“Vote Early, Vote Often”

One for the “Every Vote Counts” file:

From the Bluffton News-Banner, read the story here.

Two candidates for the same seat on the Bluffton City Council each received the same number of votes, unless a recount determines differently.  If the recount remains the same, Indiana Law throws it back to the sitting members of the Council to determine who will get the seat.  Unfortunately for the Republican candidate, he is an incumbent, and cannot vote.  The council is made up of three Democrats and two Republicans, including the incumbent.  Republicans fear the vote will be along party lines and are calling for a coin toss, which could be done, if ratified by a vote of the council.  However, until the recount is completed, no decision on a coin toss has been made.

The Blogmeister always votes and this is one of the reasons.  He knows his vote counts and would never want such an important seat determined by three people voting along party lines.  Please consider cases such as this the next time election day rolls around.

UPDATE: In a recount today, 12/5/07, it appears the vote totals have changed by two votes in favor of the Democrat.  The recount, as of this morning, is still unofficial.  Read the story here.

Indiana Rated 12th Worst State for Depression

In a story by the Indianapolis Star, Indiana was ranked 12th worst among all states and the District of Columbia in terms of individuals reporting depression.

From the story:

“8.8 Percentage of adolescents with major depressive episode in 2004-05 (national average, 8.95 percent).

8.9 Percentage of adults with major depressive episode in 2004-05 (national average, 8.05 percent).

12.52 Percentage of adults with serious psychological distress (national average, 11.63 percent).

3.67 Poor mental health days in 2006 (national average, 3.31).”

The Blogmeister does not have time at the moment to adequately analyze the story, so please read it for yourself and check back.

Update: TaJanay Bailey

The Indianapolis Star reports today that an attorney representing TaJanay’s Mother and Brother is seeking a delay in a motion requesting the opening of the Mother’s juvenile court case filed by the Indianapolis Star and other media outlets.  A Marion County Judge is to rule on the delay at some point this morning.

 You may read the story here.

Posts regarding the case on this blog are here and here.

Updated 12/2/07, here.

Hangin with “The Meanest Woman In Indiana Politics”

The Blogmeister has just learned IST was linked to Taking Down Words (TDW).  TDW’s Blogmistress had the distinction of being named “the meanest woman in Indiana politics” last year.  The Blogmeister has never found her to be all that mean, but exceptionally well informed, with an uncanny ability to root out information from the deepest levels of Indiana Government.  In real life, TDW’s blogmistress is the Communications Director for the Indiana Democratic Party.

Thanks for the link Jen!

Program to Promote Healthy Marriages

Today, an internationally known relationship expert will be training instructors in Fort Wayne on his system to teach better relationship skills.  John M.R. Covey will be teaching the principles of his book “8 Habits of a Successful Marriage”.

Read about it here.

While it is too late to participate in the program in Fort Wayne, the program will be conducted in Evansville, Indianapolis, Anderson, Michigan City, South Bend, Elkhart and Gary.

Contact Indiana Healthy Marriage and Family Coalition Inc. for more information.

Update, More On The Death Of TaJanay Bailey

Update on this post .

The Blogmeister has worked in Mental Health and with the Department of Child Services (in it’s various incarnations) for over 15 years.  Still, reading about cases such as this makes him physically ill.

From a story in the Indianapolis Star:

“Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi wants to know why the state Department of Child Services did not notify police after a caseworker determined TaJanay Bailey was physically abused in 2006.

A hospital emergency room visit documented bruises on the toddler’s body after a May 2006 visit with her mother, Charity Bailey, and Bailey’s boyfriend, Lawrence Green.

Bailey and Green now face charges of murder and neglect in the death of the 3-year-old Tuesday.

Brizzi said the abuse was among the worst he’d seen in a criminal case, and he planned to try the case himself. He said prosecutors could use the victim’s age and the use of torture as statutory aggravators when they press for a life sentence.

About 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, Bailey woke TaJanay and saw she “had boo-booed and peed herself,” Bailey told police. She said she took the girl to the bathroom to clean her off, the affidavit says, and Green then began “whipping TaJanay with his black leather belt.”

In his statement, Green told police he did hit the girl, but Bailey was already screaming at her and striking her, too. Bailey hit the girl in the head with her knee, knocking TaJanay’s head against the wall, Green told police.  Police called to investigate TaJanay’s death were appalled at the condition of the apartment, in the 4100 block of Edgemere Court.

Police say Bailey and Green abused TaJanay over the past two weeks, including hanging her on a coat hook by her T-shirt, beating her with a belt and knocking her in the chest for wetting her pants. While hanging from the hook, the girl’s shirt left marks under her arms and on the back of her neck, said a probable cause affidavit that Brizzi filed Wednesday.

James W. Payne, director of the state Department of Child Services, said Wednesday that he is prohibited by law from talking about specifics of the case, including whether police were notified.  But he pledged an aggressive review of the way TaJanay’s case was handled to determine whether the agency or its workers did anything wrong, and what could be done to prevent similar tragedies.

At this point, he said, nothing indicates a system breakdown or individual misconduct contributing to the death. He said the review will take about two weeks.  “These tragic events will, unfortunately, occur,” he said. “We know we can’t protect and prevent everything.”

Brizzi said his office had not been able to find a police report resulting from the 2006 hospital visit. The injuries should have prompted a police investigation because even the doctor noted physical abuse, he said.

“Someone from the government . . . went in and said it was OK for her to return to the home,” he said. “I’m not sure where the blame lies, but we have a dead 3-year-old little girl.”

The article goes on to give a history of the case, and discusses the troubling history of TaJanay’s mother, Charity Bailey.  The Blogmeister is sure what will happen in this case is what happens everytime some tragic incident such as this occurs.  Politicians will vie for airtime discussing who is to blame,  there will be a high profile trial, people will be fired, paperwork will be changed.  More than likely, Mr. Payne is correct, there was not a system breakdown…but what Mr. Payne, politicians, and the public need to realize is the system itself, while adequate for most cases, is broken when it comes to severe cases such as this.  While the increased numbers of caseworkers is a good start, the DCS needs to hire trained caseworkers (they currently do not need to have any college education).  Then, they need to change the focus from educating abusive parents, to making them serve consequences for their actions AND treating them (utilizing licensed professionals).  Finally, there needs to be a process where there is a recognition, earlier in the process, that a parent may not ever recover from their abusive tendencies and a procedure to permanently remove the child from their care.   Someone will get blamed for this, but in the blogmeister’s opinion, it is a flawed system that is truly to blame.

This post is updated here , here, and here.

Carson in “hospice care and can barely speak”

Channel 6 News in Indianapolis has this update on 7th district Congresswoman Julia Carson.

“The Rev. Jonathan Baily Sr., of Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church, spoke with Carson Sunday morning and said she is under hospice care and can barely speak. According to Baily, those close to Carson knew she had cancer.

“I was there when the doctor told her she was on hospice, whether she wanted to go to the hospital or stay home,” Baily said. At the same doctor’s visit, Carson asked how long she had to live, 6News’ Cheryl Jackson reported. “He said, ‘It’s not our thing to tell you how long, just make you comfortable,’” Baily said.  Baily met Carson when he began preaching at an Indianapolis church in 1967.”

In a related story, the same media outlet is running an unscientific poll of it’s website readers.  The one question poll asks, “In light of her grim prognosis, do you think Rep. Julia Carson should resign her seat?”  Of the 1432 who responded (as of this post), 87% felt she should resign.  Should Representative Carson die while in office, or resign her seat, she would be replaced by Special Election called by Governor Mitch Daniels.

Related posts: here, here, and here.

Sign ‘em up

Several media outlets are reminding the public that applications are now available for the Healthy Indiana Plan.  This is a state sponsored health-care program designed to provide coverage for lower income adults.

From the story at Times Communications:

 ”HIP, which was passed by the Legislature in a bi-partisan fashion as part of the Indiana Checkup Plan, will provide health coverage to as many as 130,000 uninsured Hoosier adults living at less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level.  This correlates to a yearly income of $20,420 for a single person or $41,300 for a family of four.

To be eligible for the program, applicants must have been uninsured for at least 6 months and have no access to employer provided health care.            

The plan participants will be entitled to the following:

          – $500 per year toward preventative health care.

          – A $1,100 health savings account (HSA) to be used for regular health care needs.

          – All medical costs exceeding $1,100 would be picked up by insurance providers, who will cover up to $300,000 annually.”

 …

“Hoosiers can download applications at www.hip.in.gov, and can request additional information by calling toll free (877) GET-HIP9 (438-4479) or e-mailinghipinfo@fssa.in.gov. Organizations participating in the V-CAN network, Hoosier Healthwise Enrollment Centers and local Division of Family Resources offices will also have applications available by Monday (Dec. 3.)

The state will begin accepting application on Dec. 17, and coverage will begin on Jan. 1.”

According to www.in.gov, Mental Health is covered through a contract with Anthem.

Musta Missed That Star Story

[Note:  The Blogmeister wants to be absolutely clear.  When he originally wrote this post, the second Indy Star Story, describing today's tragic events and referenced in the update at the bottom, had yet to appear.  The Indy Star story referenced in the post is from yesterday.  The Blogmeister would never be so cruel as to title the post this way if he was referencing the second star article.]

 From the Associated Press, via the South Bend Tribune, comes notice of an award bestowed upon Governor Mitch Daniels by the  Annie E. Casey Foundation for “improving the lives of children.”  Specifically, the “creation of the Department of Child Services shortly after taking office in 2005″.

“Since then, with the support of the General Assembly, the department has added more than 800 family case managers to protect vulnerable children and expanded case worker training”. 

“Daniels appointed James Payne, formerly a Marion County juvenile court judge, to head the new agency, whose duties formerly were part of the Family and Social Services Administration”.

“‘Indiana is beginning to emerge as a national leader in helping to safeguard children, and assure children can grow and thrive in loving, permanent families,” said Tracey Feild, director of consulting engagements at the Baltimore-based foundation.”

You can also view the press release here.

The Blogmeister is confused.  How does that square up with the post from yesterday and the Indy Star story of the same date?  What makes matters worse is the data used in the Star story is from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which is the same foundation who gave the Governor the award.  The Blogmeister went to the foundation site, massaged, crunched, and attempted to beat the numbers into submission, but cannot figure out how 11th worst is an improvement from previous years.  The Blogmeister fully admits he may not be the worlds best statistician, but he did have 3 graduate level statistics courses (all A’s, btw).  If someone, perhaps with a Ph.D., could figure this out, the Blogmeister would be most appreciative.

Further, the Blogmeister knows people in the Department of Child Services who felt, at the time the Department was created, it  was nothing more than a new job for Judge Payne, new stationary, and new forms to fill out.  Perhaps the Blogmeister’s anecdotal evidence is in error, but the confusion remains.  Again, If someone could clear this up, he would be most appreciative.

UPDATE:  This tragic story just in–enough said.

Sneak Peak: 2009 IN Healthcare Proposals

The Evansville Courier & Press gives us the following report of a forum held 11/26/07 at University Center at the University of Southern Indiana.  The story may be found here.  The Blogmeister believes this goes to a subscription based service after 7 days so he will quote as much as possible.

In summary, the following plan, “developed by Indiana Healthcare Reform Study Group”… which is  an… “outgrowth of Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs,”…who… “received a grant from the state’s Family and Social Services Administration to develop workable policy recommendations to reform Indiana’s health care system”…  “will be presented to the Indiana Legislature in 2009″ ;

“Among the recommendations are:

Mandating all Indiana residents have a minimum level of health insurance or face personal income tax penalties for noncompliance. The group would recommend developing measures to ensure that coverage is affordable for low-income individuals and families.

Employers would be required to either provide affordable health coverage meeting the minimum required benefits or to pay a tax that would help pay for a state-funded health insurance plan.

Individuals would have the option to buy into those state-funded plans. Patients also would assume some of the cost through a tiered system of copayments tied to their income level.

Health care providers would also be assessed a tax and specialty hospitals that do not contribute to basic health care needs (for instance, not having an emergency room) would pay a surtax.

Patients also would be encouraged to find a “medical home” where they could meet all their health and wellness needs through one facility…

…The study group developed its recommendations through the work of seven subcommittees involving more than 100 people and by incorporating public comments gathered through discussions.

There ya have it, what do you think?  At first blush the major problem for the Blogmeister is…drumroll please…, NO MENTAL HEALTH CARE!