Oregon’s economy would get $500 million infusion if everyone eligible for food stamps accepted them: report, By Bryan Denson, August 28, 2014, The Oregonian: “Oregon’s economy would get a nearly $500 million boost if every person in the state eligible for food stamps took part in the program, according to a study. An estimated 276,000 Oregonians qualify, but don’t participate, in the federal government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to Katie Furia, who serves as SNAP outreach manager for the nonprofit Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon…”
Day: August 28, 2014
Foster Children and Psychotropic Drug Prescriptions – California
Drugging our kids: Children in California’s foster care system are prescribed risky medications, By Karen de Sá, August 23, 2014, San Jose Mercury News: “They are wrenched from abusive homes, uprooted again and again, often with their life’s belongings stuffed into a trash bag. Abandoned and alone, they are among California’s most powerless children. But instead of providing a stable home and caring family, the state’s foster care system gives them a pill. With alarming frequency, foster and health care providers are turning to a risky but convenient remedy to control the behavior of thousands of troubled kids: numbing them with psychiatric drugs that are untested on and often not approved for children. An investigation by this newspaper found that nearly 1 out of every 4 adolescents in California’s foster care system is receiving these drugs — 3 times the rate for all adolescents nationwide. Over the last decade, almost 15 percent of the state’s foster children of all ages were prescribed the medications, known as psychotropics, part of a national treatment trend that is only beginning to receive broad scrutiny…”