Latest news with #DepartmentofSocialServices
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Missouri begins issuing summer food aid for kids
Most eligible kids will receive the benefits automatically and won't need to apply, but those who do need to apply must do so by Aug. 31 (USDA photo). Missouri has begun issuing federal food benefits that could reach 475,000 kids this summer. The first batch of Missouri's summer food benefits for children were issued on Thursday night, a spokesperson for the Department of Social Services told The Independent Friday. Each eligible child will receive a one-time benefit of $120, loaded onto a card that can be used like a debit card to buy groceries. The program is designed to help low-income families pay for food during summer months. States pay 50% of the administrative costs and the federal government pays 100% of the benefits. It's part of a permanent federal program in its second year of existence called Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer, or SUN Bucks. The program aims to help kids who receive subsidized school meals avoid a summer drop-off in nutrition. The state in years past has struggled to get the benefits out to cover the summer months. Last year they didn't begin going out until September, due to technical issues, the state said at the time. Food security advocates in the state were relieved when Missouri opted into the program after weighing factors like technology issues and staffing. There were 11 Republican-led states that opted not to offer the program this year, and a 12th, Oklahoma, will offer it only to tribal nations. Most eligible families in Missouri will receive the benefits automatically. The following groups of kids are automatically eligible, and their families will not need to apply for benefits: Students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch during the school year, Households already enrolled in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or temporary assistance, And children between ages 7 and 17 in foster care, who are experiencing homelessness or are migrants. Those benefits will be issued on an existing card if the family is enrolled in SNAP benefits or temporary assistance, or on a new mailed card if they are not. Families who need a new EBT card can request one by phone or the ebtEDGE mobile app. Families who are not automatically eligible must submit an application online by Aug. 31. The state's eligibility navigator will tell families whether they must apply. Benefits will expire 122 days after they are issued, regardless of usage, so families must act quickly once the benefits are distributed. They should also keep the cards for next summer's program, the state's website advises. An estimated 475,000 Missouri kids could receive the benefits, according to a letter to the state from the federal Food and Nutrition Service earlier this year. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
West Australian
7 days ago
- General
- West Australian
Native garden provides space for healing and learning at Kalgoorlie-Boulder Lotteries House
A new garden space has been created at Kalgoorlie-Boulder Lotteries House to provide a place for healing and learning. The Aboriginal Healing Garden was co-designed with Aboriginal community members and features native plants, fruit trees, a vibrant wall mural and seating area. The project was led by Anglicare WA in collaboration with Lotteries House and funded by the Department of Social Services. Anglicare WA Goldfields service manager Joshua Simpaya said the space created an outdoor meeting point for community agencies and their clients. 'It's a place where we meet community members that are engaged into our programs and other organisations . . . clients and staff can meet there,' he said. 'It's a really special place that will continue to evolve. 'I think it's a space that is ongoing, the community of Aboriginal people will continue to add to it.' Lotteries House is an office space occupied by not-for-profit community organisations including Anglicare WA, Cancer Council, Outcare, and Yorgum Healing Services, among others. Shalom Works, the maintenance business arm of rehabilitation service Shalom House, completed landscaping and paving works. 'It was very intentional to have them participate . . . because we're coming from the same principle of empowering and learning,' Mr Simpaya said. Clients engaged in Anglicare WA's social and financial wellbeing service helped build the garden and Goldfields Garden Creation provided horticultural advice. The space also features a vibrant wall mural painted by local artist Jason Dimer. The garden was officially opened on Thursday.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Another family highlights issues with Wave childcare
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — After Wave Children's Learning Center's announcement that it was closing, another family told 10 On Your Side they, too, had a terrible experience there with their infant child and said the facility had no interest making improvements. Wave Children's Learning Center in Virginia Beach abruptly shutting down The child's mother read from the inspection report from September 2023: 'Staff #1 (who is Jhamica Jackson) was observed grabbing Child # 1, (my seven-month old daughter),+ by both upper arms and moving the child, with the torso unsupported and the child's body swinging, from an exersaucer to a bouncer seat. Staff # 1 quickly put the child into the bouncer causing the seat to noticeably rock and bounce.' The family pediatrician thought it could be child abuse, and reported it to police, but during the Department of Social Services inspection, 'they uncovered 13 different examples from that on visit, one being my daughters of the mishandling of the children and in the video, we saw Jhamica do this to our daughter.' In that inspection, 10 on Your Side counted six children, and three staff members in this inspection report, and violations would be found in the last four inspections noted at the center, including a Nov. 14, 2024 inspection at the Learning Center that would lead to a criminal complaint against Jackson. The police allege she broke a 7-month old's clavicle, and she was then charged with felony child neglect/abuse causing serious injury and a settlement. It was at that point she was terminated on Nov. 18, 2024. The Learning Center was also part of a compromise settlement of about $900,000, which would apparently end the school's ability to get mandatory insurance to operate. Presumably, the loss was so great, and the complaints so numerous that the Learning Center became too great a risk. The Learning Center did not comment, but when Facility Administrator Jennafer Hobbs was asked if the failure to get insurance was because of claims filed against the Learning Center, she said 'the decision to drop our insurance coverage was based on a recent claim filing by the Learning Center.' Hobbs is referring to court activity of a compromise settlement uncovered by 10 on Your Side that deals with the aforementioned $900,000. Asked about the loss of the required insurance to operate a daycare center, the mother of the child said 'I would say I'm surprised that it didn't happen sooner. And I'm surprised by that. No one else has identified any of these things or spoken up, or maybe they have, like me, and it's been ignored.' 10 On Your Side asked the mother, identified as Emily, what she would say to Jackson. 'I would say to her, I would ask her, 'Who hurt you, that you would want to behave this way towards children? And I would say, you deserve everything that you got.' Now, an estimated 115 families are searching, on short-notice, for daycare after getting little notice of the learning center's closure. 'My heart goes out to these families,' Emily said. 'It is extremely a violating feeling to know that your child could have been hurt. … You trusted this facility to do the right thing, and not only did they not do the right thing, but they were deceitful and took advantage of this situation. It's just egregious.' For reports of inspections at Wave Children's Learning Center, . Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Federal action could make SD's Medicaid work requirements ‘an exercise in futility,' official says
South Dakota Department of Social Services Secretary Matt Althoff speaks at a press conference in Sioux Falls on April 25, 2025. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) South Dakota's proposal to implement work requirements for Medicaid expansion could be 'an exercise in futility' now that the federal government is also considering it, said state Department of Social Services Secretary Matt Althoff. The state began drafting its proposal immediately following the end of the state legislative session in March, Althoff said, before debates about work requirements heated up at the congressional level. Department officials presented their plan at the state Board of Social Services meeting Friday morning via video conference, just before the first of two public hearings on the proposal. 'Respectfully, humbly, we ask for your grace,' Althoff told board members, 'because we're asking for your feedback on something that might be obsoleted by the vote of 100 senators and the stroke of a pen from our president.' Health care advocates form coalition urging Republicans to take their 'Hands Off Medicaid' Medicaid is government-funded health insurance for people with low incomes. South Dakotans voted in 2022 to expand Medicaid to adults with incomes up to 138% of the poverty level, a decision that allowed the state to capitalize on a 90% federal funding match — funding that could be in jeopardy, pending the outcome of congressional action. Last year, voters passed another constitutional amendment to let the state seek approval from the federal government to impose work requirements on expansion enrollees. At the federal level, proposed Medicaid work requirements would mandate those between ages 19 and 65 who rely on the program to work, participate in community service, or attend an educational program for at least 80 hours each month. The work requirement would be applied at the time of application, and Medicaid renewal would be changed to every six months instead of an annual basis. South Dakota's plan would require adult Medicaid recipients work, train, attend school or serve as a caretaker for a child or elderly or disabled person in their home unless they meet an exception. Compliance with the state-level work rules would be reviewed on an annual basis, at the time of Medicaid renewal, rather than at the time of application. The state would not require a set number of hours of work or education time. Heather Petermann, Medicaid director at the department, said the requirement would be a 'complement' to Medicaid to 'encourage' work without 'trying to track arbitrary work hours.' 'This approach really recognizes that for many individuals who need assistance with health care, that comes first,' Petermann said. 'Then it allows them to maintain their health so that they can work, or obtain the health needed to seek employment.' The federal government also has more exceptions in its proposal than the state, including tribal community members, people who are in foster care or were in foster care who are younger than 26, and people released from incarceration in the last 90 days. South Dakota would allow exceptions for people who are: Pregnant or postpartum. Disabled, as determined by the Social Security Administration. Diagnosed with cancer or another serious or terminal medical condition by a physician. In an intensive behavioral health treatment program, hospitalized or living in a nursing home. In an area with unemployment 20% or more above the national average and are exempt from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents. As of last month, 30,542 South Dakotans were covered by the Medicaid expansion. The state estimates 80% of them already work or qualify for an exception. SD seeks Medicaid work rules in spite of similar moves by Congress The proposed state-level work requirement would reduce enrollment by an estimated 5-10% in the first year. That would save the Medicaid program between $48.9 million and $71 million in the first year, the department says. The federal proposal as it stands now will cost more administratively than South Dakota's proposed work requirements, Althoff added. States 'will be asked to absorb' costs if the federal proposal is adopted. The state's proposal requires less administrative oversight to reduce anticipated costs, due in part to the state's tight budget approved by the Legislature this year. 'That's just sort of naming the tension about how not having new funds is sort of an important wrinkle to our development process,' Althoff said. 'It's really having to be done within an existing budget.' Board member Colleen Winter said the proposal is 'respectful' of the individuals the department serves. Work requirements are already in place for some federal programs, such as SNAP, and state efforts, such as child care assistance and parental reunification expectations within Child Protection Services. While more than 20 people sat in on a virtual public hearing regarding the state's proposed Medicaid work requirements on Friday, only one member of the public spoke. Attorney Nathaniel Amdur-Clark spoke on behalf of the Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board. He said his client wants to see an exception for Indian Health Service beneficiaries. Native Americans who are tribal enrolled members are eligible to receive health care services through the federal Indian Health Service. Those individuals are eligible for Medicaid coverage even if they do not meet other Medicaid requirements, such as income limits, 'to implement and further trust and treaty obligations the U.S. has to provide health care' for tribal members, Amdur-Clark said. Though Althoff and Petermann did not respond to Amdur-Clark's comments about IHS patients, they did address the subject during the earlier board meeting. Petermann said the proposal includes 'geographic exemptions,' including areas of the state with 'high unemployment.' 'Things like that would also apply to tribal members and American Indians, but we otherwise did not call out or exclude American Indians,' Petermann said. 'The approach is that this is a benefit and we want that dignity and pride to be part of the benefit for everybody, so they would be treated the same in this approach.' Amdur-Clark added that there are technical concerns regarding exemptions in the proposal and that more work is needed to achieve 'real tribal consultation.' The department met with some tribal leaders last week to discuss the proposal, Althoff said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Shelly Ten Napel, CEO of the Community HealthCare Association of the Dakotas, said in an emailed statement that her organization is monitoring state and federal work requirement proposals closely. The group did not give input at the first public meeting, but plans to share its perspective on state work requirements during the public comment period. Ten Napel opposed last year's ballot measure authorizing the state's pursuit of work requirements. Compared to the work requirement proposal being considered in Congress, Ten Napel said, the state proposal is 'overall pretty reasonable.' Gov. Larry Rhoden's administration 'did a careful job of responding to concerns' raised during the debate last year, Ten Napel said, including administrative burdens and exceptions. 'We look forward to working with them to ensure smooth implementation of the new rules if they are approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,' Ten Napel said in the statement. 'We also encourage members of Congress to take a careful look at the common sense approach South Dakota is taking and rethink some of the heavy-handed rules currently under consideration in the Big Beautiful Bill.' The 'big beautiful bill' is the budget reconciliation legislation that the U.S. House sent to the Senate last week, including a Medicaid work requirements provision. Petermann said during the board meeting that South Dakota could perhaps seek to impose its own work requirements, even if the federal legislation passes. 'For example, some of the draft language does include references to things like 'the provisions from the federal legislation cannot be waived,' but we don't know whether that means states still could or couldn't have something that is less or more restrictive, as long as it has the same components,' Petermann said. 'We really don't know for sure yet.' If the state moves forward, it will submit an application to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in July or August. After that, the proposal would go through a federal comment period and application review. The department's next public hearing on the proposed Medicaid work requirements is set for 11 a.m. Central on June 12 at the Sioux Falls office of the Department of Social Services, and online.
Daily Mirror
27-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Baby saved from 'horrific' squalor in home with rotting goat carcass and animals
An eight-month-old baby has been saved from shocking conditions, after police officers uncovered a scene regarded as one of the most disturbing they'd ever encountered At a property search by horrified police officers, a goat carcass rotted in the bathtub, while over 40 animals roamed the house. Meanwhile, right in the middle of the chaos, an eight-month-old baby lived amongst them. That's what authorities found inside a South Carolina home, now being described as one of the most disturbing scenes ever witnessed by officers. Kayla Renard and Nicholas Foley were arrested after police were alerted by the Department of Social Services, which had growing concerns for the child's well-being. 'During our investigation, we uncovered severe, unsafe and unsanitary conditions that put the infant at risk,' authorities said. The child was removed and placed with a relative after police conducted a criminal history check. Inside the home, the smell was 'overwhelming', and the floors were covered in animal waste. In a Facebook post, Honea Path Police revealed, 'Officers found the residence infested with numerous animals, including raccoons, rabbits, dogs, cats, chickens, and deceased animals. Animal faeces and waste are throughout the residence.' Police said they had seen nothing like this. 'In my 30-plus years of service, I have never encountered such a horrific situation involving unsanitary conditions and such a large number of animals,' they added. 41 live animals were found at the property, including 25 dogs, three cats, five raccoons, six chickens, and two rabbits. The distressing scene led officers to contact Dr. Kim Sanders from PAWS for help. According to PAWS, the animals were in a devastating state, and were found to be 'severely dehydrated, covered in faeces, and the majority of them were extremely emaciated.' Six dead animals were also discovered, including a baby goat in a Tupperware bin found in the kitchen. Describing the atmosphere inside the home, Kim recalled: 'The ammonia burned our eyes.' She added: 'The home was unfit for any living creature, let alone an eight-month-old baby girl.' While the animals are now in safe hands and receiving medical care, Kim admitted that the emotional trauma they endured will take longer to heal. 'All of the animals are undergoing medical care and are expected to recover at this time. The emotional trauma they sustained will be a bigger challenge to overcome,' she said. The arrested couple have since been charged with unlawful conduct toward a child, ill treatment of animals, and violations of city ordinances. But what shocked officers even more was how the pair reacted. According to Chief Christopher Miller, there was no remorse. 'Sitting there, calm and really no emotion. No facial expressions,' he said. 'You would think that they'd be a little upset that someone was taking their eight-month-old baby, that the police were there and discovered the horrific conditions of this house.' 'You would think that they would have to know that they were in trouble,' he added. Kayla and Nicholas were both handed $10,000 surety bonds - Nicholas has since posted bail.
