Making Room at America's Inn for All God's Children

[pickledpepperRN]

Making Room at America's Inn for All God's Children -- Marian Wright Edelman

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marian-wright-edelman/making-room-at-americas-_b_77872.html

..."For Christians, another holy advent season is upon us. People of all faiths are reflecting on things done and left undone during the past year and making resolutions for change in the new one.

When, oh when will we individually and collectively as congregations, as communities, and as a nation resolve to stop saying to our children, "There's no room at the inn"? When will we, like Tim, start saying, "You can stay at my house"?

When will we say to poor, hungry and homeless children, "Wait! We'll make a place for you at America's table of plenty"?

How long until we say to children whose parents are working hard every day trying to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads, "We will help you escape poverty"? "We'll catch you in our safety net until your family is able to provide for you again"?

And when will we ensure that no child is without health coverage in our rich nation that lets our nine million children struggle without health coverage?"...

[Lizzy6]

SCHIP also likes to make families reapply often and drop them if they don't. quote] Where I live the re-cert process is annually, unless of course your income has changed, then it needs to be reported. Often, some of these folks move & fail to inform DSS or the health dept of their new address. We usually try to give them 30-60 days to re-cert. I think that is fairly generous, and I am sure there are other states that are not so generous depending on their circumstances. You can easily fax, mail or stop in your local health dept, and often an extension is given to the caregiver in order to get their paperwork up to date.

[HM2VikingRN, RN]

SCHIP is not premium free....(Its not "given" to them.)

I agree that families should be responsible for health care but we need to make sure that it is affordable. Decent family coverage is now 12,000/year and projected to rise to 20,000 within 5 years. At 12,000/year that is over 30% of the income for families making 40,000/year. (Roughly 200% of poverty.) Health insurance on the individual market is unaffordable for families within that income bracket.

The Bush administration encouraged states to apply for waivers to expand SCHIP until it became politically useful to beat the drum in the other direction. Mr. Will is being dishonest in his commentary. Cost of living is not uniform between the states. 62,000 in rural MN is the equivalent wage of being working poor in New Jersey or NY.

Besides it is cheaper and more efficient to provide insurance with larger groups. See:

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

from nurse.com:

no place like ... a shelter?

cathryn domrose

last march, paul leon, rn, bsn, phn, walked into an armory that served as orange county's winter homeless shelter. he was looking for a transient patient with a foley catheter that needed to be removed. what the public health nurse saw changed his life....

leon and a group of fellow public health nurses began researching the homeless in orange county and working on a plan to help connect them with desperately needed healthcare services.

at first leon's work was on his own time, but eventually the county health department created a full-time position for him and a new program called the comprehensive health assessment team for the homeless, or chat-h. so far the paid members of the team include leon and a psychiatric nurse, but they hope to add a benefits specialist to help qualified homeless people obtain health coverage.

the program's main purpose is to make contact with homeless people, assess their health needs, and refer them to services as needed. the team also coordinates volunteers and does some preventative care, such as giving immunizations.

orange county has an estimated 35,000 homeless people, about 70% of them families with children, according to the county's 2005 health needs assessment report. many homeless orange county parents are working but make far less than the $23.80 an hour needed to afford a median-priced apartment. other reasons for homelessness among families with children include poverty and domestic violence, according to a county report released this year.

most of orange county's homeless families are invisible, leon says. many live doubled- or tripled-up in someone else's home. others sleep in homeless shelters, under bridges, in cars, or in motels. at one shelter for women and children only, leon found at least 70 children sleeping outside.

leon, handler, and others have recruited volunteers and community partners — including dentists, physicians, and nurses — to help provide medical, dental, and mental health care to the county's homeless. the response has been amazing, they say. the growing list of partners includes the children's hospital of orange county; st. joseph hospital; uc irvine medical center; caloptima, an insurance organization; and kaiser permanente.

although the county has clinics and other agencies that serve the homeless, many homeless people don't know where these places are, how to use them, or even that they exist, he says. that is why outreach and assessment is so important, he adds.

$23.80/hr needed for an apartment ! mc donalds and other department store wages less than $10.00 in philly area,

[Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

Wow, great article, Karen. Thanks for posting it.

[MBANurse]

From nurse.com:

No Place Like ... a Shelter?

Cathryn Domrose

Last March, Paul Leon, RN, BSN, PHN, walked into an armory that served as Orange County's winter homeless shelter. He was looking for a transient patient with a Foley catheter that needed to be removed. What the public health nurse saw changed his life....

$23.80/hr needed for an apartment ! Mc Donalds and other department store wages less than $10.00 in Philly area,

I can't afford a median priced apartment in Orange county. Why are they looking for "median" priced apartments and why would the article cite that as the targeted price range. Orange county has some extremely high income areas so the "median" is going to be high as well.

I am not saying that its not expensive... but lets talk about realistic expectations and gains. I work(ed) by that very homeless its on Brookhurst St.

It amazed me that the individuals that were sitting outside had smokes and booze/liquor... but no place to stay; or provide healthcare for themselves.

I think that it is great that these people volunteer(ed) their time and services; but that is what charity should be. Volunteer.

[HM2VikingRN, RN]

Access to affordable haelthcare is not charity. Insurance is a social product by definition.

[psalm, RN]

Here's another thought. Children would learn to NOT Be like their parents who aren't taking care of them (in the case of parents who neglect their kids but have $$ for their non-essentials). Balance should be the focus, not enabling or entitlement.

I am sure all of us are frustrated seeing little kids going without a warm coat or clean clothes, runny noses and dirty hair while their parent(s) have the cigs, drinks, cars, rings, jewelry, nails, nice clothes, etc. There are faith-based agencies that can help if the parents allow it. Because some parents won't accept "charity". My dad would yell he would take care of his own family...so I learned to go without alot and vowed I wouldn't put my kids thru that.

Obviously, if there is dangerous neglect, teachers and healthcare personnel need to report it.

[MBANurse]

Here's another thought. Children would learn to NOT Be like their parents who aren't taking care of them (in the case of parents who neglect their kids but have $$ for their non-essentials). Balance should be the focus, not enabling or entitlement.

I am sure all of us are frustrated seeing little kids going without a warm coat or clean clothes, runny noses and dirty hair while their parent(s) have the cigs, drinks, cars, rings, jewelry, nails, nice clothes, etc. There are faith-based agencies that can help if the parents allow it. Because some parents won't accept "charity". My dad would yell he would take care of his own family...so I learned to go without alot and vowed I wouldn't put my kids thru that.

Obviously, if there is dangerous neglect, teachers and healthcare personnel need to report it.

So take the kids.

Kick the parents out on the street...

I have no problem with that.

The kids would learn that they can do what they want... and the government would pick up the tab for the rest.

[pickledpepperRN]

So take the kids.

Kick the parents out on the street...

I have no problem with that.

The kids would learn that they can do what they want... and the government would pick up the tab for the rest.

I don't understand where this are suggests the kids be taken?

Or what, "The kids would that they can do what they want... and the government would pick up the tab for the rest" means.

Am I the only one who cannot figure out this post?

[pickledpepperRN]

Oops, double post.

[LydiaNN]

I don't understand where this are suggests the kids be taken?

Or what, "The kids would that they can do what they want... and the government would pick up the tab for the rest" means.

Am I the only one who cannot figure out this post?

Nope. Nor do I imagine that we are the only 2 people who can't figure it out.

[MBANurse]

Well if it is really that difficult...

psalm and others stated that the kids should not suffer because of their parents poor choices...

So in response.. I said... "so take the kids..." she didn't suggest it... I did. Let them be wards of the state. I have no problem with that. Do you? Would you rather that kids be homeless with their parents? It seems it is unfair to the children and that they suffer needlessly... so take them; shelter and house them; teach them if they do not work hard they will end up in the same squallor that their parents were.

psalm also said that maybe the kids would learn responsibility that rather than poor choices... if the government picked up the tab and provided healthcare and met their needs...

I stated... rather poorly because I was in a hurry... that rather they would learn that they could do whatever they wanted because the government would pick up the tab for them...

Happy to have clarified for you teapot and spacenurse.