The Louisiana Summer Reading Program 2019,
A Universe of Stories: 

Since 1984, one of the State Library of Louisiana\’s top priorities has been to improve literacy levels statewide through programming and outreach for all ages beginning with early literacy programming all the way up to adult reading programs. Current research on \”summer learning loss\” indicates that students can lose up to two months of reading proficiency if they do not read or participate in literacy activities during the summer months. This is cumulative, so those lost months can add up over time. To combat this potential learning loss for Louisiana students, the State Library of Louisiana provides the high-quality Louisiana Summer Reading Program (LSRP), with materials and training, to Louisiana\’s 340 public libraries, all of which participate in this annual reading program. On average, 110,000 children participate statewide. Additionally, over 2.5 million library materials circulate statewide in Louisiana during the LSRP, which is free and open to everyone in every parish in Louisiana. Moreover, those children registered with the State Library\’s Talking Books and Braille Library (TBBL) may also participate.
The specific programs offered by public libraries around the state that supplement and add value to the LSRP include a wide assortment of educational activities to draw families into the library and immerse them in literacy-related programming. These include creative writing, story times, STEAM workshops, book clubs, and engaging programs with a variety of performers including artists, musicians, magicians, exotic animal handlers, and other exciting guest speakers. These activities cultivate a love of reading in Louisiana\’s next generation and encourages students to continue reading throughout the summer. Last summer these programs were attended by 400,000 Louisianans of all ages.

Families are encouraged to visit their local public libraries in person or online to learn about specific LSRP incentives and programs available in their communities. 

What does it take to end human trafficking? It takes a village, it takes advocating, it takes blood sweat and tears, and it takes being willing to go back to the drawing board over and over again when plans, strategies, and systems fail.

It takes investment, not just from the top, powerful few.

It takes investment by us all. The doctors, teachers, counselors, police officers, stay at home moms, Judges, Legislators, Pastors, bankers, waiters or waitresses, truck drivers, ER nurses or non-profit employees….it takes all of us.

Everyone has a role to play in ending human trafficking, whether they know it or not.

We must realize that Human Trafficking isn\’t just a \”cause\” or an \”issue\” to champion. Human trafficking affects people, and those lives are worth moving heaven and earth for. We must decide that we all have something in our hands that we can use to serve the vulnerable and forgotten. Our resources, influence, skills, time, power, hobbies, and our passion; we all have something we can give.

She was an ER nurse sitting in a Human Trafficking training at the end of a long shift. Most in the room did not want to be there. They blankly stared and sparsely took notes as I presented my guts out about why, as ER staff, especially at a state hospital where high-risk populations frequented, it was essential for them to know the signs and symptoms of human trafficking.

I left feeling that I was just another talking head to them, another seminar teacher delivering information that went in one ear and out of the other.

Two weeks later, our human trafficking hotline rang, and I answered. It was an ER nurse, the one who found herself in the dreaded-end-of-the-day training just weeks before.

\”I think there\’s a victim of trafficking in our ER. I was at the training and remembered what you said, and I believe that she is a victim. What do we do?\”

It was indeed a victim of trafficking. She had been beaten beyond recognition and was barely conscious. Her pimp was by her side with no plans of leaving the room. How would we ever get him away from her long enough to rescue her?

I drove to the hospital to assist the hospital staff in coming up with a plan, but when I arrived, the brave ER nurse had already decided what should be done.

\”I\’ve told the man that we have to take her to get an X-ray and that she would be gone for 20 minutes. I explained that because of radiation, he could not come. I\’m about to go get her and wheel her down to the X-ray room. That will give you about 20 minutes to get her out of here,\” she said through a shaking voice. She was choosing bravery WHILE being scared.

The nurse walked into the room and faced the man who appeared to be her pimp eye to eye. She wheeled the victim out of the room and into the Xray room where our team waited.

When the victim, whom we knew very well, registered we were there, a look of relief spread across her bruised and swollen face, and she began to weep. She knew she was free.

The nurse quickly stated, \”We\’ve cleared all the halls of the hospital leading to the rear exit, and there is a police escort waiting to escort you to the interstate. Good Luck.\”

She opened the door, and we ran that victim out of the back of the hospital and to her first breath of freedom in months.

One life snatched from the experience of human trafficking and given a chance to be free. How? The investment of an ER nurse. The decision she made to roll up her sleeves and make herself a part of the rescue.

Knowing only what she had learned in an hour training, she decided that she had a part to play.

She saw that one life as worthy of her time, energy, and attention and deemed her worthy of the many risks she took.

All of us have a part to play. And what is the result if we play our role? Rescue. As the Founder of The Hub: urban ministries, I want to say that I am beyond grateful to First Lady Donna Edwards for the choice she has made to use her time, talents, influence and platform for the most vulnerable populations in our state. She has seen her part to play and is playing it well.

Let’s all join her!

For more information about Purchased: Not for Sale or to inquire about being trained in Human Trafficking 101, visit www.thehubministry.com.

–Cassie Hammett
Founder & Executive Director
The Hub: urban ministries
www.thehubministry.com

Expansion of
Foster Care to Age 21

Louisiana will extend foster care to age 21 for all youth in care on their 18^th birthday,
following the recent passage and signing of Senate Bill 109.

SB 109, authored by Sen. Regina Barrow and included in Gov. John Bel Edwards’s legislative package, follows through on the recommendations of a legislative task force which found that extending the age of care would help improve outcomes for foster youth. The Governor signed the bill into law on June 6, 2019.

The voluntary program will allow the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to provide intensive services to aid in youths’ transition to adulthood.

Former foster youth, serving as interns through the Louisiana Institute for Children in Families, testified in the Senate Select Committee on Women and Children, chaired by Barrow, about the impact that the continued support of extended care would have had on their lives.

“This is going to change the lives of countless youth in foster care in Louisiana,” DCFS Secretary Marketa Garner Walters said.

Louisiana continues to work with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, as well as nonprofit partners Youth Villages and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, to implement its extended foster care program. The program began in 2018, following the passage of Sen. Ryan Gatti’s SB 129 (Act 649), which extended care for foster youths working toward a high school diploma or equivalency.

The new law will extend care to all foster youth who reach age 18 while in foster care, have not yet turned 21, and meet one of the following criteria: enrolled in a post-secondary vocational or educational program; enrolled in a program or activity designed to promote or remove barriers to employment; employed at least 80 hours per month; or have a medical condition that renders the young adult incapable of engaging in any of these activities.

Youth who have already “aged out” of foster care will have the opportunity to enroll in the program.

For more information about Louisiana’s extended foster care program, visit www.dcfs.la.gov.