Policy & Practice articles from December 2006

Policy & Practice archives from December 2006

APHSA conferences and major meetings in 2007.
December 1, 2006... Information about upcoming conferences and meetings is posted, once available, on the APHSA web site at www.aphsa.org. Click on "Conferences and Events" on the home page. Please join us. March 2007 2-5 National Association of...

My top 10 list.(social services)
December 1, 2006... I first developed a fascination with our political process during the 1960 presidential election. Since that time, I have followed every major election with keen interest. There are two things that strike me about the recent midterm elections....

Members and affiliates.(American Public Human Services Association)
December 1, 2006... APHSA is nothing without its members and affiliates. That's why we do everything with a focus to serve them--or you. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Most of our members are grouped under state and local agency member and/or affiliate...

Consensus and dedication.
December 1, 2006... All of us in public human services realize that resolving difficult issues is not a solitary process or one that happens without personal dedication and hard work. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Solving difficult issues usually involves the...

Loan program helps working families secure the American dream.(Alliance for Children and Families)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... A single mother rebuilding her life after a divorce in San Mateo, Calif. A married father of two near Minneapolis who needs reliable transportation to take on a promotion that will mean more economic security for his family. And a Rochester,...

Obesity rate low for low-income children.(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... While America's lowest income adults have a higher incidence of obesity than higher income adults, surprisingly the same isn't true for low-income children, according to a new university study in the September issue of the Journal of Policy...

USDA announces 2006 Hunger Champion Mentor Award recipients.(Department of Agriculture)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced in October the 2006 Food Stamp Hunger Champion Mentor Award recipients for exemplary service in assisting eligible clients obtain food stamp benefits. The recipients are: Food Stamp Hunger...

New technology Bridges gap between health and social services in Illinois.(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... A nonprofit organization in Chicago is seeing big success by using the Internet to connect lower-income families with health and social services they desperately need. RealBenefits is a web-based service that enables health-care providers...

Ursula Gilmore.(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Name... Ursula Gilmore [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Time at APHSA... 16 years Title... Program manager, Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance Place of Birth......

Rules-based eligibility system: the path to a holistic worker.
December 1, 2006... Editor's Note: In 1996, Delaware's Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) had a vision. This vision saw the citizens of Delaware seeking all public assistance services in one office served by one social worker. The state Division of...

How technology enables transformation of human service administration.
December 1, 2006... Editor's Note: Delivering and managing health and human services has never been more complex than it is today. Regulators and policy-makers are continually raising the bar with regard to service levels and reporting. Clients are faced with more...

A system that serves caseworkers and clients.
December 1, 2006... Editor's Note: The Ohio Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) project is a major milestone for the state in that it now has an integrated statewide system that provides real-time support to 5,000 county caseworkers. It...

A law and technology challenge for human services.
December 1, 2006... The information revolution continues to unfold and the human service world is being changed by it every day. This heralds the alteration of previous relationships between agencies and clients and among agencies themselves. Perhaps the single...

What you need to know about human service training.
December 1, 2006... For the past nine years, leaders in human service training evaluation have tackled difficult human resource development questions at the annual National Human Services Training Evaluation Symposium. Here are some of the lessons learned: *...

The multiple benefits of electronic payment card.
December 1, 2006... Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) programs have been around for two decades. Now, all states use EBT cards for food stamp benefit delivery, thanks to the historic 1996 Welfare Reform legislation. More recently, however, many states have...

APHSA employee puts theory into practice.(American Public Human Services Association)(Larry Goolsby)
December 1, 2006... Larry Goolsby is one who walks the talk. And his walk took him hundreds of miles away from Washington, D.C., to a different continent. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The former Food Stamp Program director went to Guatemala last June to...

New Jersey Department of Human Services.(newsmakers)
December 1, 2006... Clarke Bruno has been named commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Human Services.

Minnesota Department of Human Services.(Dennis Erickson retires)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Dennis Erickson, Finance and Management Operations assistant commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS), retired on Dec. 1 after 33 years as a DHS employee. He served 12 DHS commissioners and 11 acting commissioners. He...

Danna Fabella, Contra Costa County, Calif., received the County Welfare Directors Association of California's Leadership Award.(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Danna Fabella, Contra Costa County, Calif., received the County Welfare Directors Association of California's Leadership Award. Before her recent job change to coordinate all county children's programs for the county administrator's office, she...

Colorado Department of Human Services.(newsmakers)
December 1, 2006... Marva Livingston Hammond, director of the Colorado Department of Human Services, has filed for retirement.

Rhode Island Executive Office Health and Human Services.(Jane Hayward appointed)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Jane Hayward has been nominated secretary of the Rhode Island Executive Office Health and Human Services. She has led the office since its inception in March 2004.

University of Texas Health Center.(David Lakey appointed)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... David Lakey, chief of infectious disease and medical director of the Center for Pulmonary and Infectious Disease Control at the University of Texas Health Center, has been named commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Puerto Rico Department of Family.(newsmakers)
December 1, 2006... Felix Matos Rodriguez has been named secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Family, replacing Yolanda Zayas.

Division of Medical Services.(newsmakers)
December 1, 2006... Steve Renne is the interim director of the Division of Medical Services, replacing Michael Ditmore, who retired in November.

Missouri Department of Social Services.(newsmakers)
December 1, 2006... Deborah Scott has been named director of the Missouri Department of Social Services, replacing Gary Sherman. Scott was deputy director.

D.C. Department of Human Services.(newsmakers)
December 1, 2006... Brian Wilbon has been appointed acting director of the D.C. Department of Human Services, replacing Kate Jesberg, who retired in September.

New York City Department of Human Resources.(newsmakers)
December 1, 2006... APHSA's Kathryn Dyjak has joined the New York City Department of Human Resources as deputy commissioner for policy.

Alabama cuts error rate on food stamps.(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Alabama recently received $4.3 million from the federal government for improving its food stamp program. The money was in recognition of Alabama cutting the error rate in food stamp cases from 8 percent in 2004 to 3.68...

Florida County Human Services can be accessed faster.(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... BROOKSVILLE, Fla. -- Applying for food stamps and other help in Hernando County may not take as long as it used to. Residents now can stop by the county Health and Human Services Department to sign up for cash assistance, Medicaid and other...

Child support payments in mid-Michigan counties and Texas going electronic.
December 1, 2006... The Michigan Department of Human Services' Office of Child Support, in coordination with 17 mid-Michigan Friends of the Court, began disbursing some child support payments on Aug. 23, through a debit card. Meanwhile, in Texas, the Panhandle...

Oregon food stamp accuracy tops national average rate.(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... SALEM Ore. -- For the first time in a decade, Oregon's food stamp benefit accuracy rate exceeds the national average and is now one of the top-ranked programs in the nation, the Oregon Department of Human Services announced. The U.S....

Pennsylvania system tracks quality of life for citizens with disabilities.
December 1, 2006... A web-based client information management system run by Pennsylvania's Office of Mental Retardation is doing a lot more than just speeding claims processing and tracking services. It's improving the quality of life for Pennsylvanians with...

ISM conference a smashing success.(affiliates' corner)
December 1, 2006... ISM held its 39th annual conference in Minneapolis Sept. 10-13. The theme of the conference was "A Time of Transition: the Power of Partnerships," reflecting the increasing and varied use of partnerships in the delivery of human services and in...

NAPIPM helps performance measurement.(National Association of Program Information and Performance Measurement)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... The National Association of Program Information and Performance Measurement (NAPIPM) is an APHSA affiliate dedicated to assisting professional staff in assessing and improving their public assistance program performance. Beginning as the...

Record attendance at NASMD fall conference.(National Association of State Medicaid Directors)(Conference news)
December 1, 2006... Federal and state healthcare officials conferred on a wide range of Medicaid issues at the fall conference of the National Association of State Medicaid Directors (NASMD). The conference, held in Arlington, Va., on Nov. 13-15, drew some...

Santa fee conference draws TANF Administrators.(affiliates' corner)
December 1, 2006... The National Association of State TANF Administrators (NASTA) held its conference in Santa Fe, N.M., on Nov. 16-17, with more than 50 representatives from 43 states taking part in the interactive workshops that included: * Work...

300 attend NSDTA parley in Minneapolis.(National Staff Development and Training Association)(Conference news)
December 1, 2006... Almost 300 human service trainers and training managers gathered in Minneapolis in September for the National Staff Development and Training Association's (NSDTA) 2006 Professional Development Institute. "This institute was a very successful...

Child welfare reform in Maine.
December 1, 2006... In 2002, Maine's senior child welfare managers began to look at the outcomes for children under the state's supervision. From that review, a plan for reform began to evolve. Information is beginning to accumulate that change is occurring. For...

Work Over Welfare: The Inside Story of the 1996 Welfare Reform Law.(Book review)
December 1, 2006... Work Over Welfare: The Inside Story of the 1996 Welfare Reform Law. By Ron Haskins, Hardcover/450 pages Brookings Institution Press First edition. 2006/ISBN: 0-8157-3508-3 List Price $21.50 Ten years ago, President Clinton, backed by a...

Most common writing errors.(words on words)
December 1, 2006... Words have a way of telling the world how educated we really are, and wrong usage has a way of making even the best of us sound illiterate. Based on Associated Press, United Press International, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and the New...

Say what?(words on words)
December 1, 2006... I'm told by a friend from HHS in Washington that being "deuced" means to be fired in blogspeak. He also tells me of the HHS regulation that saw the need to define a week as being of "seven days in duration." To be fair, as someone who has to...

New goals and outcomes for Temporary Assistance: state choices in the decade after enactment.(noted studies)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... This review of spending decisions nationwide and in three states--Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin--under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, since its enactment in 1996, finds that: Nationwide, states have evolved...

A Safe Place to Grow: A Group Treatment Manual for Children in Conflicted, Violent, and Separating Homes.(noted studies)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 1, 2006... The prevalence and anguish of children growing up in high-conflict homes creates an urgent need for sound treatment methods that support their healthy development in the face of stresses and vulnerabilities that cycle for generations. Yet the...

Level Best: How Small and Grassroots Nonprofits can Tackle Evaluation and Talk Results.(noted studies)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 1, 2006... This book, written by Marcia Festen and Marianne Philbin, offers guidance that demystifies evaluation and takes into account the challenges and realities of grassroots nonprofit organizations. It provides a new framework for thinking about...

Homelessness in Rural America.(Brief article)(Book review)
December 1, 2006... The rural homeless are often overlooked in the social science literature, and this book by Paul Rollinson and John Pardeck has been designed to fill that void. This groundbreaking text examines the lives of today's rural homeless as well as...

Building strategies to address AIDS today.
December 1, 2006... New York City was one of the first local governments that provided the most comprehensive responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country. The Human Resources Administration's HIV/AIDS Services Administration, now known as HASA, has been in...

Numbers in the news.(poverty, food stamps, health insurance)
December 1, 2006... * Eighty-nine percent of households were "food secure" throughout the entire year in 2005, meaning that they had access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members. The remaining 11 percent of households...

Our do'ers profile.(Geraldine "Gerri" Thompson Robinson of Metro/Nashville Department of Social Services)(Brief biography)
December 1, 2006... In Our Do'ers Profile, we highlight some of the hardworking and talented individuals in public human services. This issue features Gerri Robinson of Metro/Nashville Department of Social Services. Name: Geraldine "Gerri" Thompson Robinson...