University Daily Kansan, March 31, 1983
Page 11
Budget cuts to close counseling program
By SARA KEMPIN Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
State budget cuts and federal grant cutbacks will force a KU program that offers family counseling for about 60 families in Lawrence to close June 1, the co-director of the program said yesterday.
Dennis Embry, the co-director of the KU Parent Program, said there were only three programs in the country like the parent program.
Participants in the program take a class through the Bureau of Child Research at the University, which sends counselors into peoples' homes to train parents and conduct research and counseling.
TENNESSEE UNIVERSITY AND the Oregon Research Institute offer similar programs, he said.
"So far, the program has been maintained on federal research grants, service grants, state money and fees for service. The federal and state department pays up and the fees for service are not sufficient to keep the program going.
"The University is principally a teaching institution, so research and service are not necessarily able to compete when the money dries up."
The Parent Program has been operating at KU for about 14 years under the Bureau of Child Research and the department of human development. When it closes, participants in the program will have few alternatives.
"They can go to the psychology clinic at KU, but that is not as effective as the more personalized parenting program," he said.
TONI HUFF, CHAIRMAN of fund raising for the parents committee, said the program was unique.
"There is nothing quite like it in town or in the country," she said. "If I needed the service, I would be forced now to contact Bert Nash or a private psychologist. But that's very expensive."
Theresa Leakey, past chairman of the Friends of the Parents Program Committee, said that about a year ago he had asked parents drying up, some parents had formed an
organization to raise money to keep the program going.
The group staged a corporate fund drive to solicit donations. It also raised money by staging a Clinton Parkway clean-up project and a garage sale.
EMBRY SAID THAT IN the past, participants in the program could get help for a small charge. Now the program must charge $70 an hour for counseling, he said.
He said that the rate the program charged was reasonable compared to private therapy.
"In Kansas City, for a counselor to come to someone's home would cost two to three times as much as we charge - at least $300 an hour," he
But Lawrence is not a large enough community to maintain the program on a "pay as you go" basis. Many people cannot afford insurance. And people who work in healthcare attacks in Medicaid, which pays for psychological help for those on Welfare.
But Embry said that people who didn't have money to seek psychological assistance usually needed the most help.
related to stress, so it made sense for the state to pay for psychological services for families before the stress caused a worse illness to develop.
"Two days in the hospital costs the same as one year of working with a family," he said. "We have to meet the budget requirements, but we need to think seriously about the importance of family counseling."
HE SAID MANY ILLNESSES were
EMBRY SAID THE PROGRAM also tried to help families through workshops, a radio show that Embry and his wife, Lynne, did for a Lawrence station and a newspaper column that discussed the state and reached 200,000 people.
"We know that family circumstance is the most predictive of the child's success in school," he said. "By working with the high risk family, we minimize the chance that the child will need special education."
High risk families typically have a low income, Embry said. The parents are often separated. They may have histories of child abuse.
But one-third of the people who take the class, he said, simply recognize that they need help being better parents.
Lawrence library's computer available to those with card
Behind Lawrence Public Library's reference desk sits a microcomputer that is used by librarians, but by anyone with a library card.
Inserting a $1 token will turn the microcomputer on for 30 minutes, long enough to learn the basics of a microcomputer, write and edit text, manage personal finances, or learn about the U.S. Constitution.
In February, the Friends of the Lawrence Public Library purchased a $4,000 computer system, the same one used by Lawrence public schools. The system can be used by adults and children who may or may not have experience with computers. Wayne Mayo, director of the library, said yesterday.
TWO WEEKS AGO THE library purchased a new word-processing program that requires little knowledge of microcomputers but can perform most tasks found in more complex programs, he said.
The microcomputer has had some use in the last month, and the new program should attract more people, especially KU students, he said.
Other programs, donated by Computer Land, 1420 W. 23rd St., include
basic lessons for the microcomputer, math and business formulas, SAT preparation and personal filing and finance.
Vee Friesen, director of Kansas library development, said providing microcomputers for the public was becoming a vital service for libraries.
IN THE NEXT two years most medium- and larger-sized communities will, if their budgets allow, have comporators for patron use, she said.
"As people become more and more accustomed to microcomputers, the service will be a natural link to assist the public." she said.
John Ellert, assistant director of the Wichita Public Library, said that about 13 microcomputers, supplied by Datacom, were open since January for public use.
Greg Menas, owner of the Wichita-
based firm, said about eight Kansas
libraries had microcomputers owned
maintained by the nine-month-old
company.
Barbara Karle, periodical librarian's assistant, said the Topeka Public Library would get two token-operated microcomputers in April.
On campus
TODAY
EPISCOPAL EUCHARIST will be at noon in Danforth Chapel.
A SPEECH by Wikes Robinson, lawyer and president of a legal foundation, will be at 12:30 p.m. in Green Hall.
THE STUDENT SENATE Finance and Auditing Committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. in the Walnut Room of the Union. ECKANKAR will discuss "What Lives beyond Death?" at 8 p.m. in the Governor's Room of the Union.
SPEECHES by Weike Van Der Velden, Denmark activist, and Chuck Epp, non-registration, will be at 7:30 p.m. in 3139 Wescoe.
Applications for
OUTSTANDING JUNIORS
MASTER CLASSES by Menahm Pressler, piano, will be at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. in Swarthout Recital Hall in Murphy Hall.
TOMMORROW
National Senior Honorary Society are available in 231 Strong Hall
Omicron Delta Kappa
are available in 231 Strong Hall Applications and official transcripts are due by April 8, 1983
THIS WEEKEND at
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PLACEMENT OFFICE, CARRUTH-6'LEARY
Wed. & Thurs., April 6 & 7
PEACE CORPS
Announcing an Informational Program for Faculty and Students Whose Research Interests may relate to Nuclear Waste Disposal
THE STATUS OF NUCLEAR WASTE DISPOSAL
April 1, 1983
3:30 p.m.
Nichols Hall Apollo Auditorium
Professor Rob Glicksman
SPEAKERS:
Professor Paul Gilles Department of Chemistry
Professor William Hambleton Director, Kansas Geological Survey
School of Law
Professor Paul Gilles
The program is intended to provide researchers with background information on those unresolved problems of a legal, policy, and scientific nature that relate to nuclear waste disposal in the United States. The program is not intended to be a forum for debate, but persons attending will have an opportunity to ask questions of the speakers. The program is free of charge.
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Easter Sunday is April 3.
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