Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) – Practically 4,000 kids and youngsters are presently in South Carolina’s out-of-home foster care system, with a whole lot of them dwelling in group houses.
However these group houses have been receiving the identical pay price from the state for offering that look after practically a decade, and so they worry not elevating these charges quickly may have long-lasting repercussions.
“We’ve already seen, sadly, a few of our suppliers exit of enterprise,” Kim Beaudoin stated. “An increasing number of of them will shut in the event that they don’t get the speed will increase which might be lengthy late.”
Beaudoin works as CEO of Palmetto Affiliation for Kids and Households, which represents 50 of the state’s group houses, most of that are nonprofits.
In recent times, their workload has solely gone up.
“They’ve at all times been a weak inhabitants, however I’ve been within the subject myself for 35 years, and the wants are as excessive as they’ve ever been and as complicated and difficult,” Beaudoin stated.
Group houses are additionally battling the identical challenges many employers at the moment are dealing with, like rising prices as a result of inflation and bother discovering employees, competing with employers like chain eating places and rideshare companies for brand new hires.
They obtain cash from the state, however the South Carolina Division of Social Companies is asking for group houses to get a further $8.8 million within the subsequent state finances to extend their pay charges.
“We all know that many of those group residence suppliers, they haven’t had their charges adjusted since 2015. We have been capable of do present some one-time type of price enhancements due to COVID and a few federal {dollars} that got to the company,” DSS Director of Communications and Exterior Affairs Connelly-Anne Ragley stated.
DSS can be asking lawmakers for one more $2 million to extend the reimbursements foster households obtain every month by about $30. Greater than 60% of the children and youngsters in foster care underneath DSS’s supervision live in family-like houses, with individuals to whom they don’t seem to be associated or had beforehand shared a detailed relationship.
These charges are decided by the kid’s age. DSS needs to lift the month-to-month reimbursement for kids youthful than six from $619 to $644, for kids 6-12 from $723 to $752, and for youngsters from $764 to $794.
“It’s one thing that we glance, as a division, at yearly, and we attempt to alter these month-to-month charges primarily based on the age of the kid, and we attempt to hold assembly the southeastern common for the US Division of Agriculture’s tips for the price of elevating a toddler,” Ragley stated.
Beaudoin stated these price will increase are essential.
Ideally, she stated group houses ought to use donations, grants, and endowment funds as “enhancements” to their work as an alternative of fueling their vital operations.
However for years, many houses have been utilizing these pots of cash to offset the prices of companies as a result of the funding they’ve been getting from the state and federal authorities hasn’t been sufficient, Beaudoin stated.
“That’s a dangerous enterprise mannequin, each for suppliers but additionally, extra importantly, for kids and youth,” Beaudoin stated. “It creates plenty of haves and have-nots, and that’s not what the system needs. We wish to have the ability to present equal entry to all kids and youths.”
Lawmakers will begin taking on finances requests from DSS and different state companies after their new legislative session begins Jan. 10.
Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.
Two people were killed and two others wounded in a shooting Saturday night in Rock Hill, S.C., police said.
A 44-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man were pronounced dead at the scene of a block party in the city just across the state border from Charlotte, N.C. Their names were not immediately released.
A 25-year-old woman was shot in the arm, and a 24-year-old man suffered a grave wound, the Rock Hill Herald reported.
No suspects have been arrested or publicly identified in connection with the gunfire.
Authorities responded around 10 p.m. to reports of a shooting at a block party in the city of 75,000 people, according to the Herald. Officers found the two deceased victims and the wounded woman at the scene. The wounded man arrived at the hospital on his own, police said.
Cops release no further information on the shooting or any possible motive.
The mayhem in South Carolina was one of three mass shootings overnight across the U.S. No suspects have been arrested or named in any of the incidents.
Just after midnight at an outdoor party in Akron, Ohio, one person was killed and 24 others wounded when gunfire erupted on the street. Any possible motive for that shooting remains unclear, but authorities said there was not a threat to the larger community.
And in Penn Hills, Pa., an eastern Pittsburgh suburb, two people were killed and seven others wounded when multiple people exchanged gunfire inside a bar, police said.
There have now been 191 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2024, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which counts any shooting with at least four victims as a mass shooting. There were 655 such incidents in 2023.
With News Wire Services
RALEIGH, N.C. (South Carolina Athletics) –
FOR STARTERS
NC STATE RECAP
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
South Carolina Dylan Eskew (R-Jr., RHP) 3-4, 4.87 ERA, 57.1 IP, 24 BB, 38 SO
James Madison Casey Smith (Jr. RHP) 1-3, 5.59 ERA, 38.2 IP, 16 BB, 24 SO
Copyright 2024 WHNS. All rights reserved.
A map shows how parts of South Carolina could be submerged by water as sea levels rise because of climate change.
The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects that by the year 2100, global sea levels could rise by up to 3.6 feet if greenhouse gas emissions are not mitigated. It added that a rise of about 6.6 feet “cannot be ruled out.”
The map by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) allows users to see how different parts of the United States would be affected if sea levels rose by various amounts.
South Carolina has numerous rivers and estuaries, particularly along its coastline. If sea levels were to rise by 3 feet, water would begin encroaching the land in these areas. The areas along the South Edisto River would be particularly affected, with large parts submerged completely.
If sea levels were to rise by 6 feet, many more areas along the coast would be inundated by water, including parts of the well-known barrier islands Hilton Head and Kiawah, which would be almost entirely submerged.
Charleston, the state’s most populous port city, is threaded by dozens of rivers and creeks, and would also be badly affected by rising sea levels. Large parts of the city would be submerged if sea levels rose by 6 feet, particularly its downtown areas, which could affect many of the city’s roughly 150,000 residents.
These coastal areas are particularly vulnerable due to their low elevation and susceptibility to storm surges, which is the rise in seawater level caused by a storm.
States along the coasts of the Southern U.S. are at particular risk of sea level rise, according to data from the NOAA.
Sea levels rose around Charleston by 7.1 inches between 2010 and 2023. That was four times the rate of the previous 30 years, showing that the rate is accelerating.
The rises are primarily caused by the melting of ice caps into the ocean due to warming temperatures. The level at which sea levels will rise will be impacted by whether global action is taken to slow climate change.
Charleston is also experiencing sinking land, known as land subsidence, which happens partly due to natural geological processes and also from human activities such as the extraction of groundwater from deep in the earth.
The city has adopted a Sea Level Rise Strategy, which involves planning for future water inundation by modifying infrastructure, raising streets and sea walls, along with other initiatives such as acquiring repetitive loss properties and using these lowlands to absorb future waterways.
NOAA oceanographer William Sweet previously told Newsweek in an emailed response: “NOAA’s Sea Level Rise Viewer is a versatile mapping platform that provides insights on what lies in harm’s way—either from on-going sea level rise or flooding from full-moon tides to hurricane storm surges.
“Due to decades of sea level rise, high tides are drowning wetlands and routinely flooding U.S. coastal communities, disrupting commutes and commerce and requiring extensive upgrades to public works like storm- and waste-water systems.”
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Read the I.C.J. Ruling on Israel’s Rafah Offensive
Video: Protesters Take Over U.C.L.A. Building
Hoping to pave pathway to peace, Norway to recognise Palestinian statehood
Legendary U.S. World War II submarine located 3,000 feet underwater off the Philippines
Families of Uvalde school shooting victims sue Microsoft, Meta and gunmaker
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to undergo nonsurgical procedure, Deputy Kathleen Hicks will assume control
Hunter Biden attends pre-trial hearing in Delaware court on federal gun charges
Here are three possible outcomes in the Trump hush money trial : Consider This from NPR