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Send letters to: Letters, Illinois Times. P.O. Box 5256. Springfield, Illinois
62705. Fax: (217) 753-3958. E-mail: editor@illinoistimes.com
LAW COULD STIGMATIZE CHILDREN
One of the most disturbing pieces of
legislation before Illinois legislators, HB 3031, is one that comes
as a result of a horrendous bill signed into law two years ago with
little or no public media attention or debate. That 2003 law
established a plan for universal mental-health screening of our
children from birth to age 18, as well as expectant mothers. Sadly,
the current legislation, HB 3031, is nothing but a Band-Aid with
holes. By creating a generic so-called parental-consent provision,
which does not actually require parental consent, this proposal
crafts a smokescreen designed to give the impression that lawmakers
want parents involved in their children’s lives, and it does
nothing to stop the plan.
It is difficult to believe that newborns and
very young children can be adequately and accurately assessed for
mental health. And a proposed questionnaire to determine the older
child’s status in this regard will only serve to provoke
thoughts that they would never otherwise entertain, causing great
confusion. And if answers given are what the questioners regard as
improper, the child could then be labeled negatively for life.
Medication is part of the plan as well. How much will this cost the
taxpayers? Medication is not the only solution for children with
problems. Other means of help can and have proven to be more
productive. But, the point is, who determines your family’s
mental health?
Our legislators are responsible for
fulfilling the wishes of their constituents, yet few have relayed
the contents of this plan or the weak bill and its consequences to the
public. I am certain it would not be widely supported if the true facts
were known. I would encourage parents to inquire and give input on this
important issue. Joetta Deutsch Taylorville MODEL FOR SERVING RURAL PATIENTS
As the Illinois Legislature and many
communities wrestle with the dilemma of providing consistent,
quality health care to rural areas, a model to consider is that in
use by Prairie Cardiovascular physicians. Although Springfield is the hub for Prairie
Cardiovascular’s renowned heart and vascular care, Prairie
physicians for 20 years have traveled virtually every day to
communities such as Carbondale, Pontiac, Pittsfield, Olney, and
many others to treat patients. We are happy to share our model with
other health-care providers and government officials. Prairie Cardiovascular doctors cover a
75-county area [bounded] by Streator in the north, Anna in the
south, Macomb to the west, and Effingham to the east. Therefore our
philosophy is to take the doctor to the patient, an approach that
exists nowhere else in the country. A small town’s anchor points are the
local school and hospital, so our mission is to ensure that
physicians are in the hospitals. Logistical issues arise, but on
any given day, out of approximately 25 traveling physicians, there
are two to four Prairie doctors in rural communities. The visiting
physicians will see an average of 20 patients daily. Physician visits to rural communities are
typically scheduled a month in advance. Health care is even geared
around planting times and harvest so the livelihood of patients is
not diminished. The key is to first have a commitment to
provide health care to underserved areas, develop a delivery plan
for the services, and continue to refine the logistics for the most responsive,
patient-oriented care. Government efforts are commendable, but the
true impact for patients will arise from health-care
providers’ making a commitment to reach rural areas with
quality care. Even if a provider’s coverage area is
concentrated, limited outreach is better than none at all. James P. Zito Chief Executive Officer Prairie Care Alliance Springfield TAP A CWLP ENERGY EXPERT
I would like to thank CWLP energy expert Gary
Hurley for doing a free energy audit on my apartment. My October
electric bill was $4.92, with only $1.24 of that from actual
electric usage. I followed all of Gary’s suggestions, the
most important of which was replacing all my regular bulbs with
compact fluorescent bulbs. With natural gas and electric rates
increasing, I hope that more people in Springfield use the energy
experts. Mary Frances Springfield MORAL OUTRAGE OF OUR TIME
This is in regard to your article “Mind
matters” [R.L. Nave, Sept. 29]. You should think twice before
you participate in helping the mental-health system expand its
business. First, our lawmakers should demand that they
“truthfully fully inform” potential patients about the
known and listed possible side effects of the medication. Hearing
about the dangerous and deadly possible side effects of most drugs
does not sell the product, so, whenever possible, the medical
system conspires to keep that information from its patients. It is
the great moral outrage of our time. Second, our lawmakers should install an
honest tracking system to replace the present cover-up system. Good
science needs fully informed patients who are deciding risk versus
benefit for themselves and who are associating cause and effect. A
user-friendly tracking form should be made available to all
patients who take drugs. As for the mental-health system, which claims
that 20 percent of America needs expensive therapy and drugs, you
should know that a “chemical imbalance in the brain” is
a theory. They can’t prove it by any test or even with an
autopsy. Tom Ferrari Tovey WHERE ARE HEADLINES, OUTCRY?
In reading The
Nation, I was shocked to discover that
despite recent outrage at news reports on our disaster of an
economy and how coldly America regards those in poverty, the tax
cuts for the wealthy and pay raises to Congress keep rolling in
with barely a headline or outcry. I feel like our country has some
kind of degenerative disease and we have little to stop its rampage. Here
is a most unusual thought: Let the Democrats take their momentum and
begin a petition to roll back the tax cuts and raises for Congress. Our
country is broke, in debt, and we are pouring money into a small select
group that does not give literally two cents about shelter, food, and
medical care for the young, the disabled, and elderly. Anne Logue Springfield RIGHTS OF ADOPTIVE PARENTS THREATENED
Believe it or not, the state of Illinois is
considering legislation that will force some parents to have their
children spend time with drug addicts and gang members. Many times
when people adopt children who had been in foster care because of
abuse or neglect, the children’s biological siblings are
adopted by other parents or remain in foster care. In most of these
situations, children are allowed to visit their siblings after the
adoption. Sometimes, however, the adoptive parents decide it is in
their child’s best interest not to see the siblings because
of the siblings’ unacceptable, dangerous, or even violent
behaviors. The other siblings may even be in contact with the birth
parents who abused them in the first place. The Legislature is considering a law that
would require sibling visits after an adoption is finalized, even
if the adoptive parents object. As can be expected, this
legislation is being pushed by liberal Chicago Democrats who think
they know how to raise our children better than we do. At a recent
hearing, Rep. Annazette Collins stated, “The youth are losing
their rights. We shouldn’t let any of the kids be adopted. We
should just keep them in foster care. The foster parents will still
get their board money and the kids will get to keep visiting their
siblings.” This has to be the most irresponsible, uninformed,
mean-spirited, vicious and dangerous statement I have ever heard
any elected official make, bar none. She seems to think that people
who adopt abused children are nothing more than babysitters who are
in it for the money. Sure. I know many adoptive parents who became
wealthy on the $400 per month adoption subsidy. They’re all
living high on the hog and don’t even have to have outside
jobs. For years, liberal Democrats have claimed
that the government shouldn’t get involved in personal
decisions. They lied. Apparently the right to privacy begins and
ends at the abortion clinic door. Robert Huck Springfield CORRECTION
Gary Roberts, 58, ended up in Centralia in
the early 1970s. The year the Rockford native arrived in the
southern Illinois town was incorrect in a recent story [Mary
Rickard, “Future shocked,” Nov. 17].
This article appears in Nov 17-23, 2005.
