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Local
Food Lion Feeds foundation donates to Stepping Stone Mission
Updated
Stepping Stone Mission of Franklin Co. has received $2,200 from the Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation. The Feeding the Hungry grant supports Stepping Stone Mission’s efforts to purchase the staple ingredients most often used for its daily meal service. In addition, the grant supports feeding partners by helping neighbors increase their access to nutritious food and providing nutrition education to eliminate health risks for those experiencing food insecurity.
“This grant will secure the inventory levels of the nonperishable items used every day for our meal service,” said Staci Talley, Mission Director. “Stepping Stone Mission of Franklin County exists to provide Franklin County residents access to at least one hand-prepared meal every day, a small food pantry of fruits, vegetables, meats and breads to take home, and on-site representatives from local health and aide organizations to help patrons navigate their financial and health needs.”
Stepping Stone Mission’s soup kitchen serves a midday meal 365 days a year and just celebrated its 17th year thanks to community partners like Food Lion.
Local
feline friday
Feline Friday: Stripey and Sam
Updated
Stripey
Sam
Stripey, domestic short hair
Stripey and his siblings came to the adoption center as feral kittens. They went to a foster home and now they are at the adoption center. Now 6 months old, Stripey is ready to delight his new owners with his playful kitten prowess. He loves all of his toys, especially his crinkle ball toy. Stripey would love to have a home with one of his siblings or one of his kitten friends so they can keep each other company. Usually having two kittens is better than one and double the fun! Stripey is neutered, vaccinated, microchipped and house trained.
Sam, domestic short hair
Sam is a debonair, 2.5-year-old gray tabby. He initially came to the adoption center not wanting anything to do with people at first. When he discovered that people are pretty cool and mean no harm, he quickly warmed up. Plus, these wonderful people had treats that were Sam's favorite! Sam gets along with other cats and would be open to sharing a home with a friend. He is a lover and would be best in a home that is indoor only. Sam is neutered, vaccinated, microchipped and house trained.
The review was conducted by the staff of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, known as JLARC, and was presented on Monday by a bipartisan group of elected officials from the General Assembly.
A team within the agency reported that most of the state’s psychiatric hospitals are overcrowded and poorly staffed, resulting in unsafe conditions; patients are inappropriately admitted; and costs are soaring as hospitals hire contractors as a last-minute stopgap staffing solution.
The small facility substantiated 32% of civil rights complaints made within the youth hospital, JLARC found, and staff used mechanical restraints at more than 40 times the national average. The report said the hospital was “an immediate threat to the health and safety of the patients,” most of whom are 12 to 17 years old.
Smith was present to offer comments after the report was presented to elected officials on the commission.
“They make my stomach turn. I’m sure they make your stomach turn, too, commissioner,” McPike said.
JLARC meets on Monday to discuss a report on state psychiatric
hospitals.
LUCA POWELL, Times-Dispatch
Smith, an appointee of Gov. Glenn Youngkin, rebutted some of the report’s findings and quickly recast the struggling psychiatric hospital system as a hangover from the administration of Gov. Ralph Northam.
“Since the start of this administration, DBHDS has pushed to make critical improvements to the state hospitals, along with strengthening oversight and management of the facilities,” said Smith, referring to Youngkin’s “Right Help, Right Now” campaign to reform mental health care in Virginia.
After the presentation, John Littel, Virginia’s secretary of health and human resources, said the Youngkin administration isn’t inclined to shut down the youth hospital.
“We don’t think it’s time to talk about closing CCCA,” Littel said.
Smith said drastic changes had already been implemented at the Staunton facility, including “removing the leadership there” and “drastically reducing the amount of time children spend in restraints.”
State has 9 psychiatric hospitals
The state’s nine psychiatric hospitals have had ongoing issues for years.
Central Virginia is home to Central State Hospital, the only maximum-security hospital and the site of the March death of Irvo Otieno, a 28-year-old Black man who asphyxiated in the custody of Henrico County sheriff’s deputies and hospital employees.
The majority of patients arrive in these hospitals involuntarily, typically after a judge requests a “competency restoration” before a defendant can stand trial, a service that costs the state $110,000, according to the JLARC study.
It also concluded that overtime pay at the hospitals have ballooned to six times what Virginia paid in 2013, and DBHDS contracting costs have ballooned as much as 10 times.
The study pointed out that many of the problems developed after a 2014 law was enacted by the General Assembly that designated state psychiatric hospitals as “beds of last resort.” Central State officials were told that that they could not deny patients admission.
The basic standard for psychiatric hospitals is to operate at no more than 85% of capacity. But Central State Hospital has been running over 101% capacity since fiscal year 2021. Eastern State Hospital in James City County runs over 100%. Southern Virginia Mental Health Institute in Danville runs over 98%, and Western State in Staunton at more than 99%.
Those are “unsafe operating levels,” said Drew Dickinson, a JLARC analyst who presented the findings.
The report also identified other agencies that have aggravated conditions at state hospitals. Dickinson told officials that the state Office of the Inspector General reviewed 117 of 663 human rights complaints, even though they are required to review each complaint. The others were sent back to DBHDS.
Nelson Smith, commissioner of the Department of Behavioral
Health and Developmental Services, speaks Dec. 11 during a meeting
of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, the
legislature's watchdog agency.
LUCA POWELL, Times-Dispatch
“We strongly believe that there needs to be more accountability placed on OSIG,” Dickinson said.
Dickinson also said law enforcement agencies continue to do “drop-offs” that bypass regular admissions rules, like determining if a patient actually qualifies to be there or if they need urgent medical care first.
In January, Attorney General Jason Miyares issued an opinion explaining that Virginia law “does not permit” them doing so without the patient being admitted. The purpose of the opinion was to clarify who was responsible for arrestees who needed to be admitted for psychiatric help, a game of hot potato in which Miyares came down in support of the hospitals.
Since the opinion came out, however, more than 450 “drop-offs” have occurred, Dickinson explained, signaling that Miyares’ opinion has gone unheeded by the agencies.
5 elementary students in Va. treated after eating something that tested positive for fentanyl
JUSTIN FAULCONER
The News & Advance
Seven students at Central Elementary School in Amherst experienced a reaction Tuesday to something they ingested at school, which later tested positive for fentanyl, according to a news release from Amherst County Public Schools.
School administration immediately notified emergency services and families of the affected students. Five of those students sought medical treatment, the division’s release said.
Amherst County EMS workers took two students for treatment, and parents took the other three students.
The Amherst County Sheriff’s Office performed a field test on the bag that held the items the students ate, and the results indicated a positive reaction for fentanyl, according to the release. The school system confirmed the bag was brought to school by a student, the release said.
“Amherst County Public Schools, in cooperation with Amherst County Public Safety and the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office, is currently in the process of investigating the cause of the illness,” the release said. “The safety and well-being of our students is our top priority.”
Families of the students have been notified, according to the release.
ACPS officials will provide an update on the situation when more information is available.
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Federal agencies, grieving families call for funds to fight fentanyl
