An incredibly busy summer of travel has kept me from the regular posting in SSS and once again, I find myself apologizing on the pages of this blog for a long lapse in posting. I can't catch folks up and my travels and training events would undoubtedly bore most of you to tears, so I will spare you all the misery of bloviating. I will however share an important development in the life cycle of The Contributor, a street newspaper in Nashville I helped create, establish and set in motion.
It seems that there has been some ongoing problems with one of Nashville's wealthiest suburbs. Brentwood. This is the home of many movie stars and country and western legends, and as you might imagine, the city holds a large portion of the wealth of the area within its borders.
Recently Brentwood police have ticketed Contributor vendors working within the city limits for selling the newspaper. They've used the standard "obstructing the flow of traffic" ticket to harass vendors while trotting out the "we're just concerned with the safety" line popular in defending the stifling of the 1st amendment rights of vendors of the newspaper.
I suspect they know this is a load of bull, but they've been able to use a local judge in the area to trample the first amendment rights of newspaper vendors. The South is no stranger to the abrogation of civil rights, and folks around these parts have seen this kind of behavior from the good ol boys clubs masquerading as legitimate governing bodies many times over the previous several decades.
Many thanks to the ACLU for their help in defending the 1st amendment rights of the vendors of The Contributor, and it's going to be an interesting bit of history being made as those experiencing homelessness take on the smallbore Goliath of local government.
Here's a pdf of the court case filed today.
And here's the piece from Channel 5:
Again, I can only say a heartfelt "Thank You" to the ACLU, and to Tasha and Tom for standing their ground on on of the most important 1st amendment issues Nashville has seen in a long time, as well as a critically important employment opportunitiy for people experiencing homelessness in the Nashville area.
6.29.2011
6.11.2011
Boise Interfaith Sanctuary: Bringing Hope To Those Who Long Ago Stopped Looking For Any
Both women are fiercely protective of the flock and are blunt, direct and no nonsense when it comes to making sure the poor, homeless and disenfranchised get heard and get what they need to survive. My respect for them both is beyond what I can describe in words, and while you may not know these women personally, I can tell you that you should be very thankful they, and others like them, exist in our communities because our communities would be far different if they did not.
Anyway, Jayne and I have emailed each other over the years to share bits and pieces of how things are going in our respective communities, and Jayne has also helped provide me with some spiritual knowledge that I don't think I could have found anyplace else. So when I learned that I'd be in Boise, Idaho for a PATH training, I contacted her immediately to see if we could share a cup of coffee and spend some time chatting about the homeless situation in her beautiful city.
I won't go into a lot of detail about what's happening in Boise because suffice it to say, they are a lot like many other cities who are struggling to find ways to cope with burgeoning homeless populations and the ever-shrinking resources grudgingly provided to those of us who do this kind of work. Boise is also dealing with the misconceptions that are rampant in just about every community when it comes to the reasons people wind up homeless in the first place, and why they then remain homeless for years, sometimes decades, as a result.
What's important to mention here is that the work Jayne and her colleagues are doing in Boise, as well as their suggestions on how it could be done more effectively, are falling on receptive ears. This has allowed Jayne and co to begin exploring options that have worked elsewhere in the country to see if they have any applicability in Boise. It was an honor to share some of my own insights with her but better than that is the fact that there are people I know in the nation now who can provide Jayne and her community with success stories and models that are in place and backed with empirical evidence and solid data that can work wonders in convincing hesitant city officials and political leaders that they can take a chance on a new direction.
Half the battle is always getting political will cranked up enough that those leaders will get behind the effort. Once you have political will leaning in your favor, the job of crafting the approaches, procuring the resources, implementing the plan(s), all seem to get a skosh easier.
With that said, I would caution that ending and preventing homelessness is never a cakewalk and I don't want to present an illusion here that by simply getting the mayor or the governor to join hands and sing Kumbaya with you that the battle is over. But having their support, as well as the resources they can bring to bear, is not just important, it's often critical to the success - or lack thereof - your community will have in ending homelessness.
Boise is primed for a new paradigm. Those who've been doing the work recognize they've hit a wall with the current status quo and unless something different is done, that wall remains impenetrable. I'm really hoping that getting Jayne connected with some peeps who've not only been doing the work of collaborative battling to end homelessness but who've been incredibly successful as well will be beneficial in getting Boise heading in the very best direction to end homelessness.
If you get a chance, please drop Jayne a line and thank her for her service to the people the rest of the community has ignored and lost sight of. She could use the collective power of support and encouragement from those of us who know what she's dealing with.
In the meantime, many thanks to the great people of Boise Idaho for allowing me to spend time in your fabulous city! It's definitely on my top ten list of places to consider retiring to when that time comes for me....
6.10.2011
"Advocates for the homeless sued the Department of Veterans Affairs, seeking to compel federal officials to use the campus to care for and house mentally ill veterans. "
It's a sad damned day when veterans, who obeyed all the rules, served honorably, defended their country, and relied on those of us back here in the States to make sure we didn't forget them, have to sue their own government in order to eke out a few pathetic resources from them.....
Homeless Veterans Sue Over Neglected Campus
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
Published: June 8, 2011
LOS ANGELES — It is a 387-acre campus of green fields and low-lying buildings in a prosperous neighborhood, donated to the federal government more than 100 years ago for use as a Pacific Coast home for wounded veterans. But over the last 20 years, as Los Angeles has become inundated with homeless veterans, advocates for the homeless say the campus has become a symbol of a system gone wrong: as veterans sleep on the streets, many of its buildings lie abandoned and one-third of the land has been leased for commercial use.
Monica Almeida/The New York Times
Lionel Morales, a Vietnam War veteran, attended a news conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday in support of the lawsuit.
In the class-action suit, filed on behalf of four mentally distressed homeless veterans, lawyers contend that the department has violated the terms of the agreement in which the property was deeded to the government in 1888. They also contend that the department is required — under a federal statute barring discrimination against the mentally disabled — to provide housing to help mentally ill veterans.
The scope of the lawsuit is, to a certain extent, limited: if successful, it would apply only to those homeless veterans deemed mentally disabled. Yet Los Angeles has the largest population of homeless veterans in the nation — 8,200 of the city’s estimated 49,000 homeless people, by one count — and the number is expected to swell as soldiers return from Afghanistan and Iraq.
By any measure, the lawsuit — the first of its kind, lawyers said — is a significant escalation in a battle that has simmered here for years, as homeless advocates contended that the Department of Veterans Affairs was bowing to residents of the property’s prosperous Brentwood neighborhood and commercial interests by refusing to rehabilitate abandoned buildings and use them to help veterans.
For the first 100 years of its existence, the campus was used entirely to provide housing and services to veterans; that began changing in the 1960s and ’70s, as some of the buildings were abandoned and the Department of Veterans Affairs leased about one-third of the property for use by, among others, a car rental agency, a laundry for the Marriott hotel chain, a golf course, a dog walk and a baseball stadium for the nearby University of California, Los Angeles. It now has a limited number of geriatric beds for veterans.
“It is a piece of land that has accommodated the interests of powerful people in L.A. for a long time,” said Bobby Shriver, a member of the Santa Monica City Council and one of the people pushing the suit. “Now, we are going to make it accommodate the interests of these veterans.”
Josh Taylor, a Veterans Affairs spokesman, declined to comment on the suit, referring questions to the Department of Justice. But in a statement, Mr. Taylor reiterated a pledge from Eric K. Shinseki, the Veterans Affairs secretary, “to end veteran homelessness by 2015.
“We have a moral obligation to ensure that veterans and their families have access to affordable housing and medical services that will get them back on their feet,” Mr. Taylor said. “Though much work remains, V.A. is beginning to make good on that promise.”
Two years ago, Mr. Taylor added, there were approximately 131,000 homeless veterans on any given night across the country. “Today, we estimate there are about 76,000 homeless veterans,” he said.
The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The plaintiffs include veterans from Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam. The suit asks the court to prohibit the federal government from using the land and buildings for any purpose but to help veterans.
“Los Angeles is the homeless veterans’ capital of the United States,” Mark Rosenbaum, one of the lawyers in the case, said Wednesday morning, adding, “The V.A. could quite literally end veteran homelessness in Los Angeles if this land were used as it was intended.”
“This spacious campus now housing empty buildings and rental car parking lots could be made suitable for these veterans in less than the five or so months it took to plan and invade Iraq,” he said.
Steve Mackey, the president of the California state council of Vietnam Veterans of America, said the lawsuits were “a last resort.”
“We have spent years working to persuade the federal government, and the V.A. in particular, to provide the services and accommodations,” he said.
The lawsuit is the first to try to apply a 1973 law prohibiting discrimination by federal agencies on the basis of disability to the question of whether the government must provide housing to homeless veterans.
6.08.2011
Operation Stand Down Nashville Opens Veteran's Cafe!
Colonel Bill Burleigh and the gang of all around good guys over at Operation Stand Down Nashville (OSDN) have some exciting news!
According to Bill and crew in a recent email, OSDN has opened a Veterans Café offering snacks, popcorn, TV, games and a relaxed, enjoyable atmosphere for veterans to mix and mingle from 5 pm to 8 pm every Thursday evening. Come, enjoy and just hang out with fellow veterans. There will be occasional live music, movies, etc. It is an evening of fun, relaxation and networking. Veterans may bring their spouse or partner.
Hope to see you there!!!
Please spread the word. The attached flyer can be printed and put up on bulletin boards.
DC Homeless Sleeping In The Shadows Of Power
Every time I come to DC, I'm amazed at how many people are on the streets here.
It's a disgrace, frankly, not to mention shocking, to see so many damned people down on their luck. Many folks stood out in my walks over the past few days, but probably none more so than the guy I saw at a small table in the corner of a Starbucks.
I knew he was on the street as soon as I saw his backpack and a rolled foam sleeping pad commonly handed out at soup kitchens and day shelters. He was sipping a small coffee and kept his head down, trying hard to blend into the decor and remain invisible so as not to draw attention and be asked to leave.
I watched him for a while and noticed he was Asian, (which for some reason, continues to surprise me, as he's not in the "common" groups of folks I normally see on the street) his shoes were shredded and held together with duct tape, and his face had that grim, "this is fucked" look to it. Shoulders slumped, shirt thrashed and dirty but tucked in and held in place by a rope,
I got my large - errr, excuse me - my venti plain coffee (to the shocked and annoyed looks of Starbuckbaristablenders for ordering just a regular coffee) and went about fixing it up with a half bottle of vanilla powder, a quart of half and half and sixty five raw sugars, and began to head towards the door. As I walked past the man, his head was down and I could see the streaks of tears on his cheeks. I dropped a five dollar bill on his table and told him things could change in a moment's notice, but exited before he felt forced by my presence to say anything to me.
I felt like a rich rich man, let me tell you, and it wasn't a very good feeling either, bordering somewhere near "shit." I was suddenly and painfully reminded of the luxurious conditions, comparatively speaking, I now live in and honestly was secretly shameful that the cost of the phone in my pocket could have fed the man for a month.
I wandered out of Starbucks and headed down towards G street and the public library, where I met the "bigman" sitting on a bench, cart of lifetime possessions parked nearby.
Bigman and I had a good chat about the local street feedings (quite a few, with a Tuesday night feed happening right on the corner up under the library overhang. Cops leave these "feeders" alone, according to him), the local shelter system (men were lining up not 50 feet away as we talked and a shuttle van, similar to the type that takes me to the airport from the hotel, rolled up and whisked about half the line away), other folks on the street (two of whom moseyed over to see what I was about as I chatted with Bigman), and the status of relationships. Mine in particular, weirdly enough.
Turns out Bigman was pretty upset about the fact that I've been in a relationship with my lovely significant other for twelve plus years now and we aren't married.
"You da man of da house," he told me, "and you draggin the girl straight to hell if you don ask her ta marry ya," he warned me. "She sittin at home worrying right now bout whether yer true to her," he went on, "and she done stuck by you all this time. Woman like that, they hard to find. You better grab onto her or she leave yer ass and find someone who appreciate her."
Touche, Bigman.
I've had plenty of people, including two role models and mentors I highly respect and admire; Colonel Bill Burliegh and my Father-in-"common"law, all hinting around that after more than a decade, the courtship ought to be turned into something legally binding. Odd that it took the words of a stranger on the street in the city of 'The American Experience," to really get me to think seriously about marrying my long-time life partner. I'll keep ya all posted on future developments to this part of the story, but for now, allow me to move on.
I ran into Charles down near Constitution Ave and 7th, near the big fields east of the Washington Monument. Charles is a Vietnam War veteran who sleeps with his wife among the trees in the Seton park area. He was wandering up and down 7th street trying to panhandle enough money for some food and a hotel room because "been hot as hell and we cain't sleep in this kinda heat." I walked north with him as he shared his story; he had to come to DC from Raleigh, NC for a hearing on his VA disability application. He told me he'd been denied, appealed the denial, been denied again and was now at the final step before he took it to real court. We cruised the street and I stepped to the side when he saw a potential target for an "ask." I parted ways with Charles when the family partially in the picture agreed to walk with him to a hotdog cart and get him a bag-o-weenies for him and his wife. I saw him again, heading back towards the park with a bigass bag of food, bags of chips and several sodas all crammed into his little pushcart. Dude has a smile bigger than a Cheshire cat and a spring in his step I hadn't seen before. I hope he was able to hook up enough cash for a hotel room for himself and his lady; it was indeed hotter than hell that day and it would have been damned miserable to sleep in it.
I do have to say however, that at first I thought Charles was giving me a load of horsehockey about the reason he was here, but I found out the following day in a session with the ABA attorneys who were presenting at the NCHV conference that there is indeed a hearing held in DC for some folks who are a long way into appealing denials from the VA for disability pensions. My respect for Charles went through the roof and I tried yesterday to find him and his wife, but never did see them. I really hope that meant he and she were enjoying another day in a hotel somewhere....
Everywhere I went while I was out and about, I saw folks living on the street. From John Littlejohn, the Streetsense newspaper Vendor I bought some papers from near the Chinatown and H street station, to the woman on 9th Ave who walked 20 feet at a time, then stopped, adjusted her clothing in a proud and fastidious manner, and walked off again to cover another 20 feet before doing the same, I just couldn't believe that there were so many people concentrated in such a relatively small area.
Funny tho, I never saw an outreach team. Anywhere. When I asked Bigman whether he worked with anyone or had seen anyone who might have been by recently to see if they might be able to help him in filing for his social security, obtain housing, or just provide him with some clean socks and some drinking water, it didn't take him long to answer; "ain't nobody been round here, man."
Skuze me? What the hell, DC service providers? I know times are tough for agencies around the country, what with budget cuts, staff reductions, and dwindling resources, but c'mon! These are folks who're exceptionally easy to find and approach. There shouldn't be a reason one why these individuals aren't seeing outreach workers, especially in the city where policy for the nation is established for the assistance of persons experiencing homelessness. I was here just four days and know where the shelters are, where the street feedings go down, where folks are hiding to sleep, and have seen people that clearly would be very good candidates for SOAR, Housing First, and general street outreach. If nothing else, you could come out and spend some time with folks to let them know they're not alone or forgotten.
I can understand the need to prioritize, find the most vulnerable, go after those who've been out on the streets the longest, and to be fair, I don't have the other side of the story from what I'm certain are damned good people working overtime every day to address homelessness in DC.
I understand I'm seeing just a "snapshot" of the street scene here and that there's a much larger story behind the outreach effort in the area, so I don't want to come down too hard on the peeps who most likely have caseloads of 50 or 60 or 100 to one. I know too the challenges they face, as they must essentially battle on two fronts; first with those they're charged with helping, who've been promised the moon and stars so many times they don't want to be disappointed again and as a result are cynical to the words that tumble out of an outreach specialist or case manager's mouth. Second, they must also battle the demands and constraints and lack of resources they encounter whenever they try to find help for those they're working with on the streets.
With all that said, if there is an outreach worker in the DC area around H and 9th who happens to see this, let me share what is most likely going to be a priority for you, and frankly I'd be surprised if you weren't already working with this gentleman. I first noticed him when was strolling through Chinatown; he was sitting on a hunk of cardboard the steps of a church, listening to an ipod knockoff, bag of Bugler near his right knee. Even tho it was a gazillion degrees, the guy had a thick skull cap on and was almost oblivious to the hordes of people passing damned near an arm's length away from him in a constant stream.
When I turned around and walked back, I passed his spot and noticed that he'd pulled himself under one of those common "shelter" style blankets and was either sleeping or closing out the world around him, either of which was probably a better thing than enduring the countless looks he must get every day from the tourists who pass by all day long. I'm reasonably sure the church here is letting him stay, but I frankly don't want to take anything for granted. If I was doing street outreach in this area, I'd show up with a bag or three of Bugler, a sackful of burgers and a couple of icy-cold bottled waters, cop a squat next to homeboy and see if I could share my goodies with him. Wouldn't take me long to strike up a conversation with him, and I'll just bet I find he's a good candidate for a number of resources specific to chronically homeless individuals suffering co or tri-morbid symptoms. I sure hope someone pays this man a visit. I'd hate to find out that he was harmed or died from exposure, and I would surely hate to see this define "The American Experience" in our nation's capital....
It's a disgrace, frankly, not to mention shocking, to see so many damned people down on their luck. Many folks stood out in my walks over the past few days, but probably none more so than the guy I saw at a small table in the corner of a Starbucks. I knew he was on the street as soon as I saw his backpack and a rolled foam sleeping pad commonly handed out at soup kitchens and day shelters. He was sipping a small coffee and kept his head down, trying hard to blend into the decor and remain invisible so as not to draw attention and be asked to leave.
I watched him for a while and noticed he was Asian, (which for some reason, continues to surprise me, as he's not in the "common" groups of folks I normally see on the street) his shoes were shredded and held together with duct tape, and his face had that grim, "this is fucked" look to it. Shoulders slumped, shirt thrashed and dirty but tucked in and held in place by a rope,
I got my large - errr, excuse me - my venti plain coffee (to the shocked and annoyed looks of Starbuckbaristablenders for ordering just a regular coffee) and went about fixing it up with a half bottle of vanilla powder, a quart of half and half and sixty five raw sugars, and began to head towards the door. As I walked past the man, his head was down and I could see the streaks of tears on his cheeks. I dropped a five dollar bill on his table and told him things could change in a moment's notice, but exited before he felt forced by my presence to say anything to me.
I felt like a rich rich man, let me tell you, and it wasn't a very good feeling either, bordering somewhere near "shit." I was suddenly and painfully reminded of the luxurious conditions, comparatively speaking, I now live in and honestly was secretly shameful that the cost of the phone in my pocket could have fed the man for a month.
I wandered out of Starbucks and headed down towards G street and the public library, where I met the "bigman" sitting on a bench, cart of lifetime possessions parked nearby.
Bigman and I had a good chat about the local street feedings (quite a few, with a Tuesday night feed happening right on the corner up under the library overhang. Cops leave these "feeders" alone, according to him), the local shelter system (men were lining up not 50 feet away as we talked and a shuttle van, similar to the type that takes me to the airport from the hotel, rolled up and whisked about half the line away), other folks on the street (two of whom moseyed over to see what I was about as I chatted with Bigman), and the status of relationships. Mine in particular, weirdly enough.Turns out Bigman was pretty upset about the fact that I've been in a relationship with my lovely significant other for twelve plus years now and we aren't married.
"You da man of da house," he told me, "and you draggin the girl straight to hell if you don ask her ta marry ya," he warned me. "She sittin at home worrying right now bout whether yer true to her," he went on, "and she done stuck by you all this time. Woman like that, they hard to find. You better grab onto her or she leave yer ass and find someone who appreciate her."
Touche, Bigman.
I've had plenty of people, including two role models and mentors I highly respect and admire; Colonel Bill Burliegh and my Father-in-"common"law, all hinting around that after more than a decade, the courtship ought to be turned into something legally binding. Odd that it took the words of a stranger on the street in the city of 'The American Experience," to really get me to think seriously about marrying my long-time life partner. I'll keep ya all posted on future developments to this part of the story, but for now, allow me to move on.
I ran into Charles down near Constitution Ave and 7th, near the big fields east of the Washington Monument. Charles is a Vietnam War veteran who sleeps with his wife among the trees in the Seton park area. He was wandering up and down 7th street trying to panhandle enough money for some food and a hotel room because "been hot as hell and we cain't sleep in this kinda heat." I walked north with him as he shared his story; he had to come to DC from Raleigh, NC for a hearing on his VA disability application. He told me he'd been denied, appealed the denial, been denied again and was now at the final step before he took it to real court. We cruised the street and I stepped to the side when he saw a potential target for an "ask." I parted ways with Charles when the family partially in the picture agreed to walk with him to a hotdog cart and get him a bag-o-weenies for him and his wife. I saw him again, heading back towards the park with a bigass bag of food, bags of chips and several sodas all crammed into his little pushcart. Dude has a smile bigger than a Cheshire cat and a spring in his step I hadn't seen before. I hope he was able to hook up enough cash for a hotel room for himself and his lady; it was indeed hotter than hell that day and it would have been damned miserable to sleep in it.I do have to say however, that at first I thought Charles was giving me a load of horsehockey about the reason he was here, but I found out the following day in a session with the ABA attorneys who were presenting at the NCHV conference that there is indeed a hearing held in DC for some folks who are a long way into appealing denials from the VA for disability pensions. My respect for Charles went through the roof and I tried yesterday to find him and his wife, but never did see them. I really hope that meant he and she were enjoying another day in a hotel somewhere....
Everywhere I went while I was out and about, I saw folks living on the street. From John Littlejohn, the Streetsense newspaper Vendor I bought some papers from near the Chinatown and H street station, to the woman on 9th Ave who walked 20 feet at a time, then stopped, adjusted her clothing in a proud and fastidious manner, and walked off again to cover another 20 feet before doing the same, I just couldn't believe that there were so many people concentrated in such a relatively small area. 
Funny tho, I never saw an outreach team. Anywhere. When I asked Bigman whether he worked with anyone or had seen anyone who might have been by recently to see if they might be able to help him in filing for his social security, obtain housing, or just provide him with some clean socks and some drinking water, it didn't take him long to answer; "ain't nobody been round here, man."
Skuze me? What the hell, DC service providers? I know times are tough for agencies around the country, what with budget cuts, staff reductions, and dwindling resources, but c'mon! These are folks who're exceptionally easy to find and approach. There shouldn't be a reason one why these individuals aren't seeing outreach workers, especially in the city where policy for the nation is established for the assistance of persons experiencing homelessness. I was here just four days and know where the shelters are, where the street feedings go down, where folks are hiding to sleep, and have seen people that clearly would be very good candidates for SOAR, Housing First, and general street outreach. If nothing else, you could come out and spend some time with folks to let them know they're not alone or forgotten.
I can understand the need to prioritize, find the most vulnerable, go after those who've been out on the streets the longest, and to be fair, I don't have the other side of the story from what I'm certain are damned good people working overtime every day to address homelessness in DC.
I understand I'm seeing just a "snapshot" of the street scene here and that there's a much larger story behind the outreach effort in the area, so I don't want to come down too hard on the peeps who most likely have caseloads of 50 or 60 or 100 to one. I know too the challenges they face, as they must essentially battle on two fronts; first with those they're charged with helping, who've been promised the moon and stars so many times they don't want to be disappointed again and as a result are cynical to the words that tumble out of an outreach specialist or case manager's mouth. Second, they must also battle the demands and constraints and lack of resources they encounter whenever they try to find help for those they're working with on the streets. With all that said, if there is an outreach worker in the DC area around H and 9th who happens to see this, let me share what is most likely going to be a priority for you, and frankly I'd be surprised if you weren't already working with this gentleman. I first noticed him when was strolling through Chinatown; he was sitting on a hunk of cardboard the steps of a church, listening to an ipod knockoff, bag of Bugler near his right knee. Even tho it was a gazillion degrees, the guy had a thick skull cap on and was almost oblivious to the hordes of people passing damned near an arm's length away from him in a constant stream.
When I turned around and walked back, I passed his spot and noticed that he'd pulled himself under one of those common "shelter" style blankets and was either sleeping or closing out the world around him, either of which was probably a better thing than enduring the countless looks he must get every day from the tourists who pass by all day long. I'm reasonably sure the church here is letting him stay, but I frankly don't want to take anything for granted. If I was doing street outreach in this area, I'd show up with a bag or three of Bugler, a sackful of burgers and a couple of icy-cold bottled waters, cop a squat next to homeboy and see if I could share my goodies with him. Wouldn't take me long to strike up a conversation with him, and I'll just bet I find he's a good candidate for a number of resources specific to chronically homeless individuals suffering co or tri-morbid symptoms. I sure hope someone pays this man a visit. I'd hate to find out that he was harmed or died from exposure, and I would surely hate to see this define "The American Experience" in our nation's capital....
6.05.2011
"ADHD children are more prone to substance abuse."
I would definitely agree with this assesssment, given that I was diagnosed ADHD at a young age and tx'd with Dexedrine. That's right, it was so long ago that it was before Ritalin.
Probably the biggest issue and cause of this substance abuse in ADHD-diagnosed kids is the fact that as the child reaches puberty and the medications that used to work for ADHD no longer have the desired effect, the children are deemed "cured" and sent into adulthood with little or no psychiatric follow-up.
This may have changed by now; frankly I can't imagine that it hasn't, but I know this was true in my own case and in the cases of most people my age or just a skosh younger who were also diagnosed ADHD as a kid.
I've seen research elsewhere (and my apologies for not being able to vomit it up here for you, but I'll definitely take a gander on Ebsco Host and PubMed and see if I can find something that supports what I'm about to tell you) that found that as youths transition through puberty, ADHD in some cases - and especially for males - converted to bipolar disorder. If memory serves me correctly (and I have to be careful here because I've smoked enough pot to keep the Russian military stoned through the 22nd century), the type of bipolar tended towards the mania-only version, but don't quote me on that for reasons I just stated in the parentheses.
Regardless of whether the condition metamorphoses or not, the fact is that for many of us who'd been diagnosed as kids, when we hit adulthood we were on our own.
They say (and "they" are those who know these kinds of things) that one tends to gravitate towards the drug that best suits them, and I can think of nothing more gravitational for a hyped up kid prone to delusions of grandeur who started seven hundred new projects an hour and finished all zero of them than to run fullspeed into a spoonful of heroin.
I knew the very first time I used an opiate that I'd found the drug of choice for me because it slowed my racing brain, calmed my over-amped emotions, regulated my nervous energy and allowed me to sleep soundly (when I wasn't dopesick and kicking the crap). It didn't take me long to move from the peashooters of codeine, hydrocodone (Vicodin, Norco) and oxycodone (Percodan, Percocet) to the bigger guns of meperidine (Demorol), Hydromorphone (Dilaudid), morphine and of course, heroin.
Truth be told, I first used heroin to come down from the wicked fiend that injecting cocaine caused as the coke ran out. I only went to heroin as a recreational drug when it became impossible to cop pharmaceutical painkillers on the street. Then, as my addiction to a big-gun opiate took hold, it became impossible to go back to pills because not only did the price of street pills far surpass what it cost to purchase an equal amount of heroin, I couldn't get well from the pills any longer since they just weren't strong enough.
The only thing that worked when heroin wasn't available was methadone, which, at a dollar a milligram on the street, was more expensive than chiva (black tar heroin). So economics along with a tightening of prescription rules and an eventual crackdown on legally obtained meds that were then diverted to the streets actually created the perfect conditions for me to head to heroin. Once there, I never looked back.
The road to recovery has been a long one, no doubt about it. I've been in a methadone program now for more than a decade, but when compared to my time as a hardcore drug abuser, it's less than half the time I spent gowed out of my gourd, unproductive but unrepentant, chasing the bag because without it, I was so sick I couldn't face the misery.
ADHD Increases Substance Abuse: Family Dinners Help Keep Kids Clean
Read more at FYI Living: http://fyiliving.com/mental-health/adhd/adhd-increases-substance-abuse-family-dinners-help-keep-kids-clean/#ixzz1ORy6Hyqe
ADHD children are more prone to substance abuse, according to a new study. The research claims that nearly one-third of the ADHD children they studied developed some form of substance abuse over the course of the 10-year study. Even more concerning is that it seems gender, race or family history played a role in this, but “conduct disorder” (ADHD) did boosted the risk threefold, the investigators found.
What can you do to keep your teen clean? Try having family dinners frequently. Frequent family dinners are strongly associated with teens reporting that they have good relationships with both their parents, and that their parents are good listeners. Three-quarters of teens say that during dinner, they talk to their parents about what is happening in their lives.
Teens who have these conversations with their parents say they are less likely to abuse substances because their parents would be upset. Almost three-quarters of teens surveyed think family dinners are important and most, whether they have frequent or infrequent family dinners, would like to have more dinners with their parents.
Another way to keep in touch with kids is spend quality one-on-one time playing video games. A recent study found parents enjoyed more open lines of communication with their kids when they gamed with them. In particular, this was found with teenage daughters. This may be good news for parents who are struggling to figure out ways to connect with their teens.
There are many early warning signs for a teen at risk of developing a drug addiction: boys that act up in class at a young age are the most likely to experiment with drugs and alcohol in adolescence. Awareness of what your teen is doing is one of the best preventions for substance abuse. Emotional support may be the key to keeping your teenagers drug-free.
Consequences of Slashing the Mental Health Budget: "Unfortunately, we're going to have a national experiment."
Remember those old Fram oil filter commercials where there is a mechanic standing next to a car with the hood up and smoke coming out of the motor, and he's holding a Fram oil filter up and says, "you can pay me now, or you can pay me later?"
Nothing could be more accurate than to apply this statement to the sheer lunacy of politicians who think that by slashing mental health budgets now will save this country any money.
As you begin to factor in the increased amount of time police/emergency personnel will spend dealing with the situations arising as a result of unchecked mental illness, any savings will be obliterated by the added costs here.
As you begin to factor in the increased amount of time police/emergency personnel will spend dealing with the situations arising as a result of unchecked mental illness, any savings will be obliterated by the added costs here.
Add to the increased expenses of emergency response the cost of ER visits, which will become the only health care option that will be available to many of these people who used to rely on the services provided by mental health agencies, and the increase in costs versus potential savings begins to bump into the stratosphere. Then add in the long-term chronic health issues that arise from poor diet, lack of housing and preventative health-care, crime/victimization of those suffering from mental illness, and the folly of the decision to cut mental health budgets becomes glaringly apparent.
We often toss band-aids onto problems in this country, hoping that if we can "make it go away" in the short-term, we've made it go away completely. This is some dangerously ignorant and costly thinking and we see this penny-wise, pound-foolish approach anytime the politicians look to tighten their belts on federal, state and local government spending.
Mental health programs suffering from budget cuts
States are slashing funding, and more cuts are expected. But in places like Reno, where police have teamed up with counselors to aid the mentally ill, the services don't seem expendable.
Reporting from Reno—
The woman slouched on the steps of the rundown motel, her hair mussed, her pinkish outfit rumpled, her expression perplexed. Health officials were combing the brick-facade building where she lived for bed bugs as part of a multi-agency raid, while police banged on door after door, hunting for ex-felons.Police Officer Patrick O'Bryan and state mental health counselor Randee Hill approached her. "How you doing?" Hill asked.
"Not so good," the woman answered. Her room lacked plumbing and heat. Her cat, Egyptian, had gone missing amid soiled blankets and McDonald's wrappers. And she repeatedly referred to the cat as a jaguar.
Hill and O'Bryan had previously run across the woman, who struggled with a fuzzy mind and a tendency to lash out at authorities. When they ducked into Room 20, they found a rotten mix of litter box and ashtray, including a red purse fat with cigarette butts. The cable channel HLN flickered on a TV, where disinfectant wipes gathered dust.
"Oh my gosh," Hill said in a near-whisper.
"We shouldn't stand here for too long," O'Bryan said.
O'Bryan and Hill are part of a program on the front lines of the nation's struggle to help the severely mentally ill, which experts said is likely to become more difficult as states slash mental health funding. Already starved for services, troubled citizens sometimes tumble into homelessness and alcoholism and tussle violently with police, who are usually ill-equipped to help them.
Reno police have responded by pairing officers with counselors in hope of creating a more nuanced approach to handling the mentally ill, as opposed to intervening only when they commit crimes or are a threat to themselves.
In the case of the woman in Room 20, their goal was to coax her into new living quarters, but in a way that wouldn't set her off.
The need for mental health expertise has been apparent to O'Bryan since he served on a bicycle unit that patrolled Reno's downtown of neon-trimmed casinos and fleabag motels. He fumed about the uselessness of arresting the same people over and over.
A few years ago, he and a fellow officer calculated how much it cost over a decade to repeatedly pick up Murray Barr, a congenial homeless man whose taste for vodka abated only during a short-term treatment program. There was nowhere to send him long-term, and he died of intestinal bleeding in 2005. The New Yorker featured their tally in a story called "Million-Dollar Murray."
But nationwide mental health budgets have been under attack. Since 2009, cash-strapped states have slashed nearly $2 billion from psychiatric programs, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and more cuts are anticipated.
"Unfortunately, we're going to have a national experiment," said Melissa Reuland, a senior consultant at the Council of State Governments.
In Nevada, where the state budget is still being formalized, millions of dollars in cuts are expected to mental health services. The state's suicide rate is among the nation's highest, as is the percentage of adults reporting poor mental health. Foreclosures and joblessness and the despair linked to them are so rampant that banks have reported suicide threats to Reno police.
Harold Cook, who runs the state division that oversees mental health programs, said a smaller budget would help them run more efficiently.
"I don't want people to think the world is coming to an end," Cook said. However, advocates said Nevada's fend-for-yourself culture has long starved social services, and new cuts could put even more pressure on resource-thin police.
Though many Reno officers are trained to deal with the mentally ill, in hope of avoiding brawls and steering them to services, O'Bryan launched a cop-counselor team in 2009 that had proved successful in other cities. The Mobile Outreach Safety Team, the first in Nevada, responds to emergencies, but also tries to nudge the chronically troubled into treatment. Essentially, it applies the "broken windows" theory of policing to mental health: Addressing low-level problems could head off larger ones.
Two state counselors, Hill and Lisa Leatham, usually team up with O'Bryan, though his retirement this month means they will partner with other officers. In January, the team helped calm a fugitive threatening to jump from the Sands Regency hotel for three hours. The man, who had been accused of sexual assault, lurched toward the window. And stopped. And lurched again. Leatham tracked down his ex-girlfriend by phone and had her reassure him that she cared. He surrendered.
On a recent May morning, O'Bryan was greeted with a voice mail from a schizophrenic who claimed she'd been sexually assaulted and an email from another troubled woman who rambled about Albuquerque, Sacramento and the Crips gang. A man had left a handwritten screed at the police station, in which he said 10 CIA agents were protecting him and demanded a "monogamous, pretty" woman.
Another afternoon, O'Bryan and Hill zipped over to a leafy neighborhood, where a psychiatrist had directed them to a well-off man who'd drunk himself out of a job. The man's wife and two sons had moved out, and his family feared he'd either come to blows with the neighbors or take his own life. By the time O'Bryan and Hill sat down in his living room, the man was bloated, tearful and so inebriated that he'd forgotten to zip his pants.
They urged him to dry out at a local treatment center. He frowned. No way. Then he swore he was going to stop drinking, but failed to explain how.
"I'm a winner," he said. "I hate losing. I need to win again."
He begged O'Bryan to talk to his wife. Sure, O'Bryan said, if he checked into a treatment center. Hill tried something else. Put on your sneakers, she said.
He shoved his toes into them, but he still wouldn't budge.
Sometimes the team's efforts were more immediately rewarded.
At the downtown motel, which touted its "TUDIO OR 1 BDRM" offerings near a liquor store and a psychic, Hill handed garbage bags to the woman who'd been booted from putrid Room 20. She asked whether the woman wanted to gather her things. Hill and O'Bryan cast the situation as a series of choices so she didn't feel bullied.
Do you want to look for your cat? Hill asked. The woman pawed the bed, to no avail. Do you want to check out your new room and come back? The woman slipped on a dingy coat and heaved a trash bag over her shoulder. She plodded to scrubbed-down Room 8.
Better? O'Bryan asked. She smiled. Anything else you need?
The woman darted back to her old room. She returned with the disinfectant wipes.
ashley.powers@latimes.com
HUD Secy: "Particularly shameful is the fact that so many American veterans are homeless"
I couldn't agree more with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan's comment, but I would take it a step further and add that it's "particularly shameful" that we have any person in the country living on the streets, in the woods or under a bridge somewhere.
To its credit, HUD has been, if not at the forefront, certainly engaged and supportive of collaborative engagement and cross-agency pollination with the other federal biggies involved in the fight to end homelessness. I say "fight" here rather than "effort" because in many ways, it is a fight; for scarce resources, limited dollars, entrenched and siloed agencies at the federal, state and local level. But HUD can only do what politicians allow them to do, and frankly, the fight to end homelessness is really won and lost on a local level.
This is probably the biggest benefit I get in the work I do with the Center For Social Innovation, SAMHSA, HUD and the VA, because I get to go to cities around the country and discuss with the local providers what has been working, where they've run into obstacles and challenges, and how they've been able to overcome those barriers with innovative and unique approaches.
While I am seen by some as a national expert on the topics I present in these workshops, the truth be told the real experts are the people in the room who come to listen to me. It's why in my trainings I solicit and engage those in the audience as much as possible, because not only are they better equipped to tell the group what's been working, they are closely tied to the streets of their own communities, and if you've ever done this kind of work, you know right away that what works in one place doesn't necessarily work in another.
HUD boss impressed by Utah's success with homeless
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's efforts to house the homeless is among the most successful in the country — and an example the federal government plans to embrace in hopes of ending veteran and chronic homelessness by 2015. By 2020, government officials intend to help the children, youths and families who are homeless find stable, permanent living situations, according to America's top housing official.
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and Utah Gov. Gary Herbert talk with Palmer Court resident Anna Hale on Wednesday.
Ending homelessness is "not just a noble fight, but a problem we can solve," said Donovan during a visit to Palmer Court, a low-income housing complex for people who before were chronically homeless located at 999 S. Main in downtown Salt Lake. He toured the 201-unit property with Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, state housing officials and Lt. Gov. Greg Bell, among others.
Utah has reduced its chronic homelessness by 69 percent since it implemented a statewide plan more than five years ago. Key to that 10-year plan was creating more than 500 new housing units in the past four years specifically to provide stable housing to that population. The housing is subsidized and comes with services such as case management. Palmer Court also has an onsite Head Start program.
Nationally, "Rapid Rehousing" and similar programs that get people into housing of their own and then help them find a job and stability have reduced chronic homelessness by one-third. It's much less expensive at about $9,000 than the money spent on public services when the homeless live in shelters or on the streets. That costs anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 each, experts say.
Just last year, Utah reduced chronic homelessness by 29 percent, which is particularly significant considering the downturn in the economy.
Investing in a population that needs help so desperately is partly about doing what's right, a form of "stewardship," Herbert said. But it's also the choice that makes the most sense economically.
Donovan acknowledged not only a fiscal deficit in America, but what he called " a trust deficit." Programs like these efforts to help the homeless, he said, are examples of effective government and money well spent.
"I feel this is a great example that gets us beyond the partisan divide," said Donovan. And it plays into what people really want, he added: "a smart government."
Dealing with the homeless is an issue of such importance, Donovan said, that the federal government has not only protected funds in spite of serious budget deficits, but has expanded some of the programs. Despite "enormous pressure on the budget," HUD was provided funding for 7,000 new vouchers to help veterans into housing, for example.
Herbert said he wished that he could take credit for the Beehive State's incredible success in housing people who have been homeless for a long time. And he quipped that "when I run for re-election in 2012, I probably will (take credit)." But he noted that the collaboration of many different people of different backgrounds and faiths, as well as the creation of programs that provide housing, help with medical issues and other support services have made all the difference to the state's success.
6.04.2011
Jobseekers: "decision not to seek work means the drop in unemployment from 9.8 percent in November to 9 percent in April isn't as good as it looks."
"Nobody is sure why it's happening."
Nobody is sure? What the hell, does everyone have their heads in the sand?
Look, rocket science it ain't.
If you spend 10 hours every day giving 110 percent to an employer and still don't have enough money at the end of the week to pay the bills, eat for the next week, put some gas in the car to get back and forth to that work, and have just a few dollars left over so that you're able to take your family or your self out to something as cheap and simple as a damned movie, then there is simply no motivation to keep working.
Bottom line: When the wages you earn aren't enough to keep pace with the cost of living increases, then there's little point in trying to continue eking out a living.
To make matters worse, those who find themselves recently laid off and facing the crush of expenses piling up on top of them have just about ZERO places to turn for help.
One basically must crash, burn and remain smoldering penniless and homeless under the local viaduct for at least a year before the title "chronically homeless" goes after your name in a service application.
Then, and only then will you be "eligible" for "help" in many agencies, and even then I wouldn't hold my breath for any rapid changes to the living situation, since there's such a scarcity of resources available that only the "most vulnerable" of the homeless population is eligible for the few programs and fewer resources at the disposal of case managers and outreach workers.
The real bummer is that many people, mistakenly assuming that there's some huge, well stocked "safety net" that will leap to their aid, run themselves far into debt with the landlord, the utility companies, and any credit they may have been able to establish while they were once fully employed, hoping that "any day now, I'll catch a break."
When the break doesn't come and the sheriff comes to set the poor sod out, he/she then begins to look for help and discovers, much to their surprise and disappointment, that they got "nuthin comin."
The first reaction is intense anger. This is often where folks begin scapegoating, as well, because they cannot believe that this situation could somehow be the fault of their own. And they're right, of course,except that they are usually targeting the wrong groups of people as they lament their predicament.
Instead of demanding answers from American companies who've closed their doors here and shipped their jobs to other countries, or their elected representatives, who've gutted welfare, training programs, housing vouchers, and just about every other scrap of aid that's been begged for over the years, they lash out at others facing the same lousy social system. Gotta be those "illegals" who steal jobs from Americans, or those "towelheads" who also steal jobs from Americans, or those "Orientals" who own the whole country, or "the blacks" who've used up all the resources, or the "welfare queens" who drive cadillacs, or (fill in the blank) who are now stealing jobs from Americans.
As they sit, stewing under the viaduct, they can look up at billboards hawking all the things available to them in the richest country in the world, while cars whiz by with people yelling "get a job, ya bum" at them from open windows.
Soon enough and almost certainly inevitably, a cop shows up and tickets them for "camping, standing, loitering, trespassing, sitting, blocking a passageway, obstructing traffic, littering, jaywalking," or some other, crafty way of criminalizing the homeless, they pick up a ticket that they cannot pay, and soon that ticket turns into a full blown criminal record.
With no phone, no food, no place to shower, sleep or stash belongings, they realize the potential for actually being hired by an employer has moved into the negative range. The continual barrage of disgusted looks, snide comments, offensive treatment, and harassment by passers by finishes the job of beating their mental fortitude to a pulp.
With self esteem thoroughly wrecked and the prospects for any real gainful employment nowhere in sight, hopelessness and depression arrive in full regalia.
Escape from this misery, no matter how transitory, becomes more and more appealing. Booze, drugs, even suicide are considered with more seriousness than perhaps ever before in their lives. As the days turn into months, the focus becomes not extricating themselves from the disaster that has become their lives but instead how to remain numb enough through another day so as not to allow the self loathing a foothold in the conscious psyche.
As a lack of self-care and prolonged intoxication takes its toll, the individual becomes more and more challenging to provide resources to, and reinforces the cycle of self-loathing and feelings of failure.
At about this point, agencies who provide assistance to the homeless are now able to step in with a few meager resources. As we try to "help" the person, we can't understand why it is they're so reluctant to accept our help.
"Some people just choose to be homeless."
More job seekers give up, reducing unemployment
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Where did all the workers go?
The labor force - those who have a job or are looking for one - is getting smaller, even though the economy is growing and steadily adding jobs. That trend defies the rules of a normal economic recovery.
Nobody is sure why it's happening. Economists think some of the missing workers have retired, have entered college or are getting by on government disability checks.
Others have probably just given up looking for work.
"A small work force means millions of discouraged workers, lower output in the future and a weak recovery," says Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the ranking Republican on the Congress' Joint Economic Committee. "Those are unhealthy signs."
By the government's definition, if you quit looking, you're no longer counted as unemployed. And you're no longer part of the labor force.
Since November, the number of Americans counted as employed has grown by 765,000, to just shy of 139 million. The nation has been creating jobs every month as the economy recovers. The economy added 244,000 jobs in April.
But the number of Americans counted as unemployed has shrunk by much more - almost 1.3 million - during this time. That means the labor force has dropped by 529,000 workers.
The percentage of adults in the labor force is a figure that economists call the participation rate. It is 64.2 percent, the smallest since 1984. And that's become a mystery to economists. Normally after a recession, an improving economy lures job seekers back into the labor market. This time, many are staying on the sidelines.
Their decision not to seek work means the drop in unemployment from 9.8 percent in November to 9 percent in April isn't as good as it looks.
If the 529,000 missing workers had been out scavenging for a job without success, the unemployment rate would have been 9.3 percent in April, not the reported rate of 9 percent. And if the participation rate were as high as it was when the recession began, 66 percent, in December 2007, the unemployment rate could have been as high as 11.5 percent.
A majority of the 42 economists in the latest Associated Press quarterly economic survey said they expect the labor force participation rate to start growing consistently before the year ends. Twelve don't expect it to happen until next year at the earliest. Five think it never will.
It's certainly not happening yet. The labor force grew by just 15,000 in April from March - not even enough to keep up with population growth.
Economists say many would-be job seekers remain daunted by the odds against finding work: There were 4.3 unemployed people for each job opening in March, more than double the ratio before the recession. And job vacancies are running 35 percent below the pre-recession peak.
"I basically have stopped looking for work because there is just nothing out there," says Kim Rinde of Minneapolis, who was laid off in December 2008 from a customer service job at a company that makes cleaning equipment.
Longer-term trends are working to keep the participation rate down. The Congressional Budget Office expects the participation rate to fall steadily to 63 percent by 2021 as baby boomers retire.
The share of men 20 and older in the labor force peaked long ago, at 89 percent in 1952. It's been falling ever since and is now under 74 percent.
John Bound, a University of Michigan economist, suspects the long-term decline in men's participation is due partly to a drop in job opportunities for workers with few skills. Manufacturing jobs once offered good wages for workers without college degrees. But the number of factory jobs has dropped 40 percent since peaking in 1979.
Some who have left the job market are getting by on government checks, particularly Social Security's program for the disabled More than 8.3 million Americans were on Social Security disability last month, up 1.2 million, or 17 percent, from the end of 2007.
The recipients include people who lost jobs that had allowed them to work despite disabilities and who can't find new employers to accommodate them.
The share of women working or looking for work, after expanding from the early 1950s through the mid '90s, has plateaued at about 60 percent, where it was in April. The CBO notes that more women with high-income husbands and those with young children have been staying out of the job market.
Teenagers have been leaving, too. Their participation rate dropped from a peak of 59.3 percent in 1978 to a record low of 33.5 percent in February. (It ticked up to 33.7 percent in April.) More young people are choosing college or vocational school over work. One reason is that fewer good-paying jobs are available to teenagers right out of high school.
"There was no way I was going straight to work" after high school, says Zachary Simmons, 19, who's studying computers at Surry Community College in North Carolina. "I have to get a degree. That's what gets you in the door for an interview."
6.01.2011
USICH Issues Report to Congress on a Common Federal Vocabulary to Describe Housing Status
At the request of Congress, USICH hosted a day long forum in January to discuss the benefits, challenges, and next steps for creating and implementing a common federal vocabulary and data standard on housing status. Today, USICH has released a summary report to Congress based on the outcome of this meeting which included the active participation of 85 attendees from federal agencies, Congress, and advocacy groups as well as researchers, homeless service providers, and people who have experienced homelessness.
The report to Congress released today describes the structure of the January event, summarizes the feedback received at that meeting, and reflects on what we think can be done to continue working towards a common vocabulary and data standard that will better inform our work to end homelessness.
The meeting was requested by Congress to discuss a June 2010 report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) entitled Homelessness: A Common Vocabulary Could Help Agencies Collaborate and Collect More Consistent Data.
- Read the full report
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