Rehabilitation

Homeowners can qualify for rehab assistance An informational meeting on programs offering financial assistance to qualifying homeowners whose house needs rehabilitation or repairs will be held 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Pascal Senior Activity Center, 125 Dorsey Road, Glen Burnie. Leanne Garabedian and Carson Arnold from Arundel Community Development Services will provide information about the property rehabilitation program services available through ACDS, a private nonprofit organization that administers federal, state and local housing and community development funds, as well as affordable housing initiatives.

After more than a decade's worth of tough-on-crime policies dumped more juvenile offenders into adult prisons, the pendulum is swinging back, according to two new studies. A majority of Americans polled in MacArthur Foundation-sponsored surveys favor rehabilitation over incarceration and are willing to spend more money toward that end. The public's preference should be reflected in juvenile justice policies and law, but attitudes in many state capitals will have to change for that to happen.

Boot camps are an entry point to rehabilitationAs a child and adolescent therapist, I was impressed with the thoroughness and even-handedness of The Sun's series on the boot camp at Savage Mountain.The immediate and instinctive reaction of any child advocate will be to denounce the camps and the abuse and intimidation the series documented. I, too, am distressed that neglected and abused youths are further subjected to abuse in the name of rehabilitation.However, critics of the camps miss an important point.

The Howard County school board included yesterday in its budget request for the next fiscal year money to pay for having an athletic trainer at each high school during intra-scholastic sports practices and events.The allocation, which the County Council must approve if it is to become effective July 1, marked the first time since the idea was broached locally in 1988 that the board has even agreed to seek the money.Athletes in Howard County public schools, among the state's most affluent, and their counterparts in Baltimore are the last in Central Maryland not to have trainerspresent during athletic activity.

Integrated Health Services Inc. of Owings Mills said yesterday that it will take over the long-term rehabilitation services of NovaCare Inc. of King of Prussia, Pa., for an undisclosed amount.The sale comes in spite of industry concerns about the profitability of long-term physical and occupational rehabilitation, a sector of the health care business that has been squeezed by Medicare cutbacks."Although there's been a dramatic reduction in revenues and earnings in contract rehabilitation businesses throughout the country, we believe it is still a viable business," said Marc B. Levin, executive vice president of IHS.IHS is betting that by becoming a bigger player in contract rehabilitation, it will develop enough of a market presence to make money.

HealthSouth Corp., the Birmingham, Ala., company that operates more than 1,800 outpatient rehabilitation and surgery centers nationally, will manage the rehabilitation programs at Sinai Hospital and Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center, Sinai and Levindale announced yesterday.Sinai's president, Neil Meltzer, said the deal was "not an outsourcing, but more of a partnership."He said managed care insurers like to contract for rehabilitation with large operators such as HealthSouth, so the new arrangement should bring Sinai more patients.

Astros: The three-game series drew 149,242, the largest three-game series in Astrodome history, surpassing the 142,116 for a Dodgers series on Aug. 5-7, 1966. Houston has homered in 16 of its past 21 games.Cubs: Kerry Wood has struck out the side nine times, and he's fanned two batters in an inning 54 times.Giants: Reliever Alvin Morman will begin a rehabilitation assignment tomorrow at Triple-A Fresno.Pub Date: 8/17/98

A center of hopeFOR 25 YEARS, the Maryland Rehabilitation Center has offered hope to disabled people who thought independent living, or holding a job, was an impossible dream. On Friday, the program celebrated that anniversary.A division of the Maryland State Department of Education, the center has served more than 50,000 people with occupational training, medical evaluations and support, residential services, job placement, help with practical skills such as driver education, therapeutic and recreational activities, as well as other services.

A Business Digest item in yesterday's editions of The Sun misstated the business relationship of two Ellicott City facilities involved in an alliance. Constellation Senior Services Inc. operates Heartlands Senior Living Village. St. Agnes HealthCare operates St. Agnes Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, which is adjacent to the Heartlands campus. Under the agreement, St. Agnes will provide health services such as rehabilitation and respiratory therapy for Heartlands residents.The Sun regrets the error.

BaseballCubs: Sent OF Pedro Valdes to Triple-A Iowa on a rehabilitation ** assignment.Indians: Optioned IF Enrique Wilson to Triple-A Buffalo.Padres: Recalled OF James Mouton from Triple-A Las Vegas.CollegeJacksonville State University: Announced Brandon Johnson (Cardinal Gibbons) had been hired as men's assistant basketball coach after he resigned from a similar position at Clayton State.FootballBengals: Re-signed OT Kevin Sargent.HockeyFlyers: Signed C Rod Brind'Amour to a three-year contract.

When I was a teenager running errands with my mom, I often thought, "Why does she always have to get into a lengthy conversation with the woman behind the deli counter?" I communicated this by standing behind her with a surly expression on my face and an impatient, toe-tapping stance. And now I find myself all grown up, shopping with my own children and chatting with the employees behind the deli counter. Recently, one worker announced that she always enjoys waiting on me because I have a very nice aura and I make her feel happy.

Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski took off for the Senate on Thursday afternoon to cast her vote for Judge Sonia Sotomayor, after leaving Mercy Medical Center in downtown Baltimore, where she had undergone ankle surgery July 27 and what she called rehabilitation "boot camp." From a wheelchair, she said, "My vote will be cast for her" and called the Supreme Court nominee "my fellow Nancy Drew reader." The senator described how she fell on steps after leaving a July 19 afternoon Mass at the Basilica of the Assumption.

Three weeks into the season, Orioles manager Dave Trembley said he has a clear blueprint for how he will use his bullpen. As long as none of the three are overworked, Chris Ray will pitch the seventh inning, Jim Johnson will pitch the eighth and George Sherrill will close. Trembley will use Jamie Walker to match up with left-handers and Danys Baez to match up with batters against whom he has thrived. Matt Albers and Brian Bass will be the primary long relievers. Baez, Albers and Bass will all be available to finish games in nonsave situations.

Bishops' rehabilitation prompts protests 4 VATICAN CITY : Pope Benedict XVI has lifted the excommunications of four traditionalist bishops, including that of a Holocaust denier whose rehabilitation sparked outrage among Jewish groups. The four bishops were excommunicated 20 years ago after they were consecrated by the late ultraconservative Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre without papal consent - a move the Vatican said at the time was an act of schism. The Vatican said yesterday that Pope Benedict had rehabilitated the four as part of his efforts to bring Lefebvre's Society of St. Pius X back into the Vatican's fold.

The rehabilitation of Vladimir Kozlov continued on SmackDown as he picked up a pinfall win over Triple H. OK, it was in a handicap match with The Big Show as his partner, but still, anytime someone gets a 1-2-3 on "The Game," it's newsworthy. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/ringposts)

Homeowners can qualify for rehab assistance An informational meeting on programs offering financial assistance to qualifying homeowners whose house needs rehabilitation or repairs will be held 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Pascal Senior Activity Center, 125 Dorsey Road, Glen Burnie. Leanne Garabedian and Carson Arnold from Arundel Community Development Services will provide information about the property rehabilitation program services available through ACDS, a private nonprofit organization that administers federal, state and local housing and community development funds, as well as affordable housing initiatives.

After more than a decade's worth of tough-on-crime policies dumped more juvenile offenders into adult prisons, the pendulum is swinging back, according to two new studies. A majority of Americans polled in MacArthur Foundation-sponsored surveys favor rehabilitation over incarceration and are willing to spend more money toward that end. The public's preference should be reflected in juvenile justice policies and law, but attitudes in many state capitals will have to change for that to happen.

When Staff Sgt. Jarod Behee was asked to select a paint color for the customized wheelchair that was going to be his future, his young wife seethed. The government, Marissa Behee believed, was giving up on her husband just five months after he took a sniper's bullet to the head during his second tour of duty in Iraq. Marissa Behee, a sunny Californian who was just completing a degree in interior design, possessed a keen faith in her then 26-year-old husband's potential to be rehabilitated from a severe traumatic brain injury.

Joppatowne guard Arielle Townes dribbled slowly toward the top of the key and stopped. In one quick motion, the senior subtly looked left while passing to the right. The move, executed during the Mariners' game against Severna Park last month, was so fluid and seemingly effortless that it nearly faked out her teammate. A few minutes later, Townes looked right while passing left - and nearly faked out another teammate. Townes routinely makes plays like that. The 5-foot-9 senior can play all five positions, Joppatowne coach Michael Harris said, and she leads Joppatowne in scoring, averaging 18.5 points per game.

LORING M. VOLKER, 78, departed this world in early December after a lengthy illness at the hospice unit of the VA rehabilitation center. No public memorial has been planned. Call 410-254-7337 to attend a private memorial.