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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1988-03-09, Page 13THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 1988. PAGE 13. Family, Children's Services slashed by county Despite a plea from Family and Children’s Services Director John Penn for a large budget increase, county council slashed his propos­ ed budget at the March meeting of council March 3. The budget asked for the agency would have seen an increase of 9.3 percent over 1987’s actual approv­ ed budget. Instead, the county voted to cut the county's share of the budget to $254,226 from the $276,573 asked for. Earlier in making his annual report to council Mr. Penn had pointed out that although the agency had come up with a $26,000 surplus in 1987 he was asking for an increase to provide three addition­ al areas of service. One of these needs was for a “parent-aid", a person to go into homes and provide intensive, in-home training for some young parents. This would help solve problems like the nine-month-old child who weighed only 12 pounds because his parents didn’t know how to properly feed it, he said. This program has led to a significant reduction in the num­ ber of children under five in the society's care. Ironically if the children were in care the Ontario ministry would fund their costs but the ministry will not fund the program that helps parents better provide for the chldren in their own /homes. Mr. Penn also expressed a need for better reimbursement for foster parents taking in teenage children. Currently they receive $9.75 per day. It is difficult to expect foster parents to look after an angry, upset, potentially dangerous teen­ ager for 24 hours a day for that amount of money, Mr. Penn said. The province has recommended such parents receive $26 per day but the Huron Board had recom­ mended $12.85 per day. The higher rate would mean an addi­ tional expense of $42,000 this year, he said. Councillors were not prepared to accept Mr. Penn’s statement that Huron had the lowest foster care rates in the province. Turnberry Blyth 4-H Club BY DIANE HALLAHAN The second meeting of the Blyth 4-H club was held at the home of Darlene Giousher on February 23. The meeting was opened by the President with the 4-H pledge and minutes of the last meeting. RoseAnn Machan asked for a club name and a picture but the response was so overwhelming that the members asked for another week to decide on the best one. As part of the topic of the meeting members learned how to calculate a net worth statement and how to keep a record of income and expenses. Next they learned how to divide a paycheck into different areas so that they have enough money to pay for their bills, etc. They also learned how to keep goodfilesinagoodfilesystem. The meeting was closed with the 4-H motto. Stockyards Continued from page 12 weighing 1140 lbs., sold for $90. Choice cows sold at $59 to $65; good cows brought $57 to $62; and canners and cutters went for $53 to $57. Thirty to 40 lb. pigs traded to a high of $1.02 per lb.; 40 to 50 lb. pigs traded to a high of .98 cents per lb.; 50 to 60 lb. pigs traded to a high of.93 cents per lb.; 60 to 70 lb. pigstradedtoahighof .83 cents per lb.; 70 to80 lb. pigs traded to a high of .75 cents per lb. Light lambs sold up to $1.88 per lb.; 70 to 80 lb. lambs sold up to $1.68 per lb.; and heavy lambs sold up to $1.10 per lb. Reeve Brian McBurney asked if other counties provided some of the extras for foster parents that Huron did. Mr. Penn admitted others didn’t do such things as paying the cost of enrolling foster children in hockey programs and reimbursement for mileage costs but even with these extras Huron was among the lowest. TomCunningham, Hullettreeve wondered how much of the pro­ blem in attracting foster parents was because of the poor remunera­ tion.Heandhiswifehad looked intothe possibility of becoming foster parents at one time because they like kids. Reeve Cunningham said, but they believe in discipline, physical discipline if necessary and they understood that the ruled them out right off the bat. He said that the worry about false accusa­ tions by children of sexual abuse might also scare off potential foster parents. Mr. Penn said that provincial regulations say that nochild in care can be physically disciplined. As for charges of sexual abuse Mr. Penn said the potential for false accusations is there but for years agencies didn’t listen closely enough to the children. ‘ ‘Our main concern is what’s good for the child," he said. Mr. Penn’sotherrequestwasfor $25,000 to expand office space since the lack of proper facilities wasaproblemforboth staff and clients coming to visit the offices. In his proposal, Mr. Penn had suggested that the $26,000 surplus from 1987 be put aside in a contingency fund not put back into the budget. The contingency was necessary because if a child needs care in an outside institution, cost? can mount rapidly and all budge­ tary planning can go out the window, he warned. He also warned that using the surplus would paint a false picture of 1988 costs and at the beginning of 1989 an even larger increase would be necessary. It was evident from their vote when the budget came up later in the date that councillors did not buy the argument. The good news in Mr. Penn’s report was that there was a 20 per cent reduction in the number of children in care in 1987 compared to 1986 and a 30 per cent reduction from 1985. The agency is keeping more children in their own homes but the problem is it requires more manpower, he said. The difficulty is that 65 per cent of those children being taken into care are adolescents and hard to place in foster homes. There has been a big jump in child abuse cases, he said, up from 34 to57 cases, of which 25 cases involved sexual abuse. These are children who have suffered enor­ mous damage, Mr. Penn said. KING BRAND SEEDS PALMER SEEDS lam pleased to announce that we are now handling the many varieties of soybeans and SOYBEANS KG30 OAC Bicentennial Maple Arrow OAC Libra KG 60 OAC Aries Maple Donovan small grains of King Agro. H.U.GRAINS 2600 Helena 2 row 2600 Micmac 2 row 2600 Joly 6 row 2650 Leger 6 row 2700 Donald & Ogle oats 2750 Mixed grains 2750 LenandChrisPalmer R.R.#5,Wingham 357-3385 CORWfOK4GES50VBEWS GSW AUBURN CO OP County Rd. #25, Auburn 526-7262 Mon. - Fri. 8:30-5:30 Sat. 9-12noon BELGRAVE CO-OP Hwy. #4, Belgrave 357-2711 523-4454 Mon. - Fri. 8 a.m. -5p.m. Sat.9-12noon MasterCard 177 -35 ■ 1/3 H.P. SUMP PUMP Automatic. Positive action top mounted switch. Completely pre-wired. 3,000 gph capacity. 525-344. 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