The “Rail Skim” Suit: We Lost the Battle, Taxpayers Won the War
Judicial Vacancy 3rd Circuit
NPS: Eruption Cut Volcanoes National Park Traffic 45%
SHOPO: Homeless Must be Saved from Obstructionist ACLU
SA: … Needles. Tents and trash. Vacant eyes ….
We have a homelessness crisis. We have an addiction crisis. We have a mental health crisis. Anyone who tells you that homelessness, addiction and mental health are not related and not the major contributors to this epidemic, has not walked a footbeat with a police officer. We see it first-hand, because our communities send us in to “deal” with these problems….
the harsh reality is we have significant amounts of addicts and those who need mental health services who are homeless or who are heading there quickly. They are the hardest to reach and the hardest to serve. A warm bed and a job offer will not stop their slide into a hell…
The Honolulu Police Department is leading the way with its innovative H.E.L.P. program (Health Efficiency Long Term Partnership). This approach teams a police officer with a mental health clinician, a substance abuse counselor and a housing officer. Together, they bring services directly to the homeless….
The approach is impacting lives, saving money and improving police efficiency. Rather than taking an arrestee with medical issues to the emergency room for a four-hour wait, HPD officers can bring them to the JOC where the arrested is treated and cleared in under an hour….
The JOC also is saving Hawaii’s health care system significant money. Homeless clients are getting treated at a system cost of $400 per visit. While at the ER, the system cost is $3,000 to $4,000, and this usually only occurs after smaller health issues have grown more acute.
HPD wants to expand this program even further. It should. The State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers (SHOPO) and UCOPS, a national coalition of police unions, would like to see a program like H.E.L.P in all of our cities….
H.E.L.P. is not a silver bullet. We still must move past obstructionist groups like the ACLU that try to stop legitimate efforts to keep our communities clean and safe. We need to look at laws that allow medical professionals to intercede when someone who cannot take care of themselves slides toward crisis. We need to admit that not every homeless person is priced out of the housing market or is a struggling veteran.
These are hard truths. However, there is nothing compassionate about allowing someone to die slowly, which is exactly what will happen if we don’t take bold action now. Let’s save and restore lives by accepting the hard truths about our crises and put our resources where it can have the biggest impact. Your police officers are ready to meet this challenge....
Response: ACLU will protect constitutional rights
read … Police officers urge action on homeless, addiction, mentally ill crises
Data shows that housing is available for Maui’s unsheltered
MN: … An essential element of Housing First is called the Coordinated Entry System (CES,) which is managed by David Nakama, the homeless coordinator of the DHHC. Housing First requires that the housing programs that receive government funding make timely reports to CES as well as to another important component of Housing First, the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). This data collection makes it possible to track how many housing units are available at any given time.
Last week, the most current CES report was released. This report verifies that there are currently enough housing resources available for all who are living unsheltered on Maui. I repeat — the data is showing that there are housing services available on Maui for all of our chronically homeless. The housing that is available is specifically dedicated for the unsheltered and paid for by funds provided by the county, state and federal governments, as well as private donors.
This is not the same housing stream as affordable housing. We can all agree that more affordable housing is needed on Maui, but those who are living on the streets are not the ones who will occupy affordable housing….
read … Data shows that housing is available for Maui’s unsheltered
‘Death doula’ accused of taking assets of woman suffering from foot pain before death
MN: … A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against a “death doula”who received a house and other assets from a 57-year-old Kihei woman who was suffering from chronic foot pain before her death.
Heather Parsons befriended the woman, became her primary caregiver, and “in a matter of months orchestrated the victim changing all of her estate planning documents, getting the victim to convey all of her assets to the death doula, and starving, dehydrating and drugging the victim to death,”according to the complaint filed last month in 2nd Circuit Court.
It was filed on behalf of Michael L. Adams of Houston, Texas, and Jasmine Lee of Grover Beach, Calif., who are personal representatives of the estate of their mother, Fay Block.
She hadn’t been diagnosed with a terminal illness when she died at home April 24, 2017, under hospice care with Parsons present, according to the complaint. None of Block’s five children were with her when she died.
A death doula, also known as a death midwife, is described as a person who assists in the dying process.
“This is a pretty significant case for the community because I don’t think too many people know that things like this happen,” said Honolulu attorney Lyle Hosoda….
MN: 100 Quacks Looking for Victims: End-of-life doula training took place here recently
read … ‘Death doula’ accused of taking assets of woman suffering from foot pain before death
So Far 6 Assisted Suicide Prescriptions – And 100 Death Doulas
SA: … Since Jan. 1, when medically assisted death became legal in Hawaii, at least 17 patients have requested lethal drugs to end their lives and at least three of them went on to use the medication to “have a peaceful death.”
That’s according to Compassion & Choices Hawaii, ….
Dr. Charles Miller, a physician at Kaiser Permanente who oversees medical-aid-in-dying requests, said the health care organization has received 17 referrals and written six lethal prescriptions since the start of the year.
“Four of the patients died without ever having the chance of getting prescriptions, others are still in the process,” he said.
Including Miller, there are at least half a dozen Kaiser doctors willing to write the prescriptions, he said. At least three pharmacies are filling the prescriptions, which can be mailed between islands. The medication costs around $400….
The process has gotten easier and quicker for dying patients, with one recently completing it within 22 days, said Samantha Trad, Hawaii state director at Compassion & Choices….
(Insurance company lobbyist) Radcliffe, 77, was the first person to request medical aid in dying on Jan. 2, the day after the law went into effect. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer in multiple organs in 2014 and was given six to 24 months to live. He filled the prescription two months later on March 2….
The state Department of Health projects as many as 40 to 70 patients will seek medical aid in dying this year. There are about 10,500 deaths annually in the islands. The Health Department will begin reporting the number of prescriptions written and number of patients who actually used the medication beginning July 1….
read … More terminally ill requesting lethal drugs under new law
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