DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

PALMDALE, Calif. (AP) — Christian Bale broke ground Wednesday on a project he’s been pursuing for 16 years -- the building of a dozen homes and a community center in Los Angeles County intended to keep siblings in foster care together. That was around 2008, the time of “The Dark Knight,” when his now college-age daughter was 3 years old. The 12 homes, anchored by the community center, are set to be finished in April of 2025. “It’s something that is incredibly satisfying for me, and I want to be involved every step of the way,” Bale said. “Maybe this is the first one, and maybe this is the only one, and that would be great.

Persons: — Christian Bale, Bale, Christopher Nolan, wasn't, Bruce Wayne, he'd, ”, “, Von Trapp, ” Bale, Tim McCormick, Eric Esrailian, we've, McCormick, Kathryn Barger, I’m, Steven Spielberg's “, He's, Ford Organizations: Associated Press, UCLA, Sun, Disney, Ferrari Locations: PALMDALE, Calif, Los Angeles County, Hollywood, Palmdale, San Gabriel, Los Angeles, California, LA County, Chicago

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky state Rep. Kevin Bratcher announced his plans Thursday to run for a Louisville Metro Council seat next year, which would culminate a long statehouse career that put the Republican lawmaker at the forefront of school safety, juvenile justice and a host of other issues. Bratcher has been a fixture in the Kentucky House since 1997. Bratcher becomes the second Louisville-area lawmaker within days to pass up a House reelection run to instead seek a metro council seat in 2024. Democratic state Rep. Josie Raymond announced similar plans to run for metro council in another district. Another lawmaker who announced recently that he won't seek reelection next year is Republican state Rep. Danny Bentley, who represents a district in northeastern Kentucky.

Persons: Kevin Bratcher, Bratcher, Josie Raymond, ” Bratcher, David Osborne, ” Osborne, Danny Bentley, Bentley Organizations: Louisville Metro Council, statehouse, Republican, Kentucky House, GOP, Democratic, Louisville, Health, Family Services Locations: FRANKFORT, Ky, Kentucky, Louisville, Bratcher, Jefferson County, Fern

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts shelters are being pushed past their capacity, running out of beds for families, including migrants arriving from other states and residents weathering a housing crunch right before winter, said Democratic Gov. “We were informed we hit the cap and due to the cap, families are being put on a waitlist,” said Cherlin Dubon, triage case specialist for the group. Healey has said she doesn’t want to see families out on the street but that the state has essentially reached its shelter capacity. Some states led by Republicans — including Texas and Florida — have bused or flown immigrants to states and cities led by Democrats, including California, Massachusetts, New York and Chicago. Critics argue Healey’s decision to cap shelter placements violates the state’s “right-to-shelter” law.

Persons: Maura Healey, Healey, —, Chelsea , Massachusetts —, ”, Cherlin, Republicans —, Eric Adams, Ronald Mariano, Mariano, Kelly Turley, We’re, ” Turley, Geralde Gabeau, “ Organizations: BOSTON, Democratic Gov, Republicans, Democrats, York City, Democratic, Hynes Convention Center, Massachusetts Coalition, Homeless, Family Services, Housing Locations: Massachusetts, Colaborativa, Chelsea , Massachusetts, Texas, Florida, California , Massachusetts, New York, Chicago, York, Hynes, Boston

☆ More than 14,000 licensed childcare centers in the US are behind on state-mandated inspections
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

More than 14,000 licensed childcare facilities across the US are due for a state-mandate inspection. Inspired by Morin's video, researchers at USAFacts, a not-for-profit group owned by current Los Angeles Clippers owner and former Microsoft Executive Steve Ballmer, compiled inspection data from 148,166 licensed childcare facilities in 41 states between June and September 2023 to discover that 14,683 licensed childcare facilities across the country are behind on receiving their state-mandated inspections. As for Minnesota, its state records reflect that 85% of its childcare facilities have received an inspection recently enough to comply with state law. Tennessee, for example, requires childcare facilities to be inspected four times a year, while California only requires it once every three years. In the case of Morin's son's childcare facility, prior state inspections had already flagged it repeatedly for grossly violating the child-to-caregiver ratios.

Persons: haven't, —, Deacon, Dani Morin, Steve Ballmer, Morin, USAFacts, Amber Thomas, Thomas, you've, Katherine Glenn, Applegate, Rhett Organizations: Service, Los Angeles Clippers, Microsoft, Minnesota Department of Human Services, USAFacts, Ohio Department of, Family Services, California's Department of Social Services Locations: California, Idaho, Ohio, Minnesota, . Tennessee, Hawaii , Illinois, West Virginia , New Hampshire , Florida , Kansas , Massachusetts , Nebraska, Pennsylvania

☆ Here's where the jobs are for June 2023 — in one chart
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Jesse Pound | In Jesse-Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The biggest area for growth was health care and social assistance, with 65,200 jobs added, according to data from the Labor Department . The June jobs report showed signs that the U.S. labor market may be losing steam after surprisingly strong growth earlier this year, but some categories still saw big jumps in employment last month. The other star category was government, which added 60,000 jobs. Another strong area of the labor market was construction, which added 23,000 jobs for the second straight month. Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify that hospitals added 15,000 jobs.

Persons: Betsey Stevenson, Stevenson Organizations: Labor Department, University of Michigan, Retail

☆ Retail crime has hit a bustling Kansas metropolis
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( Parija Kavilanz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Republican Kris Kobach, Kansas’ attorney general, said retail crime is a “spiraling problem” in his state, adding that Kansas and Missouri are among the top 10 states in the nation for volume of retail crime. “There is a link between drug trafficking and organized retail crime,” Kobach told lawmakers in June. “Organized retail crime is a problem that is getting worse, not better. Organized retail crime offers criminals a business model of pure profit, “with no overhead, rent, product cost. In early June, Kobach testified before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on “Organized Retail Crime and the Threat to Public Safety.”“When one thinks about the explosion of organized retail crime in the United States, the State of Kansas may not intuitively jump to mind,” he told lawmakers.

Persons: They’re, it’s, Coleman, “ I’ve, ”, Casey Slaughter, Kris Kobach, Kobach, ” Kobach, Joe Sullivan, Sullivan, ” Sullivan, Joe Sohm, Cabela’s, shoplifters, ” Cabela’s, Slaughter, “, Marc Bennett, There’s, Harold Casey, Casey, She’s, Poor, John Hanna, don’t, “ That’s Organizations: New, New York CNN, Wichita Police, Kansas, CNN, “, Wichita, Wichita Skyline, America, Sporting Goods, Academy Sports, National Retail Federation, Centers for Disease Control, of Kansas, Scott, Family Services, ”, Walgreens, Public Safety Locations: New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Wichita , Kansas, Kris Kobach , Kansas, Kansas, Missouri, In Kansas, Sedgwick, Wichita, Arkansas Rivers, , Kansas, ”, Kansas . Kansas, Sedgwick County, Ulta, United States, State, But Kansas, “ In Kansas

☆ Here’s where the jobs are for April 2023 — in one chart
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Broad job gains across the economy helped the labor market show resilience in the face of a banking crisis and growing recessionary concerns. Friday's data bolsters the argument that the labor market has remained idiosyncratically strong despite signs that the broader economy has slowed. Almost one out of every four of the new jobs were in health care and social assistance, which added about 64,200 in the month. Professional and business services saw the second largest growth in April at 43,000, which is more jobs than it has added in an average month over the past half-year. Professional, scientific and technical service jobs accounted for the bulk of the sector's gains with a 45,000 increase.

The family of three attended the appointment as a group with five other Haitian asylum-seekers. One family among thousandsDieuvena’s family is among thousands entering the US, as the government tries to process an increasing number of migrants. While one member of their group knew someone in Boston, Dieuvena said her family has neither friends nor family in the city. “The person who gave her this little corner to sleep is not around,” Gabeau told CNN, “so she doesn’t know where to go, what to do because she doesn’t know the area. Dieuvena said if she doesn’t find anything by the end of the day Sunday, she doesn’t know what they’ll do.

☆ Canada unveils revised C$23 bln compensation deal for Indigenous children
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The tribunal ruled in 2016 that the federal government allocated fewer funds for child and family services of Indigenous people than for others, pushing more Indigenous children into foster care. The federal government is responsible for funding child welfare services for children on First Nations reserves. Individual provinces fund child welfare services for non-native children and native children who do not live on reserves, creating a two-tiered system. Canada's Indigenous people have higher levels of poverty and a lower life expectancy than other Canadians, and are more often the victims of violent crime, addiction and incarceration. "This agreement represents real work towards Canada's commitment to First Nations children past, present and future," Canada's Justice Minister David Lametti said in the statement.

☆ 103 unaccompanied minors found in abandoned trailer in Mexico, govt says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, March 6 (Reuters) - Mexican authorities found 103 unaccompanied minors mostly from Guatemala inside an abandoned truck trailer in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, the government said on Monday, in one of the biggest recent discoveries of migrant children traveling through Mexico. In addition to the 103 children, authorities found 212 adults from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Ecuador in the trailer, the National Migration Institute (INM) said in a statement. Another 28 migrants traveling as families from Guatemala and El Salvador were also in the trailer, bringing the total number of passengers to 343. It was outfitted with fans, a partially ventilated roof and a structure that created a second level inside the trailer. Earlier this year, Mexican authorities found 57 unaccompanied minors from Guatemala at a checkpoint near the U.S.-Mexico border, and 20 other unaccompanied minors in a group of mostly Central Americans in the southern state of Chiapas.

☆ The U.S. Must Defeat Mexico’s Drug Cartels
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( William P. Barr | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

America can no longer tolerate narco-terrorist cartels. Operating from havens in Mexico, their production of deadly drugs on an industrial scale is flooding our country with this poison. Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R., Texas) and Michael Waltz (R., Fla.) have proposed a joint resolution giving the president authority to use the U.S. military against these cartels in Mexico. Overdose deaths every year—more than 100,000—exceed the number of Americans killed in action during the bloodiest year of World War II. Given the explosion in illicit drug deaths since then, this estimate now seems conservative.

☆ Michael Haight is accused of killing his wife and 5 kids in a brutal Utah familicide. Police reports suggest he had a troubling pattern of aggression toward children.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Police say Michael Haight, 42, shot and killed his wife, Tausha Haight, 40, her mother, Gail Earl, 78, and the couple's five children, three girls, and two boys ages 4 to 17, before committing suicide. The couple had five children: Macie Haight, 17, Briley Haight, 12, Ammon Haight, 7, Sienna Haight, 7, and Gavin Haight, 4. The officer told her there was no indication Michael Haight would respond with violence, according to the report. At some point prior to the massacre, Tausha Haight told family members that her husband removed all the firearms from the home, her sister-in-law, told the AP. Park said he last met with Tausha Haight on Tuesday, January 3 — the day before the family's bodies were discovered.

☆ New York girl, 15, sentenced to up to 9 years in jail in fatal stabbing of cheerleader
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Marlene Lenthang | Marlene Lenthang Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

A 15-year-old New York girl who fatally stabbed a 16-year-old cheerleader in April has been sentenced to up to nine years behind bars. The April 8 stabbing unfolded after a parade was held to honor the boys basketball team at Mount Vernon High School for its state championship win. The defendant stabbed Green in the abdomen with a knife on Gramatan Avenue in Mount Vernon, prosecutors said. We had a young lady in school, wreaking havoc in the Mount Vernon school system." NBC News has reached out to an attorney for the teen defendant, and the school district, for comment.

☆ Kentucky revokes license and orders children removed from foster care facility where 7-year-old boy died
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Safia Samee Ali | Safia Samee Ali Is A Reporter For Nbc News Digital | Based In Chicago. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

An NBC News investigation into the facility that revealed allegations of wrongdoing at that site and its sister campus several years before Ja’Ceon died. "We have also worked cooperatively with all investigations, including those by local law enforcement.”The monthslong investigation by the Cabinet’s Office of Inspector General and Department for Community Based Services cited several “failures” at the Brooklawn facility. The state, which stopped placing children in foster care at Brooklawn following Ja’Ceon’s death, directed Uspiritus to safely transition any children who remain at Brooklawn to alternate placements within 15 days. “This outcome is necessary, but nothing we do will bring back Ja’Ceon Terry.”Kentucky mother Autumn Janeway wrote accusations against the foster care facility on the back window of her car. Michael Swensen for NBC NewsFriedlander's office is also investigating allegations by the mother of a developmentally delayed child that the child was choked, scratched and taunted at the Brooklawn facility.

“I needed help and when you take a parent like me that is desperate to get their child help, we put trust into places like Brooklawn,” Janeway said. Shortly after Anthony entered Brooklawn, Janeway said he was being antagonized by staff, which she heard multiple times on the phone. According to the suit, Anthony told her he had been “choked” during a phone call in October 2021 prompting Janeway to immediately drive down to the facility. It is unclear if the matter was reported to the state agency, which denied a public records request. “I trusted a broken system that is supposed to help my son, not hurt my son, and it failed him,” she said.

☆ A boy was choked and verbally abused at the same Kentucky youth facility where a 7-year-old was killed, lawsuit says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Safia Samee Ali | Safia Samee Ali Is A Reporter For Nbc News Digital | Based In Chicago. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

The state did not answer questions about where the children who are no longer at the facility were sent. ‘Nonstop’ verbal abuseFor nine months, Janeway said, her son was verbally and emotionally abused and antagonized by staff, and at times she heard it over the phone, according to the lawsuit. That information is protected.” But she said the facility would let Janeway know when the process had been completed. “I trusted a broken system that is supposed to help my son, not hurt my son, and it failed him,” she said. Michael Swensen for NBC News"This lawsuit was filed on behalf of another child victim that was choked and abused at the Brooklawn facility," Paul Croley, a lawyer who filed the suit, said in a written statement.

☆ Kentucky children’s agency is taking ‘additional action’ against foster care facility where 7-year-old boy suffocated
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Safia Samee Ali | Safia Samee Ali Is A Reporter For Nbc News Digital | Based In Chicago. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The Kentucky agency charged with overseeing state youth centers said it has taken new action against the nonprofit organization that operates a Louisville foster care facility where a 7-year-old boy suffocated to death in July. The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services took “additional action” against Uspiritus on Wednesday, Susan Dunlap, a spokesperson for the agency, said in a statement. The cabinet will not tolerate placing children anywhere where their safety and well-being are not prioritized,” Eric Friedlander, secretary of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said in a statement following the additional action. The facility said it “dismissed” the two employees who it says were involved immediately after the incident and the Kentucky Cabinet of Health and Family Services suspended new foster care placements at Brooklawn. The health and safety of the Brooklawn family is always our top priority,” Uspiritus, which also operates Brooklawn’s sister facility, Bellewood, said in a statement following the boy’s death.

Among the violations “confirmed” by state investigators from the Kentucky Cabinet were improper use of restraints and aggression by staff members. As of Oct. 20, 32 children who are in state custody remained in Brooklawn’s care, according to the facility. Police and state officials say they are still investigating Ja’Ceon’s death, and no charges have been filed. Brooklawn said the facility has implemented new safety measures and increased training for staffers who provide direct care to children. This type of incident should never be allowed to happen again.”Some child advocates say Ja’Ceon’s death should prompt systemic change.

☆ ‘Dying Inside’: Chaos and Cruelty in Louisiana Juvenile Detention
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Megan Shutzer | Rachel Lauren Mueller | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +47 min

But inside the walls at Ware, one of the state’s largest juvenile detention facilities, children have been trying to kill themselves with stunning regularity. In Louisiana, where brutal conditions prompted juvenile justice reform two decades ago, the system is again in crisis. Most Ware guards are Black, as well, though nearly all of its leaders are white, as are the local judge, sheriff and district attorney. “Of course, they still do.” In reports to the state, Ware’s nurses described carpet burns on children’s faces and head-to-toe bruises from restraints. In fact, of the four guards convicted of sexually assaulting children at Ware, Mr. Peace would be the only one imprisoned.

☆ Maven Clinic, women and family-focused health startup, is booming in the post-Roe v. Wade world
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Barbara Collins | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Maven Clinic, a virtual women and family clinic, is allowing companies to offer their employees an extensive online network of fertility, pregnancy, adoption, parenting and pediatrics services. Ryder's goal for Maven is to put women first when it comes to their health care, filling any gaps they may experience. Maven Clinic was ranked No. Ryder said Maven Clinic was anticipating the overturning of Roe v. Wade after SB-8 in Texas in 2021, which banned virtually all abortions and health care relating to abortions after six weeks. "All the major medical associations have come out … saying this is a health access issue, a health-care issue," Ryder said.

☆ Illinois Gov. Pritzker, GOP challenger Bailey focus on crime during debate
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

“It’s a mess.”Despite talking over each other regularly, neither Pritzker nor the moderators pressed Bailey on that statement. Pritzker’s extreme policies are destroying the city,” Bailey said. Pritzker, it’s time for him to own it.”Pritzker blamed the Covid-19 pandemic for a rise in crime in Chicago and nationally. At the end of the Sept. 30 quarterly reporting period, Pritzker had $42.3 million on hand after raising $80.8 million during the period and spending $38.5 million. “He’s too conservative for Illinois,” Pritzker said.

☆ The Columbus, Ohio, Warehouse Boom: How warehouses brought stifling dust and diesel fumes — and a chance for refugees to grab the American dream
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | Katherine Long | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +27 min

What binds them, despite different nationalities, immigration stories, and languages, are warehouse jobs. As Columbus' warehouse development begins encroaching into residential areas, a consensus is gathering here — as it has elsewhere — that warehouses make for poor neighbors. Tariq Tarey for InsiderIn Canal Winchester, Halstead's efforts to put the question of warehouse development before voters were stymied. The town council bypassed her group's referendum by declaring a state of emergency to approve the warehouse development. There aren't clear lines between the winners and losers of Columbus' warehouse boom.

☆ The Teen Mental Health Industry Is Failing Them - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Alexander Stockton | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +26 min

Sometimes they are treated in ways that are illegal to treat prisoners, let alone kids seeking mental health treatment. But former patients from residential treatment facilities whom Times Opinion interviewed said they received one-on-one therapy only once a week, if that. The company owns dozens of hospitals and hundreds of behavioral health facilities and makes about $11 billion a year. In 2017, when he was 15 years old, his mother, Renee Hanania, sent him to a UHS facility in Virginia. America’s patchwork mental health treatment is still insufficient.

A rural Wyoming ranch accused of subjecting troubled girls to forced labor and humiliating punishments has notified state regulators it halted operations. Trinity Teen Solutions informed the Wyoming Department of Family Services, which licenses the ranch, that it stopped providing services and enrolling new teens on Sept. 28, officials said. Trinity Teen Solutions’ website remains active, but its Facebook and Twitter accounts were deleted in the past several weeks. Sophia Boutrous, left, and Kelsie VanMeveren lift lumber at Trinity Teen Solutions in 2011. “Not only as a survivor of Trinity Teen Solutions myself, but for others that have suffered abuse” in these types of facilities.

LOS ANGELES — Angelina Jolie accused former husband Brad Pitt of choking one of their children during a volatile trans-Atlantic flight in 2016, according to a complaint she filed Tuesday. The filing, seen by NBC News, was a cross-complaint Jolie aimed at Pitt. Jolie maintained in the complaint, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, that she was never under restrictions about whom she could sell the property to. “At one point, he poured beer on Jolie; at another, he poured beer and red wine on the children. “Brad will continue to respond in court as he has consistently done.”Diana Dasrath reported from Los Angeles and David K. Li from New York.

Search resuls for: "Family Services"

25 mentions found