KARA is collecting stories about child abuse and child protection in your state. Send us an email with your news, insights, information, questions, and comments.
Send to, Info@invisiblechildren.org & help us bring attention to the issues impacting your community.
The most disturbing realization from my interview with David Strand is the difference between America’s loud and persistent rhetoric about how “valuable” our children are and how our public policies actually treat them.
We have the highest rate of child poverty among the industrialized nations, charge 25% of our youth in adult courts (just recently quit executing juveniles), and have no meaningful public policy for child safety outside of the “Imminent Harm Doctrine” (which allows a judge to remove a child when his/her life is endangered by their caregivers).
If you want to know how other industrialized nations value children, ask David Strand. David helped form public policy for children over the ten years he lived in Europe. When he returned to the U.S. he wrote an in depth evaluation of the vast difference in public policy towards children between the U.S. and the other 23 advanced nations that we had historically compared ourselves to. NATION OUT OF STEP was the title of his book and it clearly articulated the falling quality of life measurements resulting from failed or non existent public policies regarding how AMERICA treats its children.
If America wants its schools to compete, prisons and crime to shrink, and build a healthier and more capable citizenry, David makes clear that none of this can happen without functioning public policies that address the safety and well-being of children.
Strand spent time as a volunteer CASA guardian ad-Litem and became familiar with the depth and scope of the problems facing at risk children in his home state (MN). His observations about just how out of whack our public policies are towards children and young families go a long way towards explaining why we have ten times the crime and ten times the prison populations of most other advanced nations. David knows Art Rolnick and Art’s work at the Federal Reserve bank in 2003 defining the high rate of return on investments in programs that promote healthy children.
Perhaps the most painful recognition I came away from this ninety minute interview that it is common for other industrialized nations to use America as an example of what not to do. They don’t want bigger prison systems, more crime and failing schools and they will vote for whatever it takes to not have those our failures.
KARA’s interview of Star Tribune reporter Brandon Stahl was riveting. The discovery process that Brandon followed to unearth the tragedy that was Eric Dean’s life and death is a compelling drama all by itself. When he got to the part about reviewing the autopsy photos of this traumatized and tortured four year old boy Brandon choked up (as did everyone else on the set).
We the public will never see those photos. These pictures were deemed to be too disturbing to print (we need to be protected from the actual photos of what happened to Eric Dean). The public’s memory of little Eric Dean is the smiling boy in colorful clothes with bite marks on his face and a broken arm.
Brandon’s description of the autopsy photos reminded me of the seven year old guardian ad-Litem case child that had spent four years tied to bed, sexually abused, beaten and starved and covered from head to foot with bruises, welts, and cuts when he entered child protection. My little friend is alive today, but he carries his many mental and physical traumas with him every where he goes. None of the horrid stories I encountered as a guardian ad-Litem ever made the paper.
Brandon explained what it’s like to get information from agencies that would rather not give it. He pointed out that the average person would most likely become frustrated and give up as the process is very tedious, very frustrating, and very expensive.
This story would not have ever made the newspaper if the Star Tribune had not supported Brandon with thousands of dollars to spend on the simple information requests that allowed this reporter to piece together the complex series of events that lead to the murder of a four year old little boy over a two year period. Each report of Eric’s abuse (15) by mandated reporters, what steps were taken by the County to see that the child was safe (one ineffective/useless family assessment where the question of whether the boy had been abused was never raised).
Friends of KARA, watch our 2 minute movie trailer here and share it with your friends, 2 minute KARA/TPT television trailer
Support KARA’s efforts to tell the story of child abuse in our community
Our most recent radio interview; (ten minutes) September 9th live WCCO radio interview with Jordana Green (ten minutes) A lively discussion of the critical issues facing abused and neglected children and what we can make life better for them. Support KARA’s MN Public Television documentary project on this topic
Saturday, August 16th KARA concluded the fourth in a series of professionally conducted video interviews being scheduled for our TPT documentary partnership (seven people/about fourteen hours of interview to date).
KARA’s strategy for the program is to blend the perspectives and insights of the children, families, child protection workers, along with other involved professionals by sharing experience within the child protection system to identify what works and what needs to be changed.
We are discovering through this process just how hard people are trying and it is becoming apparent that awareness, discussion, and change are needed.
KARA and TPT’s underlying hope for this project is to identify and discuss the critical issues that need the attention of the public and policy makers to drive changes that will create better outcomes for abused and neglected children.
http://acestoohigh.com/ Read a few of these smart and powerful articles and you will know more about at risk children’s issues than anyone on your block.
http://safepassagemn.com/landing-page.html This video will be the best six minutes you can spend this week.
We are all in this together. Let’s all pull in the right direction (pro child) Support KARA’s TPT documentary project
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.
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.
Take a moment to check out KARA at Indiegogo and share it with your friends. All the tools and perks are there. Get perks, make a contribution, or simply follow updates. If enough of us get behind it, we can make “At Risk Children’s Documentary Project with TPT TV” happen.
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/836689/emal/5177013
Invisible Children by Mike Tikkanen (Feb 15, 2011)
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Early Childhood Education Boosts
Academic Achievement and Career Success
Tuesday, June 17 6 p.m. Pizza and Social 6:30 p.m. Program
Brooklyn Park Council Chambers, 5200 85th Avenue N
Please RSVP and Share on Facebook
or to
Carol Woehrer, carolwoehrer@usfamily.net
A question and answer session will follow the presentations.
Sponsored by the Maple Grove, Osseo, Brooklyn Park, and Brooklyn Center Chapter of the League of Women Voters; Kids at Risk Action , KARA; Think Again MN ; and the BrooklynPark Diversity Team.
Early Childhood Education Boosts Academic Achievement and Career Success Tuesday, June 17 6 p.m. Pizza and Social 6:30 p.m. Program Brooklyn Park Council Chambers, 5200 85th Avenue N Please RSVP and Share on Facebook or to Carol Woehrer, carolwoehrer@usfamily.net A question and answer session will follow the presentations. Sponsored by the Maple Grove, Osseo, Brooklyn…
Support KARA’s MN Public TV documentary project Your donation will help KARA bring this powerful story to a statewide and national audience through television and social media. We are also seeking help us with reporting, writing, and building a greater social media presence. Do you have the skills to help us accomplish our goals of…
Congratulations Rich Gehrman and Safe Passage For Children for your effective and important work making life better for Minnesota’s at risk youth. Today, Governor Dayton signed your legislation into law. Omnibus Bill HF 2402 sets higher standards for counties keeping track of child abuse reports. A big and successful effort and it will make a big difference to our state’s most vulnerable children. Best wishes to you in all your future efforts.
Children had no better friend than CASA guardian ad-Litem, Big Brother, Metro sports, PTO, School board member, and Montessorian Denny Schapiro. Energetic, committed, and of the highest integrity, he spent his life seeing to it that his community identified and addressed the important issues surrounding our youngest citizens.
We will miss you dear friend.
MN Public TV is partnering with KARA for a once in a lifetime opportunity to improve the lives of abused and neglected children. To do this we need your help.
KIDS AT RISK ACTION (501(c)3 non-profit, is partnering with Minnesota Public Television (TPT) to tell the INVISIBLE CHILDREN’s story through compelling interviews with children and adults within the world of child protection. KARA needs your support and asks for your gift to help make this project happen.
Larger donors will be featured on the program, invited to the pre-screening party at TPT (St. Paul), and receive priority consideration for all new projects as they develop. This project will be a big part of our ongoing efforts at KARA.
Donate Button or Contact me directly to help KARA complete this project mike@invisiblechildren.org
Program purpose; Create awareness of the critical issues impacting at risk children & identifying how to break the cycle of child abuse and neglect.
Program themes; Mental health and coping skills, and the basic rights of children to safety, healthcare, and education.
Program production; Experts and personal stories of children and adults within the child protection system.
Program look and sound; Serious and inspiring
Target audience; General public with attention to legislators, and everyone touched by our child protection system
Mike Tikkanen, audio book, listen here for free
Sign KARA’s Petition to make health, education, and well being available to Minnesota children
It was the simple truths that struck me hardest as I listened to the Hamline University presenters yesterday. I was reminded of MN’s former Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz statement that “90% of the youth in juvenile justice have come through child protection”, and that, ” The difference between that poor child and a felon, is about eight years”. The pipeline to prison starts here.
Behavior problems in schools are not well served by hiring more police officers. As a long time guardian ad-Litem, it is apparent to me how authority figures are viewed by abused and neglected children (a big segment of the behavioral problems at school). It has hurt me to see well meaning officers treated horridly by abused children through no fault of their own. Traumatized kids lash out at authority and take no prisoners. This gets them in big trouble and their behavior problems get worse, not better. Police interactions are often just one more trauma to be suffered by an abused child. Don’t blame the police – they didn’t set this system up.
Friends of Kids At Risk Action, board member Tiffini Flynn Forslund & I present our INVISIBLE CHILDREN talk at the Critical Thinkers Club in Stillwater Monday night April 14th at 7pm.
The meeting is held at the FamilyMeans Bldg., 1875 Northwestern Ave (opposite the Stillwater Water Tower). Here are driving directions:
Would you like to do more for at risk kids? Can you commit to four hours weekly for at least the next 3 months, to rewrite the information that I gather for these pages?
Review them; CASA News Sad Stories, and contact me if this fits your style and competency.
Buy our book or donate
Sample 4 minute video of Mike’s awesome talk on child protection in America (invite me to speak at your conference – Mike@invisiblechildren.org )
KARA board members Tiffini Flynn Forsland & Mike Tikkanen were Interviewed on Catherine Hoaglund’s Metro Cable Network Channel 6, Catherine’s Crossing to bring attention to key issues facing abused and neglected children. Catherine asked powerful questions about the brutal truths faced by at risk children and what our community could do to help children in toxic homes develop the coping skills necessary for leading a normal life.
Help KARA make a better world for America’s children and sign our petition for basic rights, health care, and safety (even if you’re not from MN)
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/childrens-civil-human?source=c.em.mt&r_by=6732677
Every signature helps.
Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) – 791
Tonight’s special guest is Mike Tikkanen from Minnesota, founder of KARA (Kids at Risk Action), whose web site is at www.InvisibleChildren.org. He’s also the author of the free book “Invisible Children; the American cycle of abuse and its… more
by Bill Murrayin Self Helpyesterday
The vision of NOOW America Foundation is to prevent sexual abuse through collaboration, education & mentoring.
Please read my latest blog about the ACE Study and why it is so important to us all.
INVISIBLE CHILDREN will now be on the shelves of the public library. You can search for it online or click on this book link to reserve it. It has been some years in coming, and I like to think this is a sign that the conversation around abused and neglected children is finally getting the attention it deserves. Forward this to people that might want to know.
InvisibleChildren.org ‘s new website is now mobile friendly as well as faster and much easier to read. We are grateful for the efforts of our friend and webmeister August Johnston. Take a minute to review the new layout and give us your feedback.
We appreciate any feedback we can get to create the most accurate and up to date coursework for those of you who want to better understand this complicated and evolving area of law. Are there parts of the child protection topic that would be most important to you? Tell us. We will be bringing a new perspective to a much under-served subject. Please forward this to your lawyer friends.
email me directly; info@invisiblechildren.org
Join Brenda Benning, MSW, LGSW, for Part II of the popular Beyond Consequences Training and Support developed by Heather T. Forbes, the founder of the Beyond Consequences model. This second session is for parents who have previously attended the full 10 session Beyond Consequences Training & Support series, because it builds on the skills and techniques taught from Part I. This special series explores Volume 2 of Heather Forbes’ book and offers parents a “love-based” approach to helping children with severe behavior and trauma/attachment histories. Part II presents new scenarios and behaviors seen in the home and encourages parent’s participation. The price of the training includes the book, Volume II, “Beyond Consequences, Logic, and Control” by Heather T. Forbes. Books are available at the door to walk ins. Class is only open to adoptive, kinship, and foster parents.
Friends of KARA, if you emailed us yesterday, it did not get to us as we changed web hosts and had a 12 hour problem with emails (all correspondence was lost). Please resend your notes today as all is working now (and you will find that the pages load much faster than ever before).
Tiffini and I enjoyed your groups all out participation in our Saturday KARA presentation immensely. More questions were asked than answered (always a good sign) and there was a powerful feeling that better answers were important to this group. We covered a great many of the thorniest questions facing at risk youth and our communities…
Thank you for donating to the Kids At Risk Action, KARA nonprofit. You are wonderful!
It’s easy to ignore our fundraising banners, and I’m really glad you didn’t. This is how KARA pays its bills — people like you giving us money, so we can keep the site freely available for everyone around the world.
People tell me they donate to KARA because they find it useful, and they trust it because even though it’s not perfect, they know it’s written for them. KARA isn’t meant to advance somebody’s agenda or push a particular ideology, or to persuade you to believe something that’s not true. We aim to tell the truth, and we can do that because of you. The fact that you fund the site keeps us independent and able to deliver what you need and want from KARA. Exactly as it should be.
He identifies the financial and physical disaster happening daily to children, schools, and neighborhoods because of poor public policy and the dysfunction created by well-meaning people and institutions.
His conversations clarify how American institutions are creating exactly what they were designed to stop and how we can make things better
Help us continue the good work of CASA by enjoying an evening at our annual fundraiser.
Where; St Mary’s Orthodox Church 3450 Irving AV South Minneapolis 55408
Huge array of silent auction items, good food, and wine tasting.
A Great Evening For A Great Cause
Click here for Invite & RSVP card
Visit the CASAMN website
For a special evening to celebrate and help continue the good work of CASA Minnesota….
Wine Tasting & Silent Auction
Friday, November 15, 2013
6 – 9:30 PM
Lake Calhoun Event Center
St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church
3450 Irving Avenue South
Because we don’t like to talk about it, there is little understanding of the core problems that are driving the terrible statistics of public safety, crime, school performance, and public health (diabetes, obesity, psychotropic medication).
At risk children & their stories are being overwritten by the loud public noise of war, economic distress, and the extremely high volume of mean spirited political rhetoric of today’s media. Kids are really suffering today.
For years, the data reflecting children’s abuse, poverty, sexually transmitted diseases, public safety, health and mental health, child protection, and juvenile justice indicate a significant trend in the wrong direction.
The correlation between juvenile justice and criminal justice has long been established (almost all felons came through the juvenile justice system).
The correlation between child protection services and juvenile justice is less well known, but equally significant.
In the words of MN Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz, “The difference between that poor child and a felon is about eight years” and, “90% of the youth in Juvenile Justice have come through Child Protection Services”.
A giant change in mental health public policy will soon be felt by all of us from the effects of the Affordable Health Care Act.
We hope it is all positive, but we know better and must be vigilant to avoid painful mistakes.
In KARA’s pursuit of better answers and a more public discourse on the topic, we invite your insights, experiences, and articles to clear the air. Thank you Consulthardesty.com for this correspondence. KARA might take a different view, but Hardesty’s commentary applies directly to the mental health conversation;
The City of Portland, Oregon, has been found by the DOJ to be using police to violate the constitutional rights of those perceived to be in mental health crisis. This blog post explores a new force that may begin targeting this vulnerable population. The public does not yet know the power about to accrue to care providers, as mandatory insurance provides an incentive to fill hospitals.
This is KARA’s June presentation to the DFL Education Foundation; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMUM6XzYMdw
It sparked a lively discussion.
Share your comments and pass it on.
Here is the video of KARA’s September 11th presentation at Century College; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXrmhp8dEIA&feature=youtu.be
Share your comments with KARA & Pass it on.
This weeks KARA presentation for Century College Luncheon Speaker Series prompted good questions and brought a solid discussion to the critical issues facing at risk children.
We are all seeking better and happier endings.
It will take some participation by all of us to shift the culture to where it respects and cares for America’s children, for that to happen.
Friends of CASA Minnesota & MN Children, CASA Minnesota is hosting its second annual fundraiser, “Corks for CASA” (a wine tasting and silent auction). Mark your calendars for Friday, November 15th and look for upcoming emails detailing the event & registration information.
Come hear Mike Speak about how our communities are providing child protection to vulnerable children and the results we are all living with.
1130 to 1pm, Century College, East Campus Lincoln Mall, Complimentary Lunch
You must RSVP to Cindy Haak, 651-779-3219
Save the Date; Wednesday, September 11th, 2013
11:30 am to 1pm
East Campus Lincoln Mall
Complimentary Lunch
Please RSVP to Cindy Haak 651-779-3219
Judge Howard Haralson : Repeal the decision to award Elizondo custody of his child.
Walkers are needed to help raise contributions for school-based violence prevention efforts. Join PeaceMaker Minnesota in the South St. Paul Parade on Friday June 28 at 6:00 and help build community awareness about the importance of violence prevention programs. PeaceMaker MN provides the candy to hand out.
Before the walk, raise or contribute $50 or more and receive a free t-shirt. Walkers choose the school to benefit from their efforts. Contributions help schools teach to kindness, prevent bullying and to reach out to at risk kids. Learn more at www.peacemakermn.org and click on “Join Us” or
call 651-631-1604.
Watch KARA’S recent Invisible Children presentation at the DFL Stone Arch Education Foundation; (video – 23 minutes)
Great audience participation and terrific question and answer period following (audio only)
Invite us to start a conversation at your organizations next function
Contact mike@invisiblechildren.org
Working with abused and neglected children as a volunteer county guardian ad-litem, Mike speaks directly about the financial and physical disaster happening daily to children, schools, and neighborhoods because of poor public policy and the dysfunction of well- meaning people and institutions.
Visit www.InvisibleChildren.org and www.CasaMN.org
We are proud to announce that, for the second year in a row, CASA Minnesota is a participating charity in the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon on October 6, 2013. We are reaching out to runners and supporters to fundraise for Team CASA Minnesota.
CASA Minnesota is a local nonprofit whose mission is to support and promote volunteer advocates to ensure that every abused and neglected child in Minnesota has a safe, stable and permanent family. Our advocates are everyday citizens who become extraordinary volunteers.
Join us for coffee and treats and an enlightening conversation about improving the lives of at risk children and the quality of life in our community.
Saturday, June 8 at 8:00am -930am Stone Arch Discussion Group
Where: Gardens of Salonica, 19 5th St NE, Minneapolis, MN (map) Good coffee & treats and easy parking.
(4 minute) Short Speaking Video
Please share this with your network, anyone that wants to know how to make life better for at risk children, lower crime rates, and improve schools and the quality of life in our communities.
KARA is working to make this national conversation. Help us deliver a good turnout for this event and put these issues front and center for a more public discussion on a greater scale.