The new Commissioner of the Department of Children's Services has proposed to cut training costs for her staff and foster parents. This means the end of a contract with state universities that has resulted in improved training, reduces access to federal funds, and creates the probability that the state will be found in contempt of the Brian A. lawsuit settlement agreement.

Many Seniors want to live in community housing that have income over $35K a year. If you make less than $35K a yr you still have to wait years to get a place. There is no Senior housing for middle class income. In Maui we have tried to get the city council to pass 2 such projects. They refuse and pass on huge developer projects.There are hundreds of middle class seniors coming to live in the islands. Some who live here are having to move to other states that have Senior Community Housing that serve and honor there elders. Even if I had millions I would want to live in community and have support and companionship. As an aging person I will need on support on the premises and nurse on call. CommunityHousing is best because the seniors help and support each other both physically and socially.

For 10 years National CASA received $12 million in funding for the CASA program through the Victims of Child Abuse Act. Last year Congress reduced the funding for CASA programs to $4.5 million. And now, the administration has proposed eliminating all funding for this vital program in FY 2013.

My petition concerns the cuts Pat Quinn is making to the populace who have no voice. It is a coward's way of bullying the helpless and indigent. Cutting mental health facilities and prisons must be his way of attempting to hang on to his wealthier constituents. However, all people in the helping professions protest this move and will never vote for him again.

We see it every summer. Gentleman from the road construction companies just standing around doing nothing. Lanes are closed for three months with no one working on the area. I am unsure why we as taxpayers pay them to stand around.

Every night there are around 650,000 people, some 75 percent are families with children, without a roof over their heads. But for 80 percent, these crushing weeks will be the only stint of homelessness in their lives. Most have some money a strong work ethic, but are just unable to find work and secure low-cost housing. Providing short-term housing and support services to help the homeless back on their feet is not only the right thing to do morally, it also saves money in the long run by cutting down on other costs to the community.

The State of Olahoma has an opportunity to provide passenger rail service between Oklahoma City and Tulsa, but no sucessful or sustainable proposal has been put forward in over ten years. The Oklahoma Eastern Flyer Passenger Service Development Task Force can make meaningful recommendations to the Governor this year and cost-responsible alternatives are available. Please support the Eastern Flyer Passenger Rail Service.Development Task Force (HB 1696).

The City of Elk Point currently has no law that requires an in- home day care provider to be registered. Registration or licensing would give Child Protective Services the authority to take action should a care provider be criminally charged. Currently, there is no agency that has that authority unless the day care is registered.

H.B. 139 is a bill that would place Utah's division of housing & community development into the Department of Workforce Services. Advocates and professionals who work in the housing field agree that DWS is not an appropriate administrator for housing & community development programs because their missions and business cultures are vastly different.

ALL CHILDREN IN THE SYSTEM SHOULD BE PLACED WITH FAMILY IF REMOVED FROM THIER PARENTS AND THERES FAMILY WILLING AND ABLE TO TAKE THEM. NO MATTER HOW THE FAMILY MEMBER IS RELATED, INSTEAD OF BEING PUT IN A FOSTER HOME

Brent Bennett, a young veteran who served for the US Navy, is under attack from the Oregon Unemployment Department. They are trying to get him to pay back a disgustingly huge sum of money, for a mistake that THEY had made. The mistake? Refusing to take information from him when he'd originally applied for benefits, and then using that information to retroactively deny him benefits after having been on them for over three years, and occumulated over $50,000 via $400+ weekly unemployment insurance benefits. They had known about the information he had tried to supply, we can assume, from the beginning, but did not deny him then, and waited until his benefits had been completely run through before then demanding him to pay it back. Brent Bennett is still unemployed, and they have signed a warrant for garnishment on him already. He has no means to repay the huge sum of money and the interest keeps growing every month. Brent is going to find a lawyer and take this issue to court and battle it to the end, but we need more than just a good lawyer to get this issue seriously looked at. Without the backing of society, the government and the unemployment department could just swipe this issue under the table and ignore it indefinitely. We need a public outrage to get our cries heard! We cannot let this sort of atrocity happen to other innocent US citizens, we should not allow this atrocity happen to Brent. Help us fight this and make life fair for the people in our country. Please do not allow the Government to effectively RUIN a young man's entire life by forcing him into a debt of this measure, that cannot be removed by bankruptcy, with an interest rate that will keep him from ever paying it off.

As some of you are aware, Visual Risk Technology and Dr. Lepofsky, MMTA’s hired consultant, has crafted a response to Battelle's response to MassDOT on issues raised in our analysis. After presenting Dr. Lepofsky's materials to MassDOT they have required Battelle to respond to points made in his report. Both of these reports are posted on our website for your review. In addition, we are hearing reports that MassDOT is poised to make a ruling this month. As some of you are aware, we are trying to come up with our own risk analysis that may refute the risk established in the Battelle report. We are asking now for all of our members to take action and sign on to this letter to the Governors office to ensure MassDOT creates a cogent transportation routing plan for Massachusetts.