- Ohio Senate Republicans pass budget bill without controversial drug testing language, By Aaron Marshall, May 16, 2012, Cleveland Plain Dealer: “Ohio Senate Republicans dodged one fight Wednesday as they pulled back for now on a controversial proposal to drug test welfare applicants that had advocates for the poor and Democrats ready to rumble. But another showdown looms as GOP senators approved a $30 million pot of nursing home funding that puts them on a collision course with Republican Gov. John Kasich. As quickly as the drug testing language appeared Tuesday afternoon — slipped into a wide-ranging budget and policy bill — it dropped out of sight Wednesday after GOP Sen. Tim Schaffer of Lancaster offered to remove the it, according to Senate President Tom Niehaus, a Clermont County Republican. After the Senate passed the midterm budget review bill by a vote of 25-8, Niehaus told reporters that Schaffer retreated before questions on the proposal started to fly from Kasich’s office, including how it could be implemented in rural areas without drug testing facilities…”
- Welfare drug-screening bill is signed into Oklahoma law, By Michael McNutt, May 17, 2012, The Oklahoman: “Welfare recipients who test positive for drugs or refuse to be tested would have their benefits withheld under a bill signed into law Wednesday. The measure makes practices mostly already used by the state Department of Human Services a state law, an agency spokeswoman said. ‘The bill authors worked with us to understand our current process and what we were doing, and we worked with them to find out what the goals were that they wanted to achieve,’ said Sheree Powell, a DHS spokeswoman. ‘It basically puts into law our current practice…'”
Tag: Oklahoma
2011 Kids Count Data Book – Southern States
- Tennessee kids’ well-being up, but poverty is, too, By Adam Tamburin, August 17, 2011, The Tennessean.
- Louisiana ranks 49th nationwide in child welfare survey, By Katy Reckdahl, August 17, 2011, New Orleans Times-Picayune.
- Report: Arkansas ranks 47th in nation in well-being of children, By John Lyon, August 17, 2011, Arkansas News.
- Alabama ranks 48th for child health, well-being in Annie E. Casey Foundation 2011 Kids Count data, By Jeff Hansen, August 17, 2011, Birmingham News.
- State last in child welfare, By Ellen Ciurczak, August 17, 2011, Hattiesburg American.
- Oklahoma ranks 43rd in child well-being, By Mike Averill, August 17, 2011, Tulsa World.
- Study finds one of every four Texas children lives in poverty, By Gary Scharrer, August 17, 2011, San Antonio Express-News.
Summer Food Service Program
Federal program helps feed low-income children during summer, By Kim Archer, June 2, 2011, Tulsa World: “Children in the Tulsa area don’t need to go hungry just because school’s out for the summer. A little-known federal program to ensure that low-income children get proper nutrition during summer months will kick off at Tulsa-area schools, churches and community centers next week. ‘Just because the lunch lady isn’t there to make sure you eat, it doesn’t mean you have to go hungry,’ said Corbin Anderson, spokesman for Tulsa Public Schools’ Summer Café. The Summer Food Service program was created as part of a larger pilot project in 1968, becoming separate in 1975. The U.S. Department of Agriculture funds the program, and in Oklahoma, the state Department of Education manages it…”