Latest news with #socialservices
CTV News
15 hours ago
- General
- CTV News
$552,000 given to help local homeless youth
A $552,000 Grow Grant has been given to the Windsor Residence for Young Men (WRYM) by the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The funding will help WRYM expand critical services, further supporting youth who are at risk-of or that are experiencing homelessness. The WRYM said it will continue to build on its System Navigation pilot project, which is an initiative that prepares youth in crisis with necessary life skills and support to gain economic independence and housing stability. Windsor Residence for Young Men grant Officials seen at the grant announcement for the Windsor Residence for Young Men in Windsor, Ont. on June 19, 2025. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor) 'Windsor-Essex is home to many incredible services, but for youth in crisis, simply finding and accessing these supports can feel overwhelming or impossible,' said Jason Weinberg, executive director of WRYM. 'When you're facing homelessness, navigating complex eligibility rules, referral systems, waitlists, and transportation barriers can be a challenge that stops before you even begin. This funding allows us to break down those barriers. We're not just pointing young people in the right direction, we're walking alongside them, ensuring they get the right help, from the right places, at the right time.' WRYM will keep offering intensive case management within its housing programs over the next three years, while essential services are expanded. In the first two years of the pilot, more than 50 homeless youth were helped, securing long-term housing when they left the program.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
JENNI MURRAY: Those paid to protect children must stop being scared of racism accusations and tell us what they know
Every time I encounter yet another horror story about the grooming gang scandal – and how the young rape victims were accused by police and social services of being prostitutes – my blood boils. Child sexual exploitation is among the most heinous of crimes, but as a Yorkshire woman from a working-class background, it is harrowing reading about the grooming gangs in the towns near Barnsley where I grew up; personal, somehow.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
‘Indiana needs a HIP replacement', social services secretary says about insurance program
Mitch Roob, secretary of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, presents to the State Budget Committee on June 18, 2025. (Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle) In his second tenure leading Indiana's most expensive state agency, Family and Social Services Administration Secretary Mitch Roob wants to significantly change Indiana's insurance program for low- to middle-income Hoosiers. But ongoing negotiations in Washington D.C. could undermine or fundamentally alter the third iteration of the Healthy Indiana Plan, otherwise known as HIP. Some congressional changes could be prohibitively expensive for the state, coming on the heels of a bleak revenue forecast projecting $2 billion less in Indiana's coffers over the next two years. 'This is a five-alarm fire for us,' said Roob, who introduced the first version of HIP while he was the FSSA secretary under former Gov. Mitch Daniels. In a sit-down with the Indiana Capital Chronicle, Roob previewed a Wednesday presentation before the State Budget Committee introducing HIP 3.0, including work requirements, provider taxes and wellness incentives. But the final details can't be determined until Congress agrees on President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill,' which could be approved in the coming weeks. GOP senators warn mega-bill's new Medicaid cuts will hurt rural hospitals Work requirements for able-bodied adults on HIP were fiercely debated in the legislative session earlier this year, ultimately advancing with the support of the Republican supermajority. But the process would take months, requiring Indiana to submit a modified waiver for federal approval before it could be enacted. That timeline could be shortened under the latest version of the bill, which would force all states to adopt such regulations. 'Once the big, beautiful bill passes, we will move forward as quickly as we can with that,' Roob said about work requirements. Other states have stumbled in their rollout of such conditions, including Arkansas and Georgia. Roob said details of Indiana's plan would largely hinge on Congress' actions and pointed to support from Indiana Gov. Mike Braun. 'He believes in work requirements; he doesn't believe in work requirements to kick people off of the program,' said Roob. 'He believes that Medicaid ought to be a program that incentivizes individuals to work — not disincentivizes them to do so.' While Indiana's work requirements would have allowed an exception for parents in general, Congress now proposes limiting that exemption to parents of children who aren't teens. More than 712,000 Hoosiers rely on HIP for their health coverage, according to a May enrollment report. Other portions of the bill threaten to undo Indiana's program, particularly its cap on state provider taxes, according to Roob. The Senate has proposed a cap of 3.5% on the levy, which applies to hospitals and managed care entities. A higher tax means the state can leverage more federal dollars. But Indiana uses the maximum allowed tax of 6% on hospitals, known as a hospital assessment fee, to fund its obligation for HIP. Those taxes — along with a portion of the cigarette tax — pay for the entire program, meaning that no general fund dollars need to be dedicated to HIP. 'That's how we pay for the Healthy Indiana Plan,' Roob said. 'If (Congress' proposal is) signed into law, this would require the state of Indiana to significantly roll back eligibility in the Healthy Indiana Plan. 'Not because we want to — because we have no match.' Indiana is responsible for 10% of the costs while the federal government picks up the tab for the remainder. However, under its current waiver, Indiana could be on the hook if the hospital assessment fee is cut and would need to come up with the difference. Roob said he was working with Indiana's congressional delegation to provide states explicit authority to change their plans in a later version of the bill. This rate cap would also apply to any provider tax levies on managed care entities, which oversee several of Indiana's Medicaid programs, including services offered under the divisive PathWays for Aging waiver. Indiana submitted a plan to tax managed care entities earlier this month based on the plans of other states, such as Ohio and Illinois, which could net the state $865.8 million. But Congress could invalidate that proposal by prohibiting that type of tax, which isn't uniform and varies by provider type, in favor of something more equal across the board. 'It is not law yet, so we are racing to try to get this approved,' said Roob. 'I view our prospects of getting this done as not quite as good as the Pacers winning the series.' Portions of the proposal in Congress would require copays and premiums for certain Medicaid enrollees, something that was halted in Indiana by a federal judge last year. If allowed, Roob said the state would 'likely' bring that back — though he said the state was seeking more 'explicit authority' to implement cost-sharing requirements in the final version of the bill. Undoubtedly, such a move would be challenged in the courts. But Roob said Hoosiers on HIP could reduce such charges by meeting certain wellness guidelines, such as preventative care check-ups. Women getting regular pap smears, for example, would lower their cost-sharing obligations. 'And while we recognize that that won't save Indiana much money in that particular year, it may save that woman from having cervical cancer,' Roob said. 'So it is the governor's desire to 'Make Indiana Healthy Again,' and part of that is to incentivize changes in behavior.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Associate Housing Minister tells officials domestic violence victims get emergency accommodation
'Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka has told officials to ensure people escaping domestic violence aren't turned away from emergency housing. Labour leader Chris Hipkins raised the issue in the House two weeks ago. The Prime Minister denied Hipkins' claim that women and children fleeing violent homes were "no longer eligible" for emergency accommodation. "That is not happening. Those services are available and that support is available," he said. But Potaka on Tuesday morning seemed to admit there were cases in which some of those people had not been able to get into emergency housing. He told the Social Services and Community select committee: "it's unfortunate that it has happened, and it should not have happened." Potaka believed the first he heard of domestic violence victims being turned away from emergency accommodation was in the House, and he did not recall hearing that from front line providers . Following the exchange in the House, he was "pretty direct" in reminding Ministry of Social Development officials that was not the government's policy, he said. "When I found out about this, I said... there's a policy in place, you must not use that as a basis for declining an emergency housing application to progress on the basis of that being a cause of that circumstance." As part of government changes last year which made emergency housing harder to get into, and stay in, MSD staff assessed whether emergency housing applicants have "unreasonably contributed" to their situation. But Potaka said that did not, and should not, include someone's decision to leave a violent home. However, he reiterated emergency housing was still a last resort. "Emergency housing isn't necessarily the best place to place or land victims of sexual and domestic violence... there are better options for people who have come out of that very dangerous and risky situation." They included transitional, social and community housing, and there would be different availability in different places, he said. The changes to emergency housing were brought in nearly a year ago as part of the government's effort to end the large-scale use of emergency housing. Housing minister Chris Bishop had previously labelled emergency housing as one of the biggest public policy failures in the country's history, and he was adamant no one should be living in motels long-term, saying it carried a huge social and economic cost . But opposition parties criticised proposed changes to the emergency housing system, saying it would leave people sleeping on the street. The latest Ministry of Social Development figures showed at the end of May there were 453 households in emergency housing - down from 2,280 in the same month last year. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Equifax Introduces Complete Income™ for Social Services
New Solution Designed to Help Government Agencies More Efficiently Verify Income for Today's Workforce, Including Applicants with Alternative Income Sources ATLANTA, June 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Equifax® (NYSE:EFX) today announced Complete Income™, a new solution powered by the Equifax Cloud™ that helps U.S. federal, state and local government agencies more efficiently process applications for social service benefits across programs including Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and more with information on alternative income sources. Available in August 2025, through a single workflow, Complete Income delivers automated income verifications to caseworkers through two structured, easy-to-understand outputs. Instant Social Service Verification Reports from The Work Number® database include W-2 payroll information from more than 4.4 million employers, and the new Income and Expense Connect Solution incorporates consumer-credentialed bank deposit data covering 92% of U.S. financial institutions and self-reported income and expenses. This data may include unearned income such as pension, child support and more. "Market research has shown the increasing complexity of the modern U.S. workforce, including the addition of nearly 35 million independent workers over the past four years, which has created significant challenges for government agencies in verifying income for social service program eligibility," said Mike Bromley, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Government Solutions, Equifax. "Agency leaders tell us their top challenge in gig income verification is the difficulty of verifying self-employment income and its associated expenses from multiple platforms or jobs. With Complete Income, we're helping them solve this problem by offering a more comprehensive, efficient and secure solution that can provide a more holistic view of an individual's income and expenses, enabling agencies to make better-informed eligibility determinations and more efficiently serve vulnerable populations." When someone applies for social service benefits under programs such as Medicaid or SNAP, the agency must verify the applicant's income. While traditional payroll records meet the need for many applicants, income verification for self-employed individuals can present unique challenges that can impact the timeliness of benefits decisions. For example, caseworkers are called upon to help self-employed workers sort through and reconcile stacks of receipts indicating income as well as expenses in order to help determine eligibility. This type of manual process can be time consuming, inefficient and prone to errors. With Complete Income, a caseworker places an order through the same Equifax Verification Insights Portal used each day by thousands of credentialed verifiers, including numerous caseworkers. This order generates a text or email request that directs the applicant to the secure Equifax portal, which then guides the applicant through an intuitive process for providing bank deposit income as well as self-reported income and expenses. The caseworker receives the Social Service Verification report with W-2 payroll data instantly from The Work Number database and is then alerted when the Income and Expense Connect Solution with the alternative income and self-reported income and expenses are submitted by the applicant, providing a more holistic view of the applicant's income. "Complete Income delivers a more streamlined experience for agencies, caseworkers and applicants alike," added Bromley. "Agencies can serve their constituents more efficiently and with greater confidence. Caseworkers can spend less time on tedious, manual tasks, and more time supporting the people they serve. And applicants can complete the process more easily and receive faster benefits decisions." Complete Income provides credentialed verifiers with consumer reports under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). These reports include clear income organization covering traditional income as well as available alternative income information categorized by wages and salary, unearned income, other income and expenses. For more information about Complete Income, please click here. ABOUT EQUIFAX Equifax (NYSE: EFX), we believe knowledge drives progress. As a global data, analytics, and technology company, we play an essential role in the global economy by helping financial institutions, companies, employers, and government agencies make critical decisions with greater confidence. Our unique blend of differentiated data, analytics, and cloud technology drives insights to power decisions to move people forward. Headquartered in Atlanta and supported by nearly 15,000 employees worldwide, Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. For more information, visit FOR MORE INFORMATION: Dan Jenkins for Equifax Workforce Solutionsmediainquiries@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Equifax Inc.
