What's Hot Archive
Pennsylvania rocked by 'jailing kids for cash' scandal As scandals from Wall Street to Washington roil the public trust, the justice system in Luzerne County, in the heart of Pennsylvania's struggling coal country, has also fallen prey to corruption. The county has been rocked by a kickback scandal involving two elected judges who essentially jailed kids for cash. Many of the children had appeared before judges without a lawyer. Turnover Rate Improves for Child Services Caseworkers The turnover rate among the front-line workers responsible for Milwaukee County's abused and neglected children improved during the first six months of 2009, according to a report presented Monday at the semi-annual Community Meeting on Child Welfare. Turnover is a chronic problem in providing consistent child services, and child welfare officials promised this year to do something about it. Last Year’s Poverty Rate Was Highest in 12 Years In the recession, the nation’s poverty rate climbed to 13.2 percent last year, up from 12.5 percent in 2007, according to an annual report released Thursday by the Census Bureau. The report also documented a decline in employer-provided health insurance and in coverage for adults...In another sign of both the recession and the long-term stagnation of middle-class wages, median family incomes in 2008 fell to $50,300, compared with $52,200 the year before. This wiped out the income gains of the previous three years, the report said. Perseverance pays at Heartland Human Services After a work stoppage that lasted more than two years, members of AFSCME Local 3494 at Heartland Human Services have finally reached a tentative agreement on a contract with Heartland management. In one of the nation’s longest-running labor disputes, Heartland workers went on strike for a fair contract on July 2, 2007. They ended the strike and attempted to return to work a year later (on July 2, 2008) but were locked out by Heartland management. This agreement would end that lockout and return Heartland employees to work upon its ratification. Indiana considers canceling IBM-led welfare project if no improvements by fall Indiana's privately run welfare project has so many problems that the state could start taking steps to cancel its $1.16 billion contract with IBM as early as this fall, a state official said Tuesday. Secretary Anne Murphy of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration said she asked lead vendor IBM Corp. to submit a "corrective action plan" as part of a process that could result in canceling the 10-year deal if promised improvements don't occur by the end of September. She said she expects to review data from the changes in mid-October...Also criticized were ACS' ties to Murphy's predecessor, Mitch Roob, a former executive at the Texas-based technology vendor. Under the Indiana contract, FSSA outsourced 1,500 of its employees in 2007 to ACS to operate call centers and perform other tasks. Prolonged Job Losses Strain State Agencies Sixteen months into this recession, the total number of jobs lost is nearly twice what it was during the last big recession from 1981 to 1982, and experts predict the American economy has not yet hit bottom... That has put unprecedented pressure on state unemployment agencies despite nationwide efforts to beef up staffing, phone lines and computer systems. And states’ more than $6.5 billion monthly tab for benefit checks is siphoning so much money from their trust funds that all but a few have either borrowed money from the federal government already or will soon need to do so. (Stateline.org, 4/17/09) Union proposes a way to employ more, spend less At a time of rising unemployment and overstretched public funding, the city is facing a serious challenge in trying to engage the workforce and balance its budget. The largest public sector municipal labor union in the city is advocating for an approach it claims would mitigate both problems – helping people to get employed and off welfare, and saving the city money at the same time. District Council 37 called on the Human Resources Administration (HRA) to expand its Job Training Participant model, a temporary employment program for those on welfare to help them back into the workforce...In tandem with the release of a new report condemning $9 billion in contracting for personnel and professional services (out of the city's total procurement expenditure of $16.5 billion), DC37 leaders told City Council last month that the city could save much of that contract budget by reassigning a wide variety of tasks across agencies to city residents enrolled in a much larger JTP program. A Better Understanding of Caseworker Turnover within Child Protective Services As every parent knows, children need stability and consistency. For children involved in the child welfare system, who often come from and continue to live in chaotic circumstances, a caseworker may be their only continuous and stable relationship. High caseworker turnover, however, disrupts continuity and stability. To address this problem, CPPP created a policy paper to analyze turnover data on Texas’ child protective services (CPS) caseworkers and make recommendations about how turnover can be reduced. Next Wave Toolkit Learn how to start a new Next Wave chapter, host an event, get involved in the election or find more information.
|
Tommy Jones
OCSEA, Local 11, Ohio
"When the federal government and the states cut funding to social services it has a ripple effect. Poverty, homelessness and illiteracy are just the beginning. Our union isn't afraid to fight back and make sure important services don't get cut."
|
 |
.gif)
