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Louisiana DCFS warns about card skimmers; mental health programs for service industry workers

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Adam Vos
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WRKF
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The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) is warning SNAP and EBT beneficiaries about potential benefit theft from card skimmers found at retail stores. Louisiana Considered assistant producer Aubry Procell spoke with Rhonda Brown, fraud and recovery director for DCFS about the issue and what cardholders can do to protect their benefits.

The holiday season is just behind us, and even though it can be a relaxing time with family, it can be stressful for service industry workers. But there are some organizations working to provide mental health services for service industry employees.

The Southern Smoke Foundation was established in 2015 to provide a safety-net for food and beverage workers. Their mental health program is called “Behind You,” an often-used alert uttered in kitchens. It seeks to expand no-cost mental health counseling for hospitality workers who often endure stressful work environments and low pay.

Catarina Bill, chief mission officer with the Southern Smoke Foundation, tells us more about the program and their expansion to Louisiana.

Cold weather means gumbo, a classic Louisiana dish that mixes all kinds of meats, veggies and spices. That means the gumbo pot can give us a unique look at economic forces in the region. The Gulf States Newsroom’s Stephan Bisaha and Drew Hawkins see how inflation is impacting this Louisiana staple.

Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Adam Vos. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber and our assistant producer is Aubry Procell. Our engineer is Garrett Pittman.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:30 pm. It’s available on Spotify, Google Play, and wherever you get your podcasts. 

Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you’re at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you’d like to listen to.

Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

Adam is responsible for coordinating WRKF's programming and making sure everything you hear on the radio runs smoothly. He is Newscast Editor for the WRKF/WWNO Newsroom. Adam is also the Baton Rouge-based host for Louisiana Considered, our daily regional news program, and is frequently the local voice afternoons on All Things Considered.
Alana Schreiber is the managing producer for the live daily news program, Louisiana Considered. She comes to WRKF from KUNC in Northern Colorado, where she worked as a radio producer for the daily news magazine, Colorado Edition. She has previously interned for Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul and The Documentary Group in New York City.