credential program, the first of its kind in the state, is helping local child-care centers deliver the highest-quality child-care possible, say officials of the Catawba Valley Public Health...

Oklahoma uses technology to improve caseworker efficiency.(state and local news)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma Department of Human Services uses technology to compile information and generate reports about thousands of children to help caseworkers provide better family services. Using Information Builders' WebFOCUS...

Oregon unveils Child Support Status web site.(state and local news)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... SALEM, Ore. -- Parents with child support cases in the Oregon Child Support System can now access basic case records and review the current status of legal activity in their case. The system requires users to provide basic case-sensitive...

Quality is about social ties and trust for everyone.(making things happen)
December 1, 2005... Economic, health, and social science research has demonstrated how our lives are enhanced by social ties with other people--our families, friends, neighbors, social groups, and co-workers. Increases in these social contacts have been associated...

Jim Hine.(Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Jim Hine will retire on January 31, 2005, as commissioner of the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services. He has served in the Texas State Department for 35 years. Jerry Friedman, executive director of the American Public Human...

Mary Ault.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Mary Ault joined the California Department of Social Services in August as deputy director for the Division of Children and Family Services. She was deputy commissioner for the Office of Program Integrity in the Texas Department of Human...

Dennis Boyle has retired as director of California's Department of Social Services.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Dennis Boyle has retired as director of California's Department of Social Services, Cliff Allenby, current director of the Department of Developmental Services, will become CDSS director as of January 2006.

Bruce Goldberg, administrator of the Office of Oregon Health Policy and Research.(Oregon Department of Social Services)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Bruce Goldberg, administrator of the Office of Oregon Health Policy and Research, has been tapped as the head of the Department of Social Services, succeeding Gary Weeks.

Jim Hardy has been named deputy secretary of medical assistance for the Pennsylvania of Public Welfare.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Jim Hardy has been named deputy secretary of medical assistance for the Pennsylvania of Public Welfare. He replaced David Feinberg, who started his own healthcare consulting and government relations firm in Harrisburg.

Joseph D. Wilcox.(Obituary)
December 1, 2005... Joseph D. Wilcox, 66, formerly of Baton Rouge, La., passed away September 4 in the Oklahoma Veterans Center in Talihina, Okla. He was the president of IT Solutions Management, the oldest of the American Public Human Services Association...

Shay Bilchik.(received the American Public Human Services Association Partnership Award)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Shay Bilchik, chief executive officer and president of the Child Welfare League of America, received the American Public Human Services Association Partnership Award on Aug. 11 at the annual CWLA CEO Roubdtable in Chicago. Since assuming the...

Welcome, new and returning local agency members.(Timothy Griffith)(Karyn Lynch)(Marcia Kennai)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Timothy Griffith Director Baltimore County Department of Social Services Baltimore The city is known as the "City of First". Among the known firsts are the country's first sports organization, the Maryland Jockey...

ISM holds 38th annual conference.(affiliates' corner)
December 1, 2005... IT Solutions Management for Human Services (ISM), the oldest of the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) affiliates, held its 38th annual conference in Greensboro, N.C., on August 28-31. More than 550 state, local, federal and...

Public Welfare Attorneys hold successful training conference.(affiliates' corner)(Brief article)
December 1, 2005... The American Association of Public Welfare Attorneys (AAPWA), an APHSA affiliate organization for attorneys, just completed a successful 38th annual national training and continuing education conference in Providence, R.I. AAPWA has...

Bridging the digital divide.(the field works)
December 1, 2005... Students deserve the opportunity to enter the information age equipped with the tools necessary to meet 21st century challenges. But not all families can afford computers and Internet service. In Austin, Texas, Computers for Learning...

Repetitive reiteration.(words on words)
December 1, 2005... Most writers stutter in rough drafts because they start off by writing as they talk, using redundancies in abundance like radio and television advertising copy. Our vocabulary is full of "personal" friend, "future" planning, "completely"...

Beyond Common Sense: Child Welfare, Child Well-Being, and the Evidence for Policy Reform.(Book Review)
December 1, 2005... Beyond Common Sense: Child Welfare, Child Well-Being, and the Evidence for Policy Reform By Richard Barth, Brenda Jones Harden, John Landsverk, Fred Wulczyn (Editor), and Ying-Ying T. Yuan. Softcover/227 pages/Aldine Transaction, a...

Child Trauma Handbook: A Guide for Helping Trauma-Exposed Children and Adolescents.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2005... Child Trauma Handbook: A Guide for Helping Trauma-Exposed Children and Adolescents By Ricky Greenwald. Softcover 341 pages/The Harworth Press. First edition. 2005/ISBN-13: 978-0-7890-2793-1 Software $26.37 More voluminous--albeit...

Households suffering from hunger.(numbers in the news)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... New U.S. Departure of Agriculture data based on Census Bureau surveys show a fifth consecutive annual increase in the number of Americans living in households suffering from hunger without the resources to afford an adequate diet--USDA The...

Income disparities.(numbers in the news)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... According to new IRS data, income disparities in America grew significantly from 2002 to 2003--Center on Budget and Policy Priorities After adjusting for inflation, the after-tax income of the 1 percent of households with the highest...

Health insurance.(numbers in the news)(employees insurance coverage on health)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The percentage of businesses offering health insurance to their workers has declined steadily over the last five years as the cost of providing coverage continues to outpace inflation and wage growth--the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health...

Unpaid activities.(numbers in the news)(volunteerism)(Brief article)
December 1, 2005... Adults age 55 and older contribute $162 billion of volunteering and unpaid care-giving annually. In 2002, adults age 55-64 earned $655 billion at paid jobs, more than eight times the value of unpaid activities by older Americans--"Value of...

Our Do'ers Profile.(Page B. Walley)(Brief article)(Biography)
December 1, 2005... In Our Do'ers Profile, we highlight some of the hardworking and talented individuals in public human services. This issue features Page Walley the Alabama Department of Health and Human Services. Name: Page B. Walley Title:...