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. 

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