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You don’t need to be loved by everyone when your superpower is raising money.

The post Marshall Ramsey: Money Can Buy You Love appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The Mississippi Department of Health announced on Thursday that the state’s Women, Infants and Children’s Nutrition Program (WIC) is adding new baby formulas to its approved product list to improve access amid the national formula shortage. 

Before the shortage, only four types of formula could be purchased with WIC benefits in Mississippi unless an infant received an exemption through a medical diagnosis. The department made eight new products available on June 1 and have now added six more. These additional options will be WIC-eligible at least through the end of August.

The new options added on Thursday are all alternative Enfamil products, including new formulations and product sizes. A list of new approved formulas can be found here.

Mississippi has the second-lowest rate of breastfeeding in the nation, and the formula shortage has left some parents struggling to feed their children.

There were 84,000 women, children and infants who participated in WIC in Mississippi in 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Supply-chain issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic are one cause of the formula shortage. The shortage was heavily exacerbated by the recall of three major baby formula brands manufactured by Abbott Nutrition after a probe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found bacterial contamination at one Abbott facility in Sturgis, Mich. At least four babies were hospitalized and two died after consuming contaminated formula, the Food and Drug Administration said. 

The Sturgis facility, which is estimated to produce one-fifth of the U.S. baby formula supply, shut down in February due to the contamination. It reopened on June 4, but was shut back down again just nine days later due to flooding. The plant resumed operations again on July 1, but has not resumed production of Similac, its most popular formula brand. 

The Biden administration has attempted to bolster U.S. formula supplies through efforts like Operation Fly Formula, which used the Defense Department to fly in formula from other countries. Despite these efforts by the government and others by manufacturers to boost production, stores are still struggling to stock their shelves.

The post Mississippi WIC program again adds baby formula options amid national shortage appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Jackson parents and guardians can soon be fined or jailed if their children commit a gun crime or possess a weapon. 

A $1,000 fine and sentence of six months in jail are part of an ordinance the Jackson City Council unanimously approved July 5. The ordinance is set to go into effect in 30 days. 

“We are hoping it will be a win-win for the parents, young people and the government,” said Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes, who had the idea for the ordinance.

He and other council members see the new policy as a way to reduce violent crime, encourage parents to be more involved in their children’s lives and a way to prevent minors from getting access to firearms. 

In most cases, children and teens obtain weapons from gun runners who go to shows to get weapons or get them illegally to sell, he said. 

A small portion of minors may get a gun at home, but Stokes said most responsible parents have a safe place to keep their guns. He said another small portion of them may find a gun somewhere else, such as one abandoned outside that may be linked to a crime. 

The ordinance also fines adults who don’t properly store their firearms. Fines are $500 if access to the firearm results in injury to the child or another person and $1,000 if access results in injury or death. Both situations of improper storage can also result in six months in jail. 

“It’s just common sense that you can’t have a gun available to a minor or juvenile,” he said. 

The ordinance adopts the same exceptions for minors to possess handguns already included in state law, including hunting or trapping with a valid license, competing in a firearm competition, using a firearm for target shooting at an established range or using a firearm with permission and control of an adult. 

It also has exceptions for the gun storage, such as if a minor obtains a firearm and discharges it during a lawful act of self-defense or in defense of another. 

Jackson police will be the primary enforcer of the ordinance with involvement from the municipal prosecutor’s office, Stokes said. 

Parents and guardians who try to get help for their children to prevent them from getting involved in crime wouldn’t face punishment under the city’s ordinance, Stokes said. He asked about this situation and received confirmation from the city attorney’s office during the July 5 council meeting. 

Robert Langford is executive director of Operation Shoestring, a nonprofit that has operated in Jackson for over 50 years and works with parents and mostly elementary school-aged students through after school and summer programs, skills training and more. The organization’s goal is to build spaces where children feel safe, he said.

Langford appreciates the council’s goal to hold people accountable and encourage good parenting. But he sees other efforts to support children and families as more effective. 

“My sense is that what would be more effective is to go upstream to create more things that help support children and families earlier on,” he said.

A better investment in time and resources to address youth crime and violent crime would be more support for after school and summer programs, including those for middle and high school-aged children, Langford said. 

Another way to prevent children from getting involved in gun crimes and their parents for bearing responsibility would be to address root causes of crime, he said. 

Many of those Operation Shoestring helps are from low income and high poverty neighborhoods, he said. Some have likely experienced an adverse childhood experience, which includes experiencing violence, abuse or neglect; witnessing violence and having a family attempt or die by suicide.

These experiences are linked to substance use problems later on in life, mental illness and chronic health issues and also negatively impact performance in school, work and relationships, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

However, adverse experiences are preventable. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they can be prevented by protecting children from violence and addressing factors that put people at risk for violence. In Jackson, Langford said those efforts can look like increasing early childhood experiences and strengthening economic outcomes for children and families.

Ward 6 Councilman Aaron Banks chairs the Public Safety/Park and Environment Ad Hoc Committee, which crafted the city’s ordinance. During a May 31 meeting, he said the ordinance is just one step to reduce crime. Another long term issue to address would be the state’s gun laws. 

At the meeting, some council members said they wanted to insure the ordinance doesn’t have unintended consequences, such as job loss and incarceration. Others wanted to see a plan to support parents through training and education. 

Other cities have ordinances that address children’s access to firearms. 

In May, the Yazoo Herald reported parents or guardians in Yazoo City can face criminal charges if their child is found in possession of a gun. The Yazoo City police department is seizing guns from juveniles regardless of who owns them, WLBT reported. 

In Seattle, Wash., the city has an ordinance that starts with a $500 fine and increases to $1,000 based on whether the person has safe gun storage and reasonably knows a minor, at-risk or prohibited person can access the firearm. The fine jumps to $10,000 if an injury or death occurs as a result of them accessing the weapon. 

Following the Nov. 30, 2021 Oxford High School shooting in Michigan that killed four students, the parents of the 15-year-old shooter were charged with involuntary manslaughter. A prosecutor said they ignored opportunities to intervene before the shooting, the Associated Press reported.

The couple also purchased the gun used in the shooting for their son, even though minors in Michigan aren’t allowed to possess guns, the AP reported. 

Stokes said having a city ordinance along with community resources to support children and families could have an impact. 

During a town hall last year, he brought community members, Jackson police and groups together to talk about solutions to youth crime. Mentorship and activities like sports or music were suggested as potential options for children and teens. Stokes said education is also a key way to keep them out of crime. 

“If a child is on the wrong path and they are a juvenile delinquent or criminal, they could become an adult criminal,” Stokes said. “You’ve got to break that cycle, keep them on the right track.”

The post Under new ordinance, Jackson parents can be fined, jailed if their children commit a gun crime appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The Atlanta Braves pushed the call-up button on May 28, taking Michael Harris II all the way from the Class AA Mississippi Braves to Atlanta, making Harris, just turned 21, the youngest player in Major League Baseball.

The move – skipping Class AAA altogether – raised some eyebrows. There was his age, plus the fact Harris had played only 43 games above the Class A level. Were the Braves rushing him, panicking because the defending world champions were off to a disappointing 22-24 start?

Those of us who had watched Harris at Trustmark Park knew better. He was ready. As a baseball player, he was 21 going on 28. Bruce Crabbe, the M-Braves manager, gushed more about Harris’ maturity than he did the kid’s obvious talent. Crabbe talked about Harris’ “rare professionalism at such a young age.”

“He’s so smart,” Crabbe said. “He just gets it.”

Back in April, I watched Harris at practice one afternoon, hours before a night game. Batting left-handed, he sprayed line drives all over Trustmark Park. He blasted a couple out of the park, well over 400 feet to left center field. He stepped across the plate to the right-handed batter’s box and hit one well over the left field wall. (No, he is not a switch-hitter, but he has been in the past. He has also been a pitcher. In fact, many MLB ball clubs valued him higher as a pitcher than an everyday player.)

After that practice, I asked Harris if he had a timetable for reaching Atlanta. He shook his head. “Whenever they need me, I plan to be ready,” he said.

He got the call 36 days later.

READ MORE: Michael Harris II has Mississippi roots

Now then, fast forward to Thursday night at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. The game was tied at 2 when Harris stepped to the plate with two outs in the fifth inning. He fell behind – one-ball, two strikes in the count – before fouling off several pitches. On the 10th pitch of the at-bat, he turned on fastball, up and in, and launched a two-run home run well over the wall in right centerfield.

In the bottom of the same inning, Harris did something even more impressive – a lot more impressive. The Nationals put runners at first and second with consecutive singles, bringing Juan Soto to the plate. Soto smacked a line drive single, which the left-handed Harris fielded on one hop, moving to his right. Then, without stopping to set his feet, Harris fired a strike to the plate. Luis Garcia, the Nationals’ speedy leadoff hitter, was out, and he was also stunned. His expression, clearly shown on TV, said this: “How in the world did that happen?”

Brian Snitker, the Braves manager, said more.

“Unbelievable play. My God,” Snitker said. “It was a game-changer obviously, but I didn’t think he had any chance, When he uncorked that thing, I was like, ‘Oh my Lord.’ It’s not like Garcia can’t run either.”

Announcers later told us the throw was measured at 94 mph. My God, indeed.

Now then, let’s take a look at what the Braves have done since Harris entered the lineup on May 28 when they were 22-24. They have won 32 games, lost only 13. They have reduced a 7.5-game New York Mets lead in the standings down to 2.5. They have done all this despite losing second baseman Ozzie Albies to injury and despite All-Star right fielder Ronald Acuna’s prolonged slump.

Harris has been the catalyst. Batting mostly at No. 9 in the order, he has scored 29 runs and driven in 26 more in 45 games. He is hitting .284 with eight home runs and stolen a base seven times (in seven attempts).

No telling how many runs he has saved in centerfield. He reminds this writer of a young Willie Mays, running down seemingly impossible-to-catch balls and turning doubles and triples into outs. His arm is as accurate as it is strong. He has turned the Braves’ outfield defense from mediocre to an obvious strength. Said Snitker of Harris, “When he’s out there in the grass, he’s a difference maker.”

Crazy as it sounds, had Harris been with the Braves the entire season, he surely would be playing in next week’s Major League All-Star Game. He has been that good. No, he’s been that sensational.

The post Surging Braves have won 32, lost 13 since promoting the amazing Michael Harris appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi’s hopeful medical marijuana dispensary owners are in turf wars across the state as they rush to get in applications to lay their stake in the new industry. 

The Mississippi Department of Revenue has already received 111 applications for dispensaries, which it started accepting on July 1. That’s more than in any other business category and has led to $4.4 million in collected application fees. 

“The dispensary applications have created a race of who could apply faster to mark their territory,” said Ken Newburger, the director of Mississippi Medical Marijuana Association. “When you start drawing circles around Mississippi – 1,000 feet away from churches, 1,500 feet away from every other dispensary – there’s not a lot of land left.” 

Newburger was referring to the radius laws that prevent dispensaries from opening shops too close to schools, churches and competing stores. 

So far, 27 businesses – including cultivators, processors, transporters and waste management – have applied for licenses with the Mississippi Department of Health, which is handling those businesses. 

The health department has issued nine business-related licenses, giving a few companies clearance to begin growing marijuana crops. 

Mockingbird Cannabis, one of the state’s early industry leaders, was among the first to receive its license. The company has invested $30 million into his 167,000-square-foot facility near Raymond, according to CEO Clint Peterson. The company has received four licenses so far to transport, dispose of, produce, and grow medical marijuana and medical marijuana products. 

Another one of the other first businesses to get a license to grow marijuana is River Remedy and its executive director, Ridgeland native William Chism. Chism, a Yale graduate and former investment banker, took a leave of absence while getting his master’s in business administration at Harvard to shepherd the new company. 

“I did not make the decision to leave business school for a year lightly but this is too important,” Chism said. 

He had been watching the local industry from afar, but the timing to be part of the new wave of Mississippi business drew him back home. 

Chism’s company has plans to grow, process, manufacture and sell medical marijuana. Their flagship store will be in Byram, where their 37,000-square-foot grow facility is already located. 

“We’re going to be among the first to market,” said Chism, referring to medical marijuana products availability to patients. “We completed our cultivation construction and we’re ready to come to market fairly soon this fall.” 

Remedy, Chism said, has positioned itself to be a midsize player in the new Mississippi industry. It is much larger than a micro-grower but not as large as some of the other companies early to the market.

Southern Crop, which already has medical marijuana businesses in Louisiana, also received licenses for cultivation and processing. The company’s CEO, pharmacist Randy J. Mire, announced the company was the first in Mississippi to get an issued license to begin growing marijuana and processing products on July 8. That will happen in its Meridian facility. 

The state’s newly established businesses are also on the hunt for workers. Seventy-two people statewide are waiting on their permits to work in the medical marijuana industry and 58 already have received their permits, according to the health department. 

Chism, for example, plans to hire about 40 people from cultivation technicians to traditional accounting and HR jobs. He said companies know Mississippians won’t have direct experience with the plant unless they’ve worked out of state and that shouldn’t deter people from applying.

“Really, it’s about learning quickly, strong attention to detail and a passion for what you’re doing,” Chism said.

Most of the state’s new medical marijuana businesses have advertised competitive pay, starting between $15 and $17 an hour.

The health department is still processing 40 applications for practitioners – nurses, doctors, optitricians – to be able to see patients. The department has given 24 licenses to practitioners, allowing them to prescribe medical marijauna cards to patients.

So far, only 13 patients have received medical marijuana cards and nine others have submitted applications. There is no medical marijuana yet available to purchase in Mississippi.

Newburger said that number isn’t an indication of demand.

“Patients aren’t jumping up and down to get a card they cannot use,” he said. 

He expects that number to explode once medical marijuana products are close to being on sale and doctors and other providers better establish their new medical marijuana practices. 

He said other businesses, such as cultivators and processors, will still steadily come on line as well. Many are dealing with supply chain slowdowns as they construct their growing facilities and finish plans. 

The applications are also complex. Chism said when he put his in for cultivation on June 1, it totaled hundreds of pages of documents.

None of the more than 100 dispensary hopefuls have heard back yet on whether their applications have been accepted. By law, the department of revenue has 30 days to process them. 

Hemp World co-owner DeAundrea Delaney hopes to run a dispensary after years selling CBD. She was still putting on the finishing touches on her application this week. 

“I’m taking my time and making sure everything is correct,” she said. “Application fees are nonrefundable.” 

Between the costs to apply and the actual license, dispensaries are on the hook for $40,000. 

Delaney hopes to open a dispensary in Pearl. She said potential dispensaries have been courteous, trying to figure out where others are going so they don’t interfere with each other. Ultimately, it’s a gamble and she doesn’t expect everyone to play nice. 

“I didn’t know it would be 100 already,” she said Wednesday. “That’s exciting, but, gosh, I better hurry.”

The post Mississippi dispensary hopefuls race for licenses as growers plant state’s first medical marijuana crops appeared first on Mississippi Today.

State Auditor Shad White issued demand letters on Thursday to six former board members or employees of the Holmes County School District, totaling more than $200,000. 

The school district was taken over by the Mississippi Department of Education in August 2021 following a nearly 400-page audit that found the district in violation of 81% of accreditation standards. The allegations included a dysfunctional school board and administration, improper spending, inaccurate record keeping and unlicensed teachers in the classroom. 

READ MORE: No background checks, misspending and an ‘adults only’ party: State auditor report alleges ‘widespread problems’ in Holmes Co. schools

The demand letters were issued to: 

• James Henderson (former superintendent) – $90,677.18
• Cheryl Peoples (former chief financial officer) – $46,937.68
• Louise Winters (former school board president) –13,523.90
• April Jones (former school board member)  – $13,523.89
• William Elder Dean Jr. (former school board member) – $13,523.89
• Anthony Anderson (former school board member) – $24,623.90

The auditor’s office published a list of “notable findings” that led to the issuance of these demand letters, which included a party to celebrate the passage of a bond issue that Holmes County voters ultimately rejected, payments in excess of the superintendent’s approved salary, payments made to companies owned by the superintendent’s relatives, and credit card transitions without proper documentation. 

“We are demanding this money back on behalf of the students and taxpayers of Holmes County who deserve to have their money spent in the way that the law requires,” White said in a press release.

The former superintendent and former school board president could not be reached for comment. 

The post Auditor issues demand letters to former Holmes County school officials appeared first on Mississippi Today.

CLEVELAND — E.E. “Butch” Caston has come out of retirement twice in the last decade to work at Kent Wyatt Hall, the administration building at Delta State University. 

The first time was in 2013 when Bill LaForge, then the university’s freshly inaugurated president, asked Caston, who had been a long-time administrator in the education college, to serve as interim vice president for academic affairs and provost. Two years later, Caston again returned as interim vice president for students affairs. 

In a 2015 press release announcing Caston’s second return, LaForge called his “devotion and commitment” to Delta State University “legendary.” 

On July 6, Caston un-retired once again, this time to lead Delta State as interim president after the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees announced LaForge’s sudden exit, citing the university’s plummeting enrollment and shaky financial position. 

Caston will hold the position for a year as the IHL board undertakes a search process for the next permanent president, he told Mississippi Today. In that time, he said his highest priority is to bulk up enrollment and to identify goals the university can “reasonably accomplish.” 

Caston sat down with Mississippi Today for a 35-minute interview on Wednesday to discuss his role as interim president, enrollment, town-gown relations and giving, and diversity, equity and inclusion. He was joined by Michelle Roberts, vice president executive affairs and chief of staff, and Brittany Davis-Green, director of communications. 

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Mississippi Today: I’m wondering if you could give us a sense of what the first five days on the job have consisted of for you — what your day-to-day looks like?

Butch Caston: The majority of my time has been spent meeting and listening and trying to absorb the state of the State, (the state) of the campus, and to get a feel for the leadership, some of whom I have not met, others with whom I’ve worked together for years, as a former employee here. So, that. (I’m) going through considerable materials. But my primary focus, in these first days, has been on connecting and establishing grounds for working relationships, and teaming … and also listening to community. Well wishers, (a) lot of well wishers. And people just expressing hope and support. I’ve gotten that from administration and staff who are here this summer, the 12-month employees. I’m eager for the faculty to get here next month, so that we can get on. A campus needs people. So I’m looking forward to that. 

I know this campus, in that I was educated here myself. Undergraduate and a master’s. And then I returned in 1983 until ‘04, I was employed here as faculty and in administration. Then I came out of retirement three times in administrative VP positions. I did one VP at the W. In fact, that was my first out-of-retirement. I’ve enjoyed all of that. And I look forward to this.

MT: Can you talk a bit about what you see as the current state of the State? If you’ve identified priorities or goals for this interim period, and if you can talk a bit about how you arrive at priorities to focus on as the top-level administrator? 

Caston: Sure, happy to talk about that. It’s (an) all-hands-on-deck kind of concept. It’s top-down, bottom-up. A lot of interaction. A lot of reordering, prioritizing – realistic prioritizing within a calendar period of time. What can we reasonably accomplish? There may be things that we want to do, and it may be a year three before we get there. So, first, identification, clear understanding, mutual acceptance of that understanding, and then prioritizing.

MT: Have you identified any of those clear goals yet?

Caston: No. Listening. A lot of listening, a lot of dialogue. When you meet with a body of half a dozen or more people, it takes time. The worst thing that can happen is for a group to feel pushed to get out the other side to get to a product. … If I were teaching a course in that aspect of administration, I would say never, ever force movement in the group. Move within the group, move with the group. So at this point, a lot of listening, a lot of restating what I think I’m hearing to get to a clear purging – everybody gets it out, whatever it is. And I can tell you, there are some outstanding people at the VP level here. And that’s who I’ve had available to me. And I’m very encouraged about that. I think my school is going to be fine.

MT: How will you be kind of communicating these priorities once you’ve identified them? What will the timeline for that look like? Like having a sense ready by fall semester?

Caston: I won’t predetermine that. We will move as forthrightly as we can, in a healthy way. I’m not going to drive people into the ground. There is structure, there’s some outstanding structure, and these people know their positions. It’s for me to guide. So, it’s not a one-man decision-making process. I’m a part of a group. It’s for me to create the atmosphere and the parameters for a scope of work. But these people have jobs. When they come and spend time with me, it needs to be concise, it needs to be definitive, and they need to get back to their primary responsibility. 

So, you know, to say that we had a certain volume in terms of minutes of sessions, planning sessions. Phew. That, in itself, may be a terrible sign of leadership. So, an honest plan of communicating and relating, and everything, all of our efforts have to be pointed toward teaching and learning in the university. When the hard decisions come, I’ll follow the advice of my single greatest mentor, who was Dr. Kent Wyatt, former president here. He has always advocated, during the years I served with him, (that) for the hard decisions, where consensus was so hard, the guiding light was (to) do what’s best for the university. And I live that. I believe that.

MT: One of the biggest issues that is on everyone’s mind is the enrollment decline that Delta State has experienced during the pandemic. (Editor’s note: Enrollment has dropped by 27% since fall 2019 at Delta State – the largest drop of any public university in the state.) It seems like the enrollment issue facing the university is multifaceted and not necessarily just due to the pandemic. There are factors like the declining population of the Delta, other universities in the state having more resources and more reputable academic programs.

Do you have thoughts on why the university is seeing this enrollment decline, and what you think the university can do to improve the numbers?

Caston: Well, the last part of your question is my number one. What can we do? Enrollment is down. Population is down. Enrollment is the number one topic of mine. It will be the number one topic throughout my service time here. I am committed to a year of interim, during which time the board will meet its responsibilities of a search and a selection process. During that time, we will continue what has begun with our VP for student affairs, and our provost and VP for academic affairs. Those two gentlemen, who are relatively new here, they have an outstanding action plan that has us very excited. We will know on the 15th what our numbers are. I don’t want to jump the gun and step out there with a number. But I can tell you, the indicators are that we’re going to have a really nice size new student registration and enrollment – 

MT: For the fall? 

Caston: For the fall, yes. And we’ll see what that figure actually is. But I’m speaking of applications, people who are in the full process of being selected.

MT: What does that action plan entail?

Caston: In terms of recruitment?

MT: Mhm. 

Caston: Oh. Of course, incoming, who are then housed here. Recruiters working contacts, using technology, using relationships, as well as out there in the field. But it’s pretty much done now.  We’re right at registration, we’ll still have some – at the time of on-campus, when the campus opens, we’ll still have people coming in to register. So that number, it’s kind of like Christmas, you know. We’re just excited for it to get here. We’re not quite sure what it’s going to hold for us. But our indications, the indications are good.

MT: What happens if the university doesn’t improve its enrollment numbers?

Caston: Well, the work is ongoing. We will not give in. We’re here for the long haul. Delta State has enjoyed a wonderful reputation for years. And we’ll take recruitment as far out from campus as we need to go for us to have our coffers filled. So that would be the plan. The old football coach would say, ‘Huddle up, next play.’ You know? 

MT: What is Delta State’s responsibility to the community here? What is its place? What role should Delta State play in the Delta and in Mississippi? 

Caston: Delta State is a part of Cleveland, and Cleveland is a part of Delta State. One of the things that I just thoroughly enjoyed as a student, and later as an employee, (is) the closeness, the closeness. That has to be one of my priorities.

When I first came back here, almost 20 years after I left – at the time that I left, I was a high school teacher and coach. To come back and see some of my former students now adults, parents, and to see their kids enrolling? There is a strong, strong historical connect. Often it’s been stated, no IHL in Mississippi has a better town-gown than Cleveland and Delta State. Have you ever heard that?

MT: I have not. 

Caston: You have not?

MT: I would love to know more about why that’s something people say.

Caston: Because they love their school. Support – mutual support. City government leaders and administration and faculty? Close, close, close. I see one of my former students here nodding. (Editor’s note: Caston was referring to Davis-Green, Delta State’s director of communication, who sat in on the interview.) It’s the way it is. 

I came here from Baton Rouge when I was 18. And when I pulled – my parents drove me – we pulled up to the Coliseum … I thought, ‘Where in the world am I?’ That was in 1963. And six months later, I would have died for the place. I just felt embraced when I first got here, and it’s been that way for me. 

You know, for a lot of young people who’ve had limited experiences given their station in life, their geography – nurturing is a big factor. When you just hear a student, standing at the elevator, and saying to another student, you know, ‘We didn’t have an elevator in my town.’ That’s – you just think about the adjustment, the challenge of the adjustment. This faculty – I’ve seen it, every time I’ve come out of retirement, I’ve found the same thing. That nurturing – kind of, come on, we can do it. I’ve had professors to say, ‘I can promise you, you will be successful if you come to class, and participate. If you don’t come, I’m not gonna worry about you. If you come, I’ll be here. And I’m gonna see that you get it done.’ Now that’s, that’s nurturing to me.

MT: You referenced town-gown relations. Another thing I’ve been seeing is that private donations and town-gown relations seem closely tied at Delta State. Can you talk about what kind of relationship you see yourself forging with local businesses and local donors?

Caston: I think it’s not an at-the-podium concept – me standing before. Me and others at the table. In the homes and at functions. People visiting the campus and feeling the atmosphere and the environment, and also seeing the need. I think people who see the need – you know, we see terrible things happen in a country. And all of a sudden there’s an outpouring of millions of dollars, you know, people, unsolicited, contributing to a terrible tragedy. I’m not saying there’s a tragedy, but I’m saying need. Need gets response from a caring community. I’m not worried about that up here. 

MT: What is the need that you would like for the community to see? 

Caston: Funds to meet student needs. Teaching and learning. Every nickel we spend, it should track to teaching and learning. I think we can do that. At first blush, you might think, well how in the world can you say such and such connects to teaching and learning? Well, the guy on the weed eater out here on the back forty? That contributes to teaching and learning. We have a pretty campus. Somebody’s got to keep that. It’ll go to seed quickly. Facilities. We have some old buildings, worrisome buildings, you know? And we’re going to have to make some hard decisions in that regard. 

I don’t mind hard decisions. I want healthy contribution to get to the decision.

MT: I was looking back through the Delta State College Foundation 990s to get a sense of private giving. It looks like it’s never stayed at one consistent level. It’s jumped around from about $2 million to $6 million, then back to $2 million. But it looks like from 2018 to 2019, it (contributions) took a big tumble. I was wondering if private donations are down to the university? And if you can talk a little more about how that affects the university’s budget?

Caston: I haven’t gotten into it yet, so I really can’t. I can say that I believe it reflects the economy. Donors invest money. And it’s from earnings from their investments that they contribute to places like here. So it stands if they have $50 million, and they’re losing money this quarter, then we are too. It reflects the larger system. 

MT: Every few years, it seems like the legislature cuts more money from the university budget– 

Caston: Cuts more money? 

MT: Mhm. And the whole IHL system. I’m wondering, without better public funding, what can the university do to address the issues caused by state budget cuts?

Caston: This school has gotten more out of the dollar. I can tell you, people talk about institutions and they have a lot of fat in their budget. Delta State has never enjoyed fat. We’ve never claimed to be fat. 

Now, it has been said before at the state level. The best fiscally managed institution is Delta State. It gets more done with less money. But here’s where that bites. A small institution like this, that operates on a very lean budget. If you’re in the budget year – you know what I’m gonna say? Cuts. Appropriations are cut mid-year? We don’t have any fat, right? 

MT: There’s nothing to lean on? 

Caston: That’s right. That’s right. So you know, what’s the hope there? Please don’t cut during the fiscal year. We’ll deal with it. End of fiscal year, start of next year. That’s where very careful planning and scrutiny and evaluation of finances and personnel. Biggest part of the budget is people. And we’ve got to help people. We’ve been lucky to have good people. 

I have known people – employees, faculty, I’ve done it myself – turn down much higher paying jobs. You know why? Happy, they’re happy where they are. I’m happy here. I wouldn’t go out of state. I’m already past that. I’m an old man.

MT: I want to move to asking a bit about faculty. There was a recent PEER report that looked at tenured positions at the IHL schools, and Delta State was the only university to not hire a tenured professor in the last three years. (Editor’s note: The PEER report shows that Delta State actually has not directly hired a tenure professor from fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2021, a five-year period.) From (fiscal year) 2019 to 2021, the university lost 13 tenure-track faculty, which is the largest loss among the regional colleges in Mississippi. 

What effect does faculty retention have on the university? And how will you work to make Delta State a place where faculty want to stay for a long time?

Caston: I don’t think it’s a matter of wanting or not wanting to stay. I think it’s a matter of providing for one’s family. When I came here as a student, the overwhelming majority of the faculty were from in state. Through the decades and years, that has become far, far more global. Not only within the US, but certainly outside of Mississippi. In that regard, I think for a large number of reasons that don’t reflect necessarily on Delta State, we see a more fluid population. And the saving grace is the environment here, the nurturing of one another, and we do grow our own to some degree. I’m a product. 

When I lived in Mississippi, but in South Mississippi, I had people come to my home, friends of mine, tearful that I was making a terrible mistake to leave one place and move back to Cleveland. And they said, well, ‘How do you explain, help me understand?’ My answer, and I remember it clearly, that was years ago that happened – (was) ‘You would have to have lived there and did your college degree, work there, to understand.’ So I didn’t want, there wasn’t any way – they were convinced that I was making a mistake. I knew what I was going to. I said, ‘I know exactly where I’m going. And I’m going there because I want to go there.’ And I honestly feel– 

MT: When was that? 

Caston: That was, give me a second here. ‘83. 1983. 

MT: Diversity, equity, inclusion efforts are really important to many on campus. Specifically, I’m thinking of the Winning the Race conference. And I’m wondering, how will you help these efforts grow?

Caston: Well, that will be one of my questions to the appropriate audience here. And with input from the community, the – actually, my sense of that, I have some limited knowledge in that regard. The numbers are down in terms of participants, especially outside of the campus. The highest percentage of participation, I believe, would come from faculty and staff on campus– 

MT: For the Winning the Race conference? 

Caston: Yeah, for Winning the Race. 

And my experience through the years on initiatives like that. You reload, revise, sometimes you discontinue, you know? If there’s a need, and there’s an audience, there has to be a reason why there isn’t an audience and so that you explore that carefully, and you come with a revised edition, whatever that might be. So that’ll be something of interest to look – at all those types of social topics, if you will. 

MT: What does looking at them entail?

Caston: Well, I think your key participants on campus, organizers, planners, leaders – and invited attendees. I think you go to the table with it and look at what you have. How – if we’re, if our attendance is waning, can we determine why? And we probe. And we’re influenced by what we find. And so we come out the other side with continuation of what we had, revise what we had, it could even be discontinued, renamed, you know, refitted. So.

MT: What are the numbers on the conference?

Caston: I couldn’t tell you, but it’s available if you need that information. I think we can get that for you. 

MT: A lot of faculty and community members have pushed to have the Walter Sillers Coliseum renamed in Lusia Harris’s honor, and I know that the university was discussing ways to commemorate her. I was wondering if you could speak to that.

Caston: I have some awareness about that, having been a student athlete here. But I was away during that period when she played. But I met her. I’m fully aware of who she is, I’m fully aware who Margaret Wade is. I was close to her during my years as a student. You know, Margaret Wade’s – the Wade trophy is the female version of the Heisman trophy for men in football. 

The matter of naming is a very structured – you’re familiar with that? It’s very structured by the state of Mississippi. And so Delta State may suggest, may recommend but it’s – that is determined at state level, has to flow through the college board, so there are options on recognizing excellence. I think we look at all our options. If one door closes, try to find another door to open kind-of-thing.

MT: We’re entering the sixth wave of COVID. I know that the university has relaxed its COVID policies as have pretty much every IHL school. What are you doing to mitigate the effects of the next wave of the pandemic?

Caston: Continue what we’re doing. Good health practices, early intervention. And I would add, reasonable intervention, and stay the course. And don’t panic. And have faith we’re gonna feel the sun. 

MT: What does that look like specifically, do you have that sorted out yet?

Caston: It hasn’t been a topic in my first five days. I can tell you that. Because the university has an established, adopted plan, and it follows it carefully.

MT: Faculty are always really curious about IHL’s personnel decisions – not just faculty, but anyone who watches the IHL board closely. I’m wondering if you can sort of walk us through how you came into this job, and why you decided to take this role now.

Caston: I was contacted by the IHL Commissioner. And he communicated to me the desire for the board to invite me to serve as interim until a search could be conducted and a permanent president be named. I agreed to do that. That’s exactly how it happened.

MT: When did they reach out to you?

Caston: I won’t be able to recall the exact date. It was, at the time that – it was right at the time that they made the announcement. It was like one day to the next. It was pretty tight.

MT: Is there something, a question I haven’t brought up that you want to talk about, or something you want to use this interview to communicate to the people who are going to read it? 

Caston: No. 

MT: Well, that’s everything. 

Caston: Sure, okay. Suits me. Suits me. Come visit.

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From Anna Wolfe’s story: “Attorneys are wrangling Mississippi’s former governor into the welfare department’s massive civil lawsuit, which one attorney called a “no-holds-barred death match.””

The post Marshall Ramsey: Bring A Ladder appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A poll commissioned by the ACLU of Mississippi reports 51% of Mississippians oppose the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Mississippi case that overturned the longstanding Roe v. Wade right to abortion.

The survey reported that only 18% of those polled believe abortion should be illegal in all cases, with 81% believing it should be legal with some restrictions and 32% saying it should be legal in all cases.

The poll also delved into state politics, including the favorability/unfavorability of the governor, lieutenant governor, House speaker and the Legislature.

The live poll was conducted from June 28 to July 6 of 872 likely Mississippi voters by Blueprint Polling, sister company to Mississippi-based Chism Strategies, which often does work for Democratic politicians. Results were weighted by age, race and gender of a likely general election turnout with a margin of error of +/- 3.3%. Those polled included 402 Republicans, 285 Democrats and 170 independents.

The poll also reported:

• 46% said women in Mississippi should have the choice to have an abortion up to 16 weeks of pregnancy, with 43% saying no.
• 49% said they oppose women being able to access online pharmacies to order an FDA approved “abortion pill,” while 47% said they should have access. But 86% said they oppose any law allowing state or police officials to monitor or review a woman’s internet history to see if they’ve ordered such medication. And 48% said doctors should be able to prescribe the medication through telehealth services, with 46% opposed.
• 83% said women should not be criminally investigated or prosecuted for possibly having an abortion, with only 6% saying they should.
• 71% said they do not view emergency contraception such as IUDs and Plan B as methods of abortion.
• 76% of respondents support expanding postpartum Medicaid coverage for mothers — a measure that died in the Legislature this year — and the same percent support overall expansion of Medicaid, including 59% of Republicans surveyed.

In 2011, Mississippians voted 58%-42% against a proposed state constitutional amendment that would have defined a fertilized egg as a person in an effort to ban abortions. In the new survey, 54% said they would oppose lawmakers passing a similar law now, with 38% saying they would support it.

The poll showed Gov. Tate Reeves with a net favorability of -12.3. For Reeves, the breakdown of respondents to the poll includes:

• Very favorable: 12.5%
• Somewhat favorable: 19.2%
• Neutral: 14.2%
• Somewhat unfavorable: 12.1%
• Very unfavorable: 31.9%

He remains generally favorable among Republicans, according to the poll, with 55% finding him favorable and 21% finding him unfavorable. Among white voters polled, 42% found him favorable and 32% found him unfavorable.

The survey reported Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann with a net favorability of +10 and House Speaker Philip Gunn at -3.7. But 35% said they didn’t know enough about Hosemann to rate him, and 45% said the same for Gunn.

The state Legislature, according to the poll, was also underwater with voters, with a net favorability of -12.6.

Click to read the full ACLU poll, including questions, methodology and crosstabs.

The post Poll: Majority of Mississippians oppose Supreme Court abortion decision appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi’s foster care agency is failing to prevent abuse and neglect of children in state custody despite its commitments to do so as part of a long-running federal lawsuit, documents obtained by Mississippi Today show. 

And Gov. Tate Reeves, who oversees the agency and has recently vowed to make the state safer for children, has downplayed the agency’s problems and failed to propose concrete solutions.

A Mississippi toddler named Olivia Y. weighed only 22 pounds when she entered state custody in 2003. Though she was obviously malnourished, she was not given a medical exam. Over the next three months, she was shuffled across five different foster homes.

The lawsuit that bears her name was filed in 2004, when she was 3-and-a-half years old, on behalf of the thousands of children in the state foster care system. The state first agreed to a settlement requiring it to make systemic reforms in 2008, but has never fully complied with the terms of that and later settlement agreements.

An independent monitor evaluated the department’s progress toward meeting its commitments in reports released in 2020 and 2021 that were never publicized. The reports documented major systemic failures and gut-wrenching stories. About 2% of all children in department custody were subjected to abuse or neglect by their caregivers in 2020, the monitor found – and advocates believe many more incidents of abuse are never reported. 

The department acknowledged in June 2021 that it was not capable of achieving its targets and instead agreed to a “rebuilding period.” It is working toward reaching a smaller number of less stringent standards in areas such as worker caseloads and child safety by early 2023. The next monitoring report will not be filed until April 2023. 

Yet Reeves has already determined the department is up to par. 

In a statement to Mississippi Today, Reeves spokeswoman Shelby Wilcher said the most recent monitoring report, which evaluated the department’s work in calendar year 2020, does not reflect its “current efficacy.”

“Governor Reeves believes current child protection services in Mississippi meet and exceed constitutional standards,” she said. 

It’s not clear what he meant by “constitutional standards.”

Marcia Robinson Lowry, the lead plaintiffs’ attorney in the federal case against the state, has met regularly with CPS Commissioner Andrea Sanders, whom Reeves appointed, during the last two years. Lowry disagrees with Reeves’ claim.

“That’s appalling,” Lowry said of Reeves’ statement. “I don’t know what he means by that. I hope that we are all paying attention to the wellbeing of Mississippi’s children, both the advocates and the governor, because the reports that the monitor has issued show that there are big, big problems in the Mississippi system. And they need to be addressed. And they haven’t been. So I’m sort of appalled at that.”

Lowry said she believes Sanders has been making strong efforts to achieve the department’s rebuilding period targets, but it’s still unclear whether they will succeed. Lowry said the details of her meetings with Sanders are confidential.

The department told Mississippi Today it cannot comment on the ongoing litigation. 

Wilcher did not respond to follow-up questions about how Reeves reached his conclusion and whether he has seen more recent data showing rates of abuse and neglect. 

Among the problems documented in the most recent reports:

• High rates of abuse and neglect of children in department custody. In 2019, 87 kids were abused or neglected. In 2020, the figure was 117, nearly six times the agreed-upon rate. During the rebuilding period, the independent monitor is conducting an analysis to determine why these cases occurred.

• Four teenagers in department custody ran away from the group home where they were living and became involved in sex trafficking in 2019. When the department investigated, one of the girls who had run away reported that they “were not really being supervised.” But the CPS investigator never interviewed facility staff to find out whether that might have played a role in their escape – even though they also knew that incidents of kids running away from the facility had triggered at least 28 previous investigations. By the time the investigation wrapped up, one of the four teenagers was still missing.

• The monitor found: “A foster child, age ten, and adoptive child, age 11, were left home to care for a foster child, age one. He was not changed regularly and had diaper rash. The older children changed his diaper, gave him a bath, and cleaned him with baby wipes because he was always filthy. MDCPS substantiated physical neglect of the one-year-old, but neglect was unsubstantiated for the other two children, who were caregivers for him. In interviews, the children also alleged that the foster mother called them names, cursed at them, ‘whooped’’ them with belts, shoes, and other objects, and smoked around them in the home and the car. As a result of this investigation, the 10-year-old was removed from the home. However, the one-year-old remained in the home for two months, and the 11- year-old adopted child and an older adopted youth still remain in the home.”

• The department placed a 17-year-old girl in a motel for a month and a half and hired a rotating group of sitters from a sitter service to watch her. It conducted two maltreatment investigations. In the first, “it was alleged that the child had taken a beer from a man staying at the motel, that she had ‘found’ $400 and split it with one of the sitters, and that she was sending inappropriate pictures of herself through social media.” The department removed her phone and did not substantiate allegations of physical neglect.  It then removed her from the motel and placed her in a group home. The child then reported that while she was in the motel, one of the sitters regularly took her to their home, where “she had sexual relations with the sitter’s 47-year-old uncle ‘three to four times weekly’ and that it was consensual.” The department found that physical neglect and sexual abuse had occurred, and the investigator noted that the report was forwarded to local police but that they could not bring charges because Mississippi’s age of consent is 16. “However, the investigating worker also noted that if an exchange occurred for sex, the age of consent is then 18 years of age. It appears the Department did not follow up on this.”

• “A 19-year-old was placed and re-placed in a hotel repeatedly, including three times after being hospitalized for ingesting harmful objects such as a razor, broken glass, and a large quantity of pills, and once after running away from the hotel and being returned there by the police.”

• Higher-than-allowable worker caseloads. The department is supposed to ensure 90% of all caseworkers have a caseload that meets standards allowing them to provide adequate care and oversight. In 2019 and 2020, this figure ranged from 48% to 68%. 

• The department failed to consistently provide older teens with assistance planning for independent life after leaving state custody, including help lining up housing, even when they specifically asked for it. In the case of one Mississippian who left state custody on their 21st birthday, “Case narrative notes documented the youth’s desire for an apartment for several months prior to emancipation. There was no documentation that the youth ever received assistance from MDCPS in finding housing.”

At a press event on Wednesday where the Governor and First Lady announced the theme of this year’s “Christmas at the Mansion,” Mississippi Today attempted to ask Reeves in person about how he reached his conclusion that MDCPS is meeting and exceeding “constitutional standards” to protect the kids in its care. 

“I’m not going to take any questions on that today,” he said. “I’m going to be out and about tomorrow. We’ll talk politics at the appropriate time.”

(This year’s theme is “Mississippi Hometown Christmas.”)

In 2020, the department met only 32 of 123 targets. It failed to meet 75, and the monitor couldn’t evaluate the remaining areas because of data issues.

In 2019, the department met 39 of 126 commitments. It did not meet 54 areas and failed to provide data or complete data for 32. 

In the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the end of nearly all abortion in Mississippi, Reeves has touted a “new pro-life agenda.” But his proposals for the state’s foster care system so far have largely amounted to a pledge to “strengthen adoption services.” 

Earlier this year, the Legislature approved nearly $60 million in federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act for the department, which will in part be used to hire about 200 new employees to work through a “backlog” of cases. 

A spokesperson for the department did not answer questions regarding plans for the ARPA spending, saying the person best equipped to answer them is out of the office this week. Lawmakers did not respond to requests for comment or did not recall the specifics of the department’s plans for its ARPA funding.

When Mississippi Today asked Reeves’ office for information about his work on foster care issues, they pointed to a press conference he held in April where they said the department was discussed “in detail.” During the press conference, he announced an expanded “public-private partnership” with a nonprofit program called Wendy’s Wonderful Kids to help find adoptive homes for special needs children and older kids in foster care. With a $1.7 million donation from the Dave Thomas Foundation, the program will expand from one recruiter in the state to 10.

At the same event, Reeves signed into law a bill that will provide college scholarships for young people who spent at least part of their teenage years in foster care. Thirty-eight states already had such programs. 

But the problems documented in the monitoring reports go far beyond barriers to adoption and college access. 

According to the reports, adoption is the long-term goal for 39% of kids in state custody; only 22% who left department care in 2020 were adopted. 

For half of kids in state custody, the long-term goal is reunification with their families. Caseworkers are supposed to meet monthly with the families of kids in that category to discuss progress and the child’s well-being. But the monitors found this happened less than half of the time. 

When CPS Commissioner Andrea Sanders presented her request for ARPA funding to legislators in December, she noted that a very small amount of resources can sometimes allow a child to avoid state custody altogether.

“We do want to start with where the child is and look for ways that we might prevent removal of that child,” she said. “What would it take to get a child to stay in their home safely? Sometimes it’s just a bed. Sometimes it’s a safe place to sleep. Sometimes it’s a mitigation of a heating system in the house that’s unsafe for the child to be around.”

The number of children in state custody has fallen 33% since 2017, from 5,872 to 3,888 in June 2022, according to data the department shared with Mississippi Today. The monitoring report showed that at the end of 2020, there were 3,738 kids in department custody.

The reports also document the department’s progress in several areas, including:

• The department licensed 357 new non-relative foster homes in 2020, exceeding the target of 351. “This is a significant accomplishment made during the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a significant impact on child welfare operations throughout the nation,” the report noted.

• The department ran a system of post-adoption services statewide, providing adoptive families access to counseling, mental health treatment and crisis intervention, peer support and respite services. 

• At least 95% of children in custody were placed in the least restrictive setting (i.e., the one most similar to a family environment) that met their needs. 

• The department’s caseworkers met educational qualifications and received adequate training. 

Mississippi advocates for children have witnessed other problems with the system beyond those discussed in the reports. 

Polly Tribble leads Disability Rights Mississippi, the nonprofit advocacy organization with statutory authority to advocate for Mississippians with disabilities. In the last year, she said, her organization has contacted MDCPS roughly 10 times because a foster child – generally with a psychiatric diagnosis of some kind – has been languishing in an inpatient residential facility long past when they should be released. 

“A few of them have been appropriately placed in a foster home or a therapeutic foster home, but more times than not they’re just transferred to another facility, or left,” she said. “… And of course the facility’s not going to turn them away.”

Tribble said kids can spend years in such facilities. 

Joy Hogge, executive director of the nonprofit Families as Allies, which advocates for children with behavioral health challenges and their caregivers, said one of the biggest problems facing the foster care system in Mississippi is a deeply ingrained sense that people who lose custody of their kids don’t really deserve to be parents. 

“There’s a lot of prejudice against the families, and assumptions made about them,” she said. 

Hogge said that when reunification is possible – as it is in at least half of cases, according to the monitoring reports – it’s important to support children in seeing their families and siblings, and in helping biological families get what they need. 

“There’s a philosophy that these are bad parents, we need to take these children from them,” she said. “It’s the same thing you’re seeing now: ‘We need to make adoption really easy.’”

Read the monitoring report completed in 2021:

Read the monitoring report completed in 2020:

Read the June 2021 order describing the rebuilding period:

Anna Wolfe contributed reporting.

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