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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 1998)
V a 4 Y . Y ■■■ JAN. 7, 1998 Page B4 (Tlie JJartlan b ODhseruer The Future of Public Hospitals Blacks Receive Jail Time Twice As Often As Whites B lacks co n v icted o f drug crimes in Alabama are nearly twice as likely to receive jail lime as White offenders, and nearly two and one-half times as likely to receive prison terms ot one year or more, according to an analysis by the Birmingham Post- Herald. The study of nearly seven years’ worth of drug convictions found that Blacks and Whites have equal chances of being found guilty. The disparity comes in the sentencing Within every drug category, from m isdem eanor marijuana possession to felony cocaine trafficking. Blacks stand a greater chance of getting jail time than do Whiles. For exam ple, 64 percent ot Blacks convicted of cocaine pos session received prison time, com pared to 48 percent ol Whites. On marijuana possession, 35 percent of the convicted Blacks received prison time, compared to 31 per cent of Whites. For some critics ol the Alabama legal system, the dis crimination starts with the judges on the bench. As ol late 1996, there were only six Black district judges of the 92 in the state. Ol the 131 circuit judges there were only live Blacks. U S Representative Earl Hilliard (D-AL), said there is a ‘leniency factor" towards Whites because thejudicial system is pre dominantly While. “We know lor a fact Whites will get a more le nient sentence from a White judge," Hilliard said. "The dis parity will refnain in the prison system until there are more Black DAs (district attorneys)and more Black judges.” The Shelter Care Campaign The Boys and Girls Aid S oci ety of Oregon is a private, non profit agency that provides short term shelter care for children and youth to age 18. The agency has recently launched a public ed u cation campaign to help meet the Decem ber 31 deadline. Yet, the agency is dependent upon shel ter parents to provide for quick placem ents to serve its 24 hour a day. 7 day a week program. According to the most recent status of O regon’s children re port published by C hildren First Have you ever noticed the tro u b le and effo rt people go through to avoid w hat's best for them , in exchange for w hat’s toxic or bad for them? I'm talking about the choices they make that affect their long term quality of life. You can see exam ples of it all the way from C hildhood-days through final-days of their life time. For ex am p le: L ittle B ill’s mother told Billy on Tuesday that if his room w a sn ’t pro p erly cleaned up by the weekend, he w ouldn’t be able to go to the movies with the rest of the ch il dren on his block. All the parents go together and for Oregon, M ultnomah County is 196% behind the teen preg nancy benchmark set by the state in 1995. The num ber of children living in poverty is 40% behind the state benchmark. The Boys and Girls Aid Society of Oregon shelter unit staff say that these num bers dem onstrate the need for help for children living in M ultnomah County that is almost in epidem ic proportions. The Boys and Girls Aid S oci ety of Oregon offers weekly com m unity-based orientation, inlor- c o o rd in a te d a o n ce -a-m o n th , n eig h b o rh o o d -ch ild ren m ovie day for the summer months. This com ing weekend is the last outing for the summer, with the gang. All week-long the w eather had been gorgeous, beautilul sunny days with warm gentle evening breezes. Little Billy enjoyed them to the fullest. He was looking for ward to the weekend with grins of delight, every time he thought about it. The popcorn, and candy, the video games during interm ission being with the rest of the neigh borhood kids, and just the ex citem ent of it all filled his body SIMPLY CELLULAR WE ACTIVATE • ANY PHONE • ANY PAGER m ation anil public speaking ses sions for anyone who is in ter ested in becom ing a shelter p ar ent or who may have questions about the program . Please call 503-222-9661 x258 for a m eet ing schedule or call the shelter parent inform ation line at 503- 222-2358. According to Shelter P a re n t P ro g ra m R e c r u ite r Jonathan Kipp, there is no sp e cial season or time of year that sh e lte r hom es are e sp e c ia lly needed. Kids are in crisis every day. t out. From Front Public hospital provide a sig nificant share of all hospital care for those who are socially and econom ically underprivileged. As hospitals of last resort, they have become a health care safety net because of their policy of adm itting anyone, insured and uninsured alike They also have a tradition of striving to be cu l turally sensitive. Finally, public hospitals provide essential m edi cal services which few clinics can offer and private hospitals often find unprofitable such as em ergency care, traum a care, burn care, and neonatal care, and they provide these vital services for the entire com m unity. The importance of this situation is brought into sharper focus by the increase in the number of uninsured. The most recent data suggest that there are more than 40 million people in the United who lack health insur ance. The number of uninsured is growing steadily as the cost ot insur ance continues to rise and as full time, full-benefit employment re mains scarce for the urban popula tion. Many full-time positions are being replaced as well by temporary, contract or part-time jobs without health coverage. Many large, urban public hospi tals also conduct medical education and research, which benefits the en late in some m anner to finances. Now! Take a good look at our various denom inations of cur rency, both coin and paper. No tice it reads: “In God We T ru st” . The irrita tin g part about the whole thing is: people are using the name of God for their per sonal m onetary grow th, when what they actually need is the Word of God. You can 't have it both ways! In other words, if you live by His law, everything else will take care of it self. The governm ent today, is ex periencing the same thing little Billy experienced. Both selected the actions that y ie ld e d in stan t g ra tific a tio n , when the more sensible choices would have generated rewards of longer lasting happiness. M aking the choice of living your life according to G od’s will, will guarantee you will be eli- with a tingly sensation. Little Billy had totally ignored his m o th er's in stru ctio n s and conditions regarding his elig ib il ity to be with everyone on the weekend. The weekend is now here, S at urday late-m orning and little B illy’s room is not clean. B illy’s mother made Billy accountable for his actions. As Billy watched the gang all gather across the street from his house, they all got into the par ents cars and everybody left Billy was alone! He had made his decision based on his actions. The result, he m issed out on som ething w onderful! L et's take a brief look at an other example! Look at the effort expended to keep religion out of schools, offices and civic func tions, governmental departm ents and procedures, and countless other areas of the world that re NO CREDIT REQ'D Authentic Food from the East African Coast PAGER SPECIAL!!! FREE ACTIVATION- FREE RECRYSTAL 3 MOS VOICEMAIL ONLY • $19.95 3939 NE MLK Blvd. Portland, Oregon 97212 503/ 331-9844 H o r n o f A fr ic a Short Cut To The Horn o f Africa ^,,u can t,ave 11 way y ° u wanh ^pVy or mild. Y We are open (503) 280-8000 3939 NE MLK BLVD OPEN MON - FRI 10AM-6PM much revenue that they will simply have to close. In addition to the managed care changeover, Congress plans to cut the Medicaid funding that has long been given specifically to public hos pitals that serve large numbers of Medicaid, low-income Medicare, and uninsured patients. This special as sistance, known as Disproportionate Share Hospital (DHS) payments, is set to be reduced by $10.3 billion over the next five years according to the proposed Balanced Budget Act of 1997. According to the National Asso ciation of Public Hospitals, federal DSH payments account tor 13 per cent of public hospitals’ total rev enues and pay for 40 percent ot the cost of treating uninsured patients. The pending budget cuts are there fore going to shrink public hospitals revenues tar below what is necessary to meet the many health care needs ot those who rely on this system for care. Public hospitals today are suffer ing from a condition that, it left un treated, may prove fatal. The impor tance of their survival needs to be recognized and addressed. It we lose these safety-net institutions, many people will no longer have access to any medical care. The health ot the people who live in urban communi ties depends on public hospitals re maining viable American institutions. tire health care system Many serve as teaching hospitals, where they train students. In addition, some urban public hospitals are major employ ers in the cities they serve. Closing these hospitals therefore increases the potential unemployment of both skilled and unskilled workers not only in the health care industry but in other related industries as well. M any states have m odified their M edicaid programs by shift ing their m ethod o f delivering health care to managed care. Fed eral w aivers now allow states to require that their M edicaid re cipients enroll in m anaged care organizations, and many states have already modified their M ed icaid program s with this new re quirem ent. As of June 1996, this changeover had been carried out by 29 states and the District ol Colum bia. This change in Medicaid policy is causing public hospitals to lose a large percentage of their patient base to managed care organizations. Approximately 43 percent of pub lic hospitals’ patients are covered by medicare, medicaid or other public- insurance, and an equal proportion are uninsured. Even more important, 50 percent or more of these hospi tals' revenue has been based on Med icaid payments. Unless they can ef fectively compete for low-risk Med icaid patients, they may soon lose so have to lose by living for God? Y ou’ll lose the m isery and pain of despair, loneliness, depression and any other negative emotion. The Choice is yours! gible to attend the movie of ete r nal happiness. And when you com pare the short time we have on earth, to the time of eternity, what do you , . ... ' > . . ¿(y ' (jefe/troti/up 20 years Of Exceptional Service A Total Family Service Agency Specializing in Restoration and Reconciliation • Counseling -Marriage, Family, Individual -Licensed and Professional -Biblical Based -Multicultural -Affordable • Extended Family Homes -Certification —Counseling -Supportive services -Special NeedsChildren —Parenting Classes • Adoption -Recruitment, Placement -Bridge Building/ParentingClasses -Special Needs, Minority, Interracial -Counseling (Pre and Post adoption) -Affordable • Respite Care —Temporary child care —Counseling for children -Temporary Housing for parents —Parental Counseling —Supportive Services Because...If Families Are Whole,Then Communities Are Healthier!!! 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