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ABC News
a day ago
- Business
- ABC News
More than a million unemployed Australians job ready as 'deeply concerning' data released
One in 10 Australians have been in their current job for more than 20 years, as the national job mobility rate decreased for a second year. Just under 8 per cent of employed people – 1.1 million workers – changed jobs in the past year, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). At the same time, the annual retrenchment rate – the number of employees dismissed for financial reasons – increased to 1.9 per cent. About 2.2 million people left or lost their jobs for various reasons. The numbers have been labelled "deeply concerning" by social services advocates, who have called for an overhaul in the employment sector. ABS head of statistics Sean Crick said there was a "small decrease" in job mobility to 7.7 per cent. The figure is down from 8 per cent last year, and 9.6 per cent in 2023. "This follows a rise in job mobility over the COVID period, where the job mobility rate increased to 9.6 per cent in February 2023," Mr Crick said. "Of the 1.1 million who changed jobs during the year to February 2025, almost two-thirds (62 per cent) remained in the same occupation." An ABS spokesperson told the ABC the job mobility rate had spiked "leading up to the recession of the early 90s" to almost 20 per cent. "[This was before] declining considerably during the recession, down to around 12 per cent," they said. "Since then, it has declined to under 8 per cent. "Job mobility, underemployment and potential workers have declined a bit over the last few years. "Like unemployment, potential workers and underemployment tend to follow the business cycle, so have had periods of increasing and decreasing.' There were 1.7 million people not working but wanting to work as of February 2025 – labelled "potential workers". Of those potential workers, more than 1 million were available to start work in the previous week before being surveyed. Another 311,300 were available to start within four weeks. "People who were unavailable to work in the short to medium term may not begin looking for work until it is closer to the time when they will be able to work,' the ABS said. "There were 596,100 people who wanted to work, were available to start either immediately or within four weeks, but did not actively look for work." The main reasons those potential workers gave included attending education and needing childcare. Australian Council of Social Services chief executive Cassandra Goldie said there was a "clear mismatch" in the labour market. "There is … a steady decline in entry-level jobs making it harder for people to transition into paid employment, especially those on income support," she told the ABC. "People are struggling to look for work while surviving on woefully low JobSeeker payments that trap them into poverty. "It's hard to look for work if you can't afford rent, transport, internet or even food." There were also 719,300 people permanently unable to work. Dr Goldie said the government needed to "move beyond punitive compliance" and "deliver real solutions" for employment. "We need to overhaul employment services and invest in tailored, quality employment programs that support people to transition into secure, suitable work, lift income support payments to liveable levels and a commitment to ambitious employment targets," she said. "We also need to end harmful payment suspensions and cancellations, which damage people's capacity to find employment." Many jobseekers also reported feeling discouraged when it came to searching for work. They cited concerns about qualifications, age and health conditions as their main barriers to finding employment. This was in line with ACOSS's 2024 Faces of Unemployment report, which found people with a disability or health concerns were also likely to be older, with both factors putting them at higher risk of long-term unemployment. "We know that people with partial work capacity, older people and First Nations people face persistent barriers to paid work, including workplace discrimination, a lack of appropriate roles in their communities, and employment services that are failing to support them," Dr Goldie said. "The decline in job mobility combined with high numbers of job losses is deeply concerning. For people on low incomes or facing disadvantage in the labour market, it often means they are being shut out completely. This month the ABS reported the unemployment rate had risen to 4.3 per cent in June. This meant there were an additional 34,000 unemployed people nationwide. Along with unemployed people, the ABS also released new data relating to "underemployed" workers. This referred to those who had either worked less than their usual hours or those who would prefer to work more than they usually did. As of February 2025, there were 818,900 part-time workers who wanted to work more hours, "with almost half preferring to work full-time". Of the total 1.5 million underemployed people, 321,100 had had their hours reduced.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- The Guardian
‘Dad, I love you. Pray for me': the preventable death of Nimroy Hendricks, stabbed in the heart by a 14-year-old
In October 2020, Nimroy Hendricks was struggling to manage a situation that was spiralling out of control. He was 24, his girlfriend was 32, and her daughter, Rhianna (not her real name), was a violent and troubled 14-year-old. At the start of that year, Rhianna had stabbed her mother and set fire to a room in their home, been briefly detained, then returned to live with her. Now she was again threatening to stab her mum. Hendricks was desperate to protect his girlfriend, who he had been with for six months. 'I knew it was getting really bad for Nim,' says his father, also called Nimroy Hendricks. 'He couldn't handle the situation but he felt he couldn't leave his girlfriend because he was worried Rhianna might kill her. The mother was afraid of her daughter. She had reported her daughter's threats to police and social services, but Rhianna remained living with her. 'The last time I saw Nim, we sat on the stairs just talking. He told me how bad the situation was with Rhianna. He said: 'Dad, they're not helping her.' Then he gave me a hug and held me tightly and said: 'Dad, I love you. Pray for me.'' On 27 October, Hendricks went to his girlfriend's home in Crawley, West Sussex, to collect a few things. When he arrived, he saw Rhianna had smashed things up in the flat, and told her off, phoning her mother to tell her what had happened. Then he left. Rhianna was furious. As Hendricks walked down the street with his headphones on, she pursued him with a knife. She shouted that she was going to stab him, then plunged the knife through his heart. Rhianna was convicted of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility at Bristol crown court in July 2021. Medical experts identified 'a significant abnormality of mind' at the time of the killing. She received a sentence of nine years – five in custody, followed by four on extended licence. During the court proceedings she acknowledged Hendricks had been a positive and supportive influence and 'like a brother' to her. After the trial, detective chief inspector Andy Wolstenholme described Hendricks as 'peaceful, selfless and caring'. On 18 July, almost five years after the stabbing, the inquest into Hendricks' death concluded. Penelope Schofield, senior coroner for West Sussex, Brighton and Hove, ruled that his death was due to unlawful killing and that the police and social services had each missed an opportunity to intervene shortly beforehand. 'It is possible that had these matters been addressed the perpetrator may not have been in a position to carry out the act which led to Mr Hendricks' death,' she said. 'The issue with this case was that nobody saw the risk to Nim.' 'Everyone was at risk from this girl,' his mother, Lisa, said afterwards. 'Her mother, police officers, social workers – and Nim. But it was as if Nim was an invisible person.' Hendricks was adored by his parents. Lisa describes him as 'a sweet plum'. She is an artist who previously taught art to prisoners, and Nimroy Hendricks Sr is a musician and decorator. Nimroy and his dad wrote and performed music together and joined forces on decorating jobs. 'When I think of Nim,' says Lisa, 'I think of him in the water in Jamaica, free and happy during days out on the beach when he was swimming, snorkelling, jumping the waves and smiling, showing his missing teeth with his soft curly hair full of sand.' 'We have not just lost our son,' Lisa and Nimroy said at the inquest. 'We have lost our best friend. There is no way to describe the unbearable pain of life without him.' The day before Hendricks died, Rhianna's mother had reported her missing to the police. She was well known to them. When Rhianna was found in the early hours of 27 October, just hours before killing Hendricks, the police agreed, after some deliberation, that she could go and stay with an 18-year-old girl she described as her 'cousin', but who was not in fact a relative and did not live at the address she had provided to the police. Hendricks' parents believe that had Rhianna been taken into protective custody that night their son would still be alive. An earlier report into the actions of Sussex police by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, however, did not identify any failings. It was only after Hendricks' death that a fuller picture emerged of Rhianna's background. Rhianna's mother became pregnant with her when she was 17. She was subjected to domestic violence while she was pregnant, which experts believe impacted her daughter in the womb. According to a 2023 review into the events leading up to Hendricks' killing, Rhianna told professionals she had to look after herself at times even when she was a toddler. She displayed violent and aggressive behaviour from the age of six, and at eight she was permanently excluded from her third primary school, after numerous episodes of restraint and fixed-term exclusions. Referrals to the child and adolescent mental health services were made, but rejected, because she did not 'meet the threshold'. In 2017, when she was 10, she told professionals she had smothered her three-year-old half-brother in a rage. He survived. In June 2019, when she was 13, she was the victim of a serious attack. Around the same time, she was linked to county lines drug gangs. She was diagnosed with PTSD, mild learning difficulties and conduct disorder, and possibly also ADHD. A psychological assessment when she was 13 found she was functioning as an eight- or nine-year-old. When asked about her safe places and who had protected her as a child, she was unable to name any person or place. The 2023 review concluded 'there was a failure of the system as a whole' in relation to Rhianna and that 'the systems in place to protect such vulnerable children are ineffectual'. It found that those supposed to be supporting Rhianna demonstrated a lack of professional curiosity and critical thinking. It also identified 'adultification bias', whereby adults perceive black children like Rhianna to be older than they are and fail to treat them in an age-appropriate way. 'I honestly think part of the failings were due to the fact that she is black and Nimroy was black,' says Lisa. 'They were doing lots of things, but none of them were joined up and none of them worked.' A common thread in reviews into violent deaths is that opportunities to intervene were missed and communication between agencies was deficient. In Rhianna's case there were so many plans – multi-agency support plans, education and healthcare plans, children-in-need plans and child protection plans – and all of them failed. The thousands of pages of notes written about her by various professionals could not save Hendricks' life. The number of agencies that intervened may even have had a negative impact on Rhianna's wellbeing. The review stated that Rhianna 'was known to be overwhelmed by the number of services and professionals involved'. It added: 'There is little evidence that, despite significant input and undoubted time and effort, partnership intervention had any positive effect over [Rhianna's] lifetime.' According to Dr Elie Godsi, a consultant clinical psychologist and chartered member of the British Psychological Society, women and girls commit about 10% of all violent acts. 'This is almost exclusively due to multiple childhood adversity and trauma … in particular, interpersonal violence, substance misuse, mental health problems and self-harm,' he says. 'If you have been a powerless victim, one way of taking back control and power is through being violent. When you have a child with that much trauma, they can't regulate their emotions or behaviour and any kind of conflict is magnified.' In March, Susannah Hancock's review of girls detained after criminal offences in England and Wales recommended they should no longer be placed in young offender institutions due to the 'complex mental and physical health issues' they often face. Instead, they should be placed in secure schools or secure children's homes. At the time of the review, just 10 girls were being held across England and Wales. It found that offending in this group of girls was 'closely linked to exposure to multiple, traumatic events'. Most girls who commit violent offences are found to have suffered abuse from a very young age or even while still in the womb. At the time the relationship between Hendricks and Rhianna's mother began, Rhianna had just been released from child detention on licence after the stabbing and fire-setting incidents. 'Nim told me how beautiful it was to see them reunited,' says Lisa. 'Rhianna was learning to ride a bicycle and Nim was a loving and big-hearted presence there.' But Rhianna was prone to bouts of extreme anger and couldn't be talked down when her rage descended. In the days before she killed Hendricks, Rhianna's anger had been triggered by her mother leaving their home in Crawley to travel to Birmingham, so she could care for her dying mother. She had returned to Crawley the day before Rhianna killed Hendricks, but was fearful of going back to their home because of the threat from her daughter. Instead, she stayed with Hendricks. Killings by children are extremely rare; killing by girls even more so. But police, social services, schools and youth justice teams need to recognise that children can commit domestic violence as well as be the victims of it, says Lisa. 'These children need to be considered as perpetrators in order that those subjected to this domestic violence are given the protection they deserve. These children, who are so obviously troubled, deserve proper care and therapeutic interventions. If the state does not put in place the structures to help children who [might] kill, we are in increasingly dangerous territory.' Hendricks' parents are not out for revenge. 'I forgave Rhianna straight away when I read about all the things she has been through,' says Hendricks Sr. 'Everyone failed her.' He constantly replays the weeks before Rhianna killed his son. 'It was terrible to see someone that young with no protection. They should have kept a close eye on her. She needed help, but they didn't look after her. I go and sit at Nim's graveside and think about how he would still be alive if things had been done differently.' He is also haunted by the police's refusal to let him see his son after Rhianna stabbed him. When he got the news, he rushed to the scene. 'All I wanted was to see my son. My heart was racing. But the police escorted me away. There was a partition separating me from him. I was told by police I should not stay there. I said, 'I can't go – this is my son.'' 'The system is completely broken,' Lisa says, 'and we have paid the highest price for that.' Like Lisa, Hendricks Sr is calling for a fundamental change in the way dangerous and troubled children are managed. 'When people have mental health problems, they need to be kept in a safe place,' he says. 'I don't think prison is the right place for girls like her and I would never want her to be there. She needs to be put into a therapeutic environment where she is safe and can get the care she needs to heal.' 'Losing Nim is a daily event – it never leaves me,' says Lisa. 'A huge part of me left when he was killed. I am not the same person. It has been harrowing to lose him to the hand of a child. Nim was a beautiful soul, a kind, imperfect, handsome, funny, wise-for-his-years and talented young man. He was an absolute joy and deserved 100% better.' 'Nim and I were so close and I have to continue living with this. I feel so lonely,' says Hendricks Sr. 'All my son was trying to do was help a girl who needed help.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
'We're all to blame': Mum and daughter lay dead for months
How did a mother and her 18-year-old daughter lie dead in their home for months and nobody knew? This is just one of the questions examined during the inquest into the deaths of Alphonsine Djiako Leuga and Loraine Choulla. Loraine had Down's syndrome and her mother was her carer. They were known to social services. And yet they had "lain undiscovered for some time" in their home in Radford, Nottingham, last May. It's a tragic case that has left people in the community not only blaming the authorities, but also themselves. "What went wrong? Did the system fail her? That's the question," a friend told the BBC. She had met Alphonsine, who was born in Cameroon, outside the Victoria Centre in Nottingham when they had just arrived in the UK in 2016 from Italy. She had two daughters with her at the time. It was a time of desperation. "I met them on the street. They had nowhere to go," she explained. "She was speaking French. I spoke in French." They all stayed with the friend, who did not want to be named, at her house for up to eight weeks. "I took her in because she is a Cameroonian. I am a Cameroonian too, my kids are not home either," she added. Later in 2019, Alphonsine, 47, and her two daughters moved into their council house in Hartley Road and got to know locals in the community. The older of the two children, who is in her 20s, moved out in April 2022, the inquest heard. One shopkeeper affectionately called Alphonsine "Cameroon woman", and described her as an easy-going person with a happy daughter. But hard times followed, and Alphonsine would go on to tell locals her heating had been cut off and Loraine was not going to school, which had affected her benefits and ability to pay the bills. A local business let her buy food on credit. "Whenever she would get money she would clear her bill," the employee said. "Maybe £20 worth of items... just little meal for a few days." She would buy frozen food and dry items and what her daughter wanted, according to the staff member, who did not want to be named. But it was winter, it was cold and she could not heat her home as December approached. The house appeared unkempt and had signs of disrepair. The shop worker said at this time, Alphonsine visited the store with a swollen face. "I was asking, 'are you ok? 'What's happening'? She said the cold is too much," they said. The inquest - which began on Monday at Nottingham Coroner's Court - heard Alphonsine had begun to disengage with housing and social services in 2021, refusing access to her house. 'System is wrong' It meant inspections did not take place and her gas supply was subsequently capped. When she asked for it to be turned back on, she didn't grant access to her property. Alphonsine and Loraine remained without hot water and heating from 2023. By January 2024, Alphonsine was critically ill having just spent days in hospital with very low iron levels. On 2 February, she told an ambulance call handler she needed help for herself and her daughter. "Would you send an ambulance? Please come, please," were the last words she said on the phone before the call ended. The ambulance never came as it had been wrongly labelled as an "abandoned call", and Alphonsine died first - between 2 and 8 February - of pneumonia, leaving Loraine, who relied "entirely" on her mum, to fend for herself. She died weeks later of malnutrition and dehydration. When news of their deaths emerged, the community was left shocked and with questions: How could this happen? How did they not see the signs? "It's so upsetting. She and her daughter were probably in that house undetected for maybe months," the shop worker said. "It means there is problem in the community. Everybody is by themselves. Nobody can check [on] each other. "I believe someone like that should be more supported. The system is wrong." Next-door neighbour Deborah Williams described seeing the mother struggling with Loraine at times, who was non-verbal and physically strong for her age. She told the BBC she would overhear Alphonsine helping her with her language skills. "You'd hear her mum trying to support her with speaking. It was almost like you could tell that mum was reading baby books and wanting her daughter to copy," she said. Deborah said the pair were good neighbours and recalled last seeing them at the start of 2024. At this point she said the garden was overgrown, there was mould on the windows - which were left ajar in winter - and the back gates were in need of repair. But the "telling signs" went unnoticed among the wider community. "I live in the area, where it's a not a bad thing to keep yourself to yourself," Deborah said. "You do kind of want to be invisible. You don't want any trouble. You don't want to draw attention. "It just never really occurred to me that it could be that severe a situation, but those are telling signs that something is not right." In happier times, she described seeing the pair out and about with matching hairstyles. "Mum's deciding that she's going to have a yellow or an orange weave, the daughter's going to have the same one as well," Deborah recalled. She had had two visits from social services enquiring about the whereabouts of the pair and felt the council, as a landlord, had a responsibility to them. Social care staff attempted to visit Alphonsine and Loraine in early 2024 but when it appeared to them the house was empty, they left. The coroner said there were "missed opportunities, particularly by Nottingham City Council social care teams, to escalate concerns" around the pair and to involve police in welfare checks. Deborah added Alphonsine and Loraine's quiet nature - they weren't a nuisance or noisy - meant no action was triggered. "That's a sad thing," she said. "The daughter was so reliant on the mum - she wouldn't even know how to get a key and to let herself out. "She can't shout, raise an alarm of some sort. They [Loraine] didn't have the functionality to do something like open the front door, because that person, your person was everything. That person was responsible for your life." When police discovered the pair, there was evidence teenager Loraine had tried to feed herself, the inquest heard. There were two unopened tins of tuna found in the microwave and half-eaten food in the bedroom, including bread and raw pasta. Jamil Ellahi, who owns a barbershop opposite their home, said he felt angry when he found out about their deaths. "I felt sad because obviously I'm across the road and used to see her every week or so," he said. "I blame myself. I blame everybody who lives round here, because we should have been more of a community and we should look after our neighbours. "The ignorance of not talking to [a] neighbour next-door, not knowing the name, that's the problem." Jamil thinks if communities were more sociable, problems would not go under the radar. "We're all to blame. You can't just put the finger on one person, or one society, or one group. It's all of us. "We all, we all have to take a lesson from this." Additional reporting by Asha Patel If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, support is available via the BBC Action Line. Follow BBC Nottingham on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@ or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210. More on this story Missed chances to save daughter found dead with mum Disabled daughter 'alone for weeks after mum died' Mum found dead with daughter refused support Mum and daughter found dead months after 999 plea Review after 'shocking' deaths of mum and daughter Police say 'no crime recorded' after bodies found Bodies of two women 'undiscovered for some time' Related internet links Nottingham City Council East Midlands Ambulance Service HM Courts & Tribunals Service
BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
'We're all to blame': Mum and daughter lay dead for months
How did a mother and her 18-year-old daughter lie dead in their home for months and nobody knew?This is just one of the questions examined during the inquest into the deaths of Alphonsine Djiako Leuga and Loraine had Down's syndrome and her mother was her carer. They were known to social services. And yet they had "lain undiscovered for some time" in their home in Radford, Nottingham, last a tragic case that has left people in the community not only blaming the authorities, but also themselves. "What went wrong? Did the system fail her? That's the question," a friend told the had met Alphonsine, who was born in Cameroon, outside the Victoria Centre in Nottingham when they had just arrived in the UK in 2016 from Italy. She had two daughters with her at the was a time of desperation."I met them on the street. They had nowhere to go," she explained."She was speaking French. I spoke in French."They all stayed with the friend, who did not want to be named, at her house for up to eight weeks."I took her in because she is a Cameroonian. I am a Cameroonian too, my kids are not home either," she added. Later in 2019, Alphonsine, 47, and her two daughters moved into their council house in Hartley Road and got to know locals in the community. The older of the two children, who is in her 20s, moved out in April 2022, the inquest shopkeeper affectionately called Alphonsine "Cameroon woman", and described her as an easy-going person with a happy hard times followed, and Alphonsine would go on to tell locals her heating had been cut off and Loraine was not going to school, which had affected her benefits and ability to pay the bills. A local business let her buy food on credit."Whenever she would get money she would clear her bill," the employee said."Maybe £20 worth of items... just little meal for a few days."She would buy frozen food and dry items and what her daughter wanted, according to the staff member, who did not want to be it was winter, it was cold and she could not heat her home as December house appeared unkempt and had signs of shop worker said at this time, Alphonsine visited the store with a swollen face."I was asking, 'are you ok? 'What's happening'? She said the cold is too much," they inquest - which began on Monday at Nottingham Coroner's Court - heard Alphonsine had begun to disengage with housing and social services in 2021, refusing access to her house. 'System is wrong' It meant inspections did not take place and her gas supply was subsequently capped. When she asked for it to be turned back on, she didn't grant access to her property. Alphonsine and Loraine remained without hot water and heating from January 2024, Alphonsine was critically ill having just spent days in hospital with very low iron 2 February, she told an ambulance call handler she needed help for herself and her daughter."Would you send an ambulance? Please come, please," were the last words she said on the phone before the call ambulance never came as it had been wrongly labelled as an "abandoned call", and Alphonsine died first - between 2 and 8 February - of pneumonia, leaving Loraine, who relied "entirely" on her mum, to fend for died weeks later of malnutrition and news of their deaths emerged, the community was left shocked and with questions: How could this happen? How did they not see the signs?"It's so upsetting. She and her daughter were probably in that house undetected for maybe months," the shop worker said."It means there is problem in the community. Everybody is by themselves. Nobody can check [on] each other."I believe someone like that should be more supported. The system is wrong." Next-door neighbour Deborah Williams described seeing the mother struggling with Loraine at times, who was non-verbal and physically strong for her told the BBC she would overhear Alphonsine helping her with her language skills."You'd hear her mum trying to support her with speaking. It was almost like you could tell that mum was reading baby books and wanting her daughter to copy," she said the pair were good neighbours and recalled last seeing them at the start of this point she said the garden was overgrown, there was mould on the windows - which were left ajar in winter - and the back gates were in need of the "telling signs" went unnoticed among the wider community. "I live in the area, where it's a not a bad thing to keep yourself to yourself," Deborah said."You do kind of want to be invisible. You don't want any trouble. You don't want to draw attention."It just never really occurred to me that it could be that severe a situation, but those are telling signs that something is not right."In happier times, she described seeing the pair out and about with matching hairstyles. "Mum's deciding that she's going to have a yellow or an orange weave, the daughter's going to have the same one as well," Deborah recalled. She had had two visits from social services enquiring about the whereabouts of the pair and felt the council, as a landlord, had a responsibility to care staff attempted to visit Alphonsine and Loraine in early 2024 but when it appeared to them the house was empty, they left. The coroner said there were "missed opportunities, particularly by Nottingham City Council social care teams, to escalate concerns" around the pair and to involve police in welfare added Alphonsine and Loraine's quiet nature - they weren't a nuisance or noisy - meant no action was triggered."That's a sad thing," she said. "The daughter was so reliant on the mum - she wouldn't even know how to get a key and to let herself out."She can't shout, raise an alarm of some sort. They [Loraine] didn't have the functionality to do something like open the front door, because that person, your person was everything. That person was responsible for your life." When police discovered the pair, there was evidence teenager Loraine had tried to feed herself, the inquest were two unopened tins of tuna found in the microwave and half-eaten food in the bedroom, including bread and raw Ellahi, who owns a barbershop opposite their home, said he felt angry when he found out about their deaths."I felt sad because obviously I'm across the road and used to see her every week or so," he said."I blame myself. I blame everybody who lives round here, because we should have been more of a community and we should look after our neighbours."The ignorance of not talking to [a] neighbour next-door, not knowing the name, that's the problem."Jamil thinks if communities were more sociable, problems would not go under the radar."We're all to blame. You can't just put the finger on one person, or one society, or one group. It's all of us."We all, we all have to take a lesson from this."Additional reporting by Asha PatelIf you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, support is available via the BBC Action Line.
Reuters
5 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
US agencies pause effort to block immigrant social services in states that sued
NEW YORK, July 25 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration agreed on Friday to pause efforts to block immigrants who are living in the U.S. illegally from accessing certain federally funded social services in 20 Democratic-led states that sued over the policy changes. The U.S. Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, Education, and Labor agreed to wait until at least September 3 to enforce the changes that affect programs providing early childhood education, food and healthcare. The agencies also agreed not to enforce the changes retroactively in New York, California, Illinois, or the other states that sued, according to an agreement filed in Rhode Island federal court, where the states had filed their lawsuit. New York Attorney General Letitia James said the agreement preserves social services "that millions of New Yorkers rely on to survive." "These policy changes threaten essential lifelines like health care, education, and nutrition assistance programs for hardworking families in New York and nationwide," James said in a statement. "My office will continue to fight for these programs and services on behalf of all who need them." The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. More than 20 Democratic attorneys general had sued on Monday arguing that the policies, which implement an immigration-focused executive order from Trump, are unconstitutional and that the Republican president issued them without following the required federal rulemaking process. The policy changes require programs to check participants' immigration status before giving access to essential public services like Head Start, Meals on Wheels, child welfare programs, domestic violence shelters, housing assistance, mental health treatment, food banks, and community health centers. The states said the directives threatened to pull federal funding from states and could force some programs to shutter altogether. The requirements went into effect almost immediately after the directives were issued, leaving the programs scrambling to find ways to comply so they can stay open, the states said. States have always needed to verify a person's lawful immigration status before allowing them to access certain federal programs, like Medicaid. But federal agencies have previously taken the position that states did not have to verify immigration status for some programs, like soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and crisis counseling centers, that received federal funding but were intended to be "open to all," according to the lawsuit.
