"Keep in mind these people have careers ahead of them and you will do fine in remembering your place in history" the news blares at me from the College Professor.
What is the advice for young people to protect themselves from unwanted sexual attention? Good question
While reading this paper, ask yourself as a person what does sexual freedom mean?
Here are some funny things I have come across that I thought I would share.
- Drink alone that way you always know how drunk you are now days anyone is likely to take advantage of you if you are plastered.
- Don’t be alone with anyone you do not want to get it on with. However, keep in mind that friends can take off and leave you without a way to get back to safety; if that happens just grab your ankles and make the best of it.
- When in doubt, fake them out does work. Telling them that another stranger just had sex with you and he looked really contaminated works most of the time they will believe you if they are a stranger. Just keep saying “well you can if you want to; but I would not if I were you”
- However, being on ones Menstruation does not work with the modern man and they may even prefer this due to the risk of pregnancy.
- Swept away like so much of the Victorian rules by the sexual revolution, is the notion that women like it rough especially if one complains this can spread through out the country and make your life really truly miserable.
- Does it mean making love to someone who you can be “ok with” having there baby cause they are that hot?
- Does it mean just having sex with who has been chosen for you?
- Does it mean that anyone who asked that one must allow this intimate behavior in order to keep the peace after all we all know the “trouble makers” who think they have the right to chose? Are we being over taken by a culture who likes orgies the new fuddy-duddies in our generation hate those who want to opt out.
- What do the new anti-rape activist look like? Do they look like mental health professionals?
- Have we traded being leered at by the other sex to being tormented by our own sex?
- We all know the people who hold other people down or take their transportations in order the give those an advantage over the people wanting to opt out?
- Are people frightened when they find the system does not work for them because there is no gray area between reporting someone who likes being the villain and their need to make sure someone knows?
- The system reports to them that “reporting it will destroy the person” they are reporting?
- People are being told that they like it rough and they just need to step up or back it up if they get “bad sex” they were too passive to refuse acknowledge as their own responsibility.
- Lets face it there are no protections for the common people against those who have more influence. The villain instantly gets “up in arms” if someone even dare complain about their performance. These explosive charges instantly put the community at odds with the ungrateful person who to them are rude to talk about private matters. They are labeled as sex-haters and can “like it rough” for the rest of their Adulthood when kept in the same circles. But then they complain when their partners are hesitant and they truly do not get it.
- They believe like a fight like bad sex is just over and you move on. But is it really ever over when someone is completely humiliated? When something that is supposed to be done in love is used against them?
- Questions such as I wonder what I did to bring that on? How can I predict that this will happen again? Who am I? What is the true recovery time? Something changes inside of the society when the laws do not protect the people. You hear arguments and we get it that “they” are in charge and you will never win the argument. But, maybe their sympathy in a world who dictates that all participate in this lash against the people or face the Alpha dominate “in charge crowd” who will back it up.
- It is common beliefs if we all give it to them rough then they can not place us all in jail. Thus, the peer pressures to make sure the connected win this war of the sexes. When in reality they have stolen the words to fight with for the other population and left us no true or easy avenues to fight with words.
- Unless we could pass the anti-bully laws, the whistleblower protection acts, and true accreditation systems for all federal funded systems, the unconnected is truly out numbered and we no longer talk of prosecution but of remedies in trying to heal ourselves and to play smarter in a connected dominated world.
- The connected are highly offended if you do not believe that they have your best interest at heart but some how you just can not feel that they are for real.
- They have made the system of mental health for you to comfort you in your time of need and to give you drugs. But, do not be surprised if you can not get medications for the burn. For some reason even health care providers think that the unconnected brought “this punishment” on themselves so getting medication or the right medication can be very difficult even for health care providers. Be warned health care providers have been known to attack victims even when they do not report the rapes but the damage to their genitals is obvious. So, when in doubt walk out otherwise you may be bleeding even more so than when you came for the visit.
What to watch for?
I am glad you asked. What they are doing when inside of you takes more meaning if they are being mean. For example, some women develop holes in the lining of their vaginal areas between their rectum and their lining inside vaginal area. Be aware that they maybe using their nails or other objects to literally poke a hole in you. In medicine, we call these fistulas. Just try and stay focused and if you are particularly sore after having sex it is important to keep these things in mind. Health care providers may not alert you to this practice or other non life threatening conditions such as sexually transmitted diseases. In fact, most health care practitioners will not test for sexually transmitted diseases because of the reimbursement is so low. They simple examine the vaginal fluid under a microscope and it is not cultured. You may be billed for a Pap smear or sexual transmitted disease test but in reality most private physicians will not pay the additional cost to send this to the lab.
If you do find yourself having pelvic pain and burning and not getting relief after seeking the help of a doctor here are some simple tips.
You can do the following for burning when you urinate or make water:
- Drink lots of water
- Mix one package of kool-aid to one glass of water and sugar for taste and drink it. It can coat the urethral and thus reduce the pain with making water or voiding.
- Maalox to the spots that are burning; it will numb it and you can also use with it some ice which is nice.
- Ice will not hurt you if you insert just a little in the vaginal area
- Keep in mind plain water does not work it does not have the right ph; so add baking soda to the water.
- Vaseline but do not use this if you are not completely dry first; so apply a powder with zinc first and brush it off removing any moisture; then apply the Vaseline.
- Make a baking soda solution to rinse with after going to the bathroom; it will help reset the ph. You can add this to your bath water but keep in mind that it can affect your blood pressure so do not soak for long periods of time.
- Vinegar burns like hell but it does show were the lesions/cuts are at. You can also add this to bath water; Make sure to dilute this vinegar.
- Powder milk baths or just plain oats in the bath water is nice.
- Corn oil is also nice as is baby oil; Warm corn oil is wonderful and makes the skin so soft. It is hard to get enough baby oil to soak ones feet in.
- baby wipes have been reported to burn.
- Over the counter vaginal creams are more effective if taken with one pill of diflucan.
- Macrodatin 100mg P.O one tablet before sexual activity and then one daily for three days will help if you are prone to Urinary tract infections after sex. It is a low dose antibiotic.
- cranberry juice or the cranberry pills sold over the counter are of little benefit and can irritate the bladder.
- You can never use triple antibiotic ointment inside the body; so do not use this at all. Bacitracin can be used on the outside of the body in the pubic area. But do not place high in vaginal area it has been reported to me that the women who have done this have experienced diarrhea and abdominal pain along with yeast infections. Cipro is a better drug of choice if it is just a simple infection from vaginal scrapes and not a sexually transmitted disease.
- Brown sugar and corn oil make a wonderful body scrub and sugar can be very healing.
- Do not use alcohol or alcohol products it does nothing for yeast infections or for sore throats.
- However, if you have nothing else the hand sanitizers have been reported that they burn but will clean nicely. Warning they are highly flammable.
- Refrain from sex is the number one way to let the body heal; it can take up to six months for the burn to completely go away. Be patient.
- Progesterone cream can cause increase heart rates or SVT so be careful.
- Estrogen cream can really help if you have scare tissue in the vaginal area.
- Monistat cream should only be used if you know you have a yeast infection and not just vaginal scrapes.
Keep heart; sex has been going on for a very long time. I am hopeful that a more sophisticated system of functioning will develop in the future. Some creative ideas that I have been hearing are attaching the reporting systems to one of the insurance systems; Similar to speeding tickets so we as a scientific community can get an accurate number on the “they wanted it rough” count. I like the new show bully beat down and just maybe there is hope for the victim have to get some satisfaction. I think the family courts need to step up their game and make it so the smaller offenses are not “life devastating” but maybe have a limit like the three strikes your out law and your home owners insurance goes up. A system that is supportive of reporting and responsive to the needs and privacy of the people who feel it is a duty to report would be nice. Mental health does not really work; it just makes the people feel like the system is corrupt and non supportive. Of course major damage and offenses would be up to the discretion of the courts to do the right thing and protect the people. It would be nice to allow the forensic nurses to go to the place were the victim is located verses the police bringing them to the Emergency room were they are treated like mental health patients. I think we still live in America home of the free. However we all know per the Soviet President that there are not protections for the people and thus the people are responsible to protect themselves. The flaws in the current system are the person may consent to sex but not understand that it is going to be taken to the extreme and damage them. We as a society need to be clearer in our direction we are taking in these sensitive issues. Do we really want fertility police hidden as lovers making it rough on us in order to make us bye their products of birth control?
We have some real tough questions in the up coming years to answer. Are we ready?
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When the seeds of coercion are in play
It cast a shadow of doubt over your way
It causes you to trip and fall and
Wonder why the choices are so small
Do you choose what is good for you? Or
Do you choose because you feel you will lose?
Either way it is not a happy day
It steals your joy along your way
You never know until you watch your life seeds grow
Of what in life’s connections are going to show
Those who believe in their own clout
Gives me serious reasons to doubt
pkm
Just strolling along and enjoying the day you are walking along with your family. It is warm outside but comfortable. The sun is shining and bright. You are not wearing sunglasses. The warm breeze hits your face just as you enter the little shopping centers door when suddenly you feel weak; your stomach tightens and begins to have stomach cramps all over your abdomen. You are unable to really pin point the pain but it is clearly hurting. You begin to break out into a cold sweat unaware that your body is getting ready to shut down. You start moving closer to the floor trying to find something to lay your head on but nothing is close so you go to your knees hoping the pain will pass; Your family gather around you looking concern and really not sure what to do; should they let you recover or call 911? You are quickly loosing your color and turning pale as the cold sweat begins to drip off your nose. Now what? Your heart rate starts to race as high as 230 and you are really trying to calm your self. What ever has happened here? What could be the problem?
Well, you hear the ER doctor saying “young people pass out occasionally.” His matter of fact tone and his take on your story as he was scratching his head. The entire lab tests were normal and in addition the heart rate had recovered as well as the stomach pain. So what is a person to believe about their health after recovering from such a spell?
The search for answers:
The good news is that there are many more tools for searching for answers than what we had just five years ago. The problem is making sense of all the information. The first thing that our person did [we will call her Amy] was to create a health journal. In the morning, she would record the following:
Smiley face = waking up refreshed and before the alarm clock went off. J
Neutral face =:-] getting up with the alarm clock and no symptoms but not cheery.
Sad face = L when she had symptoms or lack of energy.
It is simple; Amy just added her little faces to her planner.
Amy also began to study her routine. Did she really have a routine? She had been discussing exercise with her friend who recommended to Amy to try and be active for at least three hours per day. Amy was not sure if this would work into her busy but inactive schedule. She spends a great amount of time typing and going to meetings. She knew her diet was bad she could feel the grease from the French fries dripping down the little thing that dangles in the back of her throat. Maybe she did need help getting her life back together and on track. “How” was the question at hand? To learn more about her new health quest she went to her magic genie called Google. Amy began to research her symptoms but like the MD had said it was not going to be an easy quest indeed. Maybe it is all in her mind she thought. Maybe she should try something to calm her nerves. She began looking at all the psych symptoms and she just shook her head. Maybe it is her nerves. So, her new journal entries looked like this
Subject: nerves: how do they feel today? Interesting she had a hard time answering this
Objective: Any symptoms today?
Action: Record what one is doing prior to symptoms to see any connections.
Plan: Find what is triggering these events.
She came across article with title like:
Drugs may precipitate an acute attack should be withdrawn and only known safe drugs should be taken; So that begs the question which drugs are safe?
In a sincere search for answers, she also considered what toxins maybe present in her living area or infectious agents. So, were in the body does the body detoxify chemicals? The liver is the places were the blood carries toxins to be cleaned. The heme in the liver is used to detoxify chemical in the liver. The liver detoxifies noxious substances arriving from the blood circulation and it prevents the toxin from entering the total body systemic circulation. The liver converts lipids which are fats to a more water soluble agents which are then excreted in the bile or the urine. The heme also transports oxygen in the blood and the red part of the heme is the porphyrins which carries the iron and heavy metals in the blood. It is interesting to note that sunlight and fluorescent light can trigger the porphyrins part of the blood but not the incandescent bulbs fluorescent; the porphyrins can influence the pituitary gland in the brain and the hormones that are produce here. ACTH, TSH, PRL, GH, endorphins, FSH, and LH. The pituitary hormones help control some of the following body processes:
- Growth
- Blood pressure
- Some aspects of pregnancy and childbirth including stimulation of uterine contractions during childbirth
- Breast milk production
- Sex organ functions in both men and women
- Thyroid gland function
- The conversion of food into energy (metabolism)
- Water and osmolarity regulation in the body
- Secretes ADH (antidiuretic hormone) to control the absorption of water into the kidneys
- Temperature regulation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pituitary_gland
In addition, the compound being taken up by the porphyrins influences the type of symptoms produced. The accumulation varies depending were the porphyrins clog up the system thus creating a wide range of symptoms. The body can experience problems with making heme during a jam of the porphyrins making abnormal red blood cells. The spleen will then break down these abnormal red blood cells creating a worsening anemia for the person experiencing this problem. In addition, the porphyrins start to accumulate in the various body organs which can also create jams and having heavy metal toxic effects on the organs.
Drugs are compounds that are foreign to the human body; serious side effects can occur after taking the drug for a short time or after taking the drug for a long time. Chemical and other environmental exposures can make the liver more likely not to clear the drug or as described above trigger the porphyrins alternative pathways which produce side effects to the drugs. The quests to identify the offending chemicals are complex and are of great concern. Making critical decisions to limit exposures weighing the risk of with holding the compound, careful documentation of symptoms and recording how the person is feeling can help identify provoking factors that impede drug clearance. What is drug clearance? It is a term that means how long the drug is accumulates in the liver and other organs in the body and is assigned a time called a half life. For example Amiodarone is lipophilic and accumulates in the liver and other lipid-laden organs with a half life of 35 to 110 days and has an active major metabolite with even longer elimination half-life from one dose of the drug. So understanding the drug clearance is critical in determining when adverse affects may resolve, potentially improve or determine the prognosis of the adverse event.
What is the environments influence on drug clearance? Another unpleasant truth is environment stressors defined by this article as heavy metals such as lead, mercury, Aluminum, Arsenic, Cadmium, and Nickel. These stressors can interfere with the enzymes that help clear the drugs and the metabolism of the drugs in the body. These Stressors are at least five times denser than water. They are stable elements meaning the body can not break them down and they are bioaccumulative meaning they are passed from your food to your body. Heavy metals are known toxins. Heavy metals or stressors can be taken into the body through inhalation or breathing them in; ingestion by eating them, and through skin absorption. The goal is to limit the intake of these stressors.
What can heavy metals in the body look like?
- Vascular blockages or blood clot
- Reduced hormones
- Insulin resistance meaning the insulin can not get into the pathways to be effective and to work.
- Fatigue
- Musculoskeletal pain
- Allergic hypersensitivity
Where are heavy metals found in the ordinary home?
- Aluminum products such as aluminum foil, cookware, antacids, antiperspirants, baking powder, buffered aspirin, canned acidic foods, food additives, lipstick, medications, anti-diarrhea agents, hemorrhoid medications, vaginal douches, processed cheese and water.
- Arsenic likes to hang with chlorine, sulfur. But can be found in wood preservatives, insecticides, weed killers, fungicides and anti fouling paints. Alloys and certain glass. When burning these articles the arsenic become air borne and can be taken into the body through the air.
- Beryllium gets in the air from burning coal, oil and tobacco.
- Cadmium is used for batteries and plastics metal soldering or welding.
- Lead is found in dark hair dyes, lead pipes in the hot water plumbing or copper plumbing of the house, construction materials, dust from coal trucks or highways, paint, tobacco smoke, and fireworks.
This is the reason why some people react to common items around the house such as perfumes, nail polish, nail polish remover, lip stick, and cleaning solutions.
Foods can also trigger these stressors such as cabbage and char flavoring as examples. The goal is to understand which compounds or items affect heme pathways. If you do not expect to see the symptoms sometimes you may overlook more than just the warning signs but may miss altogether how the symptoms may be linked back to the source. The hurdle most people have to over come is the sticking to the status quo or confirming ones preference. The old saying goes “if you don’t see it often; you often don’t see it” Especially if the symptoms did not develop suddenly but came on gradual. The goal is to create a structure of being more observant of symptoms before they can snow balling into something more serious. Tragically, people are unaware of how these chemical processes through the bodies and may experience an acute attack. When no clear connections emerge from the administration or exposure to the compound and the acute onset of the symptoms, the people may choose to continue the compound unaware that the compound is severely gradually damaging their organs. How can we seek out information that lies beyond our awareness? Know what you are looking for, train your eyes based on research, and develop an outsider’s perception.
Seek information and challenge the absence of disconfirming evidence. Unpack the situation and make time lines, food diaries, record exposure to cleaners and chemical, and any other information. Think in the full context of your situation, you are less likely to disregard important data.
What symptoms should the person look for?
- Abdominal pain: nausea, vomiting, cramps and partial ileus
- Unstable vital signs such as SVT, high or low blood pressure
- Excessive sweating
- Arosclerosis of the upper extremities face and neck
- Dysuria
- Alopecia (hair loss)
- Anemia
- Amenorrhea
- Anemia hemolytic
- Anxiety with panic attacks with tremors
- Loss of Appetite
- Behavioral Changes
- Carbohydrate craving
- Blood clots
- Central Nervous System Lesions
- Corneal Inflammation
- Dysphasia or difficulty in swallowing
- Fatigue
- Fever
- Foot drop
- Gag reflex depressed
- Spasms of the muscles or gastrointestinal system
- Hallucinations
- Hyper pigmentation or brown spots on the body
- High blood pressure
- Hypoesthesia dull sense of touch
- Hyponatremia
- Hypotension or low blood pressure
- Insomnia
- Irritability
- Joint pain
- Nerve palsy: bells palsy the loss of the ability to move or control movement
- Nightmares
- Parenthesis (numbness or tingling sensation)
- Photo sensitivity causing SVT or Syncope (high heart rate over 120 at rest or passing out)
- Skin problems such as small blisters on the hands and feet
- Respiratory spasms such as asthma, coughing, and paralysis
- Retinal Artery spasm
- Seizure
- Migraines
- Urinary Incontinence
- Changes in vision
- Guillanin-Barre’ hands and feet become heavy with progressing paralysis of the whole body.
- Paranoia
- Violent behavior
- Rhabdomyolysis: urine may turn dark in color or red
The difficulty of the person explaining to their health care professionals their symptoms is very complex. The fact is that some drugs are just contraindicated for populations that have experienced any of the above symptoms. The person must be taught how to sharpen their ability to identify the compound or stressors causing these symptoms. It is truly a matter of life and death for the person.
The goal then is to identify the compound or stressor and remove it. Common ones are as follows:
- Alcohol
- Drugs
- Known toxins that have warning on the labels
- Chemical
- Infections
- Surgical procedures
- Low carbohydrate diet
- Menstruation
- seizures
Treatment choices that may help are as follows:
- Glucose tablets of 300 grams per day with close watch on the blood glucose levels
- Monitor for hyperventilation
- Hyponatremia
- Hypomagnesaemia
- Phenergan P.O for the nausea and vomiting
- Medications to treat the SVT or blood pressure problems
- List of drugs that affect the heme clearance can be found on the web at http://www.drugs-porphyria.org/ Always review this list before starting a new drug keeping in mind the symptoms.
- Fasting should be avoided when on medications
- Menstruation is affected by the heme pathway and symptoms can appear one week before the start of the menus in sensitive women.
- A high carbohydrate diet can help with the symptoms. In addition, a low fat, low cholesterol and salt diet helps control the high blood pressure.
- A low carbohydrate diet is strictly forbidden.
- Porphyrins can be flushed from the body by increasing the fluids in the diet so drink plenty of water.
- However, an acute spell limit water intake after the spell to avoid seizure to 700cc/24 hours after the spell.
- The person should strictly avoid activities that place them at risk for dehydration, exhaustion and carbohydrate depletion.
- Alcohol should be limited due to the heavy metals and the dehydration along with smoking.
- Avoid any smoke.
- Protective clothing and mask should be worn if handling chemical such as pesticides, herbicides, formaldehyde, some perfumes, vinyl, latex, allychloride (potable water clarification.), epichlorohydrin (biodiesel) or endrin (rubber), xylene, (Musk Xylene from cosmetic products) halogenated (synthetic organic compounds such as plastic polymers), hydrocarbons, (paints, plastics, food, explosives, drugs, petrochemicals,) hexachlorobenzene, (older pesticides) dioxin (smoke and small amounts animal products and fats, and fish) , and heavy metals such as lead as listed above.
- Do not mix cleaning materials that contain benxzychlorophenol (cleaning toilet bowls) and sodium hypochlorite.(household bleach) http://www.state.nj.us/health/eoh/cehsweb/bleach_fs.pdf
Other problems or exposures that can affect the liver from doing its job in removal of harmful toxins are as follows:
- Hemeochromatosis
- Porphyria
- Exposure to heavy metals
- Exposure to barbiturates or phenytoin
- Chronic hepatitis
- Bronze baby syndrome
- Chronic lymphoblast leukemia
- Chronic myelocytic leukemia
Lab test:
Thyroxine binding globulin test measures blood levels of this substance which is manufactured in the liver. TGB binds to t3t4 prevents the kidneys from flushing the hormones from the blood and release them when and where they are needed to regulate body functions. TGB levels are normally high in pregnancy, in metabolic disorders such as porphyria and certain exposures to drugs anabolic steroids, birth control pills, anti-thyroid agents, clofibrate, estrogen, phenytoin, calculates thiazides and coumadin.
What foods are hard for the liver to clear especially when exposed to stress or compounds? (Please see further reading for links to web sites that discuss these foods in detail)
- Fructose
- Lactose
- Salicylate
- Wheat products
In conclusion, Amy has started a journey in promoting her own health. She is keeping track of all chemicals that come in contact with her body and exposures to know risk factors or hard to clear compounds. When she feels ill she records a frown face; when she feels ok but not bouncing out of bed and maybe slight symptoms she makes neutral face on her day planner; when feels great and full of energy she makes a smiley face on her day planner. She has to learn for herself what makes her feel better. Some people feel worse after eating “healthy foods or vitamins” and or taking vaccines. It is up to Amy to figure out what chemicals to use to improve her health. She can do research and ask trusted people for advice but in the end she is responsible for her life and ultimately for her health. I hope her story helped you in your personal quest for some of life’s toughest problems.
Further reading
- Ram Charan: Conquering a culture of indecision. Harvard Business Review, 2006; pg 108.
- (Bazerman and Chugh, 2006) Max H. Bazerman and Doly Chugh: Decisions without Blinders. Harvard Business Review 206; pg 88.
- (Handschin and Lin i.e. 2005) Christopher Handschin, Jiandie Lin, James Rhee, Anne-Kathrin Peyer, Sherry Chin, Per-Hsuan Wu, Urs A Meyer, and Bruce M. Spiegelman. Nutritional Regulation of Hepatic Heme Biosynthesis and Porphyria through PGC-Ia Cell Volume 122, Issue 4, 26 August 2005, pg 505-515.
- (Porphopedia, the porphyria blog posted at 5/17/2003 10:51)
- (Bronksky, 2005) Neurovisceral Porphyrias:What a Hematologist needs to know; Hematology; 2005, (1):2
- A guide for people with porphyria http://www.uq.edu.au/porphyria/drugs.html
- (frye,2005) Porphyria, Acute, medicine, 2006, July www.emedicine.com/ped/topic/1870.htm
- http://tuberose.com/heavy_metal_toxicity.html.
- Environmental Health Persepetives 105, Supplement1, February 1997: Environmental pp 1-16
- http://www.cc.nih.gov/ccc/supplements/iron.html
- http://www.irondisorders.org
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose_malabsorption#Foods_with_high_fructose_content
- http://www.salicylatesensitivity.com/food-guide
- http://www.healthandfinesse.com/lactose-containing.html
- http://www.ehow.com/how_3797_live-with-allergies.html
332 Organizations and Corporations Support Swift Action to Restore Strong, Comprehensive Whistleblower Rights
An Open Letter to President Obama and Members of Congress
The undersigned organizations and corporations write to support the completion of the landmark, nine-year legislative effort to restore credible whistleblower rights for government employees. We offer our support to expeditiously pass legislation that includes the critical reforms listed below. Whistleblower protection is a foundation for any change in which the public can believe. It does not matter whether the issue is economic recovery, prescription drug safety, environmental protection, infrastructure spending, national health insurance, or foreign policy. We need conscientious public servants willing and able to call attention to waste, fraud and abuse on behalf of the taxpayers.
Unfortunately, every month that passes has very tangible consequences for federal government whistleblowers, because none have viable rights. Last year, on average, 16 whistleblowers a month lost initial decisions from administrative hearings at the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). Since 2000, only two out of 54 whistleblowers have received final rulings in their favor from the MSPB. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, the only court which can hear federal whistleblower appeals of administrative decisions, has consistently ruled against whistleblowers, with whistleblowers winning only three cases out of 202 since October 1994 when Congress last strengthened the law.
It is crucial that Congress restore and modernize the Whistleblower Protection Act by passing all of the following reforms:
•
Grant employees the right to a jury trial in federal court;
•
Extend meaningful protections to FBI and intelligence agency whistleblowers;
•
Strengthen protections for federal contractors, as strong as those provided to DoD contractors and grantees in last year’s defense authorization legislation;
•
Extend meaningful protections to Transportation Security Officers (screeners);
•
Neutralize the government’s use of the “state secrets” privilege;
•
Bar the MSPB from ruling for an agency before whistleblowers have the opportunity to present evidence of retaliation;
•
Provide whistleblowers the right to be made whole, including compensatory damages;
•
Grant comparable due process rights to employees who blow the whistle in the course of a government investigation or who refuse to violate the law; and
•
Remove the Federal Circuit’s monopoly on precedent-setting cases.
We know you share the commitment of every group signing the letter below to more transparency and accountability in government. Please let us know how we can participate to make this good government reform law to protect federal whistleblowers and taxpayers.
Sincerely,Honorable Henry Waxman, Chairman
Joseph Barton, Ranking Member
Energy and Commerce Committee
Honorable Charles Rangel, Chairman
David Camp, Ranking Member
Ways and Means Committee
Honorable George Miller, Chairman
John Kline, Ranking Member
Education and Labor Committee
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C, 20510
Dear Chairmen Miller, Rangel and Waxman:
Our organizations write to request that you include best practices whistleblower
protection for private sector healthcare workers who challenge fraud, waste, abuse, or
violations of the standards and controls in this landmark health care legislation. They
expand the scope of provisions in the discussion draft for narrower groups of workers
such as employees of skilled nursing home facilities.
Since 2006 Congress has enacted or strengthened that cornerstone for
accountability in six laws. They include consumer product manufacturing and retail
commerce, railroads, the trucking industry, metropolitan transit systems, defense
contractors, and all entities receiving stimulus funds.
Whistleblowers will be indispensible as the best resource that exists against fraud
and other institutional misconduct. When recently surveyed by Price Waterhouse, more
than 5,000 CEO’s throughout the world reported that whistleblowers are more effective
in detecting fraud than internal compliance offices, auditors and law enforcement
agencies combined.
Of course, the need for whistleblowers hardly stops with cost control. The most
significant concern is the quality and safety of patient care. Protecting whistleblowers in
the medical industry has more life and death consequences than in any other industry. It
is not realistic to expect that doctors, nurses and other providers will defend medical
consumers when needed, however, if they cannot defend themselves against retaliation.
Our organizations deeply appreciate your consideration of this request. We will
provide any available support that your offices need to help include this safety and
accountability cornerstone in final legislation
Marcel Reid, Chair
ACORN 8
Adele Kushner, Executive Director
Action for a Clean Environment
David Swanson, co-founder
AfterDowningStreet
Pamela Miller, Director
Alaska Community Action on Toxics
Dan Lawn, President
Alaska Forum on Environmental Responsibility
Cindy Shogun, Executive Director
Alaska Wilderness League
Ruth Caplan
Alliance for Democracy
Nan Aron, President
Alliance for Justice
Susan Gordon, Director
Alliance for Nuclear Accountability
Rochelle Becker, Executive Director
Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility
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Abstract
The rapid political, economic and social changes occurring in West Virginia fundamentally affect female health. The denial of reproductive choice, freedom from violence, economic and educational development for women remains the major underpinning ethical issues in West Virginia women’s health care. Fact: In West Virginia the women mortality rates are on the rise. The ability to access health care information and to participate in informed choices continues to be a hot political topic; the separation between, as Senator Byrd says “the two West Virginia’s”, affects the way in which patients are currently being treated in the area’s hospitals. These issues need to be taken into consideration by health authorities, politicians and health care administrators in West Virginia.
The current reforms for women in West Virginia are missing critical capabilities in defining the unobserved differences in health care. Unobserved differences are those that are difficult to measure such as attitudes in our community practices. The arrangement between community services and the “adult entertainment industry” created a system of community based manipulation and intimidation. West Virginia is transitioning to the most critical challenge providing care without fear of retaliation from those who are trying to isolate these women. This paper is designed with the intent to focus our attention on the treatment of females in the hospital setting, and bullying in the community from those who would want us to look the other way and deny these women health care, education and jobs.
Introduction:
The rapid political, economic and social changes occurring in West Virginia fundamentally affect female health. The rapid growth of the adult entertainment industry is responsible for the culture of exclusion for certain people in our communities.
West Virginia is No. 1 in at least one category, according to an item published in The (Portland) Oregonian: We have the nation’s highest concentration of strip clubs per 100,000 people. http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=5735
West Virginia has 84 strip clubs.
“These girls describe the harms that they suffered in the business, including physical abuse, low self-esteem, various other emotional disorders, and accompanying drug and alcohol abuse,” He has seen how young, attractive girls are lured into the business, held there by manipulative tactics, and then are forced to lower themselves to perverse acts on stage and prostitution as their youth and beauty wane. Sadly, these young ladies over time, little by little, become manipulated, controlled and finally destroyed by a world that our communities have closed their eyes to. They become society’s throw away people, used up, degraded, abused and even sold by the people who own these establishments. It has been just as much our fault as theirs for letting these places do this to our children, daughters, nieces, granddaughters, and yes, even mothers,” Sherman said.” http://www.cwfa.org/articles/3342/CFI/cfreport/index.htm
“Strip clubs have grown as a presence on the landscape of West Virginia. While corner slot machine joints are debated on talk radio around West Virginia, little is said as to the lucrative strip club industry. Today, there are more than 85 clubs located in West Virginia. Prostitution, drugs, pornography, crime – these are the result of the burgeoning strip club industry.” http://wvinc.blogspot.com/2005_08_01_archive.html
“The disturbing tendency to treat prostitution as a business or industry not only contributes to the trade in human beings, but is itself evidence of a growing tendency to detach freedom from the moral law and to reduce the rich mystery of human sexuality to a mere commodity.”
Letter of John Paul II to Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran
On the occasion of the International Conference
“Twenty-first Century Slavery – The Human Rights Dimension to Trafficking in Human Beings”
http://www.iast.net/ProstitutionSexTrafficking.htm
However, this paper is focused on the unobserved differences. Unobserved differences are those that are difficult to measure such as attitudes. Let’s begin from the premise that the community profits from the human traffic of women. If I can help define the true scope of the losses suffered in our community by this travesty of justice the better chance I have of changing how the people are treated? I have witnessed first hand the withholding of care by health professionals. I see health professionals attacked at home if they choose not to exclude from care those who they were told to exclude by the leaders in health care and community. You just do not understand how things are done around here. So how do they control the people by manipulated and controlling techniques? What are the punishments for these crimes? Who in our society participates in the controlling and manipulating techniques? What can we do? The number one way to control is to take away community support which includes negative public opinion, attitude of doctors, teachers, lawyers, ministers, family members including husbands and other providers of community support. Tremendous changes have happened in the reorganization of community resources for the support of women. Yet, what really are their choices we keep hearing about. Do they really have access to housing, education, legal and health services? How are we examining the means by which women gain access to and control over economic resources, or capital? What is the cost of job lost? What elucidate the relationship between unemployment, family dissolution and the adult entertainment industry? How does the relationship of bullies or domestic violence in the community contribute to the “adult entertainment industry? Is it affecting every aspect of our culture and community life? The other form of control is making our jobs as hard as possible or taking our jobs so we will go to the strip joint. Rumor has it they are allowed to be nice to you there at first glance. What proportions of the native Appalachian population is being used in this human traffic? How does law enforcement play a role in the adult entertainment industry? What safe guards do we have to make it a fair game? How can we get away from the controlling and manipulating techniques supported by community, government, work forces and other institutions?
Funding is needed to implement the collection of data through new technology like intelliview. Collection of data is reviewed by the accreditation and licensing committee and the legislature. Trends will be identified and help to enacting corrective measures to counter balance the rapid political, economic and social changes occurring that affect men and women’s ability of being in control of their sexuality and lives.
“But despite high educational levels for women, the United States only managed 17th place, reflecting a lack of maternity rights, meager maternity leave, and limited state childcare provision and also scoring poorly on health and well-being.”
Nordic countries best for women
17 May 2005 | Filed under: Diversity. Women & Work.
http://www.management-issues.com/2006/8/24/research/nordic-countries-best-for-women.
The challenge before us is to define situations were these women and men ear marked for the adult entertainment fields are faced with overt discrimination in West Virginia communities.
A vivid example of this is, of course, my own remarks and the ensuing debate in which identified girls are denied quality healthcare experiences, work experiences, legal consultation experiences and views “political correctness” as the foundation of any attempt to temper such statements with a realistic view of the interaction of what just happened here to these people by the community. This paper recognizes that some men are also caught by the same political games that trap the women.
As a result of legal challenges and other social pressures for change, we need to keep up with the new trends in manipulated and controlling techniques by passing laws that limit these techniques. These are a list of laws that I see that are needed in order to make it a fair fight between the women and men ear marked for the adult entertainment industry by the community and the adult entertainment industry are as follows:
- Legislature enacted providing legal redress for targets of workplace, healthcare, law enforcement, court, churches, social services, home and schools bullying, abuse, rape, and harassment of men and women and prescribing penalties. Enacting accreditation processes and grievance processes that are external to these establishments and funding resources are affected by the accreditation and licensing process. The accreditation process should include all people both males and females with fair representation of cultures, citizens, corporate, federal, state, community government, and religious participation. The selection of committee members should be term limited done similar to the jury process selection at random. Extensive training and the use of data collection systems like Intelliview to track the data. Calls should be encouraged. Employment of in home computer based consultants should be used with strict measure not to interfere with the reporting process and strict limits set affecting the ability of the adult industry ways of retaliation against those who log the concerns. The data is used to see trends, and construct legislation responsive to the high rapid political, economical and social changes occurring.
- Restrict activities that encourage separating the parents from the children.
- Funding for the care of the children should be the same no matter who has the children. Parents and Foster parents should receive equal pay. Foster parents should not receive income if the child is not in the home but instead in an institution. Foster parents who place their children into institutions should be reconsidered and taken back through the process of accreditation process for being a foster parent. The foster children concerns need to be logged with the data collected. The current foster care system supports the efforts of the adult industry by taking the incentive of the extended family to help the mothers. Children are at risk for the human trade industry when separated from the parents. Laws are needed that protect all children holding everyone legally responsible not just parents when children are left in their care or given services.
In conclusion, As a result of legal challenges and other social pressures for change, we need to keep up with the new trends in manipulated and controlling techniques by passing laws that limit these techniques. The number one way to control is to take away community support and their children. The challenge before us is to define situations were these women and men ear marked for the adult entertainment fields are faced with overt discrimination in West Virginia communities. Legislature enacted providing legal redress that targets bullying, abuse, rape, and harassment and prescribing penalties. Corruption at every level in the community needs a closer investigation by accreditation and licensing boards made up by fair representation of the Appalachian culture, gender, government, court, religion and others similar to jury selection is needed. The accreditation process is needed to make sure those who are suppose to be doing their jobs are not using jobs as smoke screens for their personal interest. This paper focused on the unobserved differences in our West Virginia communities and concluded that if the adult entertainment industry is legitimate then why do we need all the corruption and manipulation to run this business? Why can they not just charm the ladies and pay them well enough to live independent without government services. Laws should not be enforced based on culture or religious beliefs of those in charge of the women. Religion was used to say that men need to punish Eve for the original sin. Culture is used to justify who gets protection and who does not based on who is in charge of the female or male. Beautiful in its simplicity, Laws should help women and men secure their positions in the family and the community not in the adult entertainment industry and sex trade. Finally, changing the views of “political correctness” tremendous changes need to occur. By using the accreditation and licensing process as a tool for compliance for complicated issues, the community can help make a positive impact on the health care and other services that have traditionally excluded certain people from participation. Huge attempts have been made in order to change the attitude of the medical staff, to improve practices and routines, to maintain an atmosphere of normality; however, without taking the intimidation from inside and outside sources out of the healthcare setting how can we provide care to everyone with out threat of retaliation. The role of Legislation and laws is greatly needed and is emphasized especially in the anti-bulling legislation. Accreditation and licensure initiatives were highly encouraged with the board being composed of Appalachian culture participants and others from multi-diverse pool of participants. The balance between industry and the care of the people need to be under close observation by the government. By allowing the people to report without industry ability to screen the reports is a necessary tool for governments to be pro-active to the rapid political, economic and social changes in order to enact legislation to protect the people’s constitutional rights and human rights based on the United Nations Universal declaration of human rights.
http://www.hrweb.org/legal/udhr.html
UNIVERSAL DECLARATION
OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Preamble
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now, therefore,
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it is independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security of person.
Article 4
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 7
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
Article 9
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 10
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
Article 11
- Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.
- No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.
Article 12
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, or to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
Article 13
- Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.
- Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
Article 14
- Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
- This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 15
- Everyone has the right to a nationality.
- No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
Article 16
- Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
- Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
- The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 17
- Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
- No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
Article 18
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Article 20
- Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
- No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 21
- Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
- Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
- The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
Article 22
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.
Article 23
- Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
- Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
- Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
- Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
Article 24
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Article 25
- Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, and housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
- Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
Article 26
- Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
- Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
- Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
Article 27
- Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
- Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
Article 28
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
Article 29
- Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
- In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
- These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 30
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.
Created on July 6, 1994 / Last edited on January 27, 1997
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of West Virginia assembled, that this Act may be cited as the
“An ACT Relating to providing legal redress for targets of workplace bullying, abuse, and harassment and prescribing penalties.” _____________________________________________
House Bill 0214
_____________________________________________
1 AN ACT relating to providing legal redress for targets of workplace
2 bullying, abuse, and harassment;
3 and prescribing penalties.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF West Virginia:
5 NEW SECTIONS. Sec.1. (1) The legislature finds and declares that:
6 (a) the social and economic well-being of the state is dependent
7 upon healthy and productive employees;
8 (b) Surveys and studies have documented that between sixteen
9 percent and twenty-one percent of employees directly experience health-
10 endangering workplace bullying, abuse, and harassment, and that this
11 behaviors are four times more prevalent than sexual harassment alone;
12 (c) Surveys and studies have documented that abusive work
13 environments can have serious effects on targeted employees, including
14 feelings of shame and humiliation, stress, loss of sleep, severe
15 anxieties, depression, post traumatic stress disorder, reduced immunity to
16 infection, stress-related gastrointestinal disorders, hypertension, and
17 pathophysiology changes that increase the risk of cardiovascular
18 diseases;
p. 1 SHB 2142
1 (d) Surveys and studies have documented that abusive work
2 environments can have serious consequences for employers, including
3 reduced employee productivity and morale, higher turnover and
4 absenteeism rates, and significant increases in medical and workers’
5 compensation claims;
6 (e) Unless mistreated employees have been subjected to abusive
7 treatment at work for unlawful discriminatory reasons, they are
8 unlikely to have legal recourse to redress such treatment;
9 (f) Legal protections from abusive work environments should not be
10 limited to behavior grounded in protected class status such as is
11 provided under employment discrimination statutes; and
12 (g) Existing workers’ compensation plans and common law tort
13 actions are inadequate to discourage this behavior or provide adequate
14 redress to employees who have been harmed by abusive work environments.
15 (2) for these reasons, the legislature intends:
16 (a) to provide legal redress for state employees who have been
17 harmed, psychologically, physically, or economically, by being
18 deliberately subjected to abusive work environments; and
19 (b) to provide legal incentives for the companies and corporations in the state
20 prevent and respond to mistreatment of employees at work.
21 NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The definitions in this section apply
22 throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
23 (1) “Abusive conduct” is conduct of an employer or employee in the
24 workplace, with malice, that a reasonable person would find hostile,
25 offensive, and unrelated to an employer’s legitimate business
26 interests. In considering whether abusive conduct is present, a tier
27 of fact should weigh the severity, nature, and frequency of the
28 conduct. Abusive conduct may include, but is not limited to, repeated
29 infliction of verbal abuse such as the use of derogatory remarks,
30 insults, and epithets; verbal or physical conduct that a reasonable
31 person would find threatening, intimidating, or humiliating; or the
32 gratuitous sabotage or undermining of a person’s work performance. A
33 single acts normally will not constitute abusive conduct, unless
34 especially severe and egregious.
35 (2) “Abusive work environment” is a workplace where an employee is
36 subjected to abusive conduct that is so severe that it causes physical
37 or psychological harm to the employee.
SHB 2142 p. 2
1 (3) “Conduct” is all forms of behavior, including acts and
2 omissions of acts.
3 (4) “Constructive discharge” is abusive conduct (a) which causes
4 the employee to resign, (b) where, prior to resigning, the employee
5 brings to the employer’s attention the existence of the abusive
6 conduct and (c) the employer fails to take reasonable steps to
7 eliminate the abusive conduct.
8 (5) “Employee” means an employee of any company or corporation in the state of West Virginia.
9 (6) “Employer” means any corporation or company doing business in West Virginia.
10 (7) “Malice” is the desire to see another person suffer
11 psychological, physical, or economic harm, without legitimate cause or
12 justifications. Malice may be inferred from the presence of factors
13 such as outward expressions of hostility, harmful conduct inconsistent
14 with an employer’s legitimate business interests, a continuation of
15 harmful, illegitimate conducts after the complainant requests that it
16 cease or demonstrate outward signs of emotional or physical distress
17 in the face of the conduct, or attempts to exploit the complainant’s
18 known psychological or physical vulnerability.
19 (8) “Negative employment decision” is a termination, constructive
20 discharge, demotion, unfavorable reassignment, refusal to promote, or
21 disciplinary actions.
22 (9) “Physical harm” is the material impairment of a person’s
23 physical health or bodily integrity, as documented by a competent
24 physician or supported by competent expert evidence at trial.
25 (10) “Psychological harm” is the material impairment of a person’s
26 mental health, as documented by a competent psychologist, psychiatrist,
27 or psychotherapists, or supported by competent expert evidence at trial.
28 NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) It is an unlawful employment practice
29 under this chapter:
30 (a) To subject an employee to an abusive work environment; or
31 (b) To retaliate in any manner against an employee because he or
32 she has opposed any unlawful employment practice under this chapter, or
33 because he or she has made a charge, testified, assisted, or
34 participated in any manner in an investigation or proceeding under this
35 chapters including, but not limited to, internal proceedings,
36 arbitration and mediation proceedings and legal actions.
p. 3 SHB 2142
1 (2) It is an affirmative defense to an action for an abusive work
2 environments that:
3 (a) The employer exercised reasonable care to prevent and promptly
4 correct the abusive conduct and the aggrieved employee unreasonably
5 failed to take advantage of appropriate preventive or corrective
6 opportunities provided by the employer. This defense is not available
7 when the abusive conduct culminates in a negative employment decision.
8 (b) The complaint is grounded primarily upon a negative employment
9 decisions made consistent with an employer’s legitimate business
10 interests, such as a termination or demotion based on an employee’s
11 poor performance, or the complaint is grounded primarily upon an
12 employer’s reasonable investigation of potentially illegal or unethical
13 activities.
14 (3) An employer is vicariously liable for an unlawful employment
15 practice in violation of this chapter committed by its employee.
16 NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) Where an employer has been found to have
17 committed an unlawful employment practice under this chapter, the court
18 may enjoin the employer from engaging in the unlawful employment
19 practice and may order any other relief that is deemed appropriate
20 including, but not limited to, reinstatement, removal of the offending
21 party from the complainant’s work environment, back pay, front pay,
22 medical expenses, compensation for emotional distress, and attorneys’
23 fees.
24 (2) Where an employer has been found to have committed an unlawful
25 employment practice under this chapter that did not result in a
26 negative employment decision, the employer’s liability for damages for
27 emotional distresses may not exceed twenty-five thousand dollars. This
28 subsections do not apply to individually named co employee defendants.
29 NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. An aggrieved person may file a civil action
30 alleging an unfair employment practice under this chapter only after
31 exhausting all administrative remedies. Such action must be commenced
32 no later than one year after all administrative remedies are exhausted.
33 NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) From July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2010,
SHB 2142 p. 4
1 (2) Beginning July 1, 2010, this chapter applies to all state companies and corporations.
3 NEW SECTION. Sec. 7.
— END —
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/05/fc-financing-ib/
The federal government currently spends approximately $5 billion per year to reimburse States for a portion of their annual foster care expenditures.
The average annual amount of federal foster care funds received by States ranges from $4,155 to $33,091 per eligible child, based on three year average claims from FY2001 through FY2003.
Foster care funding represents 65% of federal funds dedicated to child welfare purposes, and adoption assistance makes up another 22%.
The federal government has, since 1961, shared the cost of foster care services with States. Prior to this time foster care was entirely a State responsibility. Since its very first days foster care funding was intimately linked to federal welfare benefits, then known as the Aid to Dependent Children Program, or ADC. In fact, the federal foster care program was created to settle a dispute with the States over welfare payments to single-parent households. At the time, some States routinely denied welfare payments to families with children born outside of marriage.
From 1961 until 1980, federal foster care funding was part of the federal welfare program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). Since 1980, however, foster care funds have been authorized separately, under title IV-E of the Social Security Act.
It should be noted that while title IV-E eligibility is often discussed as if it represents an entitlement of a particular child to particular benefits or services, it does not. Instead, a child’s title IV-E eligibility entitles a State to federal reimbursement for a portion of the costs expended for that child’s care.
The number of children in foster care began declining slowly in 1999 after more than doubling in the preceding decade.
That each child’s eligibility depends on so many factors, some of which may change from time to time, makes title IV-E a potentially error-prone program to which there is recurrent pressure for accuracy, close procedural scrutiny, and the taking of dis-allowances. On the other hand, the potentially large sums involved mean that dis-allowances are met with procedural disputes, appeals, and protests from agency directors, legislators, and governors. Yet it is not at all clear that the time and effort spent tracking eligibility criteria results in better outcomes for children. For all the complexity of the eligibility process, the number of States out of compliance is actually quite low.
West Virginia claimed $25,000 per child.
If State and local child welfare systems were generally functioning well, most of those concerned might take the view that the approximately $5 billion in federal funds, and even more in State and local funds, was mostly well spent. In fact, however, knowledgeable observers are hard-pressed to name systems that are functioning well overall. Typically one aspect of an agency’s efforts may be lauded, while serious weaknesses are acknowledged in other areas. Even so, good evidence of system performance has, until recently, been hard to come by.
Other federal social services programs such as the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) also fund some services for families experiencing or at risk of child welfare involvement, as can Medicaid.
Some have argued that because foster care is an entitlement for eligible children while service funds are limited, title IV-E encourages foster care placement. However, it does not seem unlikely that caseworkers make placement decisions on the basis of children’s title IV-E eligibility, nor is it likely that judges use title IV-E status as a significant factor in their placement rulings. Indeed, caseworkers and judges are often unaware of children’s eligibility status. A lack of available family services, however, could plausibly tip caseworkers’ decisions toward placement or delay a child’s discharge. Quantifying such effects is difficult, however. While the federal government requires that “reasonable efforts” be made by states to avoid removing a child from his or her home, such antiquated federal-financing rules practically promote it. Title IV-E of the Social Security Act is the largest source of federal funding for child-welfare services, accounting for 53 percent — $4.8 billion — of total federal spending on child welfare in the nation in 2004. This funding is an unlimited entitlement, meaning the more foster children a state has, the more money it gets. But the funds only cover board, care and administrative costs once a child is in the system. States can turn to another federal-funding source, Title IV-B, for child-abuse investigations, substance-abuse programs, counseling and preventive programs, but this funding makes up merely 5 percent of the total federal funding for child welfare. Unlike Title IV-E, it is not unlimited. Federal financing for foster care demands a major overhaul. States should not have to apply for and await approval of waivers that only serve as temporary Band-Aids to a system wide crisis.\ Programs that prevent children from going into the system should be a mandate, fully funded by the federal government, not something that has to be requested by a state in order to implement.
If the government truly wants fewer children in the system, it must back its stated intentions with real dollars.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/02/27/EDGU9GJCNS1.DTL
West Virginia’s system includes both public and private placement resources. However, both systems are administered through WVDHHR and the private chains are seen as resources to the Agency, not as “stand-alone” facilities that take care of the child’s total needs (legal custody is usually given to DHHR). The average foster home is one recruited, trained, evaluated, and certified by Agency employees called Home finders. This foster home may take any type of child but the foster parent will specify the age, race, sex, etc. of the child that they will accept. The private sector maintains its own staff and the choices of children they service are more narrowly defined and prescribed by their agency. Specialized foster care developed because of a lack of regular foster homes who would accept teenagers and those with severe behavior problems. Group facilities, for the most part, are privately owned and operated but must be licensed by WVDHHR.
Each child placed in foster care receives a Medicaid card and a boarding care check. The boarding care rate and structure changed in July, 1995 from one based on the age of the child to a flat rate for all children. Currently (4/96), that rate is $400 per child. The medical coverage is comprehensive and different from the standard medical card since the State has legal custody of the children and are responsible for their care. Additionally, there have been two State Supreme Court decisions that have heavily impacted on child welfare issues. Although it is to early to evaluates these changes, it is felt that termination of parental rights will occur more readily than before and create more of a “best interests of the child” type of atmosphere.
The current boarding care rate for a relative foster family is six-hundred dollars ($600.00) per month per child. Children in Region IV who were under the Region IV Foster Care Pilot Project will continue to receive the Pilot boarding care rate until they permanently exit that placement.
Respite Care Payment
The purpose of respite care is to make available to foster/adoptive parents an opportunity to have time away from caretaking responsibilities. All relative foster/adoptive parents have fourteen (14) days of respite care available each year. The time may be taken all at once or scattered over the year. The foster/adoptive family must find a certified respite provider, another certified foster family, or day care provider to care for the child while the relative foster parent is on respite. The amount paid to the respite provider is the same rate as that paid for boarding care to the relative foster/adoptive family.
Transportation of Foster Children
Kinship/relative caretakers may be reimbursed for the costs of transporting foster children to visits with the biological family or pre-adoptive visits with the potential adoptive family. The rate of reimbursement shall be based on the guidelines for payment of transportation of the Non-Emergency Medical Transportation program. Receipts or invoices are required before this payment can be issued. The receipts or invoices must be kept in the kinship/relative family provider paper record and documented in FACTS in the child=s record and document tracking.
Kinship/relative caretakers may also be reimbursed for the costs of transporting foster children to medical appointments using the Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) program through the Office of Family Support. Applications for NEMT must be made at the local Department office. The child=s worker will assist the kinship/relative caretaker in applying for and use of this service. This payment is made through the Office of Family Support, not through FACTS.
In order to facilitate visitation between children in foster care and their families, child protective services and youth services families may be reimbursed for the costs of the visitation. Payment can also be made to a vendor to provide transportation for the parent to participate in services/treatment, office visits, Multidisciplinary Treatment Team meetings, reviews and court hearings. Receipts or invoices are required before this payment can be issued. The receipts or invoices must be kept in the parent=s paper record and documented in FACTS in document tracking.
The Chafee Transitional Living Program staff will approve an incentive payment to each youth submitting documentation of successful achievement of each of the life skills units.
A child=s initial foster care placement clothing allowance may not exceed $300.00.
Fifteen percent (15%), of the monthly boarding care payment is to be used to purchase necessary clothing items to maintain the child’s wardrobe. The fifteen (15%) can also be used to by certain personal items for the child.
Court Costs/Legal Advertising
Payment for class II legal advertisements must include an invoice with the dates of publication. Other miscellaneous court costs that may occur such as service fees, costs of reproducing legal documents, out-of-state birth certificates, etc. may also be paid through demand payment in FACTS. Receipts or invoices are required before this payment can be issued. The receipts or invoices must be kept in the parent=s paper record and documented in FACTS in document tracking.
Burial Expenses
In the event that a child in foster care dies and there are no resources available to meet the need for funeral home services, a cemetery plot, and burial or cremation services, the child=s worker may issue a demand payment in FACTS for up to $1800.00. Receipts or invoices are required before this payment can be issued. The receipts or invoices must be kept in the child’s paper record and documented in FACTS in document tracking.
Each year, more than 8,000 West Virginia children are abused or neglected. For the fiscal year 2001 alone, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reported that 26,812 children were the subject of an investigated report of child maltreatment and 7,807 were so severe as to require that active Child Protective Services cases be opened. During that same period of time, 2,234 children entered foster care and the total number of children in foster care served for the year was 5,638. On average, on any given day, there are about 3,400 abused or neglected children in foster care. What happens to these children in the State’s custody? In FY 2001, 362 children were adopted but 731 remained waiting for adoption. 888 children were reunited with a family member, 72% of whom were reunited in less than 1 year from removal. Tragically, 846 children remained in foster care for more than 4 years and 44% of them had been in 3 or more placements. 370 children were in foster care for more than 3 years of whom 57% had been in 3 or more placements; 603 children were in care for more than 2 years of whom 55% were in 3 or more placements; and 1,135 children were in care for more than a year with 35% in 3 or more placements. Since after a year, fewer than 28% of reunification occur and after 3 placements, very few children are successfully permanently placed in a substitute family setting, the future for these children with respect to finding a safe and permanent home is in serious doubthttp://www.state.wv.us/WVSCA/cjcolumn/april_03.htm
Percent of African American vs. White Children: in population, victims, entering foster care, in foster care, and waiting for adoption
| White | Af Amer | |
| % in Population | 71% | 14% |
| Victims | 54% | 26% |
| Entering Care | 46% | 28% |
| In Foster Care | 37% | 38% |
| Waiting for Adoption | 34% | 45% |
- Increase in maltreatment
- Increase in poverty
- Lindsey (1991) and Pelton (1989)
- Parental income is the best predictor of child removal and placement
- Majority of children in care from single parent, low-income households
- Physicians may be more likely to attribute injury to abuse in lower income homes
Child welfare agencies in the United States are responsible for the well-being of more than half a million children in foster care. Each day, child welfare officials make decisions about what types of homes to place children in, whether they should be moved to new homes, and whether and when they should be returned to their families. This report indicates that several of these choices influence children’s educational outcomes and calls attention to children in foster care who show a marked change in certain school outcomes after they enter care. Daniel, 8, and Reyna, 7, were in the foster care system for two years and moved from house to house so often that it took them a while to understand the concept of a permanent home after he and his sister were adopted.
So began his odyssey into what has become a booming but little-noticed trend: single men adopting foster children. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-06-14-foster_n.htm
In an era when half of the married population may be expected to divorce, the procedures for electing and assigning judicial personnel to domestic court responsibilities need to be examined. Domestic court judges, at this moment in our history, are extremely powerful persons, controlling the most important decisions of childrearing privilege and asset distribution for millions of families. An individual’s basic rights of parenting his or her own offspring, and enjoying the fruits of his or her own labor, have been seriously compromised in our society. The courts entrusted with these potentially earth-shattering decisions are among our lowest status courts, and judicial personnel are often elected without regard to their level of knowledge and understanding of family dynamics, home economics, or child development. Moreover, they are often on the bench for extended periods of time, and have little likelihood of public criticism from attorneys in their communities since these players in the divorce game depend on the goodwill of their local judges to ensure their success rate and financial livelihood. Finally, their decisions — good or bad, fair or unfair — are largely impervious to modification; Appeals courts are yet another expensive layer of judicial bureaucracy for litigants, and even if litigants are not deterred by financial, mental energy, and exorbitant time costs, the likelihood of appeals court reversals are minimal given the use of the ambiguous and extremely broad, “abuse of judicial discretion” test. Successful modification of trial court judge’s rulings in state supreme courts is an even more unlikely probability. Thus, citizens desperately require a more effective set of remedies for bad judicial decisions, and a more efficient and viable procedure for removal of judges who repeatedly abuse their power. Regardless of whether the abuse stems from gender bias, idiosyncratic or whimsical personality preferences, ignorance, or indifference, judges must be held accountable for the drastic changes they mandate in the lives of their constituents.
http://www.horut/shava.org.il/act/legistlation/doctrine/minority_report_and_policy_recom.htm
My first question dealt with the eligibility requirements for those who apply for food stamps. These individuals must first be a resident of Cabell County. They also have to verify their identity and citizenship. This can be done only by presenting one’s social security card. Ms. Pardue also pointed out that if an individual is employable they must register for work. In order to apply for food stamps one has to show their rent and utility receipts and their monthly paycheck stubs if they are working; with the welfare office being so understaffed it takes longer for people to receive their benefits. Ms. Pardue stated that “this makes the clients hateful, which in turn makes the staff somewhat testy.” It seems that a vicious cycle is occurring with little hope of resolution as long as the case worker to client ratio remains so high. This is a sad state of affairs. Instead of the case worker and client working together they are becoming antagonistic. It is pointed out, in chapter two of Public Welfare, by Greenblatt & Richmond, that many of those who work for the Department of Health and Human Services do so because they want to help people. Unfortunately, after time they might no longer believe that they are helping people but, in fact, doing their work for them. As one worker stated on page 26 of Public Welfare “We do shit for people. Besides, I’m beginning to think that people should handle their own problems.” These are probably the words of an individual who is over worked and feels that he is carrying the problems of the world on his shoulders. Welfare workers can only work within the system. They do not make up the rules and regulations nor do they have a say on how many individuals who are hired to work in the office. These individuals should not be seen as the enemy but, unfortunately, they often are. This is not due to her welfare worker or the bureaucratic red tape that she must continuously endure, but to her diminished self-esteem due to the fact that she can not make it on her own.
Does the mother have physical custody of the children but not legal custody? I know parents who get their physical possession of their children but not the financial checks that go with them. (My sister is one of these people. My mother has her food stamps coming under her control.) A grand parent or an ex-husband may be receiving these benefits but not taking care of the children physically. If the mother complains the children are taken from her.
It has come to my attention that my step daughter’s mother is using at least 2 of the four children she does not have custody of to obtain welfare benefits. One of the children’s fathers called today to let me know that he has to go to court today because CS is saying that he owes child support because she has been collecting benefits.
He has had sole custody since this child was 11 days old. There was a CS order that Mom was supposed to pay to him. She never paid a payment in the 4 years since the order. Last summer she was in a near fatal accident (suicide attempt) in which she lost a leg and lost most of the use of the other. He went to court to release her from her arrearage and all future CS payments due to this. Apparently she obtained welfare benefits after this.
How is it, if there had never been an order for him to pay, that CS can now try to make a case against him when she has never had an order to RECEIVE support? How could she have obtained benefits without showing proof of custody? (They have been divorced since shortly after the child’s birth
My step daughter has a medical card as her father’s employer only offers health insurance for the employee, not for their family. Will CS now come after him for reimbursement if she is also trying to claim her?
What confusion in the dynamics of follows that money?
From what I understand (per her aunt), she applied for SSI but was denied benefits. As far as I’ve seen, everyone gets turned down the first time, but, again according to her family, she has not tried to reapply.
She has never worked. She has always ‘lived off” someone, be it a man, woman, family, or friend. Does work history, or rather, lack of work history have anything to do with being turned down for SSI? (How can you work if you are bullied out of the system or have no access to jobs?)
So by her: using various doctors instead of sticking with one, and using all the area hospitals (ER hopping) to seek narcotic prescriptions and not sticking to her outpatient physical therapy as she is supposed to, (Like when she signed herself out of the hospital’s burn unit during the skin grafting because the nurses wouldn’t let her out to smoke), refusing to go to the rehab hospital for inpatient physical therapy, and trying to forge prescriptions is probably why she will be denied SSDI in the future? (Wow, domestic violence is a tool used to separate mothers from their children. Even during treatment they have no mercy. So what the community drove her to jump or attacked her who her attacker will never see jail time after all it is placed on her shoulders to back it up.)
This shift in focus also reflects the ongoing change created by the
New 1996 welfare law. The Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunities Reconciliation Act not only passes on increased costs and
Responsibility to states, but also sets individual and state work
Participation requirements for welfare recipients. For example, 25
Percent of all families receiving welfare benefits in 1997 and 50 percent
Of all families in 2002 must be in a recognized work related activity. ~
The participation rate for two-parent families is even more demanding
(i.e., 75 percent in 1997 and 90 percent in 1999). States that are unable
to meet these employment standards lose 5 percent of their state block
grant in the first year and an additional 2 percent for each consecutive
failure. The financial penalty is capped at 21 percent (Department of
Health and Human Services).
First, West Virginia is primarily a rural state, with 64 percent ofthe total population living in rural areas. Second, West
Virginia has one of the highest unemployment rates (1 1.5 percent in 1993) and individual poverty rates (i.e.,21 percent of women and 18 percent of men in 1990) in the U.S. In addition, West Virginia had the highest percentage of two parent families receiving AFDC in the nation in 1993. Twenty percent of all West Virginians receiving AFDC were AFDC-UP families (i.e., both parents are present but unemployed) (CPI, 1995). Given these statistics, it should not be surprising that a recent report from the Appalachian Region Commission (ARC) predicted that the majority of counties in West Virginia (compared to other counties in the Appalachian
Region) will face the greatest problems in placing AFDC recipients in jobs (Bischak, 1997). In terms ofmarital status and labor force participation, researchers have found that married women are less likely to work than single women
(Bokemeier et a]., 1983; Deseran et a]., 1993) but that married men are more likely to participate in the labor force (regardless of race and ethnicity) than single men (Tienda & Wilson, 1992). Thus, I expect single welfare recipients to identify different barriers to labor force participation than married workers. Some researchers have found that overall, as the number of children increases, the probability of women entering or staying in the labor force decreases (Bokemeier & Tickarnyer, 1985; Deseran et al.,
1993). Studies also show that women (especially single women) with older children are more likely to be in the labor force than women with younger children (Deseran et al., 1993; Parish, Hao, & Hogan, 1991). I expect welfare recipients in smaller households to identify different barriers to their labor force participation than welfare recipients in larger households. Rural areas are the primary location for resource extraction industries. Resource extraction industries such as coal mining tend to be highly volatile, unstable, capital intensive, and dominated by white males.
In addition, these industries dominate the areas in which they are located and thus limit other employment opportunities for workers (Tickamyer & Tickamyer, 1988). A comparison with other state statistics on welfare recipients indicates that the sample is somewhat representative of the state welfare population. For example, Hannah (1995) found that the average welfare recipient in West Virginia was a 30-year-old white female with two children.
Dependent Variables. The dependent variables are perceived barriers to unemployment. Unemployed West Virginia welfare recipients were asked to indicate on the CPI survey why they are not currently employed. The survey provided a list of 18 perceived barriers to labor force participation. The barriers are as follows: 1) there are no jobs for my skills, 2) I have no job skills, 3) There are no jobs in my community,
4) I have no one to care for my children, 5) I do not have transportation,
6) I want to stay home and raise children, 7) I do not want to work, 
I have to stay home and take care of elderly, 9) I was laid off from my job,
10) the company I worked for went out of business, 1 1) I was fired, 12)
I quit, 13) I am now in a job training program, 14) Physical health
problem, 15) Mental health problem, 16) Continuing education, 17)
Cannot afford child care, and 18) No job experience. 1) Physical disabilities and or health limitations, 2)
Mental health problems, 3) health or behavioral problems of children, 4) Substance abuse, 5) Domestic violence, 6)
Involvement with the child welfare system, 7) Housing
instablity, and Low basic skills and learning disabilities (Olson & Pavetti, 1996, p. ii). There are at least six structural barriers that can also affect a welfare recipient’s ability to move from welfare to work. They are housing instability (Polakow, 1993; Quadagno, 1994; Rank, 1994); accessible, affordable, dependable transportation (CPI, 1995; Polakow,
1993; Rank, 1994); accessible, affordable, dependable child care (Clark
& Long, 1995; Ellwood, 1988; Gordon, 1994; Polakow, 1993); a lack of jobs and or high unemployment rate (Bane & Ellwood, 1994;
Bloomquist, Jensen, & Teixeira, 1988; Danziger & Danziger, 1995;
Jensen & Chitose, 1997); a lack of jobs that utilize the recipient’s skills
(Holzer, 1995); and low-waged labor in which the additional costs of working that stem from child care and transportation outweigh the financial payoff of work (Haveman, 1995; Maynard, 1995). e 3), female, mining earnings, had job training, and number of jobs are significant predictors of the perception that their current unemployment is the result of structural barriers. Developing and diversifying the infrastructure in rural areas is critical in terms of increasing employment opportunities for welfare recipients in West Virginia. It is possible that female welfare recipients with more education have a hard time getting a job with their skill level or have witnessed the difficulty their fathers, husbands, and sons have had in finding suitable jobs. Consequently, these women get shut out of or frustrated in the labor market and thus are more likely to accept traditional definitions (i.e., as a mother, not a worker) of themselves. Thus, it is simply not enough for welfare recipients to receive job training. It is also important to examine the types of Training skillls recipients receive and the demand for those skills in the labor market in which they live and work. In sum, the developing state welfare policies must reflect (not punish) the diversity of welfare recipients in West Virginia. For example, women were significantly more likely than men to identify individual and household barriers to employment. If women are primarily responsible for child care, elder care, and housework, these duties will continue to affect their educational attainment and job opportunities. This gender difference becomes particularly problematic under welfare reform when structural barriers are seen as “legitimate” reasons for unemployment while individual or household barriers are seen as a “choice.” Princeton, a hardscrabble town on the West Virginia side of Big Walker Mountain, has seen its share of such struggles. Half of downtown storefronts stand empty. The marquee of the movie theater advertises, not a first-run flick, but the theater’s current purpose: “soup kitchen.” Even that’s now closed, due to a broken heater.
She has a tough time imagining getting a well-paying job in a town where welfare seems to be the only industry that’s booming.
Still, she says she’s grateful for the government help she gets in
Supporting her three children – and says it could do even more to help women like her learn how to run a successful marriage.
Indeed, in her small public housing apartment she still finds room to
Daydream about finding a good man to help her out of the welfare doldrums.
“I still pray for the right one,” she says.
http://lists101.his.com/pipermail/smartmarriages/2004-January/001781.html
Although the format is based on federal and common state law and practice, nevertheless it is only a model. Laws vary across states, as does the capacity and practices of child welfare agencies and courts to manage their caseload. These factors can and often do create delays that complicate a child’s journey through the child welfare system and often extend his time there.
More than 20 percent of children in foster care will move at least three times and in some cases seven or more times.21 Children move for many reasons, including attrition and lack of training or support for foster families, lack of resources to address a child’s special needs, or because the child’s behavior may be difficult for some foster parents to manage.
- If the child is removed from his home, he is separated from his parents and may be separated from his siblings. He will meet new temporary “parents” and adjust to their lifestyle and house rules. Foster parents may have their own children or other foster children in their homes. The child may have to attend a new school, leaving old friends behind and adjusting to a new teacher and new classmates as well as new rules. The child will have a caseworkers assigned to him. Ideally the caseworkers will visit the child at least once a month. The emotional adjustments will differ for children placed with relatives, or placed in their own neighborhood. The child will have to make these adjustments each time he is moved.
DECISION POINT – The child is placed in a non-relative foster family home.
Although the total number of licensed family foster homes in the United States is not known, in 1998, 38 states reported a total of 133,503 homes.24 Unfortunately, turnover among foster parents is high; 30 to 50 percent leave the system every year.25
Foster parents receive stipends to cover room and board, child care, and clothing. They may also receive Medicaid coverage for the children in their care.
DECISION POINT – The child is placed in a residential facility or in a group home.
The child may be placed in therapeutic foster care, residential child care, or residential psychiatric care if he has emotional, behavioral, physical or medical needs and requires a higher level of supervision and treatment. A child may be placed in group home care because of a shortage of foster family homes. Group home care is more frequently used for older children.
- A group home is a licensed or approved home providing 24-hour care for children in a small group setting that generally has from 7 to 12 children.26
- An institution is a child care facility operated by a public or private child welfare agency and providing 24-hour care and/or treatment for children who require separation from their own homes and group living experiences, i.e. child care institutions, residential treatment facilities, and maternity homes.27
- Federal child welfare funds cannot be used to support children in public facilities that serve more than 25 children or used to maintain children in facilities that are operated primarily for the detention of delinquent youth.28
DECISION POINT – The court reviews progress every six months and holds a permanency hearing after 12 months.
Periodic reviews are held in the court or reported to the court.
- Federal law requires states to review a child’s case at least every six months after placement in foster care to determine whether the placement is still necessary and appropriate, whether the case plan is being properly and adequately followed, and whether progress has been made toward reunifying the family. The case review must also set a target date for the child’s return home, adoption, or other permanent placement.29
However, other studies have noted that approximately 33 percent of children who were reunified with their families re-entered foster care within three years.34 And, approximately 17 percent of children who entered foster care had been in foster care before.35http://pewfostercare.org/docs/index.php?DocID=24
This does not necessarily result in a lot of “bang for the buck” when one looks at the long-term outcomes of foster children – physical and metal illness, unemployment, low graduation rates (estimated around 50 percent), homelessness, incarceration. It is well-established that foster placement itself contributes to these factors. For example, major studies (from MIT, the University of Minnesota and the University of Chicago) have determined that except in extreme cases, children who remain in their homes have better outcomes than children with the same risk factors who are separated from their parents. But according to minutes of the Children’s Justice Initiative Task Force convened in 2006 by the North Dakota judiciary, resources to keep families together are mostly unavailable. It is one thing to spend money on gas and vehicle wear and tear to transport an extra child in the house; having to take a sick child on a long city bus ride to a walk-in clinic on a winter day is another, not to mention having a sick child, no cash in the house for bus fare and no phone. It is one thing to go through more laundry detergent and hot water; it’s another thing to scrub socks and underwear in the bathtub. Oftentimes the public simply cannot imagine the hurdles faced by families in poverty. Perhaps, if they could, they would be a little more willing to help them through these hurdles. Let’s work harder on preventing foster care in the first place. http://prairieguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/foster-care-not-the-best-way/
National Coalition for Child Protection Reform / 53 Skyhill Road (Suite 202) / Alexandria, Va., 22314 / info@nccpr.org / www.nccpr.org
FOSTER CARE VS. FAMILY PRESERVATION: THE TRACK RECORD ON SAFETY AND WELL-BEING
At the heart of the criticism of family preservation is one overriding assumption: If you remove a child from the home, the child will be safe. If you leave a child at home the child is at risk. In fact, there is risk in either direction, but real family preservation programs have a better record for safety than foster care.
And even when families don’t get special help, two major new studies have found that children left in their own homes typically do better than comparably maltreated children placed in foster care.
To understand why, one must first understand one fundamental fact about foster care: It’s not safe. Here’s how we know:
National data on child abuse fatalities show that a child is nearly twice as likely to die of abuse in foster care as in the general population. [1]
A study of reported abuse in Baltimore, found the rate of “substantiated” cases of sexual abuse in foster care more than four times higher than the rate in the general population.[2] Using the same methodology, an Indiana study found three times more physical abuse and twice the rate of sexual abuse in foster homes than in the general population. In group homes there was more than ten times the rate of physical abuse and more than 28 times the rate of sexual abuse as in the general population [2], in part because so many children in the homes abused each other.[3]
Those studies deal only with reported maltreatment. The actual amount of abuse in foster care is likely to be far higher, since agencies have a special incentive not to investigate such reports, since they are, in effect, investigating themselves.
- · A study of foster children in Oregon and Washington State found that nearly one third reported being abused by a foster parent or another adult in a foster home.[4]
- · In a study of investigations of alleged abuse in New Jersey foster homes, the researchers found a lack of “anything approaching reasonable professional judgment” and concluded that “no assurances can be given” that any New Jersey foster child is safe.[5]
- · A lawyer who represents children in Broward County, Florida, says in a sworn affidavit that over a period of just 18 months he was made personally aware of 50 instances of child-on-child sexual abuse involving more than 100 Broward County foster children. The official number during this same period: Seven – because until what the lawyer called “an epidemic of child-on-child sexual abuse” was exposed, the child abuse hotline didn’t accept reports of such abuse.[6]
- · Another Baltimore study, this one examining case records, found abuse in 28 percent of the foster homes studied — more than one in four.[7]
- · A study of cases in Fulton and DeKalb Counties in Georgia found that among children whose case goal was adoption, 34 percent had experienced abuse, neglect, or other harmful conditions. For those children who had recently entered the system, 15 percent had experienced abuse, neglect or other harmful conditions in just one year.[8]
- · Even what is said to be a model foster care program, where caseloads are kept low and workers and foster parents get special training, is not immune. When alumni of the Casey Family Program were interviewed, 24 percent of the girls said they were victims of actual or attempted sexual abuse in their foster homes. Furthermore, this study asked only about abuse in the one foster home the children had been in the longest. A child who had been moved from a foster home precisely because she had been abused there after only a short stay would not even be counted.[9] Officials at the program say they have since lowered the rate of all forms of abuse to “only” 12 percent, but this is based on an in-house survey of the program’s own caseworkers, not outside interviews with the children themselves.[10]
This does not mean that all, or even many, foster parents are abusive. The overwhelming majority do the best they can for the children in their care — like the overwhelming majority of parents, period. But the abusive minority is large enough to cause serious concern. And abuse in foster care does not always mean abuse by foster parents. As happened so often during the Illinois Foster Care Panic for example (see Issue Paper 2), and as the Indiana study shows, it can be caused by foster children abusing each other.
Compare the record of foster care to the record of family preservation.
The original Homebuilders program (See Issue Paper 10) has served 12,000 families since 1982. No child has ever died during a Homebuilders intervention, and only one child has ever died afterwards, more than two decades ago.[11]
Michigan has the nation’s largest family preservation program. The program rigorously follows the Homebuilders model (see Issue Paper 10).
Since 1988, the Michigan family preservation program has served more than 100,000 children. During the first two years, two children died during the intervention. In nearly two decades since, there has not been a single fatality.[12] In contrast, when Illinois effectively abandoned family preservation, there were five child abuse deaths in foster care in just one year. That’s one reason the state subsequently reversed course.
Several states and localities that have bucked the national trend and embraced safe, proven programs to keep families together also have improved child safety.
One state that is leading the nation in reforming child welfare is the last state many people might expect: Alabama.
But Alabama is implementing a consent decree (R.C. v. Hornsby) resulting from a federal lawsuit requiring it to reframe its whole approach to child welfare by following family preservation principles.
Even with an increase in removals in recent years due to methamphetamine, Alabama still removes children at one of the lowest rates in the nation. And in 2006, removals even began to decline again.[13] But re-abuse of children left in their own homes has been cut by 60 percent – to less than half the national average.[14]
An independent, court-appointed monitor concluded that children in Alabama are safer now than before the system switched to a family preservation model. The monitor wrote that “the data strongly support the conclusion that children and families are safer in counties that have implemented the R.C. reforms.”[15]
Illinois also has improved child safety, even as it dramatically reduced its foster care population. (See Issue Paper 2).
Well-being
Confronted with the fact that, for most children, family preservation is, in fact, the safer option, child savers sometimes seek to change the subject to children’s overall well-being. Maybe children are seriously safe, but they couldn’t really be doing better in life when left with birth parents, could they?
They could, and they do.
The largest study ever to try to measure well-being compared outcomes for more than 15,000 children who came to the attention of child protective services from 1990 through mid-2003. The study looked at teen pregnancy, juvenile arrests, and youth unemployment.
On every measure, children left with their own homes did better than comparably maltreated children placed in foster care. And that was true even though birth families generally got only the conventional “help” offered by child welfare agencies, not the exemplary interventions supported by NCCPR.[16]
When University of Minnesota researchers compared children left in their own homes with comparably maltreated children placed in foster care, they too found that the children left in their own homes did better, even when the birth families got little or no help at all.[17]
Why it works:
There are three primary reasons for the better safety record of communities that embrace safe, proven programs to keep families together:
- · Most of the parents caught in the net of child protective services are not who most people think they are. (See Issue Paper 5).
- · When child welfare systems take family preservation seriously, foster care populations stabilize or decline. Workers have more time to find the children who really do need to be placed in foster care. (See Issue Paper 8).
- · Family preservation workers see families in many different settings for many hours at a time. Because of that, and because they are usually better trained than child protective workers they are far more likely than conventional child protective workers to know when a family can’t be preserved — and contrary to stereotype, they do place child safety first. (See Issue Paper 8)
As for the better well-being for children left in their own homes, that is no testament to typical services for families. Rather it is evidence of just how toxic an intervention it really is to tear a child from everyone she or he knows and loves. Anything that toxic should be used sparingly and in very small doses.
Updated November 4, 2007
1. About 0.73 percent of American children are in foster care, but 1.22 percent of child abuse fatalities are in foster care. U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families. Child Maltreatment 2002 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2001). See chart in Chapter Four, also available online Back to Text.
2. Mary I. Benedict and Susan Zuravin, Factors Associated With Child Maltreatment by Family Foster Care Providers (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, June 30, 1992) charts, pp. 28,30. Back to Text.
3. J William Spencer and Dean D. Kundsen, “Out of Home Maltreatment: An Analysis of Risk in Various Settings for Children,” Children And Youth Services Review Vol. 14, pp. 485-492, 1992. Back to Text.
4. Leslie Kaufman and Richard Lezin Jones, “Report finds flaws in inquiries on foster abuse in New Jersey.” The New York Times, May 23, 2003. Back to Text.
5. Affidavit of David S. Bazerman, Esq, Ward v. Feaver, Case# 98-7137, United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, Fort Lauderdale Division, Dec. 16, 1998, p.4. Back to Text.
6. Children’s Rights, Inc., “Expert research report finds children still unsafe in Fulton and Dekalb foster care,” Press release, November 5, 2004.
7. Memorandum and Order of Judge Joseph G. Howard, L.J. v. Massinga, Civil No. JH-84-4409, United States District Court for the District of Maryland, July 27, 1987. Back to Text.
8. Peter Pecora, et. al., Improving Family Foster Care: Findings from the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study (Seattle: Casey Family Programs, 2005).
9. David Fanshel, et. al., Foster Children in a Life Course Perspective (New York: Columbia University Press, 1990), p. 90. Back to Text.
10. How Are The Children Doing? Assessing Youth Outcomes in Family Foster Care. (Seattle: Casey Family Program, 1998). Back to Text.
11. Personal communication from Charlotte Booth, Executive Director, Homebuilders. Even in the one case in which a child died after the intervention, in 1987, Homebuilders had warned that the child was in danger and been ignored. Back to Text.
12. Personal Communication, Susan Kelly, former director of family preservation services, Michigan Department of Social Services. Back to Text.
13. In 2006, the most recent year for which data are available, Alabama removed 15.5 children for every thousand impoverished children. The national average was 23.5. Back to Text.
14. Erik Eckholm , “Once Woeful, Alabama Is Model in Child Welfare,” The New York Times, August 20, 2005.
15. Ivor D. Groves, System of Care Implementation: Performance, Outcomes, and Compliance, March, 1996, Executive Summary, p.3. Back to Text.
16. Joseph J. Doyle, Jr. , “Child Protection and Child Outcomes: Measuring the Effect of Foster Care” American Economic Review: In Press, 2007. This study is available online at http://www.mit.edu/~jjdoyle/doyle_fosterlt_march07_aer.pdf
17. Byron Egeland, et. al., “The impact of foster care on development” Development and Psychopathology, (Vol. 18, 2006, pp. 57–76).
It was probably just talk. The man was frustrated and likely never had any real intention of murdering his wife. Then again, who knows? Spouses kill spouses for many reasons. But the most intriguing reason may be this: Sometimes men – and let’s be clear here, it is almost always men – decide to murder their wives simply as a way to end a rocky, unhappy marriage and avoid a divorce that could ruin their bank accounts or trash their reputations or spoil a dream life they have concocted for themselves. It is bizarre, seemingly inexplicable choice, especially considering the type of men involved. They are not hardened criminals, by and large, but rather domesticated suburb dwellers with fine cars, big houses, and nice wives. When the cops show up after these same wives turn up dead, the neighbors are shocked. Not here, they say. Not this guy. He wouldn’t choose murder over divorce, the risk of prison time over child support payments. He wouldn’t do this. To observers – and ultimately to jurors – it makes absolutely no sense. And yet the list of apparently nice, normal suburban Massachusetts men who have made this decision is long and infamous. It’s just not that uncommon,” according to Bill Mason, the elected prosecutor in Cleveland, where, he says, three seemingly law-abiding men have ended their marriages by murdering their wives in the last five years. It’s become so common, in fact, that last year Mason coined a term to describe these kinds of murders: “divorce substitute.” But just why men would choose to kill instead of leave remains a mystery to many.
“Honestly, I think that really is the $64,000 question,” says US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan for the District of Massachusetts. “Why not just simply get divorced?”
DAVID ADAMS, A LICENSED PSYCHOLOGIST, HAS SPENT A DECADE trying to answer that question. Adams, mustachioed and bespectacled, is a cofounder and co-director of Emerge, a Cambridge program that in 1977 became the first in the nation to offer counseling to men who abuse women. Adams spends his days sitting in a room with men who talk about why they hit their wives or girlfriends. About 10 years ago, he began visiting Massachusetts prisons to meet men who had killed the women they once loved. He wanted to ask that question – why? – and discovered that their motivations fell into five categories: Some men were jealous; some were hopped up on drugs; some were career criminals; some were suicidal or depressed; and some, Adams found, were what he calls “the materially motivated.” But more often than not, Hill says, these are classic cases of domestic violence, often prompted by women trying to leave, with no plotting on the men’s part to avoid divorce settlements or minimize damage to assets or good names. In the suburbs, Hill says, the murder cases often take on a different twist and become “more bizarre.” The men involved often have something to lose: fine cars, nice homes, reputations they’ve carefully crafted, or lives that others consider perfect. Yet those lives are never as perfect as they appear. Typically, Adams says, these men are keeping secrets – secrets they will do almost anything to protect. “They tend to have affairs,” he says. “They tend to have a lot of financial dealings on the side. Remember Charles Stuart? His secret wish was to marry his mistress and buy a restaurant with her. And when his wife became pregnant . . . that was taking him farther away from his dream.”Continued.. It’s a troublesome trend for Jane Doe’s executive director, Mary Lauby. She worries that the statistics may be an indication that domestic violence programs are underfunded and failing to reach those who need help most. And that affects everyone, she says, no matter if they live in Boston or its finest suburbs. As she sees it, the Dirk Greineders and David Magraws, who go to great lengths to conceal the murders of their wives and later make for fantastic Court TV, aren’t much different from your run-of-the-mill wife-beating husbands who get no headlines at all. Violence or threats of violence often precede their attempts to kill, says Lauby. These men feel as if they own the woman. And, most of all, they crave control. “What appears around friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers as a guy who’s not ‘out of control,’ ” says Lauby, “is somebody who’s spending an awful lot of time ensuring that he or she – but mostly he – keeps in control of that relationship.”
. The major underlying reason for these massive income differences is often put in negative terms – women are “not in the paid workforce” or are working “only part-time” or have “interrupted careers”. But these terms are misleading. Women earn less than men not because they are not working, or are working less, but because they are working without earning. They are doing unpaid work, at home and in the community. Even more importantly, they are held responsible for most of the vital unpaid work which our society requires, whether they are actually doing it or not. Unpaid work responsibilities are not compatible with very long hours or with unpredictable hours and income. Part-time jobs for women are viable only when they are combined with a partner’s stable full-time wage. Increasingly that is not the case. Instead the DPB is really an unemployment benefit – but of a very strange kind.
The woman who gets the DPB is getting it because, in effect, she has either failed to get, left, or got the sack from her previous job – not the job of looking after children, or the paid job she perhaps had to leave when she became a sole parent, but the job of looking after a male breadwinner, in return for a share of his wages. However, being responsible for the children prevents her from taking a paid job to replace the lost share of the male wage. The task of looking after the children is not a contribution in its own right, and it is not work in return for the DPB. It is merely an obstacle stopping her from contributing to society through paid work. The language of the latest document from Social Welfare, whose title is From Welfare to Wellbeing, makes this quite clear. Its income support vision is to enable people on income support, including women on the DPB, “to transform dependency into contribution”.The unemployment benefit is much simpler. It has nothing to do with unpaid work. It too is a replacement for a missing wage – but in this case it is a replacement for the person’s own missing wage, not someone else’s. In June 1995, over 83,000 men were getting unemployment benefit, compared with only 34,000 women. Over one in four of the men were married, compared with fewer than one in eleven of the women. Married women who lose their jobs are not entitled to unemployment benefit if they have husbands who earn more than a pittance. They must simply go back to their real jobs – looking after a man in paid work. If the husband loses his job and gets an unemployment benefit, the couple is not allowed to earn more than $80 a week between them before the benefit – his benefit – starts to disappear. http://www.geocities.com/ubinz/AElse1996.html
Dear Colleagues,
I’ve been reading data for years on the subject of
immunization and have personally experienced
popular media censorship and control of public
documentation on other medical issues in favor
of promoting pharmaceutical corporate interests.
This is a serious concern that nurses must be
independently educated about for the sake of
the people we serve. The recent H1N1 scare
provides an urgency to understanding these
issues.
It is in that interest I share with you these interviews,
which are the best summaries of the research I have
heard on H1N1, general issues of immunization and
the forces that support massive health misinformation.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/11/03/What-We-Have-Learned-About-the-Great-Swine-Flu-Pandemic.aspx
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/21/Special-Swine-Flu-Update.aspx
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/27/Obama-Declares-Swine-Flu-Emergency.aspx
More Here
http://swineflu.mercola.com/sites/swineflu/home.aspx
By the way, my 5 yo. granddaughter had a fever for one
day and recovered with no problems. My daughter got
the fever with nausea/vomiting, went to her doctor, was
told she had H1N1, got tamaflu, got sicker and then got
a call from the physician’s office saying it was not H1N1
nor the flu. She has gotten the flu shot in the past,
and has still not fully recovered from whatever she got.
What concerns me more than anything is that now the
children are being indoctrinated with advertising about
being vaccinated. I took my 8 yo granddaughter to a
Disney movie and saw 5 commercials stating that
adolescents need a minimum of six immunizations.
People look to us, Nurses, for accurate information on
these issues. Let’s get our information from sources
other than the pharmaceutical companies via ads and
the media.
I urge you to watch these videos and let me know what
you think.
Thank You for checking this out for yourself!
Warm Regards,
Aila
–
Aila Accad, RN, MSN
‘Your Stress-Busters Coach’
Award-Winning Speaker
Best-Selling Author
Well-Being Coach
In the evening after school, was a little girl who did not want to do her homework? She always thought homework was boring. She wanted to run away, climb a tree, or watch the dogs bark out the window.
“Stop it is annoying to have to do homework” Ebone the little girl said to her Ms Pam who was trying to help her with her homework.
“Why do I have to learn?” She said. “I wish I could play all day.
“No, I don’t I just want to tear pretty paper and place it over my mouth just like this.” she showed Ms Pam pretty paper she had over her mouth.
“This is much more fun reading exciting books.” Ebone said.
“Those school books are not exciting they are stupid.” She said.
Ebone does not understand the books. She wants to live in a log. She does not know who she wants to be when she grows up. She is thinking about hanging out with frogs, snails and worms under her perfect log.
What are the things Ebone must do to have the perfect log.
- She must find her log.
- She must find the perfect frog.
- She must invite the snails and worms to her log warming party.
Ebone found her shoes and jacket and headed toward the door.
“Were you going?” Ms Pam asked Ebone.
“I am going to find my perfect log to live in.” saids Ebone.
“Ok,” said Ms Pam. “Come back when you have time to do your work and clean your room.”
![16_StSimon4[1]](http://pmcmil2000.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/16_stsimon411.jpg?w=468&h=312 "16_StSimon4[1]")
![22_StSimon10[1]](http://pmcmil2000.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/22_stsimon101.jpg?w=468&h=312 "22_StSimon10[1]")
Ebone walked and walked until she came to a nice size hill behind Ms. Pam’s house.
![buffalo_mountain_summer[1]](http://pmcmil2000.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/buffalo_mountain_summer1.jpg?w=510&h=361 "buffalo_mountain_summer[1]")
She found the perfect log. It was large and roomy just right for her new found friends.
She met up with a lovely frog and some nice size snails and worms. They all were in the log when suddenly the log began to roll because Ebone was bigger than everybody else in the log. Down went the log over the hill. Down went Ebone over the hill. The log sat at the bottom of the hill. Ebone stood up and brushed the leaves off her pants and out of her hair. Knowledge is hard to come by so Ebone calls her friend the carpenter. How is her carpenter friend going to teach her how to stop the log from rolling over the hill? More important how is she going to get the log back on top of the hill. It wasn’t until that moment- when Ebone realized she was going to need a lot of help to get her log back on top of the hill. The carpenter asked Ebone a question. “Ebone” he said, “Do you want your log on the top of the hill or the bottom of the hill?”
Ebone really thought about it. She loved to see the birds fly. She loves to see the sunset over the hill. She would not be able to see these things so clear if the log remained at the bottom of the hill. So it was clear to Ebone that she wanted her log at the top of the hill.
“WoW” is what her carpenter friend said.
“How are we going to get your very large log to the top of the very steep hill?” He said.
“We have plenty of help.” said Ebone.
“Who”asked the Carpenter?
“The frogs, snails and worms can help us.” Ebone said.
“I don’t think they can help us they are at the top of the hill and your log is at the bottom of the hill that is a problem.” He said.
“Maybe we could go to the marketplace and find some help.” She said.
“Good idea except how are we going to get money to pay for the help.” Carpenter said.
“Ok, we will go to my friend Ashley’s farm and help them with their animals. Then, Ashley will help me pay to get my log moved.
“Call me when you get the help to move the log.” Carpenter said.
Ebone sat down on her log. How was she going to keep all the animals from straying away from her log while she was away? She did not want to leave her friends while she was working. She began to feel sorry for herself and tears began to sting her eyes.
Over in the field was a large black bull eatting grass. He looked at Ebone and you could tell by his eyes he was laughing. You could see in his eyes this statement as follows: Why are you hanging out with frogs, snails and worms. The People walked by Ebone sitting on her log. The people knew ehat they were willing to pay, and they use this knowledge from school work to help Ebone figure out her problems. She would need something to move her log back up on the hill.
“I want the knowlegde you have to get my log back upon the hill.” She said.
The people said to Ebone go to school and read your books. You will find the answers to your problem in the books.
“Oh, no I do not like books! Not really…they are boring. I have not found the right book with the right answers yet. Just think I will have to learn to read in order to find the right answers. “If I want to get my heavy log back up the steep hill, I will have to do my homework.” She lay down on her log and went to sleep. Her tears driped down her chin and fell on the snail. The snail was offended by the tear getting his shell all wet. He decided to go down the road and swim in the pond. If he was going to be wet he might as well enjoy it. Ebone woke up from her nap. Is it different now? She looked around her log was still were she left it at the bottom of the hill. Ebone decided to leave her log. She wanders back into her friend Ms Pam’s yard. She decided that doing her homework was easier than moving her favorite log to her favorite spot on the hill. Her friend Ms Pam was very happy to see her doing her homework and cleaning her room. The lesson to this story is that little girls should not hang out with frogs and other little creature who live in logs and they should do their homework.
Isabella Smith was always getting into trouble at school. She was the kind of girl who just couldn’t resist saying potty words. Isabella lived with her mom, her step dad, sister Lakota, and her brother Rahmel. Everyone was used to Isabella potty mouth. Lakota never missed a chance to tell Mom and her step dad when she thought Isabella was using potty mouth words. That’s how she found out Isabella was using potty mouth words in school. Now, as a punishment for her behavior, Isabella found herself faced with the chore of tidying up the house and picking all the toys that all the kids especially baby Rahmel had played with that day. Isabella would look at the sunshine coming through grimy dust cover glass pane from the window. Isabella felt sorry for herself. She could just see herself running and playing with her friends Harley, Haley, and Jodi at the big city park. She could remember smelling the sweet smells of her mothers home made chocolate filled with vanilla pudding cake as she and her friends playing past the park shelter. Because of her temper and her potty mouth, Isabella did not get any of her favorite cake last week at the park. Isabella starting praying Lord please helps me with my potty mouth. I just want never to miss again an opportunity to eat my favorite chocolate and vanilla filled cake. Isabella really wanted to be a very good Christian but she just could not help when those potty words started coming out of her mouth.
Imagine Isabella playing outside with her friends at the park eating her favorite cake.
Suddenly Isabella hears a crash, bang and bong. Boom! Boom! Boom!
It was her favorite sister Lakota and her baby brother Rahmel coming into the room dragging in front of them and behind the toy box that Isabella had just picked up. Those two were up to their ordinary mischief of dumping back out the toy box and playing in the toys.
“Ugh!” Isabella said. “It has happened eight times today already”
NO NO You two not again. Isabella runs to save the toy box from tipping over and spilling out all those little tiny toys. These little things like Barbie go flying all over the room. Poor little Isabella she felt doomed. Would this room ever be clean? She could just feel the urge for Potty words bubbling closer to her lips. She had to have a plan. She would try and distract them by their favorite TV show sponge Bob square pants. It seemed like a good plan. But would it work? Isabella thought. “Um” Maybe I should get them something to drink first in their Sippy cups.
The kids were running and laughing. Isabella said Kids do you want to watch Sponge Bob square pants.
The kids yelled “yes”
Except they did not do it as plan they were still trying to dump out the toy box. She heard the potty words ringing in her ears but something deep inside of her said NO I can’t say the potty words. Isabella walked out of the room and she turned the TV really loud so the kids could here it. She started playing in the living room like she was having fun to get the kids to follow her. But, it did not work. The kids were having nothing to do with it they had just turned over the toy box and were jumping and laughing.
“Look at me I am a money on a tree” says Lakota. Rahmel says “mum mum”
Isabella started laughing they looked so silly dancing and playing and laughing.
Isabella picked up Rahmel and gave him a big olde hug.
Rahmel started squirming
“Down down” says Rahmel.
Finally, Isabella got those two cat birds to go and watch some TV. She thought they got awfully quite and she went to check on them. Sure enough they were resting quietly sleeping.
Isabella mom came home about that time right behind her was her step dad. You could see a bit of disappointment in her mother’s eyes when she saw the toy box was still scattered everywhere.
Isabella tried to explain about the babies but her mom was not having any of that today.
The good thing was the children were sleeping and the toys quickly got picked up. Isabella was free at last.
She finally stood up and looked out the grimy window across the street were her friends were waiting on her. Her heart gave a quick jump and she was out the door as fast as she could go.
The rest day was lovely and the little ones her baby brother and sister were sound a sleep on the sofa. Isabella was so proud of herself because she had made a difference that day. No potty words came out.
The End
October 7, 2009
By Ms Ebone Shae Tawney
Typed by Pamela McMillion
One of the great joys of writing about the 1974 Book protest is the opportunity it gives me to address such a broad range of political topics. In the past year alone, I’ve used this experience to discuss everything from Anti-bully legislation to Health Care Reform. I always look forward to what the next challenge will be. Today, I get to go where I have not visited for a long time and talk politics. (And no, I am not running for anything.
)
Earlier this year, I began interacting with the program called Facebook. I have joined bunches of groups but tonight I have come across a group that is going to discuss the Great 1974 Book protest. The name Book protest was given to this movement by the Public School Educators who did not want to think of a better name.
You would have thought that they could have come up with a much more creative name than simply “Book Protest”
The names I would have developed had I not just been 9 years old would have been the following:
- Conflict or Choices promoting Parent involvement in the federally funded public schools Protest.
- Social Readjustment Debates about: bullies, parents on school property and the pornography industry.
- Creating real grievance system debates and opts out programs from federally funded services.
- Debates on understanding the trouble public school system and why they do not want parents on property. (It is noteworthy that this policy of not allowing the parents to participate on school property was the real spark that started the protest.)
- The proper study of the differences between administrative personnel and the parent they serve.
- The Triangles of the old verse the new the public schools administration ability to separate from the parental role to the collaborator role with parents and go to new places.
- Headlines: The argument continues to escalate: who is responsible for the children’s well being while at school the school administrator, the parent or both?
- The heart of the drama: injecting family into the public school experience in the form of volunteers.
For the past 35 years, I have sat quietly by listening to the wild stories blown out of proportion about the 1974 book protest. I am deeply proud to have been part of this great American redesign. Now, for the newbie’s let me bring you up to speed on West Virginia history. In 1921, West Virginia took on the whole United States when the Battle of Blair Mountain erupted; even the airforce was called into action. So, needless to say mountain people do not back down easily when we think we are right. While I’ve long admired the courage and strength of the Appalachian Mountain People, my role as the daughter of the women who’s idea sparked a movement all across this great land, has given me an even greater appreciation for the efforts of one simple women who did not want to cause trouble but on the other hand could not live with her choices in her community, she put on the thinking cap to create change. Now, my mama was a fairly easy going gal who was and is very spiritual and loves her church may I add. She had always dreamed of being a mother and she wanted a big family; she met my dad when she was 18 years old and he was 10 years older. My mom was quite a beauty so dad did not take long to pop the question. They were rumored only to have dated a few weeks when they were married on Nov 23, 1962. By the spring of 1974, she had Belinda age 11, Pam age 9, Ben age 7, and Dreama age 5. The first of the three children were attending Alum Creek Elementary School. Letters in the local news paper read like this
Editor:
In your article “Creation textbook divides board,” you illustrate once again the problem posed by teaching evolution in public schools: No one is allowed to dissent from the prevailing view.
I find it ironic that the American Civil Liberties Union takes such a strong, and clearly overstated, stand against providing teachers (not students in the classroom) with a source material that presents evidence against evolutionary theory and alternative ideas proposed by scientists and based on scientific principles. In no other realm of scientific study can experts be demonized so viciously by those who conveniently forget that evolution is a theory, after all, and not a proven fact or revealed truth.
When the honest opinions of trained scientists are ridiculed and their reputations attacked, when honest dissent is squelched and those who teach our children are threatened with the loss of professional status for failing to vigorously support the prevailing doctrine, then religion is being taught in our public schools. It is the religion of evolutionism.
Terry L. Yahr
Charleston, WV (1)
The two direct responses to frustration are either fight or flight. Every day you may employ aspects of the fight or flight reaction to frustration and stress in your life. The five people who came together one spring day were determined to make a difference. There is no sense in the struggle, but there is no choice but to struggle—Ernie Pyle. Opposing emotional drives created conflict and frustration within the educational system and between the people it served. Frustrations occur when one group is prevented from reaching a positive goal or avoiding a negative goal. Frustration is a very basic response to being thwarted, blocked, or trapped in negative relationships or situations in which you see no clear way out.
I wrote an article this year on facebook that also described the 1974 book protest as follows:
Any numbers of variables play into memories of childhood, the Uncle I remember the most is my Uncle Darrell. For the sake of one’s sanity, it is best for the two of us to be separated. Even when I was an infant, I gave him the most trouble. All the attention was on me as I wailed for my mom when he was trying to comfort me. I was so flexible I would do a back bend to come out of his arms backwards. He was the first one that I can remember calling me stubborn. Of course, something will invariably draw us close again and for what ever reason this sort of Camelot would not last long. I remember the book protest of 1974. My mom was upset with the Principle. The principle told mom that whiles her children was on school campus she do as she pleased with them. Parents were not allowed on school property. My Moms word was “We will see about that.” That is my very first memory of the book protest. My next, memory was meeting with Alice Moore who was sympathetic with mom and the issues of bullies and pornography Mom was also concerned because a pornography group had just been busted at the George Washington Junior High were they had been taking inappropriate pictures of the children. This occurrence was also feeding moms fear. Mom recruited her brother in this concern. Alice Moore recruited Mom and Darrell on her textbook fight. The textbooks contain scenes of rape, violence and other issues. So, the focus went away from the concerns of Bully activities to fighting the influence of the pornography industry in the school system.
“Approved a bill yesterday that eliminated the two-year statute of limitations for victims of child sex abuse, but it does not apply to public school teachers. Pornography in the school system helps open the discussion and then the acts.”
The second, anti-text book group to form was The Concerned Citizens. This group is responsible for the boycott of classes which began Sept. 3 Ministers affiliated with this group are the Rev Avis Hill, Darrell Beach, Marvin Horan and Ezra Graley.
I can remember the day we recruited Avis Hill. He was just a Plummer and we made him famous. We started having tent revivals with gospel groups like the Patriots. We had a mission church in Amandaville were the trash piles were higher than the houses in the 1970’s. We sang on stage. We protested along side the road. We heard the book protestors were violent. We believed them because it was my mom, my aunt and about 10 kids under the age of 12. So, we just believe they saw us acting up. I remember marching from the Sears building in Charleston to the Capital with my Uncle Darrell. Which was a lot of fun, but my mom lost her baby boy she was caring that night. I remember singing on the radio trying to raise support for the cause. I can remember Arch Moore coming out to our group on the lawn and shaking my hand. We spent hours at the capital. It is such a beautiful capital. When the men took the protest over, which happened shortly after mom lost the baby, we quit going to the side of the road for the following reason:
A Rand man was shot in the chest today shortly after he and other United Parcel Service truck drivers prepared to return home after being turned away from their trucks by school book protesters, deputies and state police said.
The victim identified as Philip Cochran, 30, of 5205 Midland Driver, was undergoing surgery at Charleston Memorial Hospital. He was listed in serious condition.
A short time after the 9 a.m. shooting, a man identified as Bill Noel, 27, of Raven Drive, Rand, surrendered to deputies at the Kanawha County jail and said he was the person who had shot the man at Rand, deputies said. Noel was charged with felonious shooting and was to be arraigned before Justice of the Peace Millard Stone.
Two pistols, a .32 and a .22, were found in the man’s car. The caliber of the bullet that struck Cochran had not been determined, but it appeared to have been of the smaller caliber.
A police source said Noel, in a statement, said he was in his car heading for Charleston when he pulled up near the UPS center where picketing activity was in progress.
He said pickets ran toward his car and he held up his gun to frighten them. One man kept coming, he said, and he cocked the gun and fired one shot. http://www.wvculture.org/history/education/textbook02.html
In addition, to this what people don’t know is that they shot at our house one night. We had to lie on the floor. Also, I was the last one up doing dishes. I always had the he bee jebees when I was the last one in the kitchen. Sure enough, that night a rock came sailing through the living room window. Had I not killed the light by instinct I really think I would not be here today. It took almost a week for the sheriff office to come and investigate the incident. We did live in Alum Creek the police are very busy. I was there the night after the St Albans rally when Officer Keys came into the Burger Boy and pulled Bob McCune to the floor in front of his family and our family while we were sitting in the booths. He pulled him over the back of the seat. We were lucky that the Rally participants showed when they did. The police would put them in the cars and the protestors would come out the other side. I remember going to Campbell’s Creek to sing and coming out of the sing I saw a cross on fire. It stood taller than a basketball hoop. I never could determine if the KKK was on our side or the cross was a warning. I remember the Rallies when Nashville would come to town and we got to meet some of the Country singers. When they went to Washington D.C to march, most of the women and children stayed behind. I remember making apple butter at the church all day long. We would jump rope and play double Dutch. My Aunt Brenda was the best at that. I can remember the truancy officers coming to our home. I remember Brenda, Mom and Francis McCune tying them together and getting arrested. They turned them loose that night cause all of kids were with them. I remember sitting at Marvin Horns trial not knowing what was going to happen. Understanding the protest was changing in a different direction.
We then started Dollie Hill Christian School named after Avis Hill’s mom. We were meeting at one of the book protestor’s garage. I learned how to stuff envelops and type for the mass mailings that went on. We did various fund raising activities. My mom and Aunt always had an idea to come up with money. My Uncle Darrell would make me walk around the classroom with a pencil in my hand to try and get me to learn which hand was the right hand and we would butt heads over fractions. I can remember being in the attic of the church walking the rafters helping Uncle Darrell wire the church. The rafters and sheet rock was an adventure to work around pulling wire. I found several snake skins. He would always let me run the pop machine during the gospel sings after I got done singing. He would tell us silly stories like Mr. Shaky bones. I can still remember the night when we were all singing and on the radio. A thunderstorm was blowing and raining outside. When this really tall dude comes into our church to surrenders, he was running from the law. He was from the Hells Angel’s so I was told. You have to remember that I am taller than Avis Hill so this was a sight to see. I just remember that he was tall and had curly dark hair. You could tell he was scared. He prayed at the alter with Avis that night and disarmed. Yes, you guessed it the power went off about the time he was disarming. So, other than couple of candles and the lights from the police cars it was dark for a few minutes. You could hear the police outside. So needless to say, I do remember my Uncle Darrell. I remember the morning he drove us to school in the next town. We would be listening to Jimmy Swagart on the way to school. I remember the early Easter mornings when we would go to the graveyard on Coal River road and sing until the sun came up. I am just glad I was able to spend 11 days down in Winston Salem October 2007. We were able to visit and for once we had a truce. Short lived may I add but we had a wonderful 11 days. They teased me about my friend I had made while cleaning moms back porch. I had come across a green snake. So, I picked it up and moved it to the front yard by the grill. Well the next day, Darrell and Brenda had been sitting under the tree and I came out to join everybody under the tree. Everyone left except me and my Brother Paul who were left sitting under the tree. We hear this noise of something rattling the leaves high up in the tree. I did not think anything of it until that green snake was staring me right in the face. Well the next day, the snake did the same thing. Needless to say, I did not stay another day. Just in case that snake decided to find me in the house which at this point I was not sure. I will always remember my Uncle Darrell singing “We shall not be we shall not be moved, just like a tree planted by the water. I shall not be moved.” We sang this at the court house while the liberals as we called them drove by in their cars and taught the children what a “moon was.” So, it was just natural that I became a nurse.
Here are some additional readings for your information only; I have collected these links over the past 35 years.
One person on a mission can make a difference:
http://www.wvculture.org/history/education/textbook03.htmlhttp://
www.wvculture.org/history/education/textbook01.htmlhttp://www.
wvculture.org/history/education/textbook02.html
http://www.wvculture.org/history/education/textbook01.jpg
http://www.wvculture.org/HISTORY/education/mooreposter.jpg
http://www.dailymail.com/static/specialsections/lookingback/lb09073.htm
The book contains scenes of rape, violence and other issues the parent thought
Farley fights the good fight, trying to convince people that a library that stocks trade magazines for the coal industry, for example, really should, in fairness, stock environmentalist magazines as well.
http://www.newswithviews.com/Turtel/joel42.htm
Approved a bill yesterday that eliminated the two-year statute of limitations for victims of child sex abuse, but it does not apply to public school teachers. Porno in school helps open the discussion and then the acts.
Gov Joe Manchin In his own words:
“Turning attention to the most important people in our lives, our children and grandchildren, …I also plan to work closely with our state’s teachers on addressing the growing problem of classroom and student bullying. Schools should be places where you enjoy the process of growth and learning; not places of fear and intimidation. For the protection of students, teachers and school service personnel alike, I will do everything possible to make our schools bully-free.” http://www.wvgov.org/sec.aspx?id=100
In the 2008 “State of the State” address the governor declared that West Virginia schools are still dangerous places for children.
In his own words:
“I sincerely believe that until we’re committed to giving our teachers back the ability and freedom to teach their students, instead of requiring them to spend their days policing their students, we are never going to truly accomplish all of the other things that we know are so important in education. Our teachers and our students deserve better, and I am determined to do better and to give our teachers every possible tool they need to take back their classrooms.”
http://www.wvgov.org/sec.aspx?id=109
The system is sick at its core. Its foundation is corrupt— the idea that a government should control what, when and how its citizens learn, that it should have the power to force its agenda on the people it is supposed to serve, that as long as it says it’s doing it for our own good, we must submit, is 100% contrary to the principles of liberty, justice and equality.
People left the Old World for the New because they could not tolerate a government telling them what they were permitted to believe. People, even children, are no more tolerant of a government dictating what they should learn and think, how they should view the world, how much time they should spend on each “subject,” their every move and action. When a system endeavors to control people in such a manner, it can expect, like the old Soviet communist system, to meet with lethargy and resistance.
2007/2008 headlines
29 out of 101 teacher misconduct cases involve sex allegations
http://library.cnpapers.com/cgi-bin/texis/search
Phys ed teacher won’t serve jail time for sex with 13-year-old student
http://www.dailymail.com/News/200712040013
Alleged Sissonville assault investigated
http://library.cnpapers.com/cgi-bin/texis/search
Grant will bring locked doors and security passes
http://wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=27538
One Teacher Suspended, The Other Fired for Drugs
http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/9703117.html
School police officer convicted of sexually abusing student
http://library.cnpapers.com/cgi-bin/texis/search
Kanawha gets mediocre marks for school safety
http://sundaygazettemail.com/section/News/2007071118
Schools & Drugs – An Unsafe Combination
http://wvinformer.blogspot.com/2007/08/schools-drugs- unsafe-combination.html
Computer worker arrested in sex assault
http://www.wvgazette.com/section/News/2007102425
Overcrowding on School
http://theintermountain.com/page/content.detail/id/500276.html?nav=5008
5-year-old expelled
http://www.dailymail.com/story/News/+/2007101751/5-year- old+expelled+over+scissor+incident/
Lincoln County
http://www.dailymail.com/story/News/2007101718/State- education-official-says-his-redneck- remarks-were-taken-out- of-context/
One Teacher Suspended, The Other Fired for Drugs
http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/9703117.html
Four students suspended for oral sex on school bus
http://www.register- herald.com/archivesearch/local_story_170215204.html
Area teens abusing cough medicine
http://www.wvgazette.com/section/News/2007102224
Principal arrested because of guns at school
http://www.dailymail.com/story/News/+/2007101914/Principal+arrested+because+of+guns+at+school/
School police officer convicted of sexually abusing student
http://www.dailymail.com/story/News/2007103079/School- police-officer-convicted-of-sexually- abusing-student/
County reeling over unprecedented number of school threats
http://www.dailymail.com/story/News/200711053/County- reeling-over-unprecedented-number- of-school-threats/
School
WEST VIRGINIA ORGANIZATIONS
West Virginia Christian Education Association
http://www.wvcea.org/
Christian Home Educators of West Virginia
http://www.chewv.org/
West Virginia Home Educators Association
http://www.wvhea.org/
CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ORGANIZATIONS
American Association of Christian Schools
http://www.aacs.org/
Association of Christian Schools International
https://www.acsi.org
Christian Schools.com
http://www.christianschools.com
Council for American Private Education
http://www.capenet.org
Discover Christian Schools
http://www.discoverchristianschools.com
National Assoc. of Christian Educators/Citizens for Excellence in Education
http://www.nace-cee.org
National Christian School Association
http://www.nationalchristian.org
Office of Non-Public Education (US Department of Education)
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oii/nonpublic/index.html
Southern Baptist Association of Christian Schools
http://www.sbacs.org
Village Christian Schools
http://www.villagechristian.org
HOMESCHOOL ORGANIZATIONS
Action for Home Education (UK)
http://www.ahed.org.uk
African American Homeschoolers Network
http://www.aahnet.org
African-American Homeschoolers Unschooling
http://www.afamunschool.com/index.html
African American Homeschooling today (Blog)
http://www.africanamericanhomeschooling.com
Afrocentric Homeschoolers Association
http://homeschooling.about.com
All Home School Online
http://allhomeschoolonline.com
American Homeschool Association
http://www.americanhomeschoolassociation.org
A-Z Home’s Cool Homeschooling Curriculum and Information
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com
Backflip (search “homeschool”)
http://www.backflip.com
Black Homeschoolers Network
http://www.blackhomeschoolers.homestead.com
Classical Christian Homeschooling
http://www.classical- homeschooling.org
Classical Curriculum
http://www.classicalcurriculum.com
Coalition of Independent Homeschoolers
http://www.homeschoolcoalition.org
Considering Homeschooling
http://consideringhomeschooling.com
Considering Homeschooling (Morningstar Educational Network)
http://www.consideringhomeschooling.org
Education Association of Christian Homeschoolers
http://www.teachct.org
Everything Homeschooling
http://www.everythinghomeschooling.com
Exploring Home Schooling
http://www.exploringhomeschooling.com
First Class Homeschool Ministries
http://www.firstclasshomeschool.org/pages
Heads Up! (Special Needs Children)
http://headsupnow.com
Heritage Homeschool Academy
http://www.heritagehomeschool.com
Home Education Network
http://www.homeschoolingusa.com
Homeschool Blogger
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/home.php
Homeschool Buzz
http://homeschoolbuzz.com/
Homeschool Christian
http://www.homeschoolchristian.com/Position/index.html
Homeschool and Education News Beat
http://reliableanswers.com/hs/news.asp
Homeschool.com
http://www.homeschool.com/
Homeschool Digest
http://www.homeschooldigest.com/
Home School Foundation
http://homeschoolfoundation.org/
Homeschool Journey
http://www.jeanniefulbright.com/index.html
Home School Legal Defense Association
http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/WV/default.asp
Homeschool Math
http://www.homeschoolmath.net/
Homeschool Mom (Blog)
http://homeschoolmomtips.blogspot.com/
Homeschool Oasis
http://www.homeschooloasis.com/
Homeschool Starter
http://www.goboy.citymax.com/home.html
Homeschoolers in Missions
www.homeschoolersinmissions.org
Homeschooling and Its many Faces
http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/homeschoolmethods/a/methods.htm
Homeschooling Easy
homeschoolingeasy.com
Homeschool Edge
http://www.thehomeschooledge.com/products/
Homeschooling Explained
http://www.homeschoolingexplained.com/index.asp
Homeschooling Family to Family (RECOMMENDED BY EXODUS MANDATE)
http://www.homeschoolingfamilytofamily.org/
Homeschooling for Beginners
http://eho.org/
Homeschooling Radio
http://www.homeschoolingradio.com/index.html
Jon’s Homeschool Resources
http://www.midnightbeach.com/hs/
Laurel Springs Home School
http://www.laurelsprings.com/default.asp
Learn in Freedom
http://learninfreedom.org/
Learning is for Everyone
http://www.learningis4everyone.org/
Local Homeschool
http://localhs.com/
Morningstar Academy
http://www.themorningstaracademy.org/
National African-American Homeschoolers Alliance
http://www.naaha.com/
National Black Home Educators
http://www.nbhe.net/
National Home Education Legal Defense
http://www.nheld.com/
National Home Education Network
http://www.nhen.org/
National Home Education Research Institute
http://www.nheri.org/
Special Needs Children
(See “Heads Up!”)
Teaching Mom
http://www.teachingmom.com/index.php
Unschooling.com
http://www.unschooling.com/gws/
Unschooling FAQ
http://home.rmci.net/abell/page7.htm
Why Homeschool (Blog)
http://whyhomeschool.blogspot.com/search?q=
MISCELLANEOUS
Alliance for Separation of School and State
http://www.schoolandstate.org/home.htm
Alternative Education Resource Organization
http://www.educationrevolution.org/
America Asleep KNOW More
http://www.asleepknowmore.com/index.htm
Bayith Ministries
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~emcd/Education.htm
Center for Media Literacy
http://www.medialit.org/default.html
Children’s Scholarship Fund
http://www.scholarshipfund.org/index.asp
Christian Distance Learning
http://www.bakersguide.com/
Christian Education Awareness Network
http://www2.whidbey.net/jmboyes/
Christian Family Page
http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/family.htm
Cracking the Code
http://www.edurevolution.org/index.htm
Deliberate Dumbing Down of America
http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com/
Freedom of Education
http://www.freedomofeducation.net/
Issues in Education
http://issuesineducation.org/links.htm
LEARN
http://www.learn-usa.com/index.htm
My Kids Deserve Better
http://mykidsdeservebetter.com/
Natural Learning
http://www.geocities.com/moonwindstarsky/naturalearning
Pat Farenga.com
http://www.patfarenga.com/index.html
Rescue Your Kids
http://www.rescueyourkids.com/
Search for Private Schools
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/
Tammy Drennan’s Blog
http://educationconversation.wordpress.com/
RESOURCES (mostly Christian)
Alpha Omega Publications
http://www.aop.com/home/
A Beka Book
http://www.abeka.com/
Accelerated Christian Education
http://www.aceministries.com/Default.aspx
Bible
http://daystarpublishing.org/ (Day Star)
http://deeperroots.com/ (Deeper Roots)
Christian Liberty Academy
http://homeschools.org/
Classical Christian Education
http://www.classical- homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html
Curriculum (Misc)
http://www.rodstaff.com/ (Anabaptist)
http://www.calvertschool.org/calvert-school (Calvert School)
http://www.christianbook.com/html/specialty/1016.html (Christian Books)
http://www.curriculumexpress.com/shop/index.htm (Curriculum Express)
http://www.delpublications.com/index.htm (Del Publishers)
http://edplus.com/ (Education Plus)
http://fortunatelyforyoubooks.com/ (Fortunately For You Books)
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/index.htm (Homeschool Curriculum and Information)
http://robinsoncurriculum.com/ (Robinson Self- Teaching Homeschool Curriculum)
Driver Education (Charleston area)
http://www.budsdriversedge.com/
Home Skills (tutoring)
http://www.ministry.com/math-tutoring-reading- tutor-better- grades.html#c1
Homeschool Headquarters
http://www.homeschoolheadquarters.com/
Homeschool Super Center
http://www.homeschoolsupercenter.com/
Homeschooling Supply
http://www.homeschoolingsupply.com/cbs/Christian- Literature-Christian-Novels-Suspense- 2.htm
Kuyers Mathematics
http://webapps.calvin.edu/kuyers/math/home.php
Lifeway
http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/mainpage/0%2C1701%2CM%253D200575%2C00.html
Math and Science
http://diveintomath.com/
Nehemiah Institute (Worldview Testing and Training)
http://www.nehemiahinstitute.com/
Paideia
http://www.paideia-inc.com/index.html
Plain Path Publishers
http://www.plainpath.org/store/index.php?pid=4204834&SID=9684930&act=cart-home
Private School Review
http://www.privateschoolreview.com/
Resources for Christian Teachers
http://www.teacherhelp.org/
Robinson Self-Teaching curriculum
http://www.robinsoncurriculum.com/
Science
http://apologia.com/
Transforming Teachers
http://www.transformingteachers.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
Trivium Pursuit NOTE: This is NOT Trivia Pursuit!
http://www.triviumpursuit.com/index.php
Vision forum
http://www.visionforum.com/
Walden Media
http://www.walden.com/walden/index.php
Zion Academy (Distance Learning)
http://www.zionacademy.com/
MAGAZINES (some articles are on line)
Classical Homeschooling Magazine
http://www.classicalhomeschooling.com/
Old Schoolhouse Magazine
http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/
FUNgasa: Free Oneself (African American)
http://www.afamunschool.com/fungasa.html
Home Education’s Magazine
http://www.homeedmag.com/
No Greater Joy (has lots of references/articles on line)
http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/
Practical Homeschool Magazine
http://www.home-school.com/
RESOURCES (secular)
***WATCH OUT FOR EVOLUTIONISM LINKS IN SCIENCE AREAS***
19th Century Schoolbooks
http://digital.library.pitt.edu/n/nietz/
The Arts
http://joy2learn.org/about.html
Ask A Biologist
http://askabiologist.asu.edu/
American Museum of Natural History
http://amnh.org/education/resources/index.php
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
http://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/index.jsp/
Biology Browser (See “For Students and Educators”)
http://www.biologybrowser.org/
Busy Teachers Cafe
http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/
Center for Science Education
http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/products/lessons/lessons.html
Computational Science (a little tricky, but resources are there)
http://cwis.shodor.org/refdesk/SPT– BrowseResources.php
Core Knowledge Foundation
http://www.coreknowledge.org/CK/index.htm
Creative Chemistry
http://www.creative-chemistry.org.uk/
Discovery School
http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com/
Education and Career Articles
http://www.suite101.com/educationandcareer/
Education Place
http://www.eduplace.com/
Education Trust
http://www2.edtrust.org/edtrust
Engineering Pathway
http://www.engineeringpathway.com/ep/
Federal Reserve Education
http://www.federalreserveeducation.org/FRED/?CFID=6725440&CFTOKEN=86376800
Free Reading
http://free- reading.net/index.php?title=Main_Page
GEM (resources)
http://www.thegateway.org/
Geography
http://www.kidsgeo.com/index.php
Global Education & Learning Community
http://www.curriki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome
High School Education Online
http://cdis.missouri.edu/high-school.aspx
HippoCampus
http://hippocampus.org/
Home Science Tools
http://www.hometrainingtools.com/
Homework Center
http://www.infoplease.com/homework/
Honorable Character Classroom Management System
http://www.honorablecharacter.com/shop/
How Stuff Works
http://www.howstuffworks.com/
Ideal Lives (Special Education)
http://www.ideallives.com/index.php
Internet Public Library
http://www.ipl.org/
JCE (chemistry)
http://www.jce.divched.org/JCEDLib/ChemInfo/http://www.biosciednet.org/portal/
Language
http://braingrow.com/
Lesson Plans
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/CI.htm
MaMaMedia (technology)
http://www.mamamedia.com/
Marco Polo (Misc)
http://www.marcopolo-education.org/home.aspx
Math and Science Careers
http://thefunworks.org/
Math Forum – Ask Dr. Math
http://mathforum.com/dr.math/
Math Goodies
http://www.mathgoodies.com/
Math Worksheet Site
http://themathworksheetsite.com/
Math World
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/
Measurement Conversion
http://www.onlineconversion.com/
MERLOT (misc teaching resources)
http://www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm
Microsoft Education
http://www.microsoft.com/education/default.mspx
Middle School Portal
http://msteacher.org/
Mindworks Learning Institute
http://mindworksmaryland.com/
MIT OpenCourseWare
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm
Mosdos Press
http://www.mosdospress.com/
Multiplication Tables
http://www.teachildmath.com/
My Study Hall (grammar)
http://mystudyhall.com/myskillbuilder/default.aspx
Natural History
http://www.arkiveeducation.org/
Physics to Go
http://www.compadre.org/informal/index.cfm
Powell Center for Economic Literacy
http://www.powellcenter.org/
PRISMS (middle School Science)
http://prisms.mmsa.org/index.php
Science Education
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/sci_edu/#k12
Science Resources
http://www.amasci.com/edu.html
School Express
http://www.schoolexpress.com/
Score (tutoring)
http://www.escore.com/
Teachers’ Domain
http://www.teachersdomain.org/
Teacher’s Guide
http://www.theteachersguide.com/
Teachnet
http://www.teachnet.com/
Teach-nology
http://www.teach-nology.com/
TextWord Press
http://www.textword.com/
Time for learning
http://www.time4learning.com/
Try Science
http://www.tryscience.org/
United States Government
http://esc.nasa.gov/ (Aeronautics)
http://www.nwrc.usgs.gov/fringe/ff_index.html (Coastal Wetlands)
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/educate.html (Food Science)
http://education.usgs.gov/schoolyard/ (Geology)
http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/contaminants- online/pages/ToolsTeachers/TTintro.htm (Geology)
http://science.education.nih.gov/LifeWorks (Health)
http://nationalatlas.gov/printable.html (Maps)
http://www.kids.gov/ (Miscellaneous)
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~ear/hwm/labelman.html (Nutrition)
http://www.noaa.gov/ (Oceanic and Atmospheric)
http://www.science.gov/ (Science)
USGS Science Links
http://education.usgs.gov/
World Book Course of Study
http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?curriculum
The 1974 book protest gave me at an early age the working of American politics and the appreciation for the efforts of its long lasting political arm.
Additional reading and resources
1. http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2/4280news4-18-2000.asp
2. http://www.wvculture.org/HISTORY/education/mooreposter.jpg
3. http://www.wvculture.org/history/education/textbook01.jpg
4. http://www.wvculture.org/history/education/textbook03.html
5. http://www.wvculture.org/history/education/textbook01.html
6. http://www.wvculture.org/history/education/textbook02.html
I was talking to a friend in the Nurse Premier Association when she started asking questions about Celiac disease. The saying goes that knowledge is power so I did a quick brush-up on Celiac disease. The information contained in this paper is for general information purposes only. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk. I will be talking about from memory my take on what should first be offered as food after a child has been sick. We all know a brat diet meaning applesauce, carbohydrates, and fluids. But what about the child who may have the Celiac Syndrome or just Malabsorption from altered bacterial content in the small intestine?
First, what is Celiac Syndrome? Second, what is the cluster of characteristics and symptoms? Third, tips, tricks, and tools you can use to help get through an acute illness with your infant child who may have Celiac syndrome. Fourth, what and how should you document your symptoms or your child’s symptoms to report to health care providers? We will be discussing some nice ideas and tools to use that you can take with you on your visit with your health care provider.
What is Celiac Syndrome?
Celiac disease, first of all it is not a disease as in it is not a bug or critter that one can catch. Celiac disease is in fact a cluster of symptoms meaning that certain people have the same symptoms in common. The main characteristics are indeed shared by several different diseases thus we must treat the individual client and their symptoms not just a label of “Celiac” disease. The true cause of Celiac disease is still a mystery; however, characteristics can be shared among family members. Now, were exactly is the small intestines. I am glad to inform you that it is in your belly or abdomen. The small intestine is the area the stomach empties into. It is also were the bile salts from the liver are delivered to the intestines. Bile salts are very important in the digestion of fats and other elements. It is also were the bili of the jejunum are found on the lining inside of the small intestine. It is the relationship between the bili of jejunum and Gluten that are in question. So, were does Gluten come from? Grass. Well, more exact would be wheat, Rye, barley and Oats. So, if you test positive to a grass allergy. You may also want to consider the effects on your small intestine to the grass products being consumed in your diet. Just a thought naturally totally needs more research. Interesting fact is that white people are more often affected by this syndrome than Blacks and Orientals. The story goes that when Gluten which is the water insoluble protein that is in some people interact with the bili of jejunum well it causes atrophy or weak bili of the jejunum. Thus, Celiac disease is called a Malabsorption syndrome because the weak bili of jejunum can not do their job properly and absorb the nutrients the body needs. Inflammation may also occur in the small intestine which can lead to infections.
Celiac Syndrome Characteristics
Once again, you just ate a meal and suddenly your abdomen is “acting up” again. Scientific talk would be “hypersensitive reaction to a protein” but the common folk would say “I’ve got the cramps again”. Sudden onset of stomach cramping, bloating, foul odor watery diarrhea and vomiting can occur. Usually, the person has had a history of these “acting up” since childhood. The common belief is that the Adult and Child onset Celiac syndrome is one and the same. Studies have shown that people with Celiac syndrome at times can tolerate gluten. The goal is to reduce the amount of consumed gluten in the diet. Gluten free diet is not obtainable or practical. The bowel habits of Celiac syndrome seem to have the same patterns such as diarrhea and then constipation. If the small intestines are really inflamed the stool will be excessively large, pale in color, oily, frothy with a very foul odor. When this syndrome is first diagnosis in Adults it is called nontropical sprue.
The infant is affected the most sever from Celiac syndrome. The syndrome usually starts 3 to 6 months after the child has started to eat gluten. The child can suddenly develop sever diarrhea with a secondary gastrointestinal infection setting in. The production of lipase from the pancreas can also be affected causing additional digestive concerns. Small intestine inflammation impairs absorption of fluid and electrolytes. Celiac syndrome is often being missed diagnosis. The infant may develop fat absorption problems, impaired nutrients, anemia, emotional irritability, abdominal pain and distention. Dehydration and metabolic acidosis can be critical in infants thus requiring immediate health care attention.
The goal of treatment is first control the metabolic acidosis and the dehydration meaning lab test usually consisting of blood, stool and urine. IV fluids are given for the purpose of re hydrating the infant. The medications in children are limited. Glucocorticoids can be used just keep in mind they do retard growth while the child is taking them and for unknown time after stopping this drug. Glucocorticoids help depress the immune response however, can mask infections so use with caution.
If the adult or child is not responding to treatment then an intestinal biopsy may be preformed to rule out any more serious conditions. The child may develop muscle wasting of the legs and buttocks. Scaly skin is also a common complaint from the dehydration. The child may develop blood in the stool and pass fat in the stool. Is it Celiac syndrome or just altered intestinal flora which can also cause these symptoms? The child will have poor appetite and abdominal pain after eating certain foods. If you are having questions about what to do with an infant who just recently started eating food to begin with, you are not alone.
Tips, tricks, and tools
For those of us who dream about being the perfect parent well there is hope. Your child is not vomiting any more and the health care providers have given the green light to feed the child. Let’s begin with the type of foods and why they may be better choices. First of all, the small intestine is not working very well so hard to digest foods like Gluten, lactose, fructose, chocolate, sea food, yellow #5, Red 40#, blue #1; all colors additives, caramel color, MSG, sodium nitrate, and sodium citrate should be avoided. In addition to food additives, you must consider the texture of the food. Hard to digest texture foods would be raisins, sesame seeds, nuts, pickles, dried fruit, raw fruit, raw vegetables, and anything that you can not crush easily between your finger and thumb. The goal is soft bland diet. A bland diet consists of limiting the salicylates in ones diet. Salicylates levels can contribute to the metabolic acidosis found after the diarrhea. Salicylates levels are the highest in fruits such as pineapples, all spices including onions and garlic, berries and dried fruit. In the additional reading material, I have provided a link to a food list showing the salicylate levels in foods a must read so you can see what foods to avoid. The lowest are pears and bananas. Apples are not as strong so in limited amounts acceptable. Pears are high in fructose so should also be given in limited amounts. Juice is a highly processed food low in fiber. Pear juice is only found in the infant section of the store because it is believed to be a little less harsh on the intestine. However, the juice should be diluted with water by adding half juice and half water this dilutes the fructose and the salicylate and will help protect the small intestine.
Now if you read the back of your cereal box, you will see the food pyramid. At the top of this food pyramid are fats, sugar and salt. You are to use these very sparingly in adults and even more so in children. If you can taste the salt, sugar or fat it is too much. If you can see the fat, salt or sugar it is too much. Corn and rice are the two foods lowest in gluten thus the substitute for the grains. Just keep in mind that corn on the cob is still considered a seed and hard to digest. Corn meal is ok. Corn oil is also the lowest in salicylates thus a better choice if having to use oil.
Now I want to turn your attention to process foods. If you eat an apple with its skin on, you are eating more of the fiber. It is a one to one ratio. One fiber cancels out one sugar or carbohydrate. If you take that same apple and peel it you are removing some of the fiber so more carbohydrates get into your blood system which can cause stress to your heart and systems. If you take that same apple and make applesauce out of it again you are removing even more of the fiber making the food even more processed causing more stress to the body. If you take the same apple and make juice out of it then it is fully processed and most of the fiber is removed from the apple making it burn just like sugar. Now, let’s take a fresh piece of steak that is still warm from the cow and throw it on the grill verses freezing the meat, verses canning the meat and lastly making lunch meat which burns just like sugar.
Again, if we take a potato and eat skin and all; verses mash potatoes, verses potato chip that burns just like sugar.
Finally, let us consider the bread. We have been hanging with henny penny that makes and bakes her bread; verses the dark bread; verses the white bread and pasta which burns just like sugar.
So, keep in mind for every fiber you eat; you can subtract one carbohydrate from your carbohydrate count.
The goal is to eat fresh food that will stick to your ribs; the less processed the food the more food value and easier on the body. The better the body will maintain weight and balance. Most importantly, sugar can be hard to digest so keep this in mind when choosing foods for a child who has been sick. Read labels Gluten can be hidden in food additives such as hydrolyzed vegetable protein. Thickeners or fillers, luncheon meats or packaged meats, breads, soup, pasta, pizza and hot dogs, all contain Gluten. Avoid honey. Have you ever wonder why that cherry pie in the box has not gone bad well I can tell you Salicylates levels are high; so bakery items with fruit well you may want to pass on these.
Meat is high in acid and thus a bit tough to digest also. Now you can see why a food diary is going to be so important to your success as a parent who is attempting to feed an infant who has been ill.
The Diary
As you gain even more questions about how to develop your own policies and procedures for feeding your infant, your research will lead you to many different sources that may conflict. NO one has all the answers. The Diary will help you sort through all the conflicting information. Getting the right tools to help you navigate your journey as a parent can greatly improve your confidence and your information when you seek help from out side sources such as health care providers. The diary is a notebook that you can write down menus, recipes, moods yours and your child’s, symptoms that deviate from wellness, and how long your child takes to recover from symptoms. By documenting your lifestyle, routines, habits, and cultural preferences, you can have a really good idea of your individual health habits. Digestive disorders have been documented to have emotional connections. Food is closely related to comfort thus the saying “comfort foods” Your child may take longer to process food after having diarrhea or Celiac syndrome. Some foods in adults can take up to nine days for the food to fully affect how the body functions such as platelets. Peanut butter should be avoided in small children with belly problems.
Keep this in mind when introducing new foods. It may take several days to several months for the stools to go back to normal. However, the child should start feeling perky and increase in appetite if your food diary is working. Meaning, you are recording the food and recipes that you are feeding the child and eliminating any foods that cause symptoms. The average time for a reaction to the food is three days depending on the food naturally. Some foods can of course cause pain immediately. This paper is just trying to get you to recognize that each individual metabolize the food at different speeds, in Infants who have been sick this process can be even a longer. You need to record the time of day for the infant’s irritability, fretfulness, uncooperativeness or apathy. Recording the child’s stool is also a good thing. Note the consistency such as watery, loose, semi formed, formed and excessively large, oily, frothy, and very foul odor. You will want to also note the color pale or chalk white, green, brown, yellow, red and black. Keep in mind blue stool is usually from cereal or food that is full of dye. You will want to record any abnormal lab reports from your health care provider and learn what the normal levels are. Keep in mind vitamins can be very hard to digest if at all possible try and get the vitamins out of your food not in your food. Do not give over the counter vitamins to your infant with out the advice of your doctor. These over the counter products are very concentrated and can cause sever irritation to the small intestines. Studies have shown they can cause relapse in the loose stool in some children. When child is gaining weight and growing or you are feeling a “feeling of well being about your child” these are two very good indicators that recovery has finally started.
Food suggestion
Well, we have examined the complexities of feeding an infant who is recovering from illness. Let’s review the list of possible choices to start with as follows this is not an extensive list:
1. Corn oil
2. Corn meal = corn bread
3. Rice flour
4. Rice cereal
5. small amounts of pears and apples
6. ½ water and ½ pear juice
7. bananas
8. Goat’s milk is the universal milk if you can get it without the nuked milk ultra-pasteurized goat’s milk some how this process makes the Vitamin D more problematic and can cause symptoms in sensitive people. Vitamin D is from the cod liver which is from the ocean. Hard to digest list.
9. Corn flakes get the ones in the diabetic section that have no vitamins added.
10. Meats just make sure to rinse and soak all the red dye out of it if it is not fresh. Some chicken products are processed with chemicals and can cause GI problems with in a couple hours after eating them.
11. Rice cooked like pasta and substituted for pasta.
12. peas
13. carrots
14. Egg whites if the child is not allergic to eggs.
15. Some kids can eat the Colby jack cheese but can not tolerate the milk or yogurt. If you do get the yogurt get the one with out the sodium citrate.
16. All beans
17. Black eye peas excellent source of iron; just be careful not to eat them every day if you are healthy; your blood counts can get to high.
18. Potatoes every other day one serving. Our problem is we love potatoes and we tend to eat them four or more a day. Potatoes can be a bit hard to digest.
19. Apple sauce
20. Pear sauce
21. unsalted butter just keep in mind that fats are hard to digest so very little amounts
22. little amounts of brown sugar or white sugar
23. Chana Flour (Chickpea Flour
24. Corn Gluten
25. Corn Masa Flour
26. Corn Flour
27. Corn Starch
28. Corn Sugar
29. Flaked Rice
30. Lentils
31. Peas
32. Pea – Chick
33. Pea – Cow
34. Pea Flour
35. Pea Starch
36. Yeast
37. Yogurt (plain, unflavored no preservatives)
38. Cauliflower
39. vegetable beef stew made with peas and carrots
40. White bean soup
41. Cauliflower stir fry
42. ribs with fall vegetables blended
43. breakfast casserole made from egg white and cheese
Just look over the two links I provided and try and choose the food lower in fructose, Salicylates, lactose, and gluten. Soft bland diet free of spices and hard seeds like listed above. The goal is to thicken the loose stool and to increase the feeling of well being in the child. If this happens, then you have met your goal of success.
Reference:
encyclopedia and dictionary of medicine nursing and allied health third edition, 1983; Miller and Keane
Additional reading material
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose_malabsorption#Foods_of_concern
2. http://www.urticaria.thunderworksinc.com/pages/lowsalicylatediet.htm
