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Hillsborough County Celebrates American Heart Month With Know The Signs – Call 9-1-1
Senate Introduces Legislation To Ease Reentry Process For Returning Citizens
Hillsborough County will celebrate American Heart Month with a special event called Know the Signs – Call 9-1-1 to raise awareness of F.A.S.T., the acronym for symptoms of a stroke. The event takes place on Wednesday, February 18,from10a.m.to1p.m.at County Center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd. in downtown Tampa.
Commissioner San- dra Murman championed the event and she will pres- ent a proclamation recogniz- ing Heart Health Month to the American Heart Associa- tion during the Board of County Commissioners Meeting at 9 a. m. on Febru- ary 18.
In addition, health, nutri- tion, and fitness exhibitors will be on hand during Know the Signs – Call 9-1-1 to pro- mote heart health, along with free blood pressure screen- ings and CPR demonstra- tions. The event will conclude with a healthy heart walkat1p.m.ledbyCom- missioner Murman. The walk will start in Joe Chillura
Courthouse Square. According to the Ameri-
can Heart Association, time is of the essence in recogniz- ing the signs of stroke. The F.A.S.T warning signs are:
F – Face Drooping. Does one side of the face droop or is it numb? Ask the person to smile. Is the person’s smile uneven?
A – Arm Weakness. Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
S – Speech Difficulty. Is speech slurred? Is the person unable to speak or hard to understand? Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence. Is the sentence repeated cor- rectly?
T - Time to call 9-1-1. If someone shows any of these symptoms, even if the symp- toms go away, call 9-1-1 and get the person to the hospital immediately. Check the time so you’ll know when the first symptoms appeared.
For more information on the Know the Signs – Dial 9- 1-1 event, visit www.Hillsbor- oughCounty.org.
Washington, DC —- Last week, the Senate introduced legislation that could help ease the reentry process for the formerly incarcerated. Mass incarceration is a hunger issue.
For many returning citi- zens, the prospect of inte- grating themselves back into their communities is daunt- ing, leading some to fall into poverty.
The Corrections Over- sight, Recidivism Reduction, and Elimination Costs for Taxpayers in Our National System (Corrections) Act aims to reduce the prison population and offer a better integration process for re- turning citizens through the use of existing programs such as recidivism reduction, risk-based time credits, and drug treatment and mental
health services.
The legislation, spon-
sored by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and John Cornyn (R-TX), would allow for certain low- risk offenders with exem- plary behavior to spend the end of their earned-time credit under community su- pervision.
Other provisions encour- age those in prison to partic- ipate in recidivism reduction programs and other activi- ties, like prison jobs, which can lead to the awarding of earned credit.
Still, many states still en- force life-time bans on non- violent drug offenders for safety-net programs, such as SNAP, (formerly food stamps) and Temporary As- sistance for Needy Families (TANF), programs that are
vital to many returning citi- zens as they look for work and try to rebuild their lives. Part of Bread’s work includes getting these bans lifted and ensuring people who qualify for these vital programs have access to them.
The federal prison popu- lation has increased from ap- proximately 25,000 in 1980 to nearly 216,000 today.
“African Americans and Hispanics are disproportion- ately incarcerated and tend to receive longer sentences than white defendants con- victed of the same crime. A reform of our prison system must be guided by our moral obligation to truly give those who want a second chance an opportunity to succeed,” Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World said.
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