Robbin Miller

Massachusetts passed new reforms for children’s mental health in 2008 as a result a federal lawsuit known as the Rosie D case. Three families sued the state due to their children not being able to access community based services for their psychiatric disabilities/disorders. The federal judge ruled in their favor and stated that Massachusetts was not in compliance with other states such as Florida who have services and programs in place for the above populations. Also, Massachusetts was also not in compliance for administering the Children and Adolescent Needs Strengths scale known as the CANS to children and teens on Mass Health only. I say, “only,” because the new services and programs in place in Massachusetts are targeted to children and teens on Mass Health (State Medicaid program).

The below information in quotes was posted on a blog entitled, “The Conscience of a Liberal.” “Poverty in early childhood poisons the brain.” That was the opening of an article in Saturday’s Financial Times, summarizing research presented last week at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. As the article explained, neuroscientists have found that “many children growing up in very poor families with low social status experience unhealthy levels of stress hormones, which impair their neural development.” The effect is to impair language development and memory — and hence the ability to escape poverty — for the rest of the child’s life." (Paul Krugman, 2008).

Last week, I wrote that I was denied an interview for social worker due to not being able to use an assessment tool called the MDS (Minimum Data Set) to assess functioning levels for elders in a nursing home. Below is the response I received from a representative from the Massachusetts Senior Care Association regarding the correct information on who can administer the MDS tool: "With the exception of the RN Assessment Coordinator, CMS does not mandate the types of personnel who complete the MDS. According to the MDS 2.0 manual on page 1-18, it’s up to the facility to determine who completes the MDS sections based on what staff are available and how they can best fit the assessment into their daily process. Although no specific qualifications are needed, the facility is responsible for training the staff in the correct assessment and coding of the MDS items to ensure that the assessment is being done correctly."

I am experiencing extreme frustration in looking for jobs in the healthcare industry. In my neck of the woods, these jobs are only being advertised to social workers due to their training in the medical arena in graduate school and in their internships. Fortunately, I obtained professional work experiences since 1996 working in this industry as a Care Manager; Independent Living Specialist; and Community Organizer for elders and for persons with disabilities in different job avenues.

Massachusetts passed a new law entitled, "An Act Relative to Bullying in Schools," in 2010. The purpose of this new law is to "create more positive school climates and age-appropriate instruction on bullying prevention in each grade, and schools must offer information to parents on bullying prevention." (Worcester Medicine, July/August 2010). School personnel (teachers, guidance counselors, aides, bus drives and cafeteria workers) are required to report incidents to the appropriate officials for them to investigate and to take disciplinary actions when appropriate. Bullying includes not only verbal, physical and written repeated acts of aggression and gestures but now includes cyberbullying through electronic means-Facebook; Twitter; Emails; Texting, and through other electronic devices.