Illinois' Borrowing Bonanza
from the Chicago Tribune
Facing both an election and the politically unpalatable prospects of raising taxes or cutting social programs, Gov. Pat Quinn and lawmakers increasingly have turned to borrowing as a quick fix and are on track to rack up more than $6.5 billion in loans to keep the state afloat. For critics, borrowing has become a form of financial denial for politicians, a game of kick the can in which state leaders put off making tough decisions in hopes of better times ahead. More

Do You Have Your 30 CEUs? Survey on Stressful Jobs....
from NASW IL
It's with great pride to recollect that social work has been a licensed profession in the state of Illinois since 1989. And along with licensure comes the requirement for professional development in order to enhance our professional standing, as well as sharpen our practice skills and knowledge base. More

Half of All Kids on Food Stamps at Some Point
from Chicago Sun-Times
If she didn't get food stamps, Angie Minix and her two boys would have had to survive on the peanut butter-and-jelly diet. The Sauk Village mom isn't alone. In fact, nearly half of all U.S. children and 90 percent of black youngsters will be on food stamps at some point during childhood, and fallout from the current recession could push those numbers even higher, researchers say. More

Abused Kids Have a Place to Find Help
from Chicago Tribune
Since the Chicago Children's Advocacy Center opened in 2001, it has served nearly 17,000 children who have been sexually and physically abused. Settled among government buildings and hospitals, the one-story center stands out with its bright pastel facade. Under that roof are staff, police officers, medical specialists, child welfare investigators and prosecutors, all trying to streamline the investigation and prosecution of child-abuse cases. More

Homeless Students: Increasingly, Families Taking Shelter Anywhere They Can
from Chicago Tribune
Maria Maior's son is a football-playing, skateboard-riding, Xbox-loving kid whose home reveals all the trappings of domesticity: a cushy sofa, big-screen TV, a framed poster of Brian Urlacher - one of the 12-year-old's favorite football players. On most evenings, two big dogs curl up on the carpeting. The scene could be lifted from any suburban subdivision - except that it's located not in a den, but in a storage unit. More

Homeless Students: 'We Have Everything We Need'
from the Chicago Tribune
Six-year-old Mariah Mattox lives in a camper and is one of about 1,000 students in Will County who meet the state's definition of having no permanent address. Each morning before school, Kim and Rich Mattox make sure their first-grader's clothes are clean, teeth are brushed and hair is combed before the bus rolls through the Enchanted Shores campgrounds in Peotone. More

Women at Arms: A Combat Role, and Anguish, Too
from The New York Times
For Vivienne Pacquette, being a combat veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder means avoiding phone calls to her sons, dinner out with her husband and therapy sessions that make her talk about seeing the reds and whites of her friends’ insides after a mortar attack in 2004. As with other women in her position, hiding seems to make sense. Post-traumatic stress disorder distorts personalities: some veterans who have it fight in their sleep; others feel paranoid around children. More

Weight Gain Associated With Antipsychotic Drugs
from The New York Times
Young children and adolescents who take the newest generation of antipsychotic medications risk rapid weight gain and metabolic changes that could lead to diabetes, hypertension and other illnesses, according to the biggest study yet of first-time users of the drugs. More