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(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
"As I was standing in the street, as quiet as could be, a great, big ugly man came up and tied his horse to me." Nursery rhyme in It Takes a Village by Hillary Clinton.
President Obama's proposed health care reform bill will most likely lead to increased government interference in families, as well as the growth of Child Protective Services agencies. This is not a myth fostered by the far right or by conspiracy theorists. You can read it for yourself in the bill, starting at page 838.
The new Obama home visitation program, very similar to what Hillary Clinton has been wanting for years, is called a voluntary program. If I understand the wording correctly, the word voluntary applies to each of the fifty states. It does not apply to parents in states that chose to set up a home visitation program.
The home visitation portion of the proposed health care reform bill allows states to apply for federal grants to set up home visitation programs to visit expecting parents and families with pre-school children. In setting up a home visitation program, the state is required to identify "communities that are in high need of such services, especially communities with a high proportion of low-income families or a high incidence of child maltreatment..." The word community is not defined in the bill.
Any state that participates in a home visitation program must collaborate and make referrals to existing programs and agencies. Obviously, given the nature of the home visitation program, many referrals will go to Child Protective Services. Indeed, there is nothing in the bill to prohibit Child Protective Services from making the initial home visits.
The federal government will reimburse the states for 85% of expenses incurred during 2010, 80% for 2011 and 75% for 2012 and after. The federal government has budgeted 50 million dollars for this program for 2010. That amount will increase to 250 million in four years. This is in addition to any federal money that states may already be receiving for child preventive services and visitation programs that are already in place.
I have not studied the entire Obama health care reform bill, however, the section on home visitation alone is enough for me to encourage our representatives and senators to vote against it. The last thing this country needs is one more big ugly government agent saddling its quiet citizens with his horse.
Comments
From: cclequ@live.com
To: fallonteaparty@aol.com
Subject: RE: Health Care Bill Information - Contact Your Representatives
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:20:45 -0800
Hi Thanks for this information We would love the opportunity to hear Harry Reids account of this and why he thinks it would be a good plan for all of us. I wonder why the government thinks we the people should really want a plan such as this. This all boils down to our government is taking total control of all americans weather we want it or not. It is a good plan if you are illeagle in America or unwilling to take responsibilty for yourself and your family.
It really comes down to the trust of the people. How can we trust a government that will not uphold our consitution. It seemed to work for over 233 years. I trully believe those in control of our government have plotted for many years for the time to beable to force all of the changes for our country. Those are the ones responsible for our current situatio
Uh, "Charlotte Lequieu", did you really want to write "weather" instead of "whether" ? Did you protest the infringement of rights under Bush? What do you think of Medicare and unemployment insurance, both of which are government run?
It's unfortunate to those so desperately in need that
you would subject your extreme fear into this
program. Child Protective Services is not out to take
children away needlessly and you undermine the great
people involved in this service.
Julia, CPS took my child for eight months without any good reason. An administrative law judge said the same thing when we finally got due process after the fact at a fair hearing held by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services. So please don't tell me I don't know what I am talking about or doing a disservice by what I am writing. I became an examiner just so I could help people who are going through what I have been through. And I would suggest reading the health care bill before making comments about it.
Worth looking further into the term voluntary. It is easy for the state to use "voluntary" as a "Godfather choice". Volunteer or loose your kids. Also it is worth noting that the IRS code used "voluntary" in a trick way. Important fact: due to activism by a brave woman such a policy (which has been on paper since the 1950s) was killed in the 1970s/80s I believe. You are not being alarmist in interpreting this bill as the blueprint for incremental collectivist child-rearing by force. The historical documentary record clearly shows the experts desire this end.
For more info: write me at freechild_2005@yahoo.com
Julia, I actually worked for a child protective services agency in a major city for several years. They are every bit as incompetent and cruel as your worst nightmares. Kids ARE being stolen for no good reason, most often simply because their good, loving parents happen to be poor. There are federal incentives that guarantee this will happen. Everyone thinks it can't happen to them, until it does. And then it's too late.
Great information. Thanks for taking the time to inform people.
these programs already exist, so i'm not sure where the hysteria is coming from. NPR did a great piece on home health nurses that visit young moms and how the incidence of child abuse and resulting deaths are down for those who receive the service. this is already funded by states and private organizations, why does it matter where the money comes from?
These programs might already exist, but what many social engineers want is to expand them to embrace all parents. That's where I see this going.
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