Prefacing her testimony by identifying herself as a "a nearly maxed-out social worker," DCF Family Services Division Social Worker Shannon Morton delivered emotionally charged testimony to lawmakers about the need for them to address safety issues through increased staffing and resources, enhanced (or first-time for some) safety training, and providing frontline DCF social workers with the lead time they need to prepare for individual cases. Morton also stressed the need for increased community outreach and involvement.
Morton told lawmakers she was testifying on behalf of "my practice and the practices of my colleagues." We think she did a really great job on everyone’s behalf!
Hear Shannon’s Testimony Here
Read the VTDigger Story
Read this issue of Week In Action!
View the Week In Action Newsletter Archive!
Subscribe to Week In Action Here!
In this week’s issue:
Excerpt:
"In hard-nosed political terms, this debate is about power. Raising revenues has its own implications for justice; ever higher taxes may create their own injustice. And in raw political terms, some people don’t want to pay higher taxes, no matter what.
But a full understanding of what is just cannot be achieved without a full understanding of the struggles of Vermonters. Protecting the tax privileges of the wealthy should not be the priority that determines the state budget."
The Vermonters who use the public services provided by VSEA members agree with that last line!
Read The Full Editorial Here
Rutland Herald Story:
Vermont State Parks Annual Visitation Passes 1 Million
MONTPELIER — More than 1 million people have visited Vermont state parks this year, which hasn’t happened in 27 years.
The state will receive an estimated $6.1 million in direct revenue from this year’s visitation. The statewide economic impact from those visits is about $88 million.
State park attendance has been growing steadily over the last several years. Commissioner Michael Snyder of the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation attributes that to park staff.
Vermont’s 52 state parks are fully operated from mid-May through mid-October. Attendance is not tracked during the offseason.
Park officials recorded more than 1 million visitors only four other times over the 91-year history of the park system.
In Wake Of The Terrible Incident At Costello Courthouse, VSEA Issued The Following Press Release Reminding Of January 2015 Report’s Call For Increased Security In Vermont’s Courthouses:
Vermont State Employees Association (VSEA) members who work in Vermont courthouses statewide have been working with their union for years to sound the alarm about potential security issues inside our state’s courthouses. Their concerns were validated in January 2015, when Judiciary Chief of Finance and Administration Matt Riven delivered a report to the legislature that was prepared by “national court security experts” and identified “significant unmet security needs in the four courthouses in the study sample,” one of which was the Costello Courthouse in Burlington. To date, the Judiciary has not acted on many of the report’s recommendations, primarily; VSEA members are told, because there is no money.
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