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Dec 1, 2022

New: A 4-year-old’s death is a consequence of systemic failures that are plaguing the Division of Family and Children Services, according to a memo sent in July by the state’s child welfare ombudsman that we recently obtained. (thread)

Child’s death, other breakdowns raise questions for DFCS

The death of Jayceion Mathis in South Georgia is a consequence of systemic failures that are plaguing the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS), according to a memo sent in July by the...

From the State of the State, via

@bluestein

: Kemp backed legislation allowing pregnant women who qualify to receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits. Previously, he said, they couldn't apply until after the child was born.

In showcase speech, Kemp launches ‘new phase’ of crime crackdowns

Gov. Brian Kemp outlined fresh plans to crack down on violent crime in Georgia, laying out a pledge in his State of the State address to enact tougher penalties on gang offenders and address the...

Unmet Needs: Critics Cite Failures in Health Care for Vulnerable Foster Children

Jan 25

Unmet Needs: Critics Cite Failures in Health Care for Vulnerable Foster Children by

@KHNews

khn.org

More states are moving to specialized managed-care contracts solely to handle medical and behavioral services for foster kids. But child advocates, foster parents, and even state officials say thes…

Jan 25

*signs you are in too deep on your beat* — hear song that includes the word “medicate” & ask yourself why there’s a new tune abt Medicaid — have dream about the need for more point in time count volunteers If I find a 3rd thing we will have a trend by 2010 j-school standards

Audrey Kennedy

@_AudreyKennedy

St. Cloud Times just lost its last remaining reporter

In the last six months, Gannett has laid off or bought out almost every journalist at the St. Cloud Times, a newspaper covering a metro area of 200,000. In May, there were 9 employees — by January, only one reporter was left. Now, there are 0. My story:

axios.com

Parent company Gannett has yet to say how the paper will continue operations.

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Fulton DA says indictment decisions will come soon in Trump probe

HAPPENING TODAY: Fulton judge to consider release of grand jury report

A Fulton County judge will hear arguments Tuesday from the District Attorney’s office, news media organizations and other stakeholders about whether to make public the final report of a special grand...

**as one tweeter pointed out potential confusion** they were not charged as in charged w a crime ! But rather responsible for carrying out this tally 🙂

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens is hosting a forum for landlords later this week, and the goal is to generate more commitments for housing units.

In all, Partners for Home says that nearly 600 units are needed for the program to be successful. So far, they’ve only been able to successfully obtain about 150 units.

This count, which is mandated by HUD, comes as the city's lead agency on homelessness is working to house about 1,500 people who are homeless. But so far, they've encountered one big hurdle: available units.

Atlanta's homeless population has gone down in recent years, but the numbers from last year were still high: A total of 2,017 were found to be homeless with 640 living on the streets.

There were many groups of volunteers, some of whom were out until 3 a.m.!

Last night, I shadowed a group of volunteers who were charged with counting the homeless population in Atlanta.

Counting Atlanta’s homeless population, one person at a time

On late Monday night, with the temperature was dropping into the 30s, five volunteers bundled in winter clothes stood near a street corner in Atlanta. The group had a difficult task at hand: to coax...

Counting Atlanta’s homeless population, one person at a time

Counting Atlanta’s homeless population, one person at a time

Tamar Hallerman

@TamarHallerman

Willis discloses a key detail: that the special grand jury heard from 75 witnesses

Tamar Hallerman

@TamarHallerman

Greetings from the Fulton courthouse, where we're getting ready for a noon hearing with Judge McBurney. It's up to him to decide whether and when to make public the final report of the special grand jury that spent 8 months investigating meddling in GA's 2020 elections #gapol

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Saturday Night Live - SNL

@nbcsnl

Jan 22

April Ludgate and Leslie Knope from Pawnee, Indiana!

3:51

1.2M views

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How to fix the mental health workforce? WA has an underutilized resource: peer counselors

Michelle Baruchman

@mlbaruchman

Jan 22

Washington state faces a shortage of mental health workers. But there are people in the field — who don't require the same schooling and licensure and who can relate to clients — who are being underused (and some say underpaid + undervalued): peers.

seattletimes.com

Peer mental health counselors build close connections with clients by relating to people in a way clinicians don’t. But hurdles remain to getting them certified and paid equitably.

Jenny Rogers

@jennyrogersDC

Jan 21

Folks in journalism who are out of a job right now—we assign lots of freelance work on my team. Topics include home, garden and parenting. We define those pretty broadly. Happy to hear from anyone with ideas to pitch: Jennifer dot Rogers at washpost dot com

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GA Bureau of Investigation

Governor Brian P. Kemp

@GovKemp

Jan 19

Below is my statement on the arrests of domestic terrorists at the future site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center:

Quote Tweet

@GBI_GA

Jan 19

Seven people from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Maine, Ohio, and New York have been charged with domestic terrorism & criminal trespass following yesterday’s multi-agency operation to secure the site of the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. tinyurl.com/42n8ue3p

Show this thread

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No more sliced cheese under Iowa Republicans SNAP proposal

Jan 20

SNAP was just trending on Twitter, because of this Axios article: axios.com/local/des-moin cc

@hbottemiller

axios.com

Iowa Republicans say they want to increase scrutiny of the state's public assistance programs.

Charlie Warzel

@cwarzel

Jan 20

spoke to a 5th grade class doing a journalism unit. they told me about the stories they are doing. One girl's topic was 'dead animals' & i asked how she chose it. she said she couldnt think of anything panicked & pitched it at the last min. i told her she's a real journalist now.

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NJ riders with disabilities lament Access Link's delays, lost drivers. NJ Transit promises change.

Karen Yi

@karen_yi

Jan 19

I tagged along w/ Matthew last summer during his commutes on NJ's paratransit service, Access Link. One time a ride arrived 4 hours late, another time a 5-mile ride took more than an hour after the driver got lost. Listen

@wnyc

gothamist.com

People who depend on the paratransit service say it can take hours to go a few miles. It's also struggling with the national driver shortage.

Jill Nolin

@jillnolin

Jan 18

DPH commissioner Toomey tells lawmakers an updated maternal mortality review report is set to be released next month. She says it will show an increase.

Jan 18

I'm a reporter from 2023 who acts like she is reporting in 1983.

My toxic trait is I will call people out of the blue, with no warning.

In almost three years, Georgia’s Medicaid rolls swelled by more than 500,000, to 2.7 million.

And from

: Hundreds of thousands of Georgians could lose Medicaid coverage later this year, as special emergency funding for extended health coverage during the pandemic begins to expire.

Looming end of pandemic funds to oust waves of Georgians from Medicaid

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been changed to clarify that after April 1, 2023, extra federal funding for Medicaid will phase out rather than stop.

Ben Collins

@oneunderscore__

Jan 17

I'm incredibly proud of

@johnghendy

for going on TV last night to talk about his stutter, and the destigmatization of disability. I really recommend you watch this. It'll make you a little braver.

9:58

125.8K views

From

11th Hour

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There has been a great variation in the length of stays at hotels since August: some children stay just one or two days, while one child stayed for a total of 80 days.

From a recent court monitor report: By the summer, DeKalb and Fulton counties stopped using administrative offices to house children. But the use of hotels in those counties is now increasing.

Some eye-popping stats: The state spends an average of $1,500 dollars a night to hotel a foster child. In fiscal year 2022, DFCS spent $28 million in hoteling costs. In the 2023 fiscal year, which started in July, DFCS has already spent $15 million.

On Monday night, there were 63 foster kids staying in hotels across the state. The state's DHS commissioner says they are "hellbent" on ending this practice.

State ‘hellbent’ on ending hotel placements for foster children

A top state official pledged last week to end the practice of housing Georgia’s foster children in hotels, and said she would unveil proposals in coming days to achieve that end.

Phil

@Urban_Connector

Jan 16

Walmart on MLK in Atlanta has closed “for now” and may not reopen. Located adjacent to the AUC and MARTA, it is one of the only full service grocery options for the entire West Side of Atlanta. Last time I was there, the lines were down the isles on a random Sunday evening

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How Restaurant Workers Help Pay for Lobbying to Keep Their Wages Low

Breaking: my

investigation w/

reveals The Natl Restaurant Association’s lucrative scheme: $$ fees unwitting workers pay for ‘food safety certification’ are funneled to cover the costs of the groups’ Goliath battle against higher wages

nytimes.com

The National Restaurant Association uses mandatory $15 food-safety classes to turn waiters and cooks into unwitting funders of its battle against minimum wage increases.

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This is a very niche tweet

The budget hearings in Georgia are scheduled for 10 a.m. And started today at ... 10 a.m. cc

@johnreitmeyer

vimeo.com/showcase/89889

How to recognize and address seasonal depression:

nytimes.com

How to Recognize and Address Seasonal Depression (Published 2021)

Despair in the winter months can point to a serious condition. Experts recommend light boxes, earlier wake-up times and therapy.

Stephanie Lamm

@stephanierlamm

Jan 14

A bootcamp-style school run by the Georgia National Guard shut down just 1 week into the 5-month program. A mass email went out to the parents of 170 students: Come get your kids in the next 24 hours. The violence was out of control.

Brawls, disorder mar Georgia boot camp for teens

An Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation reveals that a massive brawl at Youth Challenge Academy at Fort Gordon was preceded by poor screening of cadets, overwhelmed staff and mismanagement on...

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