Illinois Senate Sends $220 million Economic-Assistance Bill to Governor
from the Chicago Tribune
Chicago area mass transit, state parks and social services would get more than $220 million to prop up their budgets under legislation sent last week to Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The legislation would pull the money from restricted funds to stave off layoffs, cuts in drug treatment centers and park closings. Senators, who passed the legislation sent from the House, said it would help to soften the blow of the governor's budget cuts. More

404 S. Wells – First Days…
from NASW IL
You know how it is when you move houses or apartments. Lots of boxes, dust, cables and wires. The Illinois Chapter for NASW moved this past Wednesday into its new home at 404 S. Wells. We have a lot of boxes, lot of dust and a very great sense of excitement of what our new home will be like. More

Study Supports Gay Adoptions
from the Chicago Tribune
At the Neubecker residence in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood, David and Lee are Dad and Daddy, respectively, to a pair of foster siblings who sleep in pink princess and blue truck bedrooms, ride their bikes with helmets and always eat breakfast and dinner together. Findings by a nonpartisan adoption group being released tomorrow conclude that gays and lesbians are an important resource for children awaiting adoption. More

Novel Explores Eating Disorder from a Male Perspective
from The Star-Ledger
In her work as a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in eating disorders, Christine Beach knows of several fictional works that depict female characters with one of these life-threatening illnesses. But she couldn't think of a single novel depicting a male who grapples with the shame and self-destruction brought on by an eating disorder. "Our society still looks at them as women's diseases or a girl's disease," says Beach, who is based at the Atlantic Health Eating Disorders Program at Overlook Hospital in Summit, N.J. More

Disparity of Disease
from The Baltimore Sun
In America's inner cities and rural areas, forgotten people suffer from forgotten ailments tied to poverty. There is a largely unaddressed biological threat that exist in America today ─ especially in places where poverty is concentrated. It is a hidden underbelly of poverty-related diseases that are ordinarily thought of as health problems in less-developed countries. More

More Older Americans Moving in with Kids
from Chicago Sun-Times
It might not be the retirement option many dreamed of, but during the first seven years of this decade, the number of parents living with adult children who are heads of households grew 67 percent to 3.6 million. It's not just the elderly. The number of parents under 65 in these households increased by 75 percent, and those 65 and older were up 62 percent. More

U.S. Kids Take More Psychotropic Drugs Than Europeans
from Business Week
American children are three times more likely to be prescribed psychotropic medications for conditions such as ADHD and bipolar disease than European children are, a new study finds. More

East Mind, West Mind
from Newsweek
There are indications that mental illness in the Asian-American community may be undiagnosed and undertreated, thanks in part to cultural stigmas against personal weakness, as well as some recent immigrants' ignorance of the Western concept of mental health. A 2003 study partly funded by the National Institute of Mental Health showed that while the rate of mental illness among Asian-Americans is lower than among whites, the former group is less likely to seek help than the latter. More

Florida Social Workers Dig Into Own Pockets for Needy Clients
from Scripps News
Bettye Jordan, a doula for Hillsborough County, Fla., teaches mothers who receive health care at a county clinic how to take care of themselves during pregnancy. Doulas are non-professional assistants who help women with pregnancy, childbirth and post-partum adjustment. But as the economy worsens, Jordan and the other doulas have expanded their roles. Each week, one takes turns stopping by the grocery store to pick up fruit, granola bars, yogurt and juice. They serve the food during parenting classes. More