Georgia lagging in public policy cancer battle
By the end of this year, the American Cancer Society projects, more than 48,000 Georgians will be diagnosed with cancer. That's almost a full house at Turner Field.
Another 16,500 will die of the disease.
Yet according to a new study by the ACS Cancer Action Network, Georgia ranks among the nation's least effective states in public policy for cancer prevention and reduction of cancer mortality rates.
A summary of the study in the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that Georgia earned the lowest possible ranking in smoke-free laws, cigarette taxes, programs to prevent tobacco use and help users quit, tanning bed restrictions and increased Medicaid access. It received the next-to-lowest ranking in Medicaid coverage of tobacco cessation services and funding for early detection of breast and cervical cancer. Only in the category of pain management did Georgia earn good marks.
Georgia is one of exactly half the states classified as "red" or "falling behind," meaning they received negative rankings in a majority of the nine categories of cancer policy in the survey. That we're in a lot of company does nothing to make our policy regarding cancer prevention and management more effective.
Political and economic arguments against funding for anti-cancer laws and programs can seem sound at the time. One real-live human being with cancer, not to mention 48,000, makes a pretty powerful argument to the contrary.
DFCS better, but...
The job turnover rate for child welfare caseworkers in Georgia is improving. It's now "only" 35 percent a year.
That's a pretty compelling snapshot of a state Department of Family and Children Services that has made dramatic (no exaggeration) improvements in recent years to a besieged, overworked, underfunded and institutionally dysfunctional work force.
It's not hard to figure out the reasons for the churn. Start with the conditions of abject human misery these workers must face multiple times every day. Then there were massive cuts in state funding -- 39 percent just between 2006-2010 -- pay cuts, and workloads that topped 100 cases for some staffers.
Just in the last year, the department has added 450 child welfare staffers, and the average caseload is now 19 clients per worker, with a goal of getting that down to 15. The state has budgeted money for merit raises, to retain the best and most experienced workers. There is a new employee selection process, developed at the University of Georgia School of Social Work, to acquaint applicants with exactly what they'll be dealing with, and a mentoring program for new workers.
Theirs is an incredibly difficult and sometimes dangerous job. It's also a very necessary one, for the protection of Georgia's most vulnerable population.
This story was originally published August 9, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Georgia lagging in public policy cancer battle."