NEWS TO KNOW:
NEW PIERCE COUNTY ALERT SYSTEM!
Get alerts about emergencies & other important community news by signing up for the Pierce County Alert Program.
This emergency notification service enables Pierce County to provide you with critical information quickly in a variety of situations, such as severe weather, unexpected road closures, missing persons, and evacuation of buildings or neighborhoods.
Click here for more information!
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Gov. Gregoire unveils new budget ideas website: Interactive site allows Washingtonians to submit ideas about state budget
OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire today announced the launch of an interactive website that allows citizens to share, comment and vote on budget ideas. The most highly rated ideas by viewers will rise to the top of the list and be considered by budget writers.
The website is one tool the governor is using to develop the state’s 2011–13 spending plan in the process she calls “Transforming Washington’s Budget.”
“Closing our state’s budget gap requires innovative thinking as well as making some tough decisions,” Gregoire said. “This interactive website gives people an opportunity to share ideas and engage in a discussion about what ideas might work best for us. I’m eager to hear what people have to tell us.”
Ideas will be posted between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The site will be moderated so that profane or vulgar postings will not be accepted.
Earlier this summer, the governor announced her plan for “Transforming Washington’s Budget” through a number of steps, including the formation of a committee of leaders from across the state to serve as an advisory and sounding board. In addition, she is layering a series of eight questions on top of the budget system known as Priorities of Government, or POG, to identify the most essential state services, whether they are being delivered in the most effective and cost-efficient way, and whether the state or another entity should provide the service.
The public is invited to share ideas at www.transformwabudget.ideascale.com.
For more information about transforming Washington’s budget and public budget hearings, visit http://www.governor.wa.gov/priorities/budget/default.asp.
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Help for struggling homeowners!
Are you struggling to make your house payments?
Are you feeling buried by debt?
Are you having trouble communicating with your mortgage company?
PC2 offers HUD-certified foreclosure counseling for struggling homeowners in Pierce County. This service is open to anyone who lives in Pierce County and owns and occupies their home.
If you or anyone you know is in need of this service, please feel free to call or email Shawna Hardeman, Homeownership Program Coordinator, at 253.564.0707 ext. 105 or Shawna@PC2online.org. You may also download the Foreclosure Intake Packet, fill it out, and gather the requested documentation. Once you have completed the intake packet you may call to set up an appointment. Your housing counselor will review your intake and discuss your options with you at that appointment.
We are here to help!
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Gregoire signs new state budget into law
Last updated: May 4th, 2010 12:58 PM (PDT), TNT
Gov. Chris Gregoire has signed the Legislature's new operating budget, which bridges an estimated $2.8 billion deficit in the state's general fund.
The budget-balancing plan combines spending cuts with federal money, one-time accounting fixes and a roster of tax increases. It was approved by the Democrat-controlled state House and Senate last month, at the end of a month-long special session.
Gregoire used her veto pen on some portions of the budget, including transfers from the state insurance commissioner and biotechnology research account. The budget leaves about $450 million in reserves to guard against increased costs or lower tax collections.
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CENSUS BUREAU TO ANNOUNCE DOOR-KNOCKING OPERATION TO COLLECT INFORMATION
Thousands of Census Takers Personally Visit Households That Didn’t Mail Back Census Forms
BOTHELL, WA - 4/30/10 - Census takers will be fanning out into Washington State and knocking on the doors of households that didn’t mail back their 2010 forms beginning May 1. The U.S. Census Bureau will launch the Non-Response Follow-Up (NRFU) operations next month - where census takers will collect information from households that did not return their census forms. Nearly 11,000 Washington residents have been hired as census takers to complete this important task. About 635,000 census takers have been hired nationwide.
“The Non-Response Follow-Up operation plays a vital role in helping achieve an accurate 2010 Census count and determine the allocation of federal funds for community services,” said Ralph Lee, Regional Director. “We ask that you cooperate with census takers should they contact you. It’s easy, important and safe. Information collected by census takers cannot be shared with any other government agency; they’ve taken a lifetime oath to not share any data.”
The Local Census Office began monitoring mail response rates through the data capture centers in mid-March to begin estimating the local NRFU workload. Recruitment and training for NRFU operations began in November 2009, and approximately 11,000 Washingtonians have been hired as census takers to manage the local workload. The NRFU operations are scheduled to be completed by July 10, 2010.
In most cases, census workers will make initial visits during afternoons, early evenings and weekends.
If a 2010 Census worker knocks on your door, here are some ways to verify that person is a legitimate census taker:
- The census taker must present an ID badge that contains a Department of Commerce watermark and expiration date.
- The census taker may also be carrying a black canvass bag with a Census Bureau logo.
- The census taker will provide you with supervisor contact information and/or the local census office phone number for verification, if asked.
The census taker only will ask you the questions that appear on the 2010 Census form.
The 2010 Census taker will not ask for social security number, bank account number or credit card number and will never solicit for donations or contact you by e-mail.
In most cases, census workers will make up to six attempts at each housing unit address to count possible residents. This includes leaving notifications of the attempted visit at the house or apartment door, in addition to trying to reach the household by phone to conduct the interview or schedule an in-person interview.
Census takers will go to great lengths to ensure that no one is missed in the census. After exhausting their efforts to do an in-person interview with a resident of an occupied housing unit, they will seek out proxy sources — a neighbor, a rental agent, a building manager or some other knowledgeable person familiar with the housing unit — to obtain as much basic information about the occupants as they can.
Some households will receive a visit even though they may have mailed back their form. If the form arrived too late to be processed before non-response follow-up packets were sent to one of the 494 local census offices, the household occupants must still be interviewed when the census taker arrives. The Census Bureau is urging cooperation and patience with the census takers, as this is the best way to ensure that everyone is counted properly.
Households that didn’t receive a form by mail, including those that pick up their mail from post office boxes, will be visited by census workers as part of the follow-up plan. The Census Bureau doesn’t mail forms to post office boxes because responses must be associated with a specific residence location, not the post office box location.
The part-time, temporary census workers are hired from the communities they serve to obtain the remaining census responses. Census workers are your neighbors; they are familiar with the neighborhood and are working to ensure that it is accurately and completely represented.
The Census Bureau has stringent systems in place to ensure that people can feel safe when they open their door to a census taker. All census takers undergo an FBI background check that includes both name and fingerprint checks. All have taken an oath for life to protect the information they collect and understand that they face stiff penalties, jail time or both for any disclosure of personally identifiable information.
Note that the Census Bureau conducts several surveys in addition to the 2010 Census. For example, the American Community Survey is sent to approximately 3 million households annually and also involves follow-up from census workers. More information about the American Community Survey can be found on the Census Bureau Web site www.census.gov/acs
About the 2010 Census
Mandated by the U.S. Constitution, the census takes place every 10 years. Census data determine boundaries for state and local legislative and congressional districts. More than $400 billion in federal funds are distributed annually based on census data to pay for local programs and services, such as schools, highways, vocational training, emergency services, hospitals and much more. Learn more about the 2010 Census at www.2010.census.gov
Census 2010: 10 questions, 10 minutes!
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Detailed information on the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are now available at: http://dpc.senate.gov/dpcdoc-sen_health_care_bill.cfm
Updated materials will be posted to this page as they become available.
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On Fridays, starting March 12, 2010 & by appointment only, Lindquist Dental Clinic for Children (LDCC), located in the Rainier School’s Dental Clinic in Buckley, WA, will be providing general dentistry services to all children in Buckley and the surrounding communities.
As a private, not-for-profit clinic, they accept patients who are covered by Medicaid and most private insurances, including TRICARE, with no out of pocket costs for covered services to those who qualify.
LDCC is dedicated to providing the highest quality dental care to children 0-18 in the South Sound area, regardless of their family’s ability to pay. They offer a sliding fee scale for patients who are under-insured or uninsured.
Lindquist Dental Clinic for Children
The Rainier School Dental Clinic
2120 Ryan Road, (253) 539-7445
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The Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) is beginning a new section on the DDD Home page entitled “News You Can Use.” They plan to update it at least quarterly with news from DDD. Please click here to be directed to the DDD website: http://www.dshs.wa.gov/ddd/index.shtml
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PC2 provides new service to families in Pierce County!
If you or anyone you know is facing foreclosure, PC2 can help.
PC2’s Homeownership Program is now HUD-certified to provide foreclosure mitigation services to anyone in Pierce County who is in danger of losing their home.
These services are provided at no cost to all Pierce County residents.
Please feel free to contact Shawna Hardeman, Homeownership Program Coordinator, at 253.564.0707 x 105, or email shawna@pc2online.org for more information.
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WANTED: A Family Story From You!
Click here to download new family story worksheet!
We wanted to make sure you knew this about PC2 – we gather stories from our families here in Pierce County!
Your stories help us to better know about your family and your family’s needs. We can share them in Olympia to help educate the legislators when you can’t do that on your own. We are also here to help you navigate your way around Olympia, if you’d like to be more “hands on.” We love to help families with that! It is very easy and we go with you! But, when that is not an option, sharing your story is the next best thing!
We truly care about your family and how challenging it can be to share your journey with developmental disabilities. We have fantastic legislators who also care about you. When they need to know who is affected by laws they are working on, we pass your story along.
We Help Them Help You! We’re Advocates!
We make sure we have your permission (click here for form) and also let you know when your story will be shared, so there aren’t any surprises.
Your family story is the personal details that describe what works/doesn’t work, what you need/don’t need, what you believe has made a difference/could make a difference.
PC2 supports all perspectives so there are no wrong answers because it is simply whatever you feel it should be.
PC2 can help you put your story on paper if you would like help. Just give us a call. We are here Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Your story can be emailed, faxed, or mailed. We would love pictures to go along with your story!
So, would you please share your family’s story with us?