KARA tpt Progress Report

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, KARA News and Events

Tony Fischer and Tiffini Flynn Forslund conducted KARA’s first interview (of many being scheduled) with St Paul School Board, Vice Chair Keith Hardy.
Keith Hardy. Keith Hardy setting his sights even higher

Keith knows how abused and neglected children need help to achieve the outcomes necessary to succeed in school and he has solid ideas for improving outcomes for both children and schools.

This was a great beginning to exploring issues impacting at risk children and what needs to happen to make life better for children, our communities, and our institutions.

The systemic issues that affect our schools are key to changing the same systemic problems in our society.

Most Interesting Child Abuse Articles Of The Week

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Reporting and News - US Based

altimore Sun Mandated Reporters (sanctions for not reporting)

CA: Former foster youths graduate with help of Journey House
Pasadena Star-News – July 23, 2014
When youth grow too old for the foster care system, they often go into “survival mode” seeking shelter and food, Journey House Executive Director Tim Mayworm said. Many end up on the street. “Most foster youth never even think they can go to college, let alone graduate,” Mayworm said.
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/lifestyle/20140723/former-foster-youths-graduate-with-help-of-journey-house

CT: Child advocate agency raps child welfare officials
WRAL – July 23, 2014
The Connecticut Office of the Child Advocate criticized state child welfare officials on Wednesday for their handling of a transgender girl held at a detention center for boys on accusations she fought with other girls at a psychiatric center.
http://www.wral.com/child-advocate-agency-raps-child-welfare-officials/13835100/

CT: Giving Adoptees and Their Kids the Rights They Deserve (Opinion)
News Junkie – July 23, 2014
More than 65,000 adoptees in Connecticut have been legally barred from accessing their birth records.
http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/archives/entry/op-ed_giving_adoptees_and_their_kids_the_rights_they_deserve/

Powerful Stories From The Atlantic Journal (here’s a preview)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Reporting and News - US Based

Working with abused and neglected children and dysfunctional families is complex and grueling and needs more not less understanding and support.

Blaming social workers when a baby is found in a dumpster is not so different for blaming teachers for failed schools.

Troubled students not only don’t learn, they disrupt and make teaching the rest of the class much more difficult.

This is not so different from blaming law enforcement for the boy in the squad car (admit it, that would be ridiculous – but the analogy works in both prior examples).

Support teachers, support social workers, support justice workers. It is very hard work inside of institutions with very bad governance (and that my friends is our fault).

Support KARA’S TPT documentary project to bring these issues into the limelight and help our children get a fair start in life.

We Could Do Better (lowest of the 38 states offering 4 year olds ECE)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Day Care and Education

While the CASEY Foundation ranks MN 5th in the nation for child well-being, there are serious flaws in our racial disparity and early childhood numbers.

Almost half of MN’s African American children live in poverty. In 2001, half of the adult African American adult men were arrested (no duplicate arrests and 58% of those men went on to be rearrested for a second crime within 2 years).

Our educational performance racial disparity is among the worst in the nation.

From the CURA reporter

MN ranks at the very bottom of states that provide early childhood education to four year old’s (2% vs the national average of 25%). We now have 8000 families on a backlog for subsidized child-care.

It Could Be Worse (Virginia screens out 83% of all child abuse complaints)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Reporting and News - US Based

Minnesota screens out 66% of child abuse complaints overall, but 4 MN counties screen out 90%. The only good thing to say about conditions in Virginia is that there seems to be some transparency in the reporting which one would hope will lead to more concern for what happens to abused and neglected children. All this talk about how we value children in America seems to be just talk.

New Video From Safe Passage For Children (it’s a Wow)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, KARA News and Events

This strong new piece from Rich Gehrman at Safe Passage For Children makes a powerful case for why Minnesota’s abused and neglected children are being shortchanged and what we must do to fix our troubled systems; SafePassage Video

MN Public TV is partnering with KARA for a once in a lifetime opportunity to make a difference in the lives of abused and neglected children. To do this we need your help.