“New DHHS in-home philosophy gets established in Panhandle - Star-Herald” plus 1 more

New DHHS in-home philosophy gets established in Panhandle - Star-Herald

Posted: 02 Sep 2010 10:22 PM PDT

A paper sign attached to the door of 18 W. 16th St. in Scottsbluff is all that identifies the building as one of the new locations of Boys and Girls Home and Family Services of Nebraska Inc.

About two months ago, 25 staff members settled into the building and got to work helping children, youth and their families in western Nebraska. While the name "Boys and Girls Home" might suggest a residential care facility for children, the agency's goal is exactly the opposite.

Bob Sheehan, president and chief executive of Boys and Girls Home and Family Services of Nebraska, said that the agency was awarded a contract with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services as part of DHHS's change in emphasis for assisting children, youth and their families. Rather than removing youths from their home environment when intervention is needed to address abuse, neglect or mental health or substance abuse issues, DHHS is striving to provide more assistance to families on an in-home basis.

Sheehan said that as of April 1, the agency took responsibility for coordinating services within DHHS's northern, central and western service areas. The western service area includes the 11 Panhandle counties plus 18 southwestern counties.

Jeannine Lane is the service area manager for those 29 counties. She averages more than 300 miles per day in her vehicle, traveling among the agency's locations in Scottsbluff, Alliance, Sidney, Ogallala, North Platte, Lexington and McCook. Agency offices do not house children, but they can be used as a safe, neutral meeting place for supervised visits.

Lane has a positive attitude towards her work. Her Scottsbluff office is adorned with plaques bearing upbeat words: believe, dream, imagine, faith, hope, love. She is a passionate advocate of providing children and youth with social services in a familiar home environment.

"The research is massive that this is what is best for our youth," she said.

Lane said that currently, 73 percent of children who are wards of the state are located away from their homes in situations such as foster care, treatment centers or group homes while 27 percent are in their homes. The ultimate goal is to reverse those statistics.

Rather than removing children from their homes, the agency will work collaboratively with DHHS and local community-based partners to "wrap services around them," Lane said.

Lane said that in order to be successful in this endeavor, her agency must cultivate a support network of formal and informal partners and service providers around the service area. Local social service providers, therapists, churches and schools can all become part of the network of care, along with DHHS.

Lane knows western Nebraska culture well, and she believes that this model of collaborative, home-based service will work well here. She compared the partnership to rural residents' tradition of coming together to help an ailing farmer or rancher when the grain needs to be harvested or the calves need to be branded.

"Western Nebraska knows how to network, collaborate and rely on each other," she said.

Lane acknowledged that the process is in an "infant stage" and there might be a few adjustments as the system is implemented. She said she's working hard to make the positive changes visible.

Lane would be glad to add new community organizations to the agency's partnership. Interested organizations can call Lane at 877-524-6957 or 712-224-6950.

Lane said that she has encountered people who believe that her agency is a walk-in service provider, and it breaks her heart to tell them that she can't help immediately. The agency is only able to coordinate services for people who are referred through DHHS. To contact DHHS for assistance with a case of child abuse or neglect, call the state hotline at 1-800-652-1999.

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Fed up with fear mongering and failed GOP philosophy - Dunn County News

Posted: 11 Sep 2010 03:02 PM PDT

Fed up with fear mongering and failed GOP philosophy

No comments posted.

Saturday, September 11, 2010 5:05 PM CDT

I have avoided writing a letter to the editor for a few years. But this time the stakes are too high to be silent.

Many seem to think that this fall the Republicans may retake Congress. How can people seriously want to go back to the party that caused the worst economic meltdown in almost 80 years, not to mention the Depression of 1929 (remember Herbert Hoover). In 2001, the Republicans inherited a budget surplus and a booming economy and then quickly gave away billions to the rich, ran huge budget deficits (where they did not even count the cost of the two wars), and continued to deregulate business and industry. The end result was the crash of fall 2008, months before Obama became President.

President Obama and the Democrats on the other hand, saved the economy from becoming a Depression, saved the U.S. auto and banking industries, gave billions more in college loan money to students by eliminating the "middle man," created new laws to regulate the finance industries, and stopped health care insurance companies from denying coverage to people who have pre-existing conditions. People often falsely claim the health care bill will cause more debt, but the nonpartisan CBO [Congressional Budget Office] report said it would save $1 trillion of U.S. debt over the next 20 years.

Meanwhile, the Republicans have offered more of the same: more tax cuts for the rich and more deregulation of industry. Ask the people whose loved ones died in coal mining accidents if we should have fewer safety regulations. Ask people around the gulf the same question about having fewer environmental regulations. Ask all those who lost money, or jobs, or homes, because of the unregulated finance industry if we should have less regulation of banks and business.

Have the Democrats taken away guns? No. Have they taken away Fox News' right to spread their biased information? No.

All the fear mongering about the president is nonsense. Enough is enough. People are still hurting from the failure caused by the Republican philosophy of deregulation of business and low taxes for the rich which caused the collapse of 2008. Don't give them back the control of Congress to cause more economic and environmental disaster.

Give President Obama and the Democrats more time to keep fixing the messes the Republicans made. Vote Democrat!

Bob Salt

Menomonie

Philosophy

Saturday, September 11, 2010