Caregiver series highlighted professional ills

It is with sadness and consternation that I read Buffy Pollock’s thoughtful and thorough series and the crises for employees at Partnership in Community Living facilities.

The state agency that licenses these facilities is now tasked with overseeing these problems in low staffing and safety measures. This current inclusion of a number of previous employees are familiar with their horrible employment settings tell it all. This is about money, greed and cheap labor.

The California Regional Centers are part of a system of 21; they broker services for developmentally disabled individuals. I am familiar with this as I was hired in the late 1980s as a Medicaid Waiver RN and later also a caseworker for clients. Employees were trained as mental health counselors, social workers with a BA and/or MSW, Licensed Clinical Social Workers and PhD psychologists.

We all worked with providers in small group homes for safety, locking up medications and other state criteria.

At our regional center we held twice monthly staff meetings to address staff and client needs and services. If Care Home Providers did not follow state criteria for safety, individual programs and federal medicaid criteria, some homes were closed. This was rare.

Anne Warner / Phoenix

Presentation at fair disrespected art of quilters

To the Jackson County Fair Board,

I am an 85-year-old quilter. I am appalled at the way the quilts, which is an art form, were presented. I feel that all the quilters across the world have been disappointed, offended, and disturbed by the way each quilt which was entered this year was displayed.

If this is the new way, then I for one will not enter another quilt at the Jackson County Fair, and I will encourage other quilters to do the same.

Our quilts are the artistic forms of talents, we put much money and many hours, days and or months into our quilts, and some person folds them down to a small square and puts it over a rack, to hide all of the real work and art of the quilt.

Shame on you.

Linda Tennisin / White City