The Death of Arianna Hunziker & Lawsuits

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Today’s Star Tribune “Red Flags” and last years “Day Of Justice” article about two year old foster toddler Arianna Hunziker paint a painful picture

of a much larger problem that has grown for decades without attention – not just in Brooklyn Park Minnesota, but all across our nation.

State Ward children need loving homes and there are not enough of them.

Arianna Hunziker was “starved, dehydrated, bound, immobilized and abandoned in a home littered in trash and smelling of of urine”. Foster parents Sherrie and Bryce Dirk went to prison for murdering Arianna. There is something terribly disturbing about a State sanctioned foster family killing a two year old State Ward child that needs to see the light of day.

The lawsuit in today’s paper points out that another MN community is having a hard time with either the resources, training or protocol for keeping at risk children safe. Being a foster child should not be one more horrific encounter with child abuse. It’s plenty hard when your birth parents make your suffering so bad that a judge removes you from their home to place you with a family you have never seen before.

It’s easy to blame and hate the people involved in her care but it solves nothing. The problem we have as a community is systemic and bigger than the people involved.

Arianna had been sedated with drugs we are not allowed to know about. We do know that in 2014, 20,000 one and two year old children were forced onto psychotropic medications – the same year big pharma was fined (and paid) billions of dollars for illegally selling these drugs to pediatricians for use on young children.

Perhaps, the system is overwhelmed, or maybe, Arianna was on a list to be visited by a caring adult soon.

Can you imagine what Arianna’s life must have been like?

Remember, she was taken from her birth parents because of what happened to her in her own home and put in the custody of the Dirks where she was starved to death. Her whole life was sadness and torture.

Just a few years ago 6 year old foster child Kendrea Johnson suicided by hanging very near where Arianna died and four year old Eric Dean was slowly tortured to death even after 15 reports of abuse by mandated reporters. There were significant financial penalties from the lawsuits awarded to the families of the child deaths in all of these cases.

Kendrea left a note, told many people her thoughts about suicide and homicide and she was seeing a therapist (Eric couldn’t write).

Is it because we the people cringe at and avoid this conversation that these children suffer the traumas, terrors and torture that happens daily to children throughout our communities?

Pre COVID, 37% of America’s children were being reported to child protection agencies by their 18^th birthday. Generational child abuse is a public health problem that needs public discussion and better answers.

Is it possible that the millions of dollars in fines and awards from lawsuits in the deaths of foster children could better have been spent on more resources, training and support for social workers and foster families?

This and the following articles have been gathered by KARA board member and CASA volunteer guardian ad Litem Mike Tikkanen;

Shy Ann Hentges, of Braham found guilty of murdering her 2 month old son, Eli Arispe Hentges

The Parents Passed a Drug Test. Should They Get Their Children Back?

The New York Times

Last year in Ohio, which in 2017 had the second-highest rate of opioid overdose deaths in the nation, there were about 7,700 qualified foster homes …

The Death of Arianna Hunziker & Lawsuits

KARA Public Service Announcement (30 seconds)

KARA Signature Video (4 minute)

Author: Mike Tikkanen

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