Similar stories:
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State cuts to health, welfare programs inflict pain
What will $3.3 billion in cuts to state health and welfare programs mean for the Valley?
Children will lose health insurance. Fragile mental health programs will take another hit. Counties will have less money to investigate child abuse and pay foster homes.
The list goes on.
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House calls as cost-saver in health care reform?
The doctor doesn't look like much of a crusader, bent over the frail frame of 90-year-old Alberta Scott.
He has a lavender stethoscope strung round his neck and some serious bedside manner at work on this stubborn nonagenarian who wants to be anywhere but where she is: in a nursing home bed, hoping to heal and get back home.
"Squeeze my hand," Dr. Peter Boling prods. "Squeeze my hand. Come on. Hard!"
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Fresno Co. tackles growing in-home services fraud
In-Home Supportive Services helps thousands of elderly and disabled Fresno County residents by providing cleaning, cooking and other services that keep them out of institutions.
But it also helps another group -- crooks.
Officials are increasingly concerned about fraud in the program, although they say it's impossible to measure how much is lost because of it.
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Fresno Co. schools reach out to foster children
Fresno County has come up with an innovative way to help foster children, whose challenges at home often overwhelm their efforts at school.
The county is placing social workers in schools, where they provide educational assistance to children they’re already monitoring for foster care. The social workers focus on educational performance and getting foster children prepared for life as self-sufficient adults.
“They have all been through a lot neglect, abuse and suffering and they often don’t think they have a future,” said Krista Hopper, a social worker at Fresno High School. “Once they see someone is checking on them, it changes their outlook.”
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H1N1 flu vaccine arrives in Valley
Nasal spray vaccine to ward off swine flu began arriving Tuesday in the central San Joaquin Valley.
Kings County received 1,600 doses of the vaccine for the H1N1 virus, also called swine flu. Fresno County got about 200 doses.
In Kings County, health workers will begin giving the vaccine to 2-year-olds within the next week or two, said Keith Winkler, health director for Kings County.
Reporter Barbara Anderson profiled families caring for aging loved ones, and wrote about the challenges of hiring trustworthy caregivers for older relatives [stories March 11]. At the heart of both stories are the dedicated men and women who selflessly and compassionately provide care to people who need assistance in their daily living.
In California, nearly 1.5 million frail, elderly, chronically ill or disabled people depend on long-term care to continue living safely in their own homes, with dignity and independence. More than 360,000 low-income seniors and people with disabilities receive home care through the state's In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program.
Though cases of fraud and abuse are negligible in this program, there's no doubt that a system for background checks would provide a measure of reassurance and security to families seeking assistance. That's why our organizations, representing more than 200,000 IHSS homecare workers, are sponsoring legislation to provide for these checks -- SB 868, Sen. Mark Ridley Thomas. We sponsored the same legislation last year; it passed both houses of the Legislature, but was vetoed by the governor. It is our sincere hope the governor signs this important bill this year.
Tyrone Freeman
President
California United Homecare Workers
United Long-Term Care Workers Union
Sacramento
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