Difference between revisions of "User:RahalMccall69"

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(In From the Outdoors- Q & A with interpretive ranger)
(DSHS secretary says agency running $25M short — besides the courts’ $30M mental health mandate)
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With 65,000 annual visitors, Wolfe s Neck is one of Maine s busiest state parks. It doesn t have a sandy beach, as the state s most popular parks do, but it does have resident ospreys, clamming opportunities and, well, L.L. Bean up the road.
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Social safety net programs overseen by Washington s biggest state government agency are running in the red, and the hole likely will require a $25 million patch from the Legislature in January.That s the assessment of Department of Social and Health Services Secretary Kevin Quigley, who described the situation as a budget crisis. He said a surge in calls to Child Protective Services hotlines, higher costs in welfare <a href=http://www.alportico.net/page.php?sale=True-Religion-Sweater>True Religion Sweater</a>  programs and mental hospitals, and information technology needs are all driving his agency s budget shortfall.Quigley said that shortfall is in addition to the $30 million needed to stop the practice of psychiatric boarding, which the state Supreme Court ruled last month must stop. The high court has given  until Dec. 26 to halt the practice of sticking such patients in hospital emergency rooms without appropriate treatment.Beyond the psychiatric boarding issues, the department s shortfall which Quigley estimated at $25 million to $26 million includes a gap in Child Protective Services where calls to hotlines reporting abuse or seeking help have been surging. Quigley thinks he ll need $6 million to $8 million in emergency spending to fix the problem, and he may have to add 50 to 100 more staffers.Calls and investigations have increased by 10 to 15 percent and have led to a backlog of 2,000 cases not handled within the 90-day limit his agency must meet. Quigley said there were about 2,000 cases exceeding that limit when Gov. Jay Inslee took office in early 2013. The agency had since reduced the backlog to about 600 cases, only to see it go back up to 2,000. There should be zero cases open more than 90 days. In fact, there should be zero cases open more than 60 days, in my opinion, he said.One other particular area of concern is the state s mental hospitals, which overspent budgets by about $3 million in the year that ended June 30. These facilities will be $6 million in the hole by the time lawmakers return in January, Quigley said. The big challenge normally is if you don t have funding, you have to close <a href=http://www.alportico.net/page.php?sale=Gucci-Mane-Pictures>Gucci Mane Pictures</a>  a ward. But the Legislature has been quite clear they don t want to close wards, Quigley said. He said lawmakers of both parties deserve credit for raising funding for mental hospitals, but he expects them to have concerns about the management of overtime pay as they try to contain costs. Other costs are rising in welfare programs, which have required extra personnel to process claims. A big piece of potentially $8 million in extra expenses is in information technology and includes a fix for the computer program used to determine eligibility for benefits. Other costs are for doing incapacity exams for disabled people who are in transition to being covered by Social Security and to move community-services staffers in Vancouver from a leased building to a state-owned structure.The agency is having more success sticking to the budget in other areas. Budgets for aging and long-term care, developmental disabilities and juvenile rehabilitation seem to be in good shape, according to the secretary.Top House and Senate budget writers could not be reached immediately for comment Monday. But the welfare programs division known as Community Services recently staged from Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler of Ritzville, who called it a splurge. I m very skeptical <a href=http://www.radiorcs.com/page.php?sale=Jimmy-Choo-Over-The-Knee-Boots>Jimmy Choo Over The Knee Boots</a>  of their budgeting. I think they always have slush money tucked away (Agencies) always trot out the most needy or cite a court ruling, Schoesler said Monday. But clearly we re not out of budget difficulties and they ve shown real insensitivity. Quigley defended the trainings, which the agency estimated to have cost $217 for each of the more than 2,100 employees who attended two-day workshops in Tacoma. The state paid $17,500 to a humorist and motivational speaker to address each of three workshops, but Quigley said community service offices have high turnover and it makes sense to spend $217 on boosting a staffer s morale than to spend $25,000 training a new worker.  
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Many visitors to the small park come after hitting the outlet stores in Freeport.
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Brad Shannon: 360-753-1688
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That means Frey teaches many people who know nothing about botany, geology, flora or fauna.
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With the Freeport outlet stores up the road, do you see in your nature programs many people who are <a href=http://capstone.edu.sg/images/gucciusaonlineoutlet.php> cheap gucci</a>  new to the outdoors?
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It s a mix. Often people have never been here. It s a mix of people coming from the area, even the town of Freeport, who don t know anything about the park, and some people who do.
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When the park was created it was on land that was donated with the specific condition that it be used for environmental education. It s why my position exists. It s paid for from a trust. So we keep track of the numbers of people who come to the programs. It s been growing. We report that to the Smith family, who donated the land for the park.
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Often I see grandparents who are bringing their grandchildren to help teach them about nature. Many feel this day and age young children don t get outside as much.
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What s your experience here?
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I started as a customer representative in the information booth. This is my eighth season at the park and third as the interpretive ranger. I spent a lot of time learning from other rangers. In the library of the ranger cabin we have a lot of books on natural history, plants, geology, animals. There are a variety of subjects we cover.
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Did you have your eye on this position or were you encouraged to take it when it opened?
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I was encouraged to apply. The No. 1 reason I wanted it is because I wanted to be outdoors. I spent seven years in an office in a basement. The other reason is I enjoy teaching the programs to children. It s never the same experience.
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I worked in Chicago but I grew up here. I came back when my mother s health was not good. So I came full circle.
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As a kid were you eager to get out of here, the way that a lot of kids want to leave their hometown?
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My childhood was different than most. I spent two years at a <a href=http://www.avanttravel.com/michaelkorssonline.php>Michael Kors uk</a>  high school in British Columbia and Vancouver, the Maxwell International School. I graduated from high school in 1995. So I was in Freeport High from 1991 to 1993. Living in Vancouver was a remarkable experience. I never quite got settled after that. I went to college in Chicago and eventually took a job there.
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You re an interpretive ranger throughout the year. What are your most popular programs?
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A volunteer the other day went through all our programs and counted them. We have 60 programs we run on a regular basis, 20 during the summer. Occasionally we run a program for a library or school.
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A few other state parks have interpretive rangers but not many. Sebago has one, and Mt. Blue State Park. Their programs are different because their parks are different. Sebago is on a lake, and Mt. Blue is at an elevation. Here we are a coastal environment; visitors have the chance to go clamming. That happens <a href=http://www.museosangennaro.com/Public/wdluk.php>Christian Louboutin Shoes Sale</a>  once a month during the summer. Although this month it s happening twice. We have clam rakes and ask people to bring boots and gloves. They need to call ahead to reserve a spot. We actually have to limit the number of people in it. It s fairly popular.
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The osprey watch is very popular. Another ranger developed a dragonfly program and that s popular.
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Were you into the outdoors growing up?
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To a point. My parents never had the money or the capability to take me to outdoor places but I did play outside a huge part of my time. I never imagined I d do this. Things just lined up.
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I could do this for a long time. You never get board. We are working constantly. We re a small staff. For instance that big rainstorm two weeks ago wore groves in the trails. I spent the morning shoveling sand.
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Speaking of maintenance, what s the deal with the bees? You have a detour around a trail so people avoid the bees?
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There were hornets there. Those were driven out by the yellowjackets. One of the conditions (in the trust) from the family who donated the park is we can not use herbicides or pesticides. We try to keep things wild. So we try to keep people away from the yellowjackets. We don t want people to get stung.
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We are very busy in the summer. August was a record month for us with 10,500 visitors, which is significant. And in June last year we had 250 schoolchildren, while in June this year we had 800 students.
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Revision as of 05:15, 26 September 2014

Social safety net programs overseen by Washington s biggest state government agency are running in the red, and the hole likely will require a $25 million patch from the Legislature in January.That s the assessment of Department of Social and Health Services Secretary Kevin Quigley, who described the situation as a budget crisis. He said a surge in calls to Child Protective Services hotlines, higher costs in welfare <a href=http://www.alportico.net/page.php?sale=True-Religion-Sweater>True Religion Sweater</a> programs and mental hospitals, and information technology needs are all driving his agency s budget shortfall.Quigley said that shortfall is in addition to the $30 million needed to stop the practice of psychiatric boarding, which the state Supreme Court ruled last month must stop. The high court has given until Dec. 26 to halt the practice of sticking such patients in hospital emergency rooms without appropriate treatment.Beyond the psychiatric boarding issues, the department s shortfall which Quigley estimated at $25 million to $26 million includes a gap in Child Protective Services where calls to hotlines reporting abuse or seeking help have been surging. Quigley thinks he ll need $6 million to $8 million in emergency spending to fix the problem, and he may have to add 50 to 100 more staffers.Calls and investigations have increased by 10 to 15 percent and have led to a backlog of 2,000 cases not handled within the 90-day limit his agency must meet. Quigley said there were about 2,000 cases exceeding that limit when Gov. Jay Inslee took office in early 2013. The agency had since reduced the backlog to about 600 cases, only to see it go back up to 2,000. There should be zero cases open more than 90 days. In fact, there should be zero cases open more than 60 days, in my opinion, he said.One other particular area of concern is the state s mental hospitals, which overspent budgets by about $3 million in the year that ended June 30. These facilities will be $6 million in the hole by the time lawmakers return in January, Quigley said. The big challenge normally is if you don t have funding, you have to close <a href=http://www.alportico.net/page.php?sale=Gucci-Mane-Pictures>Gucci Mane Pictures</a> a ward. But the Legislature has been quite clear they don t want to close wards, Quigley said. He said lawmakers of both parties deserve credit for raising funding for mental hospitals, but he expects them to have concerns about the management of overtime pay as they try to contain costs. Other costs are rising in welfare programs, which have required extra personnel to process claims. A big piece of potentially $8 million in extra expenses is in information technology and includes a fix for the computer program used to determine eligibility for benefits. Other costs are for doing incapacity exams for disabled people who are in transition to being covered by Social Security and to move community-services staffers in Vancouver from a leased building to a state-owned structure.The agency is having more success sticking to the budget in other areas. Budgets for aging and long-term care, developmental disabilities and juvenile rehabilitation seem to be in good shape, according to the secretary.Top House and Senate budget writers could not be reached immediately for comment Monday. But the welfare programs division known as Community Services recently staged from Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler of Ritzville, who called it a splurge. I m very skeptical <a href=http://www.radiorcs.com/page.php?sale=Jimmy-Choo-Over-The-Knee-Boots>Jimmy Choo Over The Knee Boots</a> of their budgeting. I think they always have slush money tucked away (Agencies) always trot out the most needy or cite a court ruling, Schoesler said Monday. But clearly we re not out of budget difficulties and they ve shown real insensitivity. Quigley defended the trainings, which the agency estimated to have cost $217 for each of the more than 2,100 employees who attended two-day workshops in Tacoma. The state paid $17,500 to a humorist and motivational speaker to address each of three workshops, but Quigley said community service offices have high turnover and it makes sense to spend $217 on boosting a staffer s morale than to spend $25,000 training a new worker. 

Brad Shannon: 360-753-1688
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