When Is Child Abuse a Crime
If I had committed the crimes parents perpetrated upon their own children in my CASA guardian ad Litem cases, I would be writing this from jail.
The Beatings Will Continue
Yanelin Montalvo-Valdez (yesterday Star Tribune) personifies the pain and punishment heaped upon the 50 innocent children I advocated for as a CASA Guardian ad Litem volunteer
Parental Drug Use Killing Children in Pennsylvania at High Rates (investigative report)
KARA follows investigative reporting on child death and near death by caregivers while the children are known to CPS (Child Protective Services). Please send us links to the reports in your state and we will make them available to a larger audience.Parental Drug Use Killing Children in Pennsylvania at High Rates (investigative report)
Numbers Too Big To Believe (the cost of untreated childhood trauma)
…the economic impact of untreated child abuse. The mental health issues and behavior problems of high ACEs children drive much of the violence, desperation, and dysfunction afflicting so many American citizens
(CASA Guardian ad Litem) Be a Voice For Abused Children Where You Live
Commentary: Why We Need Volunteers to Work on Behalf of Our Most Vulnerable Children – Minnesota Women’s Press Commentary: Why We Need Volunteers to Work on Behalf of Our Most Vulnerable Children by Laurel Ferris in Commentary, Family/Home, Healing, Re-Imagining Public Safety FacebookEmailLinkedInTwitterShare This article ran a year ago during management’s effort to eliminate the CASA volunteer Guardian ad…
How One Letter Saved a Child (KARA Podcast)
Josh and Maya share a powerful story of a young boy on the brink of being locked up, not because he was dangerous, but because the system lacked transparency
Free and Discounted Resources for Foster Youth
free and discounted resources for foster and adopted children and families
There Is No Constituency For Abused & Neglected Children
how 13 Minnesota Child Advocacy Centers (CAC’s) are losing 80% of their Federal funding. If this happens they will likely disappear or become a shell of what they were in a very short time.
CAC’s keep safe and provide services to children and families who have reported abuse and provide services to help them live through and recover from child abuse, domestic violence, and the traumas that come from it.
Fear and Firing of Mandated Reporters (KARA podcast)
Fear and Firing of Mandated Reporters (KARA podcast)…professionals being punished, losing their jobs, and facing lawsuits for fulfilling their duties
Child Death and Public Non Disclosure (thank you Marie Cohen)
Much of this article is taken from Marie Cohen’s remarkable research at the American Enterprise Institute. For those of you concerned with Child Protective Services in your community, Marie’s article is detailed and powerful. It could change your State Representative’s mind about transparency in CPS (Child Protective Services) where you live (share this state rep…
Invisible Children: The 200 Lives Lost in CPS Podcast
Jamie and Alex delve into the harrowing issue of children dying within the Child Protective Services (CPS) system. They discuss a groundbreaking report revealing that 200 children have died while within the CPS system,
Doing the Math in Child Protective Services
In fiscal year 2022, of the 7.8 million children reported to Child Protection Services (CPS), approximately 3,096,101 children were the subject of a child welfare agency respons
CPS Misconceptions
A lack of transparency repeating itself in CPS keeps people from understanding the depth and scope of the problems facing at-risk children, the institution, and its workers
77 Years of Child Abuse
These are the insights of a 77-year-old victim of childhood abuse. He was not aware of the root cause which dominated his life until he was 65 years-old and ran across references to resilience and child abuse. Bill is a thoughtful, deep thinker. The following observations result from his reflection on his life.
200 Child Deaths In CPS Deserve To Be Recorded In CPS
Before this report, no one knew how many children in CPS were dying or how they died. Chances are the number of children murdered at the hands of their caregivers is much larger than the 200 listed in the report.
The War On Fosters
Why do so many fosters aging out of care struggling in school, becoming homeless, addicted, have criminal records and unable to hold down a job?
Reckless & ill-Advised Public Policy For Endangered Children
Reckless & ill-Advised Public Policy For Endangered Children
KARA Podcasts: Powerful Conversations About Interrupting and Ending Child Abuse
KARA Podcasts: Powerful Conversations About Interrupting and Ending Child Abuse
Tip of Children’s Mental Health Iceberg
For emergency room doctors, they are a sad and familiar sight: Children returning again and again in the grip of mental health crises
All About ACEs (adverse childhood experience) Trauma, Testing, & Resilience
All About ACEs (adverse childhood experience) Trauma, Testing, & Resilience
2025 – A Happier New Year For At Risk Children
2025 – A Happier New Year For At Risk Children
The Ghost of Christmas Past (the value of healthy children)
In 2003, MN Federal Reserve Board Director Art Rolnick & Economist Rob Grunewald completed a study demonstrating that early childhood programs returned the best financial investment a government could make to build healthy children and productive citizens
Child Abuse Articles December 2024
child abuse around the nation and internationally.
Thank You & Happy Holidays
Dear Reader, As the year comes to a close, we want to thank you for following our Saturday INVISIBLE CHILDREN updates. Your readership is helping KARA spread awareness of child abuse and trauma, and the work that needs to be done to save and heal at-risk children. KARA relies on the generosity of our…
Fixing CPS – A Meaningful Conversation (35 Minute Podcast)
Fixing CPS with greater transparency in Child Protective Services. This conversation is about the many things impacting the safety and wellbeing of abused and neglected children. The lack of transparency being discussed in West Virginia CPS applies to every state: A Meaningful Conversation (35 Minute Podcast). Discussed in this podcast: Kinship care partners, mentors, volunteers,…
Management Not Fit For Purpose
a unique perspective of what happened to Minnesota’s CASA Guardian ad Litem program over the last 4 years.
Suicide, Child Abuse and Christmas
This is the longest and most powerful and articulate suicide note I’ve ever read and it has great meaning to me for its power to relate these two incomprehensible sorrows (abuse & suicide).
Thank You Cyndy Etler (don’t lock them up)
shining a light on child advocacy,
Fosters, Grandparents & Thanksgiving Hunger
This Thanksgiving, over 13 million American children are living with their grandparents (four times what this it was in 1970).
It is estimated that for every child in foster care with relatives, there are 20 living outside of care with relatives (usually grandparents).
Budget Surplus Fund For Children (how to make a Christmas Miracle)
Peter Hutchinson’s recent Star Tribune article points to how the current MN budget surplus could fully fund programs that would make children healthier, better educated and (ALL OF US) safer.
Why Children Need Mandated Reporters
https://invisiblechildren.org/2013/07/04/mandated-reporting-or-basic-responsibility-its-absence-is-killing-wisconsin-pennsylvania-children/ Facebook Replacing Mandated Reporters for Child Abuse? Don’t Blame The Mandated Reporter (why child abuse reporting is sporadic) Fear and Firing of Mandated Reporters of Child Abuse Being A Mandated Reporter (and what it means) Reporting Maltreatment Of Children; How Minnesota Does It (State Statute – 626.556) Tolerating Child Death in Minnesota (thank you…
Realities of Mandated Reporting (why child abuse reporting is sporadic)
Mandated Reporters genuinely fear for their safety and reputation and regularly fail to report (or, “see”) horrific child abuse to avoid potential damage to themselves.
Abolishing CPS Kills Children & Ruins Fosters
Abolishing CPS Kills Children & Ruins Fosters
Children, Institutions, and Politics
Abused and neglected children don’t have a voice in the politics and policies that rule their lives. They are at the mercy of our politicians and institutions that serve them.
COVIDs Impact on CPS, CASA volunteers, & Guardian ad Litem Staff
COVIDs Impact on CPS, CASA volunteers, & Guardian ad Litem Staff
Making CPS Work For Everyone (parental/religious rights) part 2
Child Protective Services (CPS) can’t keep children safe (or alive) in opposition to State and Federal law.
Leadership and Child Protection
For success happen for children requires people able to work within a rigid system but willing to test the boundaries of what your office can achieve for the children in this highly regulated and bureaucratic system.
Making CPS Work For Everyone part 1
Any conversation about Child Protective Services needs to include a deep dive into racial disparities, religious and parental rights, and common misconceptions about CPS and child abuse.
Making Informed Decisions
The public knows almost nothing about the depth and scope of child abuse in their community
If I Only Had a Brain
If the medical community, Children’s Defense Fund and former MN Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz are right, the vast majority of crime in America is the result of what happened to that person as a child.
A CPS Reality Check (good for admin – bad for children)
CPS reality check in the current political battle for community CASA guardian ad Litems in MN. To put it bluntly, what’s good for the administrators often may be bad for the children.
America’s CHILDHOOD TRAUMA and ACES Impact
America’s CHILDHOOD TRAUMA and ACES Impact INVISIBLE CHILDREN
Child Abuse Investigations & Reforms
WHEN YOU Share KARA’s reporting with FRIENDS, INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK and most of all, your State Representative (find them here) change will come a little bit faster. When enough of us become informed and speak up for abused and neglected children, we will improve their lives and our communities! Please support KARA’s work with a small monthly donation: CLICK…
International Rights of the Child Treaty (& why jails are full)
Over 25 years ago the rest of the world (194 nations) decided that children have basic human rights and begin signing the International Rights of the Child Treaty. Under this document, children are to have the rights to education, safety and well being including not to be made soldiers, not to be enslaved).
America is the only nation that has not signed that agreement, largely because we still demand that southern states continue to militarize youth as young as eleven, through military schools.
Child Protection In America Today
There is a fire smoldering on the topic of child protection in America today
Expecting Different Results From Prison for Kids
Expecting Different Results From Prison for Kids
Minnesota’s new Supreme Court Council on Child Protection and Abuse Prevention
Minnesota’s new Supreme Court Council on Child Protection and Abuse Prevention
One Question KARA Survey
What topic needs more attention on KARA’s website?
Email you answer to info@invisiblechildren.org with SURVEY in the subject line.
Child Abuse Data and Better Decision Making
Child Abuse Data and Better Decision Making
KARA – CASA Google Ad Grant Initiative ($120,000 annually)
KARA’s
Google Ad Grants
fully funded Initiative for
CASA’s & Service Providers
To At-Risk Children