Illinois Leaves Disabled in Lurch
from The Chicago Sun-Times
State budget passed. Crisis averted. Turn the page to the next problem, right? Not so fast. Some of our state's most vulnerable citizens were hurt by the recent political machinations in Springfield, and nobody should be turning the page until we've at least fixed the mess. Take the case of Tom Morissette, 35, of Elmhurst. Tom was born with Down syndrome. More

FY2010 Budget...Our Work is Just Beginning....
from NASW IL
On July 16th, the State's FY2010 budget was passed much to the disappointment of the social work community and the human services provider arena. Funded by borrowing that the State has to repay, plus hundreds of millions of dollars in interest, the FY2010 budget ameliorates some of the "doomsday" cuts originally proposed by the Governor. The source of funding for this budget is not a much needed tax increase, but one-time non-renewable sources of funding. More

Psychotherapist Offers Clients a Clean Sweep
from The Chicago Tribune
As a psychotherapist in Oak Park for the last 30 years, Doris Ayala counseled hundreds of clients through abuse and anxiety. But for those suffering depression due to unemployment, there was a limit to how much she could help. Five years ago, the therapist ordered a different treatment and started Sweeping Dimensions, a cleaning service providing jobs for her out-of-work Latino clients and other unemployed individuals. More

Tech-Savvy Social Work — Meeting the Digital Demand
from Social Work Today
Discover how information technology can enhance social services data management, client tracking, and outcomes measurement. Consider the benefits and risks of communication technology in direct service to clients. More

Obama's Health Care Push Met with Pushback
from CNN
As President Obama steps up his push for health care reform, there is a growing effort to stop it, and rising doubts about how Obama is handling the issue. The president said from the first day of his administration that health care was a top domestic priority, and some observers say he's taking a risk in addressing the nation through a primetime news conference Wednesday (tonight) with little to show after months of wrangling. More

Swearing Can Help Ease Pain, Study Finds
from The Chicago Tribune
The next time you hammer your thumb, do what comes naturally: Swear. It won't sound pretty, but colorful expletives may help ease the pain, according to a study in the current issue of NeuroReport, a journal of neuroscience research. In even the most civilized cultures, people curse out of habit, to let off steam or to shock. Swearing is also a common response to physical pain. But can off-color language actually affect how much an injury hurts? More

Postpartum Depression: Do All Moms Need Screening?
from TIME magazine
A month after Melanie Blocker-Stokes gave birth, she stopped eating and sleeping. Despite her family's efforts to help, Blocker-Stokes leaped to her death from the 12th story of a Chicago hotel in 2001, when her daughter was about 3 months old. Now the Melanie Blocker-Stokes Postpartum Depression Research and Care Act, familiarly known as the Mothers Act, has passed the House and is headed for the Senate. If it becomes law, it will mandate the funding of research, education and public-service announcements about postpartum depression along with services for women who have it. More

No Stork Involved, but Mom and Dad Had Help
from The New York Times
Every child has a birth story. The story of Simmie, who was born to a surrogate, is different from the stories of the three children in the movie. But her story, which is also the story of her 11-year-old twin brothers, Andrew and Benjamin, is less unusual than it used to be. While there is no widely agreed upon number for surrogate births, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine estimates 400 to 600 births a year from 2003 to 2007 in which a surrogate was implanted with a fertilized egg. More