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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 1976)
I Mrs Francas Schoan-í.'esspapor Roca U n iv e rsity of Orugon L ibrary PORTLAND Child treatment called destructive OBSERVER Voi. « No. 15 Portland, Oregon Tharsday, February 26, 1976 10c per copy Guy Hancock of Albertina Kerr Center lor Children called Oregon's service* for disturbed children an "absolutely de structive system ”. "If you went out to design a system to destroy a child, you couldn't find a better way than this,” he continued. Calling children who come to the attention of the court* “fragil” - having been hurt he explained that the method by which they are "recycled" through the juvenile court, the Children's Service* Division, and various agencies destroy* them. "Each time he moves, all relationship* are chopped ott; not many adults could go through this and not sustain damage", he said. “The system is creating psycopaths.” Hancock, who has previously had experience at the Multnomah County Juvenile Court and at Dammasch State Hospital, explained to a legislative committee chaired by Senator Bill McCoy the process by which Oregon children are treated for emotional problems. The child who is in need of care out of his own home is referred by the courts or by his parents, school or himself to the Children’s Services Division. CSD then makes the placement decision. Rather than determining the placement accord ing to the child’s or the parent's needs, "the decision is made on what is readily available and cheap," usually foster care. If the child fails in the foster home, he is referred back to C8D for another placement. A number of foster homes may be tried unsuccessfully. During foster care placement, little service is provided lor the foster parent* to enable them to help the child, both because of lack of sufficient caseworkers and be cause of caseworkers' inexperience. If the child cannot be kept in a foster home, he may be referred to a group home, a child care home, or a residential treatment center. Many children go through a series of each, finally reaching the secure intensive treatment program, or Hillcrest, MacLaren or the State Hospital. Each of these move* involve* going back to C8D for replacement. Hancock said the state has not recognized that some children need secure residential centers where they can be provided intensive treatment. These type* of programs are not provided and although they think nothing of paying $125 a day to the University of Oregon Medical School for crisis care, they balk at $75 a day tor a treatment center, he One of the major problems of children who need out-of-home care is their inability to form relationship*. Yet each time a child moves from one home to another or from one agency to another, all relationships are cut off. If a child does make progress and is able to move to another type of setting, the relationships that have helped him are broken, he regresses, and he goes through the system again. When a chid is able to leave the treatment center, there is no follow up, so when he begin* to have problems resulting from the abr upt change, he will go to court and be “recycled” through the system. Adding to the confusion, many of the agencies have differing programs, so when a child move* from one to another hi* treatment might be entirely different and therefore confusing. Little if any work is done with the child's family to enable them to prepare for his homecoming. The state currently purchase* care from an assortment of private agencies. Hancock said CSD does not ask what services are provided for the children; they ask how many beds are available and what they cost. He said 35 to 40 per cent of the referrals made to Albertina Kerr are inappropriate, but often nothing else is available. When the child fails in one program and returns to CSD the caseworker “shop* around" to find what is available. They "pass kids around like poker chips." Hancock proposed a "continuum of care” which would provide a continuity of services to the child from the time he (Please turn to p. 2 eoL 1) Black saint comes to Immaculate Heart by Allen L. Jones United Airline* president Richard J. Ferri*. left center, present* a special plaque to skycap James Stokes. Standing by is Percy A. Wood, left, executive vice president and chief operating officer, and J.R. Byerwalter, senior vice president and general manager, Western Division. Portland skycap wins United’s national award James K. Stokes, 25 year veteran with United Airlines at the Portland Inter national Airport, is in Chicago to be honored as “Skycap of the Year" for his company's entire nationwide system. Stokes, who was honored in San Francisco recently for being selected as top skycap for the Western D vision of the airline, was recognized for his superior services to passengers through the years. In addition to his regular duties, during peak periods at the airport he assists by moving passengers into shorter baggage check-in lines, clearing flights and giving out baggage identification tags. Committee seeks health insurance Inline Friedman, of Portland, has been selected as executive director of the Oregon Coalition for National Health Security. Rob Kennedy, Coalition Preai dent announced. Mrs. Friedman, active in community organizing, replaces State Represents live Ralph Groener i Democrat, Clack ainas County) who resigned because of numerous other commitments. Repre senlative Groener will continue to address various groups concerning the National Health Security. The Oregon Coalition for National Health Security was launched October 17th at a meeting of Oregon labor, political and civic leaders. Health Security Action Councils are being formed throughout the state as local affiliates of the Oregon Coalition for National Health Security. The purpose for which the Oregon Coalition is organized is to advocate and support the concept of national health insurance based on the following essen tial principles: • Universal coverage regardless of age, income, location or employment status; • Comprehensive benefits, including all needed services without deductibles or co-insurance; • Health care as a matter of right just as is public education; • Cost and quality controls to provide more and better care while stemming inflation; • Reform of the present inadequate, discriminatory, chaotic health delivery system; • Financing half by a Health Security Fund and half by general government revenues, thereby replacing present insurance premiums, government and private expenditures, etc. • Consumer participation in decisions concerning costs and services, with built-in procedures to assure public accountability. The Coalition plans to engage in public educational programs to inform the public of these principles, to generate grass roots support, to make health security a major social issue, to influence persons to support national health security and adopt the essential prin ciples, and to work with other groups in The United Farm Workers of The boycott will include non-union the interests of the national health grapes, head lettuce, Gallo wines. Sun- America. AFL-CIO boycott of non union security program. products has been resumed because of maid Raisins, Sunsweet Prunes and The Oregon Coalition intends to the temporary blocking of Agricultural Diamond Walnuts. contact "persons of prestige in Oregon labor Relations Boards funds in Cali Reverend Veral Seagraves, spokes who are willing to lend their names to the fornia. The A LRU has held over 400 person for the UFW Oregon Boycott, said purposes" of the organization and invite elections in the last five months so that the boycott in Portland will focus on them to become individual members of farm worker* could decide which union, if Tradewell Stores and will continue until the Committee of Sponsors. Organiza any. they wanted to represent them. Two the California legislature appropriates tions will also be contacted and invited to thirds of those elections have been won money for the secret ballot elections or become organizational members of the by the UFW. lack of funds will halt the until the boycotted products are removed Committee of Sponsors. Included among elections. from the stores. the latter will be organizations repre senting senior citizens, consumers, farm ers. students, unions, employee associa tions, ethnic groups, churches and/or their social concerns committees, and others. Testimony will be presented at the May 6th and 7th health care hearings in Salem conducted by a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Ways The Portland Observer will sponsor its first nationwide subscription campaign. and Means Committee. Representative From our knowledge, such a subscription drive has never been undertaken in this Al Ullman, Oregon's Second District, is part of the country. chairman of the Ways and Means We try to keep our readers throughout the country informed about local and Committee and is expected to take part in national news as to how it relates to the Black community. Ninety-five percent of the hearings in Salem. the total Black population in the state of Oregon is located in Multnomah County. The Coalition plans to sponsor a rally of Also, the Portland Observer would be a wonderful gift anytime of the year. anniversaries, birthdays, graduation presents for students leaving the ar-n » U national health security supporters about one week before ine Oregon primary moving present.. elections in May. Presidential and We are happy to offer to the community an opportunity to earn money for '.heir Congressional candidates who support organizations. the national health security program will Hopefully the days of trying to raise money through popcorn selling, randy selling be invited to address the rally. and raffles will become a thing of the past. Robert Kennedy, president of the The Yearly subscription rate is 17.50 per year. For each subscription sold, the Oregon AFL-CIO, is president of the seller receives $2.50. This is a wonderful opportunity for churches, schools, clubs, Oregon Coalition for National Health fraternities, sororities and other community organizations to raise extra money. Security, and the vice president is L.B. Also thia is an opportunity for individuals to earn money on the side. Day, secretary treasurer of Teamsters An example of the money which can be raised is if a dub with 25 members held l<ocal 870. Other officers are secretary, each member responsible for three subscriptions, the club would earn $187.50. If a Dennis Thompson, National Ccmmittee church with 200 members held each member responsible for three subscriptions, man of the National Association of Social the church would earn $1,500. This holds true for schools, and other organizations. Workers, and treasurer, Janet Baum A housewife selling 80 subscriptions per month could e.irn $200 per month. hover, of the American Federation of A student selling 50 subscriptions a month of the Portland Observer would earn Television Artists. $125 per month. The office of the Oregon Coalition is in Lst s start the ball rolling. Now is the time to begin to put extra money in your the Dekum Building at Third and pocket and strengthen the leading Black' newspaper in the Northwest. Washington in Portland. The telephone number is 224 2836. - Farmworkers resume boycott Portland Observer launches subscription campaign J Although Black History Week is only celebrated once a year, the list cf accomplishments of Black men and women throughout present history con tinues to grow. A great many of these contributions go virtually unnoticed. When discussing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ralph Bunch, both Nobel Peace Prize recipients, the world im mediately recognizes them. If St. Martin De Porres or Peter Claver were mentioned, not many would know who they were. These two Black men became Saints. As Father William Curtin uncrated the staute of St. Martin which was carved in Europe for Immaculate Heart School, costing some $800, he told the history of this very remarkable man. St. Martin De Porres was born in 1579 in Lima. Peru of a freed Black woman and a Spanish Nobleman father; who later became Governor of Panama. Needless to say. his father denounced any kinship whatsoever. Amidst poverty, crime, disease and other social iHs, St. Martin decided to remain in Peru. He became a Lay Brother in the Catholic Church and remained there until his death. As a Lay Brother, he worked as a middle man between the ghetto and the Church. A Black man was not per mitted to go any further in th e Church. After St. Martin became a Lay Brother, he went on to become a doctor of medicine and established over a half dozen health care centers for the poor Black people in Lima. Today we look at the free health care centers as being a new program, but SL Martin was noted for being one of the best fund raisers for the sick and the poor. On May 6, 1962, the day of the Canonization, Pope John XXIII gave an eloquent sermon presenting St. Martin as the ideal Christain. He said in part, "We feel that it is a most happy coincident in the course of this year, in that of which we decreed the celebration of the Ecumenical Council; the honors of Sainthood should be bestowed upon Martin De Porres; because the pinnacles of Christain Holiness which he attained and the splendors of dazzling virtue, of which his whole life is shown as an example. All of such magnitude that we may view in him, as it were, the wholesome fruits which we most ardently desire both for the Church and for the entire human community." Need there be anymore said? It is fitting that this statue be placed at Immaculate Heart Church, for this parish serves the Black community. The small, four-room elementary school at Immacu late Heart has a nearly all Black student body, many of the students being non-Catholic. Immaculate Heart parish was born in 1886, in what was then the independent city of Albina. The first priests to hold services in Albina came from St. Francis Church in southeast Portland, holding Mass in the Hill Building. By 1886 there were thirty-five Catholic families, all desirous of building a proper church to worship. The church was built and was dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on June 7, 1887, a ceremony at which Archbishop William Gross offici ated. Thirteen months later the first pastor was assigned to what was called "young St. Mary’s”, Father G. B. Van Lin. A school was opened in 1889, under the direction of the Dominican Sisters. Located on Williams Avenue, the school has increasingly served Black children as the community around it has changed in racial make-up. and now the students will have their own statue of one of the Church's Black saints. The statue of St. Martin De Porres will be dedicated Saturday, February 28, 1976, 7:00 P.M., at Immaculate Heart Church. Berna Plummer seeks legislative seat Ms. Berna Plummer, Affirmative Ac tion Officer for Multnomah County, has announced her candidacy for the Repub lican nomination to the House of Representatives, District 22. Announcing her decision. Ms. Plummer said, “I want laws and programs enacted that protect citizens. I want to reduce government waste. I want to provide jobs for people - eliminate materials from budget cuts instead of jobs. I want to try to reduce the unfair tax burden on homeowners." She also advocates safe neighborhoods through vigorous law enforcement, qual ity education, sufficient day care services and development and maintenance of parks. Ms. Plummer holds a B.S. degree in social science and government from the University of Oregon and received teacher training at the University of Southern California. She has completed one year of law school and was a trainee in law enforceir with the Multnomah County Sheriff « s e r v e Academy. Ms. Plummer is concerned about today's youth, being the mother of three sons, a former nursery school teacher, special education teacher and elementary teacher. She was selected by the Multnomah Board of County Commis sioners to serve on a four-person County Planning and Evaluation Team to mea sure the productivity of ail Multnomah County Departments and to point out their strengths and need*. She holds several Republican Party positions. MPLA stresses non-alignment by Raymond H. Boone HELSINKI, Finland (NNPA) - When the young, handsome foreign minister of the government set up by the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) talks about foreign policy, he reiterates three phrases to underscore what his government stands for: “Non interference in our internal affairs." "Political independence." "Non-align ment" with superpowers including the United States and Russia. He stresses these principles because he sees them as highly important in his country's struggle to build a free Angola for Angolans after 500 years of Portu guese rule and now a bloody civil war that has flared since Angola gained its independence last November. The emphasis is also conceivably calculated to make it crystal clear that the MPLA - despite what others may say - isn't in any big country's hip pocket. The soft-spoken man espousing these principles is 32-year old Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, the brilliant foreign minister of the People's Republic of Angola - the government established by the MPlJk which is given heavy odds to win the war involving two other nationalist factions. Santos, a former petroleum engineer who is married and the father of a young daughter, gave his views during an NNPA interview here recently. He spoke Portuguese which was translated by his personal interpreter. He granted the interview while attending a three-dr y emergency meeting of the Socialist- dominated World Peace Council which unanimously approved a resolution sup porting the MPLA’s efforts in Angola. The MPLA is backed by the Soviet Union and Cuba, while the two other factions are backed by the United States and white racist South Africa. The Soviet Union's military support of the MPLA (which goes back to the days when Black Angola was battling Portuguese oppression) has caused the White House in recent days to see Russian domination in Africa. But Santos pointed out in the NNPA interview that while the MPLA appreciates Russian aid, this doesn’t mean that Angola is locked in the communist camp. “We accept....help from all countries around the world on the basis of non-interference in our affairs," Santos said, explaining the MPLA's understand ing with Moscow. Does his “all countries" invitation include the United States which in the past -- and now - sides with the enemies of the MPLA? Does this mean that the MPLA has the door open for support from the United States along with continued support from the Soviet Union? "Exactly," Santos answered in the affirmative. “We are working on this basis...which means we are still open to receive” aid - especially economic aid - from any source, provided there are no strings attached. Santos' receptiveness to the idea of the dealing with the United States came somewhat as a surprise in view of the fact that the day before the interview he had strongly attacked the U.S. State Depart ment for putting pressure on Gulf Oil Company to suspend its operations in Cabinda and to refuse to pay $200 million in royalties to the Republic of Angola. Santos, appearing before the emer gency meeting of the presidential com mittee of the World Peace Council, also lashed out at the Douglas Aircraft Corporation for allegedly failing to deliver two planes that had been purchased by his government. “It (Douglas) has confiscated both planes and the money." Santos charged. In the NNPA interview, Santos also made reference to the Gulf decision. He said he was "astonished with the attitude" that Gulf demonstrated because his government, he said, had given certain “guarantees" to multinational corporations like Gulf. “We made it very dear that we have to give guarantees and -to respect and protect private interests in Angola" that are "really interested in working to help the interest of our national economy and the Angolan people,” Santos said. This willingness to work with Ameri can corporations was seen as being related to the MPLA's possible shift in emphasis from military activities to rebuilding the country's economy which will be vital to the operation of the Republic on Angola once the war is over. During the interview, Santos express ed disappointment at the failure of the United States to take advantage of at least two opportunities to support the MPLA and indicated that this failure forced his country to become more dependent on the Soviet Union for help. He said the United States got it's first opportunity shortly after Dr. Agostinho Neto was elected president of MPLA in 1963. “The first visit which he'(Neto) made abroad was to thq United State* of (Please turn to p. 5 eoi. 3)
