My son was placed in an out-of-home youth facility for petty vandalism and his time there nearly ruined his life. I know firsthand the damage these facilities can cause and how they fail to keep our communities safe. The last thing our state needs is another children’s institution. There are more cost effective, proven alternatives that are far better for West Virginia’s young people. West Virginia took critical steps to address our state’s broken juvenile justice system. In April, a set of reforms aimed at increasing public safety and eliminating taxpayer waste by keeping kids in their communities and out of costly detention centers was signed into law. These important reforms were lauded as a much-needed step to keep West Virginians safer while at the same time positively impacting West Virginia’s youth and their families. But now, all that hard work is being threatened. The Department of Health and Human Resources has fast-tracked the Dazzy Vance Mountain Resort, an unneeded 70-bed for–profit facility for youth with mental or behavioral issues to be built in the Earl Ray Industrial Park in Logan. The proposed facility will confine children as young as 4! We can’t let that happen. Governor Tomblin: Don’t allow Dazzy Vance Mountain Resort to go forward! It’s already been proven by that facilities like Dazzy Vance aren’t working for West Virginia. The bipartisan Intergovernmental Task Force on Juvenile Justice was unanimous in its findings that West Virginia was wasting taxpayer money by sending lower-level juvenile offenders to centers like Dazzy Vance at a staggering $100,000 or more per child per year. Dazzy Vance’s costs will be even higher – costing taxpayers $182,500 per child per year. Even worse, the Task Force found that youth are unnecessarily spending more time in these kinds of facilities than ever before. I know firsthand just how broken these facilities are because my own son was in one. After my son violated probation by spray painting a building, he was taken from his community and placed in a West Virginia detention center. After being given medication that made him violent, he was locked in solitary confinement and I, his mother, wasn’t allowed to make decisions regarding his medical treatment. He was later transferred to another facility where he spent every day locked down in his cell. Not only are these methods extreme, but they haven’t been proven to keep kids out of trouble long-term. West Virginia can’t keep wasting money on solutions that don’t work. Community-based alternatives that keep kids with their families and provide intensive treatment services have been proven to be more effective at keeping kids out of the system and communities safe. These programs are a fraction of the cost in comparison to housing youth in facilities like the proposed Dazzy Vance Mountain Resort.

My petition is asking my local government to raise our SSI payment. $733 is not enough money to survive on. That's less than $9000 a year. Please raise SSI payments to $2,000-$2,500 a month. That's still less than what the physically disabled deserve. We can't work, but we still need money so that we can live comfortably. Our lives are already stressful enough. We shouldn't have to worry about income as well.

Improve the safety of our community.

We, the citizens, residents, tax-payers, and voters of the City of Northport, propose that the City of Northport recognize and dedicate the land surrounding the Northport Community Center, playground, park, and the current site of the Northport Heritage Museum as a dedicated Community Park, open space, greenbelt, protected from future development for the continued use and good of the community. We propose that the land at the convergence of Park Street and Lurleen Wallace Blvd/AL Hwy 69 owned by the City of Northport, remain as a city-owned and dedicated community park, open space greenbelt as a welcoming and inviting entry point into the City of Northport, for use as park and recreation land by citizens and visitors. 1. Community Park – A larger park designed for use by the residents of the entire city. A Community Park will have various general use facilities including playground equipment, picnic areas and shelters, and/or special use facilities. 2. Open Space – an open piece of land that provides development breaks and is accessible to the public. Open space can include: Green space, land that is partly or completely covered with grass, trees, shrubs, or other vegetation. 3. Greenbelts – an area of open land around a city, on which building is restricted. We, the citizens of the City of Northport, propose that the current site of the Northport Heritage Museum be dedicated as the permanent site for the Northport Heritage Museum, to remain as it is today, as a welcoming site upon entry to the City of Northport, representing the City of Northport’s heritage, history, and identity. We, the citizens of the City of Northport, have an interest in smart growth for our city that includes preserving open space greenbelts that make the City of Northport a high-quality place to live and do business.

Homeless is rampant in Snohomish County, Washington. While there are minimal efforts to address the causes and provide housing to the homeless, such efforts are underfunded and small in scope. The ACLU of Washington and Seattle University School of Law's Homeless Rights Advocacy Project sent the Mayor and Council members a letter urging them to reject the proposed amendments, calling them "unconstitutional, ineffective, and unnecessarily costly and punitive." Let's try to solve poverty, not just lock up the symptoms. http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20151028/NEWS01/151028970

D.C. recently announced a proposal to redevelop the Park Morton public housing community at the Bruce Monroe Park in the Park View neighborhood in NW D.C. The community can't afford to lose Bruce Monroe Park. The park includes basketball courts, tennis courts, a playground, a pavilion, a dog run and a community garden. The park is highly used and loved by the whole neighborhood. This is not an issue of choosing Park Morton redevelopment OR keeping the Bruce Monroe Community Park. There are alternative options to redevelop Park Morton and keep Bruce Monroe Community Park. For example, the old Hebrew Home site is close to Park Morton and has key qualifications, like close proximity to a school and rec center as well as public transportation, grocery stores, a public library, and more. Another option would be to develop a number of the smaller and abandoned properties on Georgia Ave instead. The city of D.C. should: 1. Meet Park Morton families’ immediate needs now. 2. Take Bruce Monroe Park off the table as a first build site. 3. Reconsider alternative sites like the Hebrew Home site or additional options along the Georgia Ave. corridor. Everyone deserves open space to play in, feel the sun on our faces, and talk with our neighbors. We should use this as an opportunity to build a stronger neighborhood.

Our neighborhood has seen an uptick in suspicious activity, including car and home break-ins and people casing lots. Residents no longer feel safe walking on the street after dark given the lack of lighting.

Do you commute through Shady Grove Metro Station? Have you experienced its crowded -- and dangerous -- trains and platforms during rush hours? Do you ask yourself how you could advocate for positive change to this important public resource? Here's your opportunity! Sign this petition to let your elected state and county representatives know that you want them to seek and secure the necessary funding to improve the infrastructure of Shady Grove Metro Station, based on the September 2015 capacity study completed by WMATA (http://www.wmata.com/pdfs/planning/Shady_Grove_Final_Report_09-25-2015_with_Appendices.pdf), the Shady Grove Sector plan, (http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/community/shadygrove/), and the overall growth in Montgomery County and surrounding areas. Improving the infrastructure of Shady Grove Station will improve public safety, security, and smart growth.

The New York Times reports that Republicans in Congress are nearing a budget deal with the White House that could include cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Three years ago, the national conversation was about cuts. Together, we changed that. Now, expanding benefits for millions of Americans is the mainstream Democratic position. Democratic presidential candidates have called for expanding Social Security benefits. 42 of 44 Senate Democrats voted for the Warren-Manchin resolution that called for expanding Social Security benefits. And a national poll by the Progressive Change Institute shows expanding Social Security benefits is popular among 2016 70% to 15%. The President and Congress must see that any deal that cuts Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits would be unacceptable policy -- and would be wildly unpopular with voters. We will share this petition with them to make sure they do.

We are hearing reports that Congress is rushing towards a deal that will prevent the U.S. Government from defaulting on the debt ceiling and keep the government funded through the 2016 elections. But, if The New York Times is correct, there could be cuts to Medicare and Social Security benefits in the deal. We don't know all of the details yet, but people who rely on Social Security are already stretched thin, and just found out that they won't receive an annual increase this year. We need to make our voices heard to keep cuts out of any potential deal: No cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits!

We need Council to support increased funding for affordable housing. At the October 27, 2015 Council meeting the City Council will vote on several measures that will help kick start the development of new affordable housing. Please sign the petition requesting funding NOW! For more information: http://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/2015/10_Oct/City_Council__10-27-2015_-_Regular_Meeting_Agenda.aspx

Many seniors do not receive enough Social Security benefits to cover basic food and rental costs. With increases in Medicare and no cost-of-living raise (COLA) in 2016, the amount of monthly SS benefits does not remain the same but is actually lowered! Why should seniors pay for the extravagant national debt and be deprived of basic commodities? The Obama administration is the only presidency in which seniors did not receive a COLA not once but three times — 2010, 2011 and 2016. The only recourse for 2016 is an Executive Order to give seniors a COLA that will offset rising Medicare hikes since Congress has failed to act on the issue of Social Security. President Obama is a lame duck President and could help to reverse this unfortunate policy that does not give seniors even a small basic COLA to offset soaring Medicare costs by applying pressure to Congress, and demanding they stop dragging their feet and issue funding for the COLA in 2016? Please right this wrong and expand instead of cutting Social Security benefits to seniors. Thanks! For more information: No Social Security Raises Even if Medicare Soars - NYTimes http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/16/us/politics/medicare-premiums-social-security-cost-of-living.html?_r=0 Social Security is screwing over America’s elderly - NYPost: http://nypost.com/2015/10/17/social-security-is-screwing-over-americas-elderly/.