Kids and State Budget Cuts

I am getting inundated with emails about how budget cuts in Illinois will impact kids. It will be devastating to so many people and it might impact you in ways you never realized. I thought I would post a few of the concerns and let you comment about how the cuts could impact your life. 7 billion dollars lost in state funding will be huge if another solution is not discovered soon. If you sent me a note about how the budget cuts will impact your organization and I didn't post it, please resend and I will add it.

The planned budget cuts that will take place in Illinois if the current "50% Budget" is allowed to pass on June30, 2009: It really puts a perspective on what the budget cuts will mean for services offered through the Dept. of Human Services. Where will all these people go?If you don't think the budget cuts under the currently proposed budget plan will affect you, think again....With no place to live and no services to provide for assistance with daily needs, our cities and towns will be filled with children and adults suffering from mental and physical illnesses who cannot be treated, elderly who have no one to advocate and care for them, at risk teens who have no structure to their day & no means of protection at night.

High School graduates will lose financial aid and/or have a more difficult time getting scholarships. Young children will not be able to receive the vaccinations needed to keep them healthy and reduce the risk for all of us. Childcare Connection will be cut drastically, people without Medicaid could lose their home services that keeps them out of a nursing home, foster kids will have nowhere to live because parents will get a significant decrease in monthly allowance. Over 10,000 people will lose their jobs, and the State will actually be losing money generated through matching Federal dollars....This WILL affect you and your community!

I attended meetings with my agency Director and Assistant Director yesterday which left a knot in my stomach as our agency is looking at how to deal with this type of a budget. If this budget is passed, our agency will face a drastic reduction in funding, which means we will be unable to coordinate services to many of our clients (children and adults with developmental disabilities & traumatic brain injuries) and my agency will have to eliminate positions - mine could be one of them....

They are also proposing to cut many of our benefits, increasing caseloads, not giving raises and possibly shortening our work week. I have already had friends at other agencies who have lost their job and have little options in finding a new one (with these cuts). All of this is obviously detrimental to my family as well. Please contact your legislators and ask them to restore the budget cuts and not to cut any Human Services programs. Please pass this on to everyone in your address book. If you don't know your Illinois Legislative members, go here to find out who to contact: http://www.votesmart.org/

Doomsday Budget is upon us - Draconian Measures expected

Take Action!
WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW!!!

On May 31, 2009, the Illinois General Assembly passed a partial budget which created a $9.2 billion funding gap which is now forcing draconian cuts in fundamental state services. Severe cuts in the State human services budget will have serious adverse consequences for local governments, public safety agencies, the courts and corrections. Slashing funding for mental health services, addiction prevention and treatment programs, and youth services will result in less prevention, more crime, more trials, additional probation caseloads and higher detention and incarceration rates.

A budget that cuts human services and other vital programs by 50% or more will result in significant job losses, perhaps as high as several hundred thousand jobs across Illinois. Several of your colleagues have already received job termination notices, program cancellations, and even more are coming. We are reaching out to you take immediate action! The NASW Illinois Office is working hard to make sure the voices of Social Workers are heard in Springfield, but we cannot do it alone.

EMAIL our action alert, mail a letter and call your representatives and then attend a local rally to fund the state budget.
Also contact everyone you know and direct them to the NASW IL office website at www.naswil.org - you do not have to be a social worker to use our automated action alert email system.

When you are done leave a comment on the NASW IL blog at http://naswil.typepad.com stating your support!

The Adult and Children’s Home Based Support Services Programs are slated for Elimination!
Gov. Quinn held a Budget Briefing this morning announcing the elimination of billions of dollars of services including the Home-Based Support Services Program.

The Home-Based Programs are only one of dozens of announced cuts and reductions for DD Services.

Our Service Delivery System is being gutted. Our services and our providers cannot survive with these cuts.

The following is a list of cuts as culled from the Governor’s Budget Briefing Handout:
The Budget Briefing Handout is attached to this e-mail.
· $251 million - 40% cut for providers who serve children & adults with DD…
§ This would include CILA, DT, and other services
· $103 million - Elimination of program for people with disabilities including:
§ Autism Programs
§ Respite and Family Assistance Programs
§ Home-Based Support Services Programs
§ Children’s Residential and Group Home Services
· $71 million - Closing six of nine state-operated developmental centers
· $18 million - Closing Illinois School for the Deaf, Illinois School for the Visually Impaired and Illinois Center for Rehabilitation and Education
If you haven’t, call your State Senator and Representative. Identify them at www.votesmart.org.

I work for Peoria County Bright Futures. We are an at-risk pre-k program for Peoria county. I am also a mother of twin boys. As a mother, we all want whats best for our children right? We are the voices for our children, after all they cannot stand up and fight for themselves.
We need your help- we meaning the children and families in IL.

Gov Quinn is working on a budget that will eliminate funding for all early childhood programs in the state. This is horrible for the children and families of this area. By eliminating our programs, which are some of the best in the nation, we would be taking away preschool for 100,000 children. The domino effect of this is awful for child care centers, families who are struggling already, teachers, education and our future. We are wiping out over 20 years of great quality programing..

This is just the beginning, I could go on and on. We are trying to get the word out to everyone to call Gov Quinn's office and tell him to support funding for early childhood education. As a mom, I am worried about the future for my boys. I am hoping as a parent, you can understand how awful this will be for our community and can help us spread the word.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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Detecting Childhood Asthma

Nearly 7 million kids have been diagnosed with asthma. I had no idea it was that high. My eldest son has seasonal allergies, but they're not bad. I just give him Zyrtec when his eyes get red and he seems to start sniffling. I do have friends with kids with asthma. They seem to do just fine coping with it. I guess their cases aren't that severe. It would be a struggle with sports though as they get older! Do you have anyone with asthma in your family?

FROM CNN: When she was 2 years old, Sonali Mavinkurve caught a cold. But this time there was nothing common about it.

"She started wheezing and had a barking cough that wouldn't quit," says her mom, Iliana Mavinkurve, who lives in Livingston, New Jersey. "I had asthma as a child, so I recognized Sonali's symptoms and was worried." At first, doctors called Sonali's condition "reactive airway disease," because children her age can't do the breathing tests necessary to pinpoint asthma definitively. "

But when her symptoms kept coming back, given my family history, Sonali got the diagnosis," says Mavinkurve. It's never easy to hear that your child may have a lifelong illness, especially one that interferes with breathing. But the fact that asthma is so common -- nearly 7 million kids have been diagnosed, and all those with allergies or parents with the condition are at risk of developing it -- means doctors (and moms) know a lot about how to manage it.

In fact, with proper treatment, even kids with severe asthma can live perfectly normal lives. So go ahead, breathe that sigh of relief. We're here to help you every step of the way.

Why spotting asthma can be tricky

Given how dramatic asthma symptoms are, you'd think it'd be a snap to diagnose. That's often not the case, especially in kids under 5. "As many as half of children have at least one episode of wheezing before age three, but after that most never wheeze again," says Dr. Paul Williams, clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington.

In fact, only 15 to 20 percent of kids who wheeze go on to have lifelong asthma. Plus, very young children can't adequately perform spirometry, which requires patients to blow as hard and as long as they can into a meter; it's usually not till they're 5 or 6 that kids can do the test, which can accurately diagnose asthma, says Williams. In the meantime, you can get a pretty good sense of your child's risk by using the Asthma Predictive Index, which we've adapted into the "Risk Checker." So grab a pen and see how your sweetie's symptoms stack up.

Risk checker

1. Has your child had frequent wheezing before age 3 (four or more episodes in one year that lasted longer than a day and disrupted sleep)?

2. Does she have at least one of these major risk factors?
• she has a parent or a sibling who has asthma
• she has eczema
• she's tested positive on tests for airborne allergens

3. Does she have at least two of these minor risk factors?
• she has allergic rhinitis
• she wheezes even when she doesn't have a cold
• she has a food allergy, especially to eggs, milk, or peanuts

If you answered yes to the first question along with at least one other, there's about a 76 percent chance your child's symptoms will persist through grade school. Meanwhile, 95 percent of kids who have only one yes (or none) will likely not develop asthma after age 6. Great news!

Anatomy of an attack

1. An irritant, allergen, or virus makes its way to the lungs from the upper respiratory tract.
2. The immune system kicks into gear, producing antibodies and other substances to fight it off.
3. These immune chemicals trigger two big, simultaneous changes: The lungs' airways begin to constrict, causing spasms, and they also become inflamed, which leads to further swelling and mucus production.
4. As the room for air decreases, kids begin breathing very deeply to get oxygen. But then they struggle to release it. So as a sufferer forces air back out through the swollen tubes, a whistling -- or wheezing sound -- occurs. Depending on the severity, kids may also experience shortness of breath, rapid breathing, or chest tightness. In babies, you may also see the muscles under or between their ribs pulling in. Any of these signs means it's time to get help ASAP.

The goal is control

Despite the fact that asthma has the potential to be so well managed that it becomes practically a nonissue, it's still grossly undertreated, says Dr. Bradley Chipps, pediatric pulmonologist and allergist at Capital Allergy and Respiratory Disease Center in Sacramento, California. "Number one, physicians often view asthma as an episodic disease," says Chipps. "They just do crisis intervention and aren't seeing patients back on a regular basis."

In fact, only 20 percent of moms said their doctors discussed asthma control with them regularly, according to a recent survey by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA). But pediatricians aren't the only ones to blame: "Adherence to therapy is miserable," says Chipps. "The average refill rate of controller medications is two to four refills per year. If you're taking them every day, the refill rate should be twelve."

The secrets to getting asthma under control: First, ask your doctor for a written asthma action plan. Consider it your customized road map to your child's medication as well as to all the lifestyle strategies that will help you help him avoid his triggers. The second step is to find the best mix of medicines for your child -- and then use them as directed.

Treatment, simplified

Most kids with asthma will need medication. Some may require it every day, while others need it only during cold or allergy season. The meds may come in liquid form to use in a nebulizer, a machine that turns them into a mist, or in a traditional inhaler. Either way, our cheat sheet tells you what to expect if your child has...

Any type of asthma

What she'll need: A bronchodilator like albuterol or Xopenex (often called a rescue drug)
Why: These drugs can instantly open the airways during an attack. Unless your child has exercise-induced asthma, it's not intended for daily use. If your kid relies on it more than twice a week, it's a clear sign her symptoms aren't controlled.

What to watch for: Tremor, palpitations, sense of nervousness, or hyperactivity

Intermittent asthma or chrnoic asthma

What she'll need: A low-dose corticosteroid, such as Flovent, Pulmicort, or Alvesco
Why: Inhaled corticosteroids reduce airway inflammation long-term. About two thirds of children in this category will have good control using one every day. Same goes for kids who flare only during certain times of the year; the drug protects them through their danger zone and then they can stop.
What to watch for: Short-term, some kids may have upset stomach, oral thrush, and body aches. Long-term, daily use of inhaled corticosteroids may slightly slow their annual growth rate, a side effect that's thought to be reversible when children stop taking the drug.

Severe or chronic asthma
What she'll need: An anti-leukotriene such as Singulair or Accolate and/or a long-acting beta agonist (LABA)
Why: If corticosteroids alone aren't working, an anti-leukotriene can block the chemicals that are further fueling airway swelling and spasms. Those who are still suffering may need to add an LABA, such as Serevent or Foradil, which are longer-lasting bronchodilators.
What to watch for: Upset stomach, cough, dizziness, drowsiness, ear pain or infection, swelling of the mouth or throat. The FDA is also investigating a possible association between the use of anti-leukotriene medications and behavior/mood changes.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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Pre-term labor Memories

27 weeks, 7 days pregnant: This was a big day for me with my second son. Around 7:00p.m. I started having heavy contractions. By 9:00p.m. they were a minute a part and starting to hurt. I went to Proctor Hospital where they started an I.V. My husband was out of town. The magnesium wasn't stopping the contractions so I got transferred to OSF in case the baby came early. Yikes! It was scary! I think the ambulance ride made things worse. The contractions finally died down in the middle of the night. All I remember is the mag makes you cold and icky and I was absolutely freezing all night! My mother-in-law was in town and she slept-or tried to sleep-in a chair all night. I stayed on magnesium for two days. My cervix was shortened and funneling at just 28 weeks gestation.

I stayed in the hospital for two weeks, then went home on bed rest until 36 weeks. I saw a lot of T.V. and tried to crochet a blanket for the baby. It was not pretty, but it is still in his drawer! I didn't know if the baby was a boy or girl so I made the blanket pink and blue. Of course, little babies who have any pink near them look like a girl. So, I never even used it!

So I am drinking lots of water today! So far, so good!

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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Swine Flu Vaccine

Have you researched the new swine flu vaccine? Pediatricians may be advising that your kids get it. Will you vaccinated for the virus? If you're unsure, what do you think about schools become shot clinics this fall? After reading this article, it makes me think there isn't enough time to do a typically study looking at the safety of the vaccine. Yikes! What's a parent to do?

FROM NBC: If CDC officials say a swine flu vaccine is needed, young children may be the first to get it. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says schools should be prepared to turn into shot clinics this fall.

Over sixty percent of h-1-n-1 cases have been in young children and teens, as well as a majority of deaths.

A swine flu vaccine is still in development. Clinical trials testing its safety are planned for late summer. However, S1ebelius says we can't wait until October to plan for widespread vaccination.
Officials are monitoring how the h-1-n-1 virus acts in the southern hemisphere this summer. they're depending on that information to determine whether to move forward with a vaccine, and how they should prioritize the supply.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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Snoring During Pregnancy

FROM NBC: Snoring during pregnancy could be linked to gestational diabetes.

A study of 189 healthy, pregnant women found those who snored more than 3 times a week had a 14-percent chance of developing gestational diabetes. Those who didn't snore had a 3.3-percent chance of developing the condition -- which is when women who don't have already have diabetes develop high blood sugar levels during pregnancy.

It goes away after the baby is born, though it leaves women at risk for Type II diabetes.

The link between snoring and gestational diabetes isn't clear. Researchers say poor air flow might lead to metabolic changes that would increase the risk for poor sugar tolerance.

FROM EZINE: Pregnancy takes a woman to scores of emotional and physical changes, which is primarily caused by hormonal changes – with estrogen being the dominant hormone during pregnancy. Increase in estrogen reportedly makes the neck muscles to relax and compounded with the accumulated fats around the neck area cause snoring.

Snoring during pregnancy usually occurs in the last four weeks of gestation (this accounts to 30% of pregnant women). This is normal and a preferred sleeping position like sleeping on the sides usually alters this. Most pregnant women feel more relaxed when sleeping on their sides to avoid the weight of their bellies especially during the third trimester.

I have not had gestational diabetes with any of pregnancies. Hopefully that continues. I haven't taken the test yet this time around. I think I will have to take it soon. I can't remember. All the months are getting squished together in my brain! I typically don't snore. My husband does. Since I have the worst insomnia during pregnancy, he tends to sleep in the other room so he doesn't wake me up even more often. So I would have no idea if I were snoring. No one could hear me! Hopefully not! I didn't realize gestational diabetes is a sign you will have Type II later in life. That is a bummer!

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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Rear Facing until 4.. Huh?

Last month we talked about the American Academy of Pediatrics recommending rear facing until 2 years old. So this story didn't make much sense to me. It came down on the NBC wires. It says we should keep kids in a rear facing car seat until 4-years-old. Is that even possible? Where would their feet go? Do they make rear facing car seats for kids that big? Was this a typo on NBC's part? I am not sure. I saw it several times and all the stories said 4-years-old. I can't imagine doing that. But after all this new research on rear facing, I will wait to turn the new baby around as long as possible. He will be able to see his older brother in the back seat, so maybe he won't mind sitting backwards unitl he's 2!

FROM NBC: Most parents know the importance of young children traveling in car-safety seats.
But new research now says the direction a child faces in a safety seat could dramatically change the injury risk in a crash.

A new study published in the British Medical Journal advises keeping a child in a rear-facing position while traveling by car until the child is four years old.

The study says the movement of a child is dramatically reduced in a rear-facing safety seat because the head, neck and spine are more fully aligned.... and in the event of a crash, forces are distributed more
evenly.

(Duncan Vernon/Road Safety Manager)
"The best advice currently is to use a child-restraint device designed for the child's weight and to make sure it's fitted correctly, and so it's not to say our children using front-facing seats are unsafe at the moment."

NBCs British broadcast partner, ITV, reports the rear-facing seats are hard to find, and some people say they're big, bulky and expensive.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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Coffe is Good

I know a lot of moms who would struggle to get through the day without their morning coffee. Now they don't have to feel guilty about drinking it!

If you need a good cup of coffee to get going in the morning, you're probably not alone. And now, new research says a good 'ole cup of joe could give you more than just a little get up and go. love your coffee? (sot: mos) "I love coffee, and I think it's good for the soul." (sot: mos) "It makes me feel good. That's what I go on." Besides the kick, lots of new research suggests coffee may also help kick back at certain diseases.

Studies show coffee lowers the risk for type 2 diabetes, helps protect against liver cancer and perhaps colon cancer, reduces the likelihood of Parkinson's Disease, and may reduce the risk of stroke. (sot: mos) "Those are all positive things in my book. I may have to stop in for my second cup of the day." But before you drink up, wake up and smell the coffee, says Dr. Marcus Reidenberg, professor of pharmacology at the Weill Cornell Medical College. He says the studies make associations, not conclusions. (sot: Dr. Marcus Reidenberg, Weill Cornell Medical College) "Association studies can't prove cause because they are many other differences between people who drink a lot of coffee and people who don't."

While researchers say the benefits of that coffee outweigh most of the risks, there are some caveats you should know about. For example, the caffeine in coffee can raise the heart rate and affect the regularity of the beat. Dr. Richard Brockman, endocrinologist at the hospital for special surgery says watch out for your bones. (sot: dr. richard bockman, endocrinologist) "If you drink more than four cups of black coffee a day, it can affect your skeleton, but if you use milk it probably won't." On the other hand, what was once considered an evil brew is now at least low-risk, if not healthy. (sot: mos) (q: "so after hearing about the health benefits of coffee, will you drink more coffee?" "If I choose to do so, I won't worry!"

I do love coffee, but I don't drink it that often. It always gives me heartburn. And right now it would probably give me contractions too. However, when I do splurge, I get an iced cafe mocha latte with skim milk. I can taste it right now. What's your favorite?s

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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Pregnancy Prevents Arthritis?

Giving birth may provide these new moms with a surprising, long-term benefit - a delay in the onset of arthritis.

A retrospective study of 550 women finds those who'd had babies were diagnosed with an arthritic condition about 5 years after women who'd never given birth. Previous studies have suggested pregnancy may protect against Rheumatoid Arthritis.

-Data on 557 women were analyzed for this study. All were between 18-45, and had been diagnosed with chronic arthritic conditions before the age of 45.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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