Published: October 30, 2009 01:40 pm      

In Your View — 11/01/09

Help is needed to understand reform

I’m just an old hillbilly so maybe some of you sharp educated people out there can help me.

Now as I understand it we are going to pass a health care plan that was written by a committee. The head of that committee says he doesn't understand it and hasn’t read it.

Congress is going to pass it but they don’t understand it and haven’t read it either but will exempt themselves from the plan. It will be signed by a president who hasn’t read it either and even smokes cigarettes.

Overseeing paying for the bill will be a treasury chief that didn’t pay his taxes and overseen by a surgeon general who is obese and will be financed by a country that is broke.

As I said I don't understand.

Gaylord Cooper, South Shore



GOP opposes a public option

In an October 21 USA Today op-ed, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell said that every Republican in Congress supports health care reform. Every Republican in Congress may support reform, but it is only on their terms. Republicans are opposed to the public option, which a majority of Americans want. We want and deserve the same government-run health care that all the members of Congress have.

Republican legislators especially cater to the health care insurance companies in order to get large campaign contributions. Politicians of both parties are not fit to serve if they consider their re-election to be more important than the well-being of all citizens. Health care is one area of American life that should not be for profit.

The secret to reforming health care resides in taking the money out of politics and greed out of capitalism. Then, maybe both Democrats and Republicans can begin to work together for the common good in health care and in other important areas.

Paul L. Whiteley Sr., Louisville



Private services can reduce abuse

It’s distressing to read Kentucky ranks highest in child deaths caused by abuse and neglect. Even more distressing is knowing that the data on which the story was based came from 2007, before major cuts in the child-protection budget were enacted. Unfortunately, more cuts loom, which hardly bodes well for the future.

The glimmer of hope in all this is that private providers such as Sunrise Children’s Services are working in partnership with the state Department for Community Based Services to move toward a more preventive service model.

Providing in-home services are not only more effective than fixing a broken home later, it also costs thousands of dollars less per family. In-home services can cost as little as one-fifth the cost of out-of-home care.

Many times a family in turmoil needs a relatively minor assist to stop the cycle of abuse or neglect: Parenting classes, job-skills upgrade, or budgeting lessons. Other times more intensive services are required, such as substance-abuse treatment or other therapies. The point is to keep children in their homes when possible, with supervision and personalized treatment plans that enable families to function more safely and effectively.

In contrast, serving families retroactively often means long legal processes, institutional care, and the prosecution and incarceration of offending adults.

Sunrise has been keeping Kentucky’s children safe since 1869. Today, our faith-based organization annually serves more than 2,000 children across the state through a full continuum of care, including residential treatment, crisis stabilization, therapeutic foster homes, adoption services and family counseling centers.

We stand ready to help Kentucky take a bold new approach to child abuse and neglect to ensure that we can move Kentucky away from national disgrace and into God’s grace.

Bill Smithwick, President & CEO, Sunrise Children’s Services, Mount Washington