It should be big news* that Hennepin County Commissioner Jan Callison** stood up for abused and neglected children when she discovered County Child Protection service providers did not respond to abused & neglected children on weekends, late nights or holidays.
I sat in on this Task Force oversite meeting and could tell Commissioner Callison was upset when a service provider described the County’s procedure of leaving children in violent and abusive homes for days because public policy favored social workers not working holidays, late nights and weekends over the safety of children in dangerous circumstances. Thank You from all abused children and Kids At Risk Action
All Adults Are the Protectors of All Children)
The good news is that Governor Mark Dayton created a task force to investigate Child Protective Services and that many of the worst failures are being addressed instead of ignored. Now abused and neglected children will be seen even on weekends, holidays and late nights.
The bad news is that four, five and six year old children had to die tortured deaths to attract the media and outrage a public before terrible public policy could be exposed and corrected.
None of the 50 children I worked with as a volunteer CASA in Child Protection ever made the newspaper.
No one knows about the traumas my caseload kids suffered and how that trauma will inhibit their growth and achievement for the rest of their life.
It’s not that we don’t know about how trauma impacts a child’s mental health, school performance, preteen pregnancy and involvement with criminal justice – it’s that we haven’t cared enough about other people’s children to make these kids well enough to lead a normal life.
Abused children don’t have a vote, they don’t have a voice and nothing will change unless we follow Jan Callison’s lead and be outraged when we learn about terrible abuse and bad public policy towards the youngest and most vulnerable among us.
1) KARA’s traveling INVISIBLE CHILDREN campus exhibit
*It is big news when a child is hurt while in child protection. State and County workers are blamed. Blame is what we do with rage when we don’t have answers.
t’s impossible to provide adequate services to 100 to 150 seriously troubled families and youth as a child protection worker. Teachers, social workers and law enforcement are burdened with achieving excellent results with a growing barrage of criticism from a non-supportive public.
**If you know Commissioner Callison, please let her know that you (and KARA) really appreciate her efforts for at risk children.
This article submitted by CASA volunteer guardian ad litem Mike Tikkanen
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