Home care and non-profits…

      July 15, 2015

 Globe and Mail – Elizabeth Church and Kelly Grant
Home care for Ontario seniors affected by move to non-profit agencies  

Last summer the Ontario government changed some regulations about delivering home care to seniors who are trying to stay in their homes.  The regulations effected a hand-off by cash strapped and budget reduced public agencies to private agencies that has impacted on over 800 people to date in the Southern Ontario region.  Say Church and Grant after a three month investigation:  “Ontario’s home-care system is plagued by inconsistent standards of care, byzantine processes and a troubling lack of transparency.”    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario-moving-some-seniors-home-care-to-private-agencies/article25487019/

Ottawa Citizen – Katheryn May
A third of public service executives have mentally ‘checked out,’ study suggests

This study follows an assessment of the role and effectiveness of the Assistant Deputy Ministers found in the pool from which they are drawn.  The theory is that engagement is highly correlated with effective performance but that many of the current Ottawa crop of public service executives lack interest and enthusiasm for the stated objectives of their agency – a morale problem with a vengeance!  http://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/one-third-of-public-service-executives-have-mentally-checked-out-study-suggests    Related article:  Ottawa Citizen – Katheryn May   ADMs have become too insular and inexperienced: study    http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/adm-role-diminished-as-top-executives-have-become-too-insular-and-inexperienced-study

Your legal rights.com
New reports slam Canada’s immigration detention system

The agency refers to reports from the University of Toronto and an NGO called End Immigration Detention Network and have suggested that Canadian immigration detention is “a legal black hole.”  U of T faculty of law International Human Rights Program identifies approximately one third of detainees are held in prisons and not in one of the three immigration facilities (Laval, Toronto and Vancouver).  Says said Tings Chak, the executive director of No One is Illegal:   “We really shy away from calling this a broken immigration system or a broken detention system because it’s very clear that the system is functioning as it’s supposed to be.” http://yourlegalrights.on.ca/news/new-reports-slam-canadas-immigration-detention-system  Related article: Montreal News     Canadian-born, ‘stateless’ Deepan Budlakoti appeals immigration detention conditions    http://montrealinnews.com/canadian-born-stateless-deepan-budlakoti-appeals-immigration-detention-conditions/

Human Rights Watch (US)
Written statement to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on “Criminal Justice Reform”

The statement is prompted by the current focus on the reform of the US penal system and in particular the practice of mass incarceration.  The NGO points out how the decisions of prosecutors impacts the results of criminal prosecutions and how the mandatory minimums allow prosecutors to lump all levels of drug offenders into the same sentencing provisions, leading to a considerable discrepancy between those who please guilty and those who pursue trials.  https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/07/13/written-statement-house-committee-oversight-and-government-reform-criminal-justice   Related article:  Vera Institute for Justice / The Data Center    Criminal Justice: Changing Course on Incarceration http://www.datacenterresearch.org/reports_analysis/criminal-justice-changing-course-on-incarceration/

Slate.com (US) – Leon Neyfakh
Put the Pumpkin in the Boat – A new dictionary of prison slang  

English Professor Paul Lynch of St. Louis University went into Bonne Terre prison for a prison education program and invited a group of inmates to study how the Oxford Dictionary came about and then compose a dictionary of terms which prisoners use and outsiders would not understand.  Inmates debated which terms to include and discovered some terms were age related as well.  http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2015/07/prison_slang_prison_inmates_in_missouri_got_together_and_made_a_lexicon.html   Related article: Vera Institute Blogger Jon Wool   Ten years after Katrina, New Orleans has changed course on incarceration     http://www.vera.org/blog/ten-years-after-katrina-new-orleans-has-changed-course-incarceration

National Immigration Justice Center (US)
ICE July 2015 Family Detention Announcement  

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has announced its intent to do a review of the present detainees and to begin releasing from custody mothers and children held under immigration.  In future, ICE will not detain mothers and children barring some sort of public safety issue.  Heads of family will also be considered under the Alternate to Detention Programs.  http://immigrantjustice.org/ice-july-2015-family-detention-announcement    Related article: US News & World Report – Seth Robbins, Associated Press    Lawyers: Immigrant families released quicker from Texas holding centers since ICE policy shift    http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2015/07/14/immigrant-families-released-faster-from-detention-centers