The U.S. is the only nation in the world
that has not ratified
the Universal Rights of the Child Treaty.
Americans are proud of and outspoken about spirituality, values, and freedom – making proclamations about human rights, women’s rights, and animal rights.
My twelve years in County child protection as a volunteer guardian ad-Litem (Court Appointed Special Advocate/CASA) has taught me hard lessons.
There can be extended exposure to brutality because of “no standing in court” rulings for children in toxic homes and marriages.
Beaten children, sexually abused children, starved and neglected children enter the child protection system every day. Over three million children a year are reported to child protection services in America. These children have no standing in court and suffer because of this in many ways. Child Protection Services in many states are overwhelmed and children die because it.
A number of states allow marriage at 14, several states have no minimum marrying age. Divorce by a child in these marriages with no standing in court can be impossible (come back when you are 18).
Many states allow parents to withhold safe medical care to their dying children for religious reasons.
These numbers, realities, and stories are staggering.
- In 2005, 25 U.S. states allowed for the execution of juvenile offenders. This ceased after the 2005 Supreme Court decision Roper v. Simmons, which found juvenile execution unconstitutional as “cruel and unusual punishment“. The decision cited the Convention as one of several indications that “the United States now stands alone in a world that has turned its face against the juvenile death penalty”.[25][26][27]
- The 2010 decision Graham v. Florida prohibited the sentencing of juveniles to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for non-homicide crimes. As of the Graham decision, six U.S. states prohibited such sentences in all cases.[28]
- The June 2012 Supreme Court decision Miller v. Alabama held that mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole are unconstitutional for juvenile murderers. The ruling did not prohibit courts from imposing a considered life sentence.[29]
- The recent Supreme Court decision on juveniles and life without parole was issued on April 22, 2021 allows life without parole for juvenile offenders. Today, the United States is the only country in the world that sentences juveniles to life in prison without the possibility of parole 2. Although twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have banned these sentences for juveniles, nearly 2,600 people are still serving life-without-parole sentences for crimes committed as juveniles 2.
MN”s former Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz has stated “90% of the youth in Juvenile Justice have passed through Child Protective Services and “The difference between that poor child and a felon is about eight years”.
We do not offer adequate help or protection to children that need it the most and we don’t like to talk about it. There is nothing that brings cold hard silence to a conversation than talking about my experiences with child sexual abuse or abused and traumatized children.
Because there is no discussion by those in the know, few people outside the system can understand the issues which means the media and politicians that could draw attention don’t (or they are mixed up in their understanding).
So nothing changes. In fact, during these lean times, programs for abused and neglected children are disappearing all over our nation and things are getting worse. Our Voices Matter was powerful program that allowed foster and adoptive kids a voice has recently disappeared because children have no standing in court and no voice at the State House. Many truly useful organizations are disappearing today because they cannot speak for themselves and we don’t understand or support children that need help the most.
From the courts, social workers, CASA programs, & health and other resources, to the foster and adoptive parents that work so hard to make life bearable for traumatized youth, child protection systems throughout this country are overwhelmed and unable to provide the services these children need.
Until I became part of the system, I had no idea that that 90% of the youth in juvenile Justice came through child protection, or that over 50% of youth in juvenile justice suffered from mental health issues with fully half that number diagnosed with multiple and severe mental health problems (the same is most likely true of children in child protection).
Without professional help, how do you un-teach drug use or sex habits to a 9 year old that has been forced to practice these things at home?
My first visit to a four-year-old was at the suicide ward at Fairview hospital. I’ve written about a seven-year-old foster child that hung himself and left a note (he hated the Prozac). There is nothing like facing a very young self-hating, suicidal child to bring home the cold hard reality that the mental health services, consistent help from the county (her new parent) will not be there. Knowing that her chances of recovering to lead a normal life are very, very, slim. This has made me feel like I’m part of a crime.
As long as we don’t talk about it, no one can know about it. Social workers are trained to not talk about it. These children have NO Rights or Voice in the substance and direction of their own lives. They suffer every day all day and we don’t want to hear about it.
Whether you are an abused child, foster/adoptive parent/social or health worker; empower yourself to start this conversation (and tell your friends/family to vote for child friendly initiatives**).
LET’S START TALKING
*It has been suggested that this is why Minnesotan’s were willing to pay 24 billion dollars as their share of the Iraq/Afghan war over a recent two-year budget, but unwilling to pay 6 billion dollars for healthcare, childcare, education, & infrastructure over the same period.
**My last official act as an active CASA guardian ad-Litem in Hennepin County MN was to remove four children from a father whose only fault was that he could not afford daycare. The state had defunded subsidized daycare & put the money back into the general fund (just like Indiana did with the money promised to parents that adopted special needs children a few years ago – after the adoptions were completed leaving vulnerable children and families without promised resources for health care and other services).
If you are a reader of this blog, you know that the Federal Reserve Board studies, www. AVAHealth.org, and overwhelming data over thirty years clearly proves the extraordinary costs of letting children slip through the cracks into crime, prison, and more dysfunctional families. It’s way more efficient and humane to save a child and help a preteen mom recover from a life of abuse and neglect and the behavior problems that follow.
What good are rights if there is no discussion or enforcement?
Support KARA, listen to or buy the book INVISIBLE CHILDREN, schedule a discussion or keynote speech.
