A former caseworker at the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services calls the environment within the state agency as toxic. Stacy McPherson left her job as a Rapides foster care worker in July because her supervisors failed to address repeated complaints. McPherson says when she would bring her concerns to her supervisors, she would face retaliation….
She testified in front of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee on Tuesday.
After a St. Martinville woman was killed when a cigarette ignited her oxygen tank, the State Fire Marshal’s Office is reminding residents not to have an open flame near oxygen tanks. Spokesperson Ashley Rodrigue says tanks should be kept at least five feet away from anything flammable and not just cigarettes.
The state’s 988 mental health crisis call-in centers receive 14-hundred calls in its first month. Suicide Prevention Coordinator Dr. Robyn Thomas with the Louisiana Department of Health says when you call 988 you are routed to one of the state’s two certified crisis centers. One in Bossier City which answers calls in north, central, and southwest Louisiana, or the call center in New Orleans which covers southeast Louisiana.
She says 89% of the calls from Louisiana are answered by certified counselors in the state.