Over the past three decades, Congress has conducted a major experiment in anti-poverty policy. Legislators have restructured benefits and tax breaks intended for the poor so that they penalize unmarried, unemployed parents — the modern day version of the “undeserving poor.” At the same time, working parents, the aged and the disabled are getting larger benefits.
Read more of Thomas B. Edsall's Op-Ed in The New York Times.
Jun 18, 2014
Jun 11, 2014
Elder Abuse Awareness Day set for June 13 in Athens County
Athens County Commissioners officially proclaimed June 13, 2014, Elder Abuse Awareness Day in Athens County, a day that serves as a call-to-action for individuals, organizations and communities to raise awareness about abuse, neglect and exploitation of elders.
“We hope to draw the same amount of attention to elder abuse as we do to child abuse,” said Jack Frech, Director of the Athens County Department of Job and Family Services. “So many senior citizens need the help and support from our community.”
“It is important to treat people with dignity and respect,” said Commissioner Lenny Eliason, following the signing of the official proclamation. “Everyone should be aware of their neighbors and offer assistance when they can or contact someone who can help those in need.”
"It’s a challenging job,” said Tabatha McDade, the agency’s APS coordinator. “Not everyone is open to receiving our help, even though it may be clear that they need it.”
Senior citizens can refuse care, and many times they do, especially when it’s a situation of self-neglect or when they’ve been abused by a family member, McDade added.
Join us in recognizing this day on June 13 by wearing purple, the official color of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
See our previous post for more information about what ASP does and other ways the community can help prevent elder abuse.
“We hope to draw the same amount of attention to elder abuse as we do to child abuse,” said Jack Frech, Director of the Athens County Department of Job and Family Services. “So many senior citizens need the help and support from our community.”
“It is important to treat people with dignity and respect,” said Commissioner Lenny Eliason, following the signing of the official proclamation. “Everyone should be aware of their neighbors and offer assistance when they can or contact someone who can help those in need.”
"It’s a challenging job,” said Tabatha McDade, the agency’s APS coordinator. “Not everyone is open to receiving our help, even though it may be clear that they need it.”
Senior citizens can refuse care, and many times they do, especially when it’s a situation of self-neglect or when they’ve been abused by a family member, McDade added.
Join us in recognizing this day on June 13 by wearing purple, the official color of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
See our previous post for more information about what ASP does and other ways the community can help prevent elder abuse.
Jun 4, 2014
County Commissioners to proclaim June 13 Elder Abuse Awareness Day
The public encouraged
to show support by wearing purple on June 13
Athens County
Commissioners will proclaim June 13, 2014, Elder Abuse Awareness Day. They will
make the official proclamation on Tuesday, June 10.
The day serves as a
call-to-action for individuals, organizations and communities to raise awareness
about abuse, neglect and exploitation of elders.
Athens County is home
for nearly 7,000 individuals 65 years of age and older. In 2013, Adult
Protective Services (APS), with frequent assistance from the Athens County
Sheriff’s office and the Athens City Police Department, investigated 110 reports
of elder abuse, neglect, self-neglect or exploitation.
APS, which is
administered by Athens County Job and Family Services, is required to investigate and evaluate all reports of
suspected abuse, neglect and exploitation of adults age 60 and older in Athens
County. These adults may be handicapped due to aging, or they may have physical
or mental impairments that prevent them from providing for their own care and
protection.
Elder abuse is an
under-reported problem that can have devastating or life-threatening
consequences. It is estimated that for every reported case of elder abuse or
neglect, as many as 23 cases go unreported.
What can you do to
help prevent elder abuse?
·
Know how to report
suspected abuse or neglect. Call (740) 677-4208. All referrals are confidential.
There is no cost for the investigation to the client or
family.
·
Sign up to be a
volunteer guardian. Family members aren’t always
available or the most appropriate people to help when a senior citizen is deemed
incapable of making his or her own decisions. For more information, call
(740) 677-4208.
·
Join us
in recognizing this day
on June 13 by wearing purple, the official color of World Elder Abuse Awareness
Day.
State's proposed bonuses for welfare workers a "slap in the face"
The state will tap welfare funds to pay bonuses to caseworkers who help the most people find a job and get off public assistance.
Republican Senate President Keith Faber tucked the pilot program into an off-year budget bill that cleared the House and Senate yesterday and is headed to Gov. John Kasich to sign into law.
The goal of the three-year pilot-program bonuses is to give local caseworkers incentive to find innovative ways to help people become self-sufficient, said Faber, R-Celina. It would provide $50,000 to each of five participating counties.
“It’s a slap in the face of caseworkers,” Jack Frech said of the incentive program. Frech is the director of the Athens County Department of Job and Family Services. “They (lawmakers) have this perception that there are all these good-paying jobs out there and caseworkers aren’t telling (welfare recipients) about them.”
Republican Senate President Keith Faber tucked the pilot program into an off-year budget bill that cleared the House and Senate yesterday and is headed to Gov. John Kasich to sign into law.
The goal of the three-year pilot-program bonuses is to give local caseworkers incentive to find innovative ways to help people become self-sufficient, said Faber, R-Celina. It would provide $50,000 to each of five participating counties.
“It’s a slap in the face of caseworkers,” Jack Frech said of the incentive program. Frech is the director of the Athens County Department of Job and Family Services. “They (lawmakers) have this perception that there are all these good-paying jobs out there and caseworkers aren’t telling (welfare recipients) about them.”
Jun 2, 2014
Opportunity's knocks
Tereza Sedgwick is seeing the economy from the bottom up, where the fastest-growing job in America is also one of the hardest.
MARIETTA, Ohio — She had made it as far as the career school's parking lot for the December training class and the February class, only to drive away each time in a tangle of anxiety and self-doubt. Now it was March, and here Tereza Sedgwick came again: dressed in the mandatory class uniform of red-and-black scrubs, a lit cigarette dangling in her fingers out the busted window of her '88 Plymouth. She parked in the lot and watched a procession of unemployed workers enter the school building in southeastern Ohio, trying to will herself to join them.
MARIETTA, Ohio — She had made it as far as the career school's parking lot for the December training class and the February class, only to drive away each time in a tangle of anxiety and self-doubt. Now it was March, and here Tereza Sedgwick came again: dressed in the mandatory class uniform of red-and-black scrubs, a lit cigarette dangling in her fingers out the busted window of her '88 Plymouth. She parked in the lot and watched a procession of unemployed workers enter the school building in southeastern Ohio, trying to will herself to join them.
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