Illinois Budget Cuts Threaten Services
from the Chicago Sun-Times
Summer is here and many community residents are enjoying beaches, vacations and other favorite summer recreational activities. We look forward to time away from school, work and the other activities that add stress to our lives. We experience renewed feelings of hope, optimism and enthusiasm. For those of us providing mental health and other human service programs to community residents, this summer has been especially bleak and unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a lot of hope that the coming months will be much better. More

29 Days to Go: 2009 NASW IL Conference - Your Opportunity to Discuss the Impact of the Economy on Social Work.
from NASW IL
In addition to being able to fulfill 20 of your 30 CEUs, the 2009 NASW IL Statewide Conference, "A Meeting of the Profession," will provide a unique opportunity to discuss the concerns and impact that the current economic situation in our state and in our country is having on the social work profession. The opening Conference Plenary on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009 jumps right into that issue. More

Illegal Immigrants Face Life-and-Death Decisions without Health Insurance
from The Chicago Tribune
Omar Castillo embodies a potential life-and-death issue that has become the third rail in the debate over health-care reform. Peddling snacks -- doused with lime and chili powder and priced at $1.50 each -- is how Castillo, 19, is trying to pay for expensive medication he needs to stay healthy after receiving a kidney transplant last year. Because he is in the U.S. illegally, he has no ready access to aid for such long-term medical expenses. More

Daley Halts Closure of Mental Health Clinics
from the Chicago Sun-Times
Mayor Richard Daley said this week that he’s putting his $1.2 million plan to close four of Chicago's 12 mental health centers "on hold" until he gets to the bottom of a flawed billing system that triggered the cuts. One day after a noisy City Hall demonstration that included a brief sit-in at the mayor’s office, Daley gave at least some measure of hope to mental health advocates who want the clinics to remain open indefinitely. More

Catholic Charities: 'If You Come in Helpless, They Will Help You'
from The Chicago Tribune
Sarah Waldron and her 6-year-old son couldn't be more grateful to Catholic Charities for the food on their table and their new rental condo in Elk Grove Village. Waldron considers the agency a lifesaver. The Waldrons are among the 468 families using the Emergency Assistance Food Pantry Program at Catholic Charities North/Northwest Regional Services in Des Plaines. The number of families has nearly doubled in the last year, officials said. More

Mentally Ill Offenders Strain Juvenile System
from The New York Times
The teenager in the padded smock sat in his solitary confinement cell here in this state’s most secure juvenile prison and screamed obscenities. The youth, Donald, a 16-year-old, his eyes glassy from lack of sleep and a daily regimen of mood stabilizers, was serving a minimum of six months for breaking and entering. Although he had received diagnoses for psychiatric illnesses, including bipolar disorder, a judge decided that Donald would get better care in the state correctional system than he could get anywhere in his county. More

After Injury, Fighting to Regain a Sense of Self
from The New York Times
Adam Lepak looked over at his mother and said, "You’re fake." It was a Tuesday in July, late, and Cindy Lepak could see that her 19-year-old son was exhausted. Long days like this one, with hours of physical therapy and memory drills — I had a motorcycle accident, I hit my head and have trouble remembering new things, I had a motorcycle accident — often left him making these accusations. "What do you mean 'fake,' Adam?" she said. More

Recession Driving Summer Push to Feed Needy Kids
from The Associated Press
Nationally, the federal meals are reaching only a fraction of the nation's children who qualify, and government officials and advocacy groups say the recession has placed millions more children at risk of going hungry. A lack of sponsors — organizations that buy food and train staff to serve — is part of the problem. Limited awareness and infrastructure also contribute to low participation. More

In Marriage, Worse First Can Mean Better Later
from Time magazine
Just a few months before John Gottman, a leading American marriage researcher and psychologist, was to be married, his father died, leaving Gottman to contend with overwhelming loss during what should have been one of the happiest times of his life. No one would have blamed him for putting the wedding on hold. But in the end, Gottman says, the strain of dealing with his grief made him that much more devoted to his future bride. "My wife helped me through it," he says. "I was able to cope with the loss, and it was really a bonding experience."More

Signs of Depression Noted in Second Graders
from U.S. News & World Report
Screening children as early as second grade for symptoms of depression may help better identify those at risk later in life, a University of Washington study shows. Even though about 80 percent of second graders in the study never developed more than a few symptoms of depression, the researchers identified five patterns of development of the mental disorder by following nearly 1,000 children through their elementary and middle-school years. More