Latest news with #IDHS
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
IDHS provides tips to avoid scams after recent severe weather
(WTWO/WAWV) — With the recent severe weather, the Indiana Department Homeland Security (IDHS) is warning Hoosiers to stay vigilant against storm-related scams. According to the IDHS, scammers could prey on homeowners by promising quick and affordable fixes, only to then disappear after a down payment has been made or delivering inadequate work. The Indiana Attorney General's office is providing tips to use to avoid falling victim to storm scammers: Be skeptical of anyone offering immediate cleanup or repair services without proper vetting. Know the facts: FEMA does not charge application fees. If someone demands payment to helpyou access FEMA funds, it is likely a scam. Research contractors: Check reputations through references, online reviews or the BetterBusiness Bureau before hiring. Verify credentials: Ask for IDs, licenses and proof that the contractor is bonded and insured. Get multiple estimates: Compare offers to ensure fair pricing and scope of work. Insist on written agreements: Do not trust verbal promises. Get everything in writing. Avoid risky payments: Never pay with wire transfers, gift cards, cryptocurrency or cash, and never pay the full amount upfront. Those who suspect a scam can file a complaint at or call the AG's office at 1-800-382-5516. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Yahoo
State budget cuts prompt closure of Indiana Sheriffs' Youth Ranch
The Indiana Sheriffs' Youth Ranch in Clay County is closing, the result of state budget cuts, according to Scott Minier, youth ranch executive director. "State budget cuts have abruptly and prematurely ended a long-term training and leasing agreement between the Indiana Department of Homeland Security and the Indiana Sheriffs' Youth Ranch (ISYR)," Minier stated in a news release. Indiana Sheriff's Youth Ranch closing The Indiana Sheriffs' Youth Ranch in Clay County is closing, the result of state budget cuts, according to Scott Minier, youth ranch executive director. ISYR will permanently close as a result. The academy has worked with future law enforcement officers, at-risk kids, young witnesses and victims of crime. 'Since 2019, IDHS had for $48,000 annually shared our 62-acre private training retreat's lodge, classroom building, animal kennels, pole barns, lakes and rolling, wooded acreage for search and rescue, K-9, drone and hazardous materials training," Minier said. State agencies have also used the Youth Ranch property for water dive and rescue exercises, stop-the-bleed planning, hosting international and out-of-state guests as well as celebrating holidays, according to the news release. IDHS' lease was to continue through 2029 with renewals signed in two-year options to coincide with the state's biennial budget cycles. State figures show no increases in rent have been paid over the first six years of the expected 10-year period. In 2018, the state of Indiana occupied the ISYR property at no charge. Minier said the $48,000 gap in funding is too much for dedicated volunteers to raise and donors to contribute, given other construction and operating expenses. 'With the help of some visionary sheriffs, generous donors and dedicated volunteers, our Youth Ranch trudged through its bureaucratic start-up years, we survived state-mandated COVID-19 business closures cancelling our special events and face-to-face fundraisers, we demolished unsafe facilities, remodeled existing structures, built two new year-round youth cabins and began construction on two others — despite the nation's supply chain issues and runaway inflation,' Minier said. The most important accomplishment was engaging more than 2,000 K-college Hoosier students each year in day visits, overnights, weeklong leadership academies and special off-season events like the increasingly popular Sheriffs' Easter Egg Hunts, Sheriffs' Pumpkin Painting Parties and Sheriffs' Breakfasts With Santa, he said. Those events provided law enforcement with opportunities to bond with at-risk kids "like never before," Minier stated. An appraisal is being conducted, so the 62-acre Youth Ranch property can be offered at auction May 31, along with equipment, furniture and accessories. If a reserve bid based on the appraisal is not met, the property and improvements will be listed on the public real estate market with Greg Clingan Auction & Real Estate of Covington, Ind. Any proceeds from the sale will proportionally refund major naming-rights donors after an ISYR mortgage, other debt and expenses are satisfied. ISYR's training retreat is located one mile north of I-70 between Indianapolis and Terre Haute along State Road 59. Its 62-acre rolling, wooded property offers three semi-private managed lakes, a five-bedroom stone and timber home with 4.5 bathrooms and a new gourmet kitchen, two new year-round cabins, two pole barns and a training center with full kitchen and two half-baths. An auction will be conducted by Clingan on May 31, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 5325 N. State Road 59, Brazil. Equipment, furniture and accessories will be offered in addition to the property and buildings – including like-new Polaris ATVs, fishing kayaks, two zero-turn mowers, Stihl and DeWalt power tools, commercial kitchen equipment, office furniture, computer screens and printers, picnic tables, gas grills, bunkbeds, bedroom suits and household items. Go to for details.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Yahoo
Jury finds Danville man to be Sexually Violent Person
A Danville man has been found to be a Sexually Violent Person by a Vermilion County jury. Otis Arrington, 66, was committed to the custody of the Illinois Department of Human Services following his recent court case. The case was prosecuted by the office of Attorney General Kwame Raoul. Arrington had been detained in the IDHS Treatment and Detention Facility awaiting his trial. 'This offender's violent history indicates his release would pose a threat to women in the community,' Raoul said. 'I am committed to protecting Illinois families and communities from offenders who have been deemed sexually violent by the court.' Arrington was convicted in Indiana in 1978 of rape and burglary and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Just four months after his 1989 release and while on parole, Arrington committed aggravated criminal sexual assault, home invasion, residential burglary, armed violence and armed robbery in Danville. He was convicted and sentenced to 60 years in prison for those charges in 1990. Under the Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act, Raoul's office files cases seeking to commit offenders to the custody of IDHS. To be committed under the act, a person must have been convicted of a sexually violent offense and suffer from a mental disorder. The Attorney General's office must also prove that the offender is likely to commit future acts of sexual violence if released from custody. Once committed to IDHS, offenders are reevaluated on a regular basis to determine if they continue to meet the criteria for commitment as a sexually violent person. Senior Assistant Attorney General Nicole Bartell and Deputy Chief William Bryant handled the case for Raoul's Sexually Violent Persons Bureau.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill to classify compulsive gambling as a substance abuse disorder passes Illinois Senate
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — Illinois lawmakers are working to classify compulsive gambling as a substance abuse disorder with a bill in the state capitol. If gambling disorder is categorized under the Substance Use Disorder Act, the Illinois Department of Human Services would be able to create programs for the prevention, recognition and treatment of the disorder and fund grants for local intervention programs. Illinois bill aims to limit suspensions for students in preschool through 2nd grade 'Gambling releases dopamine and can quickly escalate from a fun pastime to a serious issue,' said State Senator Julie Morrison (D-Lake Forest). 'By recognizing gambling disorder as a health condition, we are breaking down barriers to treatment and recovery.' IDHS found in a 2021 statewide report 3.8% of adult Illinois residents experienced problems with gambling, with an additional 7.7% of Illinoisans at risk of developing a gambling problem. 'When gambling gets out of hand, it can have a snowball effect on a person's life,' said Morrison. 'It's important that a system of care is in place to support individuals without judgement as they recover.' The bill passed the Senate last week unanimously. The full text of the bill can be found on the Illinois General Assembly's website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
20-03-2025
- CBS News
Millions of dollars stolen in Illinois SNAP benefits fraud, leaving vulnerable families at risk
Scammers stole tens of millions of dollars from Illinois families and taxpayers in just over two years, a new report sent to state legislators revealed. Food benefits fraud continues into 2025, even though stolen benefits are no longer being reimbursed . "I checked the balance of the EBT card. Seven cents was on it," one recent victim wrote. "My family and I can't buy groceries this month," wrote another. CBS News Chicago has been covering stories of stolen SNAP benefits since fall 2022 . As a result, legislation passed requiring the Illinois Department of Human Services to track that type of fraud within the SNAP system and submit an annual report to the state legislature. From Oct. 2022 through Dec. 2024, nearly $21 million was stolen from more than 38,000 households through nearly 124,000 fraudulent transactions. In 2024, the total of $12.5 million stolen made up 57% of all of the benefits pocketed by fraudsters since the tracking began. "We're seeing the wave across the country increase significantly where the cards are being stolen and legitimate individuals, those who are eligible for SNAP are left in a situation where they can't pay for their groceries," said Haywood Talcove, CEO of Government Business for LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Nationally that figure stands at more than $220 million, according to the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture data, which calculates funds replaced through Sept. 30, 2024. In Illinois, the tracking will continue, including how many people report fraud, but don't get reimbursed. Two people who reached out to CBS News Chicago about recent cases of benefit theft will be among those counted but not reimbursed. Both filed fraud claims with IDHS. One is a Chicago woman who had $1,039 stolen in six out-of-state transactions on Jan. 31. All six occurred within 43 minutes of each other at the same Long Island, New York deli and grocery store. "I am not the only victim," she wrote. "When the clerk gave me the report to file she said this has been severe since 2022." The second is a Chicago man who had $698 stolen within one minute at three out-of-state businesses in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania respectively. The funds were stolen within a half hour of them being deposited into his account on Feb. 9. He's concerned about feeding his family. "IDHS isn't replacing any of the benefits for the month. They are just giving people new cards, telling them to wait until next month's benefits," he wrote. "There's people that live in your city, in Chicago, that are put in a horrible situation because of the lack of progress the federal government has made in securing those cards," said Talcove. In Illinois, more than one million households use EBT cards, known in-state as Link, to access their SNAP benefits. The cards do not contain more secure chips as most, it not all, debit and credit cards do now. Those chips allow customers to tap rather than swipe their cards at a point-of-sale (POS) terminal during checkout. "Skimming is a big part of the SNAP EBT fraud," said Assistant Special Agent in Charge James Morley of the U.S. Secret Service Chicago Field Office. When a card is swiped, the data on it, like the card number, is susceptible to being copied by way of a device called a skimmer. "That skimmer will have Bluetooth in it." Morley said. When you swipe your card, Bluetooth sends your card information to an unlocked cell phone nearby in the store. That phone then transfers the data to anywhere where there's an internet or cell connection. "So you could have criminals in another state or another country that are getting that data real time as it's being captured," said Morley. The real issue, Talcove said, is no security technology with the cards themselves. "What I don't understand, though, is how in the world when the entire world switched to chip-enabled cards over a decade ago, why the food stamp program didn't do the same thing," said Talcove. This year, states are starting to roll out chip-enabled EBT cards. California is the first. Oklahoma will be next. Illinois has opted not to switch to chip cards. Instead, the state will be one of five participating in the USDA Mobile Payment Pilot program set to launch later in 2025. The program allows state EBT cards, like the Illinois Link card, to be placed in a phone's mobile wallet. The phone is then used to tap to pay at checkout. "I think that is a tremendous idea. And I would actually skip the chip card and force everyone onto a mobile device because that is even more secure," said Talcove. Talcove warned that no matter which smarter tech states go to, all stores will have to upgrade their older POS terminals which are a preferred target for skimming devices. Until upgrades happen, the Secret Service is on a nationwide mission to find skimming devices and educate store owners of what to watch for. In Oct. 2024, secret service agents, along Chicago police and other local law enforcement, went to about 200 businesses and checked hundreds of devices at those POS terminals, ATMs and gas pumps. They found six skimmers all in Cook County. In 2025, agents have already found dozens more across the country from Las Vegas to Washington, D.C. As for reimbursing money stolen from SNAP recipients which ran out on December 20, 2024 U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois' 9th Congressional District said in a statement, "I have heard from constituents who have had their benefits stolen and have not been reimbursed. My GOP colleagues in Congress refuse to support legislation to reimburse all those who have been affected, but I will not back down. I plan to continue to work with my colleagues in the state legislature to ensure all Illinoisans can access their benefits."
