To me, uh, the discussion should be about why do we have a generation of kids who are, you know, is it a, is it, is it the family, is it the decline in, in, in the family unit, do we have broken homes that these kids are coming from?
[Raising his voice] Why do we have a government bureaucracy of social workers that aren’t doing their jobs?
In fiscal year 2016, more than 20,000 Illinois youth — many of them elementary and high school students — were treated by a mental health agency, according to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The agency reported that children from birth through age 17 made up 28 percent of the 72,826 people statewide who received treatment in the last fiscal year at a mental health agency.
Due to their overwhelming caseloads, school social workers, in some cases, will not see a student unless the individual is suicidal or an immediate danger to others. Students with mental issues deemed non-life-threatening are often given an appointment weeks away.
“If I could clone myself to make five more of me, I think I could be adequately handling my caseload,” said Katie Smiley, a social worker at Larkin High School in Elgin. “The burden becomes heavier and heavier every day. We need more support. We need help.” […]
Susan Hickey, a retired Chicago Public Schools social worker, noted before a hearing of the Mental Health Committee Oct. 2 that CPS has one social worker for every 1,250 students, [one fifth] the recommended ratio put forth by the School Social Work Association of America [of one per 250].
“I still hear from social workers at CPS and they are literally crying their eyes out,” Hickey said. “They can’t handle what they have to deal with.”
Hickey noted that there are more security officers in the Chicago Public Schools than social workers and counselors combined.
“Security officers are not able to handle kids in crisis situations,” Hickey said. “That is not their training.”
…Adding… I forgot to mention that the new school funding reform law sets some targets to get to that 1:250 ratio.
Sneed has learned State Rep. Dan Burke will pay homage to the memory of slain CPD Commander Paul Bauer Tuesday by introducing a major piece of gun legislation named after him.
The Commander Paul Bauer Act, originally introduced in 2017 as House Bill 1469 — a piece of legislation with no substantive language — will include Burke’s amendment banning the sale of body armor and high capacity gun magazines to anyone other than police officers, licensed security guards and members of the armed forces.
Sneed is also told the Bauer Act will have behind it the full weight of powerful House Speaker Mike Madigan. […]
Ald. Ed Burke, the state lawmaker’s brother, said the bill “would be the first time that the legislature in Illinois been able to resist the forces of the NRA opposing any kind of reasonable gun control legislation.”
Unlawful use of body armor. A person commits the offense of unlawful use of body armor when he knowingly wears body armor and is in possession of a dangerous weapon, other than a firearm, in the commission or attempted commission of any offense.
A person commits unlawful use of body armor when he or she knowingly sells, transfers, purchases, possesses, or wears body armor.
Full disclosure: I purchased some body armor before going to Iraq. I think I got rid of it, but I suppose I’d better check around my house and garage just to make sure.
Declaring that America is in the midst of a gun violence crisis, Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Monday urged state lawmakers and Gov. Bruce Rauner to approve a series of gun control bills and called on the public to hold officials’ feet to the fire this week and in the upcoming elections.
Lawmakers could consider a group of bills on Wednesday that would require gun dealers to be licensed, raise penalties for the illegal use of body armor, address waiting periods for gun purchases, and ban “military-style” assault weapons high-capacity magazines and “bump stocks,” Emanuel and Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said.
Johnson said he will travel to Springfield on Tuesday to testify in favor of the efforts, and Emanuel said he would be working the phones. The mayor on Monday repeatedly called on the public to get engaged in the maneuvering in Springfield and contended that a vote against the gun control bills was a vote against police officers.
“Watch this vote, and if the legislators do not back up the public safety, do not back up the police officers — in the primary and in this general election, you must hold them accountable,” Emanuel said, pounding a podium as he addressed Chicago’s latest class of police recruits. “Trust me, if they think they can get away without having any political pressure, they’re going to do the bare minimum rather than what is the appropriate thing. This is not about their political safety, this is about our public safety. And don’t let them get away with doing the bare minimum to take the issue off the table.”
But the bill that bears Bauer’s name is just one piece of a broad gun control bill that will go before state legislators this week.
“The Gun Dealer licensing Bill, which will allow us to encourage better business practices among gun dealers as well as holding corrupt dealers accountable. It will also require background checks for dealers and their employees, training to prevent straw purchasing, and enforce proper dealer security measures,” Emanuel said.
As the national conversation about gun control has taken on a renewed urgency over the past few weeks, advocates are now hoping their proposal will get a better chance at becoming law.
“We’re seeing more energy from young people than we’ve ever seen before, saying enough is enough,” said Colleen Daly of the Illinois Council on Handgun Violence.
The bill also includes a waiting period for buying assault weapons, and a ban on bump stocks.
* Speaking of guns, Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios has a TV ad bashing his Democratic primary opponent Fritz Kaegi on the issue.
“To stop the NRA, follow the money,” the ad begins, claiming that Kaegi “invested heavily in this NRA donor’s company.” Kaegi “got rich and the NRA got millions to spend blocking gun control.”
Now that I can actually see it, the “NRA donor” in the TV ad is Clayton Williams, who made a reported $1.35 billion last year when he sold his company.
An interesting background piece on Williams and the NRA is here.
