Omaha World-Herald. July 21, 2017
State gets creative on finding jobs for those who need them
An encouraging new pilot program by Nebraska state government is adding an innovative supplement - job assistance - to its food stamp help for families in need.
Under the program, which has been tested since last year in Grand Island, families who sign up with the state Department of Health and Human Services for Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits - food stamps, as they’re commonly known - can also apply for help from Nebraska Department of Labor employees.
Those state workers help the clients with résumé writing, understanding job search techniques and developing interview and on-the-job skills.
The goal is worthy: Boost these Nebraskans’ job skills and hopefully improve their financial circumstances and quality of life, so many can leave public assistance altogether.
The results so far are generally positive.
Of the 27 Grand Island residents who signed up for the help, 14 have been successful at getting jobs that pay better, have better benefits or offer more family-friendly work hours.
One person stopped needing food stamps altogether after moving from $492-a-month, part-time self-employment to a position paying $2,528 monthly. A single mother who had worked as a waitress making $900 a month with no benefits, moved to a job paying $2,700 a month and providing health insurance, a pension and other benefits.
The 14 clients on average boosted their income by $6,900 a year and cut their need for food assistance by 63 percent, HHS Chief Executive Officer Courtney Phillips said.
The program is now being expanded incrementally - to Hastings this month, Columbus in September, Norfolk in May - with hopes to take it statewide eventually. The work in Hastings will include a test run of an online service, to see how well the program can be implemented using computer-focused communication and assistance.
The pilot-project approach makes sense, since it allows complications to be identified and addressed.
This commendable, creative approach by the Ricketts administration deserves a salute.
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Kearney Hub. July 18, 2017
Troopers work hard, risk a lot to keep us safe
A rose to … The Nebraska State Patrol, whose leader recently was dismissed and other top brass were placed on administrative leave by Gov. Pete Ricketts in response to suspected cover-ups in the death of a Coloradan driving over the speed limit and under the influence in western Nebraska.
In defense of the NSP, the tragic chase would not have happened if the driver had not been drinking and would have observed posted speed limits.
No law enforcement agency is perfect, but troopers complete extensive training and function under the highest of expectations, and perform their responsibilities of protecting the public admirably. The governor is reviewing the State Patrol’s operations and command, and will make changes as he deems necessary to help the agency continue living up to its reputation.
While the transition unfolds, we encourage Nebraskans to show respect and appreciation to front-line troopers. They’re putting so much on the line each time they begin a shift. They’re the good guys out there and they’re working hard every day to deserve Nebraskans’ respect.
A rose to … the Central Nebraska Auto Club, which staged its 30th anniversary Cruise Nite this weekend. The event attracted scores of auto enthusiasts to view well-restored and maintained cars and trucks, and to enjoy the vehicles at various events, including a drive-by at Kearney’s nursing homes, a tire burnout contest, and drag races at Kearney Raceway Park, to name a few.
An army of volunteers makes Cruise Nite possible by organizing activities, cleaning up afterwards, and working hard to ensure Cruise Nite unfolds safely.
As Kearney’s signature event, Cruise Nite occupies an enviable perch. With each year the event grows larger, involves more people and definitely lives up to organizers’ intent - a family event centered around cars.
A raspberry to … Mother Nature, who can’t seem to make up her mind. First she bakes us with hot sunny days, and then, without warning, she dumps buckets of rainfall from the sky, as she did Monday afternoon. If we had our way, we would crank the 95-degree heat down to 80, and trade in the deluge for once weekly soakers for plush, green lawns and fields.
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Lincoln Journal Star. July 20, 2017
Sessions wrong to reinstate forfeiture practice
The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution protects Americans against unreasonable searches and seizures. The same can no longer be said about the Justice Department.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a directive Wednesday reinstating the controversial practice of adoptive forfeiture, expanding the ability of law enforcement to take possession of assets belonging to suspects - even if they haven’t been or won’t be charged with a crime - under civil law and later profit from the assets so long as the low bar of probable cause is met.
This is why adoptive forfeiture is a bad deal for Americans, and more than two dozen states restricted the process in recent years. In few places will Sessions’ change be felt more acutely than Nebraska, a leader in forfeiture reform.
Last year, the Legislature passed a laudable measure that banned permanent asset seizures by law enforcement until a suspect was convicted of a crime and limited when the less-restrictive civil forfeiture process could be used.
Now, it’s all but moot, as local law enforcement can skirt more restrictive state laws in favor of the far more permissive federal standards.
Although Sessions’ directive includes modest safeguards against abuse - most notably, requiring more detail from law enforcement on probable cause and notifying people of their rights - his agency took a net step backward. His document doesn’t address the major concerns about the practice of forfeiture:
(asterisk) The Constitution requires the presumption of innocence until a person is found guilty in court. By requiring those whose assets are seized to sue for their return, the courts are essentially holding those people as guilty until being proved innocent.
(asterisk) Equitable sharing, which was suspended along with adoptive forfeiture at the federal level in 2015, allows law enforcement agencies to keep up to 80 percent of proceeds while sharing at least 20 percent with federal authorities. This federal policy encourages local law enforcement to seize assets and police for profit.
(asterisk) By allowing law enforcement agencies to circumvent state laws and instead operate under the far less onerous federal guidelines, the Justice Department has overruled the local control Republicans vociferously defend.
This sudden pivot in favor of restoring the adoptive forfeiture runs counter to the platform adopted at last summer’s Republican National Convention, which accurately notes: “When the rights of the innocent can be so easily violated, no one’s rights are safe. We call on Congress and state legislatures to enact reforms to protect law-abiding citizens against abusive asset forfeiture tactics.”
Seizing the ill-gotten gains of a person tried and convicted in court is wholly defensible for local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. But Sessions’ directive reopens a dangerous Pandora’s box that disregards both the due process rights of Americans and self-rule of state governments.
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SNAP-to-work program a no-brainer
Thursday, July 20, 2017
A South Dakota candidate for U.S. Senate was one of the first to draw a comparison between food stamp benefits for humans and the National Park Service’s policy on feeding animals.
Dr. Annette Bosworth posted a Facebook meme noting that while the U.S. Department of Agriculture distributed free meals and food stamps to more than 46 million people on an annual basis, another federal agency, the National Park Service, advised visitors “please do not feed the animals” because they “will grow dependent on the handouts, and then they will never learn to take care of themselves.”
Things didn’t turn out well for Dr. Bosworth, who not only didn’t win the Republican nomination in 2014, but was arrested a day after the primary on six counts of perjury and six counts of filing false election documents, found guilty on all charges.
It’s ironic that anyone should be hungry in a state like Nebraska, one of the leading food-producing states, but local food pantries are having trouble keeping up with the demand.
Unlike the USDA and National Park Service, however, two Nebraska agencies are working together to deliver the same message.
Instead of simply struggling to keep up with demand for food benefits, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and the Nebraska Department of Labor are cooperating to help families reduce their need for such assistance.
In effect, the families aren’t just given fish; they’re being taught how to catch their own.
In a pilot program launched last year in Grand Island involving 27 families receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program assistance, 14 SNAP clients changed jobs, resulting in an average increased annual salary of 6,900. As a result, eight receive fewer SNAP benefits and six receive no more SNAP funds at all.
The program will be launched this month in Hastings, in Columbus in September and Norfolk next May. Hastings clients who are unable to travel to Grand island will be served online.
Some issues such as addiction, mental illness or disability can make it difficult to find and keep a job, but some issues are simpler, such as transportation, wardrobe or child care.
In the new program, DHHS and DOL meet with clients to identify and provide the assistance they need to overcome barriers to their success while enhancing their lives at home.
A plan is developed and the DHHS case manager coaches and supports clients to overcome the barriers that keep them from higher-paying jobs.
The DOL then provides training in preparing SNAP clients to find more-suitable jobs through resume writing, learning how to search for a job, preparing for job interviews and working with employers for on-the-job training.
The governor’s office cited a single mother who went from a waitress job earning $900 a month to a new job earning $2,700 a month with full benefits, pension and potential bonuses. Others include a single mother raising a child who left a waitress job to work in education and increased her income by $425 a month.
A fast-food worker went to a job at a grocery store for an additional $400 a month and employee benefits.
A part-time and self-employed client working full-time in production with income of a $492 a month now earns $2,528 a month and no longer receives SNAP benefits.
Another part-time worker is now a full-time delivery driver earning $15 an hour and no longer gets SNAP. A single parent working the second shift that included weekends now works an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. job and spends evenings with her children.
We’re sure the governor’s office painted as positive a picture as possible with the new program, and others will offer criticism.
There seems to be little argument, however, that getting people better jobs so they don’t require assistance is moving things in the right direction.
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