World’s Best Foster Child Blog
I found this foster child blog to be hard hitting, honest, and compelling. I was a Foster Kid
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How Bad Is It?
Her advice to us was to report animal abuse because animal abuse gets investigated & when it is investigated, those people see things that can trigger a social worker saving a child.
This seemed pathetic to me at the time, but now I tell people how important it is.
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I Never Know
Except for suicide, decisions are reversible.
You, like me, can try to do many things in life. We both hope to find things that we love and can be passionate about.
You, like me, will meet many people in our lives with the hope of finding a few good people that can become genuine friends.
Life is not easy, but it can be wonderful at times.
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Reading & Math Proficiency Or Else…
The U.S. has been sliding for years from a leadership role in education & other quality of life indices to falling off the charts behind almost all other industrialized nations. Today we compare ourselves to the “emerging” nations so that we can be 32nd out of 64 instead of 32nd out of 24 industrialized nations.…
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The Floggings Will Continue Until The Test Scores Improve
Daycare workers in the U.S. are paid about as much as food service workers (the lowest paid profession in the nation). American daycare is underfunded, under-trained, and misunderstood.
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Military Suicides & Child Abuse; A Growing Problem
What do you think about the impact of suicide on the children of the over one thousand MN veterans that have committed suicide? If you know the children of a suicidal parent you know torture.
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Coming To Your State Soon? “A culture of fear, intimidation, & retaliation”
Standardized tests were corrupted at 44 schools by 178 teachers & principals (over half have confessed) & a former “superintendent of the year” in Atlanta Georgia will not seek extension of her contract. Criminal charges are probable.
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JOIN US FOR THE 4th NATIONAL GRANDRALLY September 15th In Washington DC
The GrandRally will be an historic opportunity to celebrate, create momentum, expand awareness and build upon the success from previous GrandRallies.
For more information, visit www.grandrally.org or email grandrally.yvonne2011@yahoo.com or speak with GrandRally staff at 215-844-4744.
The Boy Who Died Locked In A Cage After 12 Visits From Indiana DCS
We only read about the babies found in dumpsters, or other violent child deaths. NO one reports the thousands of children sexually abused, beaten, or starved.
I know too many of these children & it is a dark stain on America that explains overflowing prisons, failing schools, and unsafe cities.
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Sometimes People Get Shot
Blaming severely disturbed people for their crimes is nonsense and solves nothing (it’s counter productive-no steps are taken to solve the problem if that’s all we do).
It would be much more useful to get to know a family that has tried to find help for a very troubled child. As a volunteer County guardian ad-Litem, I came to know many very troubled youth and their parents and other caregivers.
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Child Rights & Safety; Advanced Nation or Emerging Nation?
The U.S. and Somalia are the only nations on the planet that have refused to sign the International Rights of Children Treaty.
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Child Abuse; A Public Health Crisis
The Academy has studied and identified the relationship between interpersonal violence and health and could make a profound difference in the lives of abused people if the research, tools, and information they have compiled were to become part of the mainstream medical world. Doctors can make a difference. They need to know about www.AVAhealth.org
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202 Minnesota Child Deaths Examined (over half were under three & shaken or beaten to death)
I had been noticing that in the paper for the last few years,” Jefferys said. “There are so many babies being killed by boyfriends or husbands while the mother is off to work.”
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What’s It Gonna Take? Judge Lucy Wieland Is Dead Right
Minnesota’s racial disparities: a Judge’s view (who will speak for children?)
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David’s Question For Liberals & Conservatives
None of these programs exist in the United States. That is why it is accurate to describe our country as a mamouth incubator for prison inmates. And that is why the US is in 30th place in government tax revenue as % to GDP. We are easily the lowest taxed country of the developed world.
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Hope Comes From Caring People
The person that helped me in this cold scary place;
The courthouse, The foster home, The terror of not my family,
God help me I’m so alone,
Hope comes from caring people,
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Joe Biden, Rape, Teachers & Social Workers; A Common Thread
For years now, politicians have made political hay by blaming “civil servants” for a multitude of institutional failures that they themselves are directly responsible for due to the poor understanding of underlying issues and lack of concern for the children and poor families that need help.
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He Would Wander The Streets With His Dog Looking For His Mother When He Was A Boy; Abandoned As An Infant – Executed at 37
12 years in child protection has changed the way I look at grown up abandoned children.
There is not a religion on the planet that would abandon children a second time.
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Abused & Neglected Children Impacting Schools, Courts & Communities; What Works — What doesn’t
The cost to my community of each child failing to procure the tools to learn & become a productive citizen is far greater than just the drain on schools, crime & institutionalization. Consider the generational impact of their children having families just like the one that brought them into the world. The average number of children born to mothers incarcerated in Cook County Illinois jails has grown from 2 to 4 over the last ten years.
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The Scandal Of Medicating Very Young Children In Child Protection Systems
U of M bioethics professor Carl Elliott discusses drug company payments to doctors and the enormous amounts of money drug reps make by pushing profitable drugs and running outright scams on doctors to sell their product.
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The Crime Of Prosecuting 10 Year Olds As Adults
While this may sound harsh, I see the wisdom in Jonathon Swifts Modest proposal;the children he speaks of lead such miserable lives, that killing them early would be reduce their suffering.
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Autism, Child Protection, & Insurance; Texas could save 2Billion$ by treating autistic children
This well written article on the success of early aggressive treatment for autistic children AAUTISM CURE CITY PAGES 1.26.11 makes the overarching logical, ethical, and financial argument about the wisdom of treating children early on with proven methods and saving 18 years of special ed, additional health care, and the very real costs of home, social, and school disruption and personal pain.
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Child Abuse, Child Mortality, Hating vs. Caring
The public reaction when a baby dies or is found in a dumpster should be one of sadness and a desire to see that children are safer in their community. Something like, “what can we do to see that this does not happen again?”
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Children and Government
children that are the victims of failed personal responsibility are not my problem, nor are they the problem of the state of MN (Tim Pawlenty)
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America’s Children, Mental Health, Addiction, Medication
Children traumatized by violence and neglect have serious developmental disabilities that don’t go away with age. 80% of youth aging out of foster care are leading dysfunctional lives.
Adding to the 3 million children reported to child protection in America each year, are the 3.5 million children on stimulant and anti-psychotic medications. Recent studies indicate that almost half of U.S. youth have mental health issues. About 2/3s of the youth in juvenile justice are diagnosed with mental health problems; half of them have multiple, serious diagnosis.
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Adoptees Have Answers Online Forum
A great online forum for adoptees to share experiences and perspectives run by truly committed people and worth investigating;
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Child Abuse Death; Every Child Matters
While the child abuse/child neglect crisis is one of major national concern, it also is of particular significance in the top 12 states that are above the national average for child abuse/neglect deaths (2.33 per 100,000 children): Florida 4.62; Nebraska 3.80; New Mexico 3.78; Tennessee 3.72; Oklahoma 3.42; Texas 3.32; Arkansas 2.99; Missouri 2.95; Louisiana and Ohio (both at 2.71); Georgia 2.67; and Colorado 2.65.
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New Federal Report; Drop In Child Abuse? I Don’t Believe It
The equation works like this; if fewer cases are investigated, that must mean there are fewer cases of child abuse, which leads to less funding and fewer resources for terrified and traumatized children.
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How To Behave In A Failing System
As a volunteer guardian ad-Litem, I have spoken with too many frustrated social workers, CASA workers, educators, birth, foster, and adoptive parents that have experienced gaping holes in our child protection systems.
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America By Heart
I’m pleased that Sarah Palin chose a title that would stress heartfulness & compassion.
I’m looking forward to reading her constructive ideas for helping America’s weakest and most vulnerable citizens.
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75% Of Inmates Are Illiterate (19% are completely illiterate) Ruben Rosario
85 percent of all juveniles who come into contact with the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate. So are 60 percent of all prison inmates. Inmates have a 16 percent chance of returning to prison if they receive literacy help, as opposed to 70 percent for those who receive no help
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More About Four & Seven Year Old Suicides, Prozac & A Veterans Day Message
I’ve come to know many children in child protection taking psychotropic medications. The data on children in child protection on these drugs is also overwhelming (and a well kept secret). Four and seven year olds behaving in extremely dangerous ways and trying to kill themselves should be extremely rare in any civil society.
I did not find it rare among the children in my caseload in child protection.
America is way behind other advanced societies in dealing with mental health issues and it is killing poor vulnerable children and way too many veterans.
Goodbye Tom, you were a great friend and I will miss you.
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Files Released On Foster Teen Who Committed Suicide
Most of us would agree that caring for vulnerable children is a worthwhile endeavor.
What can we do to make suicide less of an option for abused and neglected children?
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The Heart Of Child Protection Services
As budgets shrink, more states and counties have fewer resources to save abused and neglected children from the immediate dangers they face in their homes and the future problems that come along with the abuse (preteen pregnancy, adolescent felons, dropouts, chronic illness & mental illness).
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After Traumatic Event, Early Intervention Reduces Odds of PTSD in Children by 73 Percent
My experience in the CASA guardian ad-Litem program was impacted by the harsh realities that become part of an abused child’s life after experiencing the trauma of extended exposure to violence and deprivation. Their lives are damaged in a manner that makes it hard to make friends, learn in school, or lead a productive life.
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A Great Rally for Children In MN (Thanks Amy)
* Foster children are twice as likely as war veterans to develop PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder);
* 25% of U.S. youth in the Juvenile Justice System are tried as adults;
* 50-75% of U.S. youth in the Juvenile Justice System have a diagnosable mental illness;
* 25% of high school graduates in the United States are illiterate;
* Most states are growing prison spending much faster than higher education spending;
* firearms deaths of children in the U.S. are more than 10 times higher than all the other industrialized nations combined.
Across Ages, Youth Substance Abuse & Programs That Work
* a mentoring program; pairing an adult over 55 years of age with each youth between ages 9 and 13. The mentor spends at least two hours per week with the child doing recreational activities, providing tutoring, counseling, and assistance with community service (Across Ages, 2010).
* each youth spends one to two hours every week performing community service.
* social competence training; 26 weekly lessons that teach cognitive and behavioral approaches to dealing with problems and decisions. In particular, these skills are applied to the prevention of substance abuse and high-risk sexual behavior.
* involvement in family activities; Across Ages hosts monthly events that engage the youth, their families, and their mentors to strengthen the relationships between the children and the adults in their lives (Across Ages, 2010).
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We’re Number 1, & that’s not good…
Bishop Gene Robinson draws attention to youth suicide & particularly that seven students in one Minnesota school district have taken their own lives, including three teens.
GLBT issues underly most of the suicide the Bishop writes about. The idea that life can be made so unbearable for children so young is incomprehensible unless you have been near someone living the nightmare.
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Raised By The Courts, A Judge’s Insight Into Juvenile Justice
“I’m sorry, Javaris,” I said after sentencing. “I can’t excuse your crimes, but somehow I think that we failed you too. Your family failed you, the system failed you.”
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254 Children, 220,000 Crimes, 12 Months
Drug use and sale in American schools has been the highlight of much research. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University conducts a survey each year aimed at discovering trends in teenage drug use. The survey this year has identified a drastic increase in the percentage of children attending middle schools considered “drug-infested,” meaning that drugs are kept, used, or sold on school property. This year’s survey showed that 32 percent of middle school students were attending drug infested schools, compared to 23 percent in 2009.
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Rally To Restore Sanity
MN governor Tim Pawlenty said to Andy Dawkins and David Strand several years ago that “Children that are the victims of failed personal responsibility are not my problem or the problem of the state of MN”.
That a major political party would make this a keystone of its platform indicates a gross misunderstanding of the most basic issues facing abused and neglected children. This shows a lack of compassion as well as a misunderstanding of the economics of failing to help children while they are young enough to make a difference in their behaviors and development.
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Spread the word!
WHAT: 10-10-10 March and Rally for Children and Youth
WHEN: October 10, 2010, 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.
WHERE: Minnesota State Capitol
WHO: The Young Advocate Leadership Training (YALT) participants of CDF–Minnesota, Every Child Matters, Minnesota Children’s Platform and other partnering organizations as listed below
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Cancellation of a Successful Education Program
The need for strong education programs should be a primary concern for state and local governments. In addition to improving students’ chances for success in college and their subsequent careers, effective education programs can help keep juveniles from engaging in delinquent activities. This, in turn reduces costs to taxpayers for funding court proceedings and, if necessary, housing juvenile offenders.
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How Can We Raise The Profile Of Children’s Issues?
Few politicians speak to the children’s issues. Fewer still understand or advocate for programs that would help the 3 million children reported to child protection services each year.
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Abuse That Lasts Forever, Erin’s Law
Since then, I have witnessed very young children (under 7) try to kill themselves and seen others exhibit terrifying behaviors (starting fires, stabbing, etc) that I know to be a direct result of the abuse they have suffered.
A few of these children I have been in contact with for over ten years and I know that not a day goes by without them reliving the unspeakable acts that have made them who they are.
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Children’s Rally 10-10-10 Give Voice To Children’s Issues
Not all states give voice to our weakest and most vulnerable citizens. This rally is a big step for children and it deserves to be copies and repeated.
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Response to Star Tribune Article
Yes to constructive solutions; more resources for troubled families and help for abused and neglected children.
No to destructive and inflammatory criticisms of people trying hard to make life livable for terribly abused and neglected children within an overwhelmed social services system and not enough resources to do the job. It’s almost impossible work and there is little support for the worker or the child these days.
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Quality Of Life
There is little that comes easier for a sixty or seventy year old person when it comes to raising children.
The physical and mental demands made on grandparents by their younger charges are tremendous.
From the bottom of my heart, Thank You.
From the rest of us, let’s see to it that they and the children they care for, get adequate help from our communities to make their tasks a little easier and more successful.
Happy Grandparents Day in advance.
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Back To School & In Support of Education
This child’s traumatic and fearful entry into an unprepared and under-resourced public school system is the tip of the iceberg.
The Prozac, Ritalin, and other psychotropic medications being prescribed to very young children is terrifically overused in many child protection systems. Judge Heidi Schellhas shared with me the pages and pages of very five, seven, and nine year old children that passed through her courtroom that were heavily medicated on antipsychotic drugs.
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Really Good Child Advocacy Links
AZ: Child abuse isn’t a priority in Arizona
Arizona Daily Star August 31, 2010
Michael is the sixth Pima County child to die in recent years while under the watch of state Child Protective Services. Each killing spurred outrage and demands that things be done better, that children be saved from the relatives who do them harm. “Reforms” were put in place in 2008. Little, it appears, has changed.
http://azstarnet.com/news/opinion/editorial/article_627221d8-c0b6-55f4-b03b-a663abc9e15c.html
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