Hand holding a small globe with mountains in the background.

Corporate Power, Global Value Chains and Child Labour in Bangladesh

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Child Abuse and Deaths, childabuse, Children's Rights, Guest Posts, Public Policy, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - International

Global value chains and multinational enterprises hold enormous power over labour practices in Bangladesh’s garment and leather industries. As responsibility for working conditions shifts from the state toward corporate social responsibility, under resourced labour inspectorates and export dependent strategies leave child labour embedded in business models.
This post uses Michael E. Nielsen’s 2005 analysis and CLARISSA’s research to show how precarious contracts, foreign loans, rising material costs and fragmented supply chains push informal enterprises to cut labour costs by relying on children. It argues that corporate acceptance of “that’s just the way things are done over there” hides the real drivers of child labour and that both nation states and corporations must change how they structure production if they are serious about ending exploitation.

Silhouettes of a family with two adults and one child.

Why America’s Child Protection System Is Failing—and How to Fix It

Aces and Trauma, All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child Protection, childabuse, Children's Rights, Featured Articles, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - US Based

America’s Child Protection System is producing the very harms it was meant to prevent: overflowing prisons, broken families, unsafe classrooms, and communities overwhelmed by untreated trauma. This post explains how secrecy, extreme caseloads, deregulation, and our refusal to recognize children’s rights have hollowed out CPS—and lays out four practical steps toward real reform: radical transparency, safe caseloads, rebuilt legal protections, and child‑centered laws that treat children as rights‑holders, not afterthoughts.

Silhouettes of a family with two adults and one child.

Recruiting Child Soldiers (yes, we do)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child Protection, Child Abuse and Deaths, Children's Rights, Public Policy, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - US Based

This article from 2013 is still true today with no signs of changing. It needs to be shared with your states lawmakers: The United States is the only nation that has not signed the United Nation’s International Rights Of the Child Treaty of the 1980’s.  A primary reason we refuse to sign the treaty is…

Sign advocating for social justice and children's rights.

International Rights of the Child Treaty (& why jails are full)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child Protection, Children's Rights, Juvenile + Criminal Justice, Mikes Favorite Posts, Public Policy, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - International, Reporting and News - MN Specific, Reporting and News - US Based

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.

Silhouettes of a family with two adults and one child.

Smoke‑Free or Hooked for Life? Selling Nicotine to Children and Youth (w/videos)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Child Abuse and Deaths, PODCAST & STREAMING, Public Policy, Rebuttals & Guest Posts, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - International, Reporting and News - US Based

Big tobacco talks about a “smoke‑free future,” but its marketing tells a different story. This post gathers key videos and articles that show how major tobacco companies push vapes, nicotine pouches and heated tobacco to children and youth while claiming to care about health.

Logo of Invisible Children, advocating for at-risk youth.

Minnesota Family Preservation Law and Child Safety: When “Keep Families Together” Puts Children at Risk

Adoption, Foster and Kinship Care, All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child Protection, Child Abuse and Deaths, Child Protection, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - MN Specific, Statistics

Minnesota’s African American Family Preservation Act aims to reduce racial disproportionality in child welfare. But underfunded “family preservation first” policies can leave abused children in dangerous homes or unsafe kinship foster care, with deadly consequences documented in Safe Passage fatality reports.​

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Happy New Year – 2026 Projections & Plans + Meet KARA People (short videos)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child Protection, Child Abuse and Deaths, Children's Rights, Featured Articles, Public Policy, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - US Based

In 2025, the federal government declared a bonfire of deregulation in Child Protective Services (CPS) for 2026. This is part of a broader “parental rights” and religious liberty agenda. MAGA voices,

Black T-shirt with white text promoting kids' voices.

When Family Preservation and Deregulation Kill Children: Safe Passage Fatality Data

Adoption, Foster and Kinship Care, All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child Protection, Child Abuse and Deaths, Child Protection, Public Policy, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - MN Specific, Reporting and News - US Based

U.S. child welfare “bonfire of deregulation” and family‑preservation‑first strategies are unfolding in a landscape where children already have very few enforceable federal rights to safety, and where independent research shows large numbers of children dying at the hands of their caregivers.​ Safe Passage findings: children dying in “known” danger The Safe Passage for Children of…

Silhouettes of a family with two adults and one child.

What Happens if “Child Neglect” In Child Protective Services Is Removed or Diminished

Adoption, Foster and Kinship Care, All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child Protection, Child Abuse and Deaths, Featured Articles, KARA News and Events, Public Policy, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - US Based, Stunning Statistics

National and federal data show that child neglect is the primary allegation in a clear majority of CPS cases, so removing neglect from CPS as an entry criterion would likely eliminate investigation for roughly 60–75% of the children who are currently investigated or substantiated, with some variation by state. About 7.8 million children / year are reported abused and neglected to CPS.​ Because child abuse is invisible, it is likely that at least that many children remain unseen and unreported. The Trump child welfare executive order leans heavily into language about “unnecessary removals” and “overreach”

Empty classroom with text about ACES impact and hashtag #WEARENOTOK.

What Child Neglect Does (and how long it lasts)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child Protection, Data, Education, Featured Articles, Public Policy, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - US Based, Statistics

Responding to the Presidential Order addressing Neglect: Keeping neglect as a primary gateway into CPS is essential because what looks like “just poverty” on the surface is often a pattern of chronic educational, emotional, and safety failures that permanently damages children and fuels intergenerational harm.​

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Trump’s Child Protection Order & “NEGLECT”

Adoption, Foster and Kinship Care, All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Child Abuse and Deaths, Public Policy, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - US Based

President Trump’s new framing—that most child neglect cases “don’t belong” in CPS because they are “only poverty”—ignores a very large body of evidence that (1) poverty and neglect are tightly intertwined but not identical, and (2) chronic school un‑readiness, absenteeism, and school failure are core manifestations of serious harm that drive lifelong poverty, crime, and substance abuse.

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Labor Laws (Netherlands) & Civil Rights For Children

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Child Abuse and Deaths, Child Protection, Children's Rights, Guest Posts, invisible children, Public Policy, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - International

The Netherlands’ Child Labor Due Diligence Act puts a legal duty on companies to make sure their supply chains are free from child labor. It aims to stop goods and services produced with child labor from entering the Dutch market, but raises questions about children’s civil rights, enforcement, competition, and how far corporate responsibility really goes.​ A deeper dive for those who want more detail is linked here.

Illustration of trauma's impact on person, family, and people, emphasizing decontextualization over time.

International Child Abuse Reporting

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Child Abuse and Deaths, Guest Posts, invisible children, Public Policy, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - International

The following articles illustrates how government policy and law has yet again failed to ensure the safety and well-being of children. Children continue to face sexual abuse, gendered based violence and health crises, among other disastrous circumstances. Advocacy by civil society and humanitarian aid is essential in order to support one of the more vulnerable populations of society.

Logo for Invisible Children, focusing on kids at risk.

KARA Concerns About Trump’s Child Protection Order (deep dive)

Adoption, Foster and Kinship Care, All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child Protection, Child Abuse and Deaths, Child Protection, Education, LGBTQ, Public Policy, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - US Based

This post gets at the meaning of President Trump’s Presidential Order bringing change to America’s Child Protection System. If you support the work KARA is doing to improve the lives of abused and neglected children and at-risk families, read to the bottom and send this link to your State Representative (find them in the link below).

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The Netherlands Child Labour Due Diligence Act

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child Protection, Child Abuse and Deaths, Child Protection, Children's Rights, Guest Posts, Public Policy, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - International

Dutch authorities establish a positive duty of care on corporations to ensure their supply chains and contractual relations for the supply and manufacture of goods and services are free from child labour. Critics however worry about the possible distorting effects on competition of Dutch companies and the Dutch economy due to increased administrative burdens. A Dutch company illustrates how even with compliance of the new due diligence law, supply chains may never be free from child labour.

A colorful figure behind window bars in a sketch style.

Resilience in Black and White

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Gun Violence and Control, Juvenile + Criminal Justice, Public Policy, Religion, Politics + the Law

I grew up white in the 1960s—reckless. I drove drunk, grew marijuana two doors down from a cop and always went without punishment. On several occasions police brought me home and  to let my mom know that I had misbehaved.

My resilience was rarely tested, because I never needed it.

For Black youth living lives parallel to mine, every day demanded extraordinary resilience

Illustration of trauma's impact on person, family, and people, emphasizing decontextualization over time.

Child Friendly Models That Work Series (part 3)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Children's Rights, Day Care and Education, Education, Mental Health + Over Medication, Public Policy, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - International, Reporting and News - US Based, Statistics, The States

how over decades, Northern European voters vote for child and family friendly initiatives compared to American voters. Following posts in this series dive deeper into programs and policies that are making life either better or more difficult for U.S. children and families. Sharing these posts with your State Representative will have some impact on the policies and programs necessary to improve the lives of at-risk children and families where you live.

A hand pressed against a dark background with 'Domestic Violence' text.

Domestic Violence to a Five Year Old (living in a house of terror)

Aces and Trauma, All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child Protection, Child Abuse and Deaths, Child Protection, Child self harm and suicide, Domestic Violence, Public Policy, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - US Based, Stunning Statistics

Watching mom beaten or raped is terror. Homeless mothers and children are many times more likely to be assaulted and molested.

Children of addicted and alcoholic moms and dads are beaten and raped more often too.

Trauma is *torture. Watching mom being raped is torture.

Illustration of trauma's impact on person, family, and people, emphasizing decontextualization over time.

Part 2 CPS Models That Work & Models That Don’t

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child Protection, Child Abuse and Deaths, Child Protection, invisible children, Mental Health + Over Medication, Public Policy, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - International, Reporting and News - US Based, Stunning Statistics

The U.S. system relies primarily on counts of investigations, confirmed maltreatment, foster care placement rates, and basic duration measures. There is very little standardized measurement of child well-being, stability, or parent feedback, and fewer independent audits of outcomes

Illustration of trauma's impact on person, family, and people, emphasizing decontextualization over time.

Part 1 CPS Models That Work & Models That Don’t

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Mental Health + Over Medication, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - International

When child welfare agencies focus only on the outcomes that are easiest to measure—such as placement counts and case closure rates—they risk reinforcing and improving those specific metrics while neglecting critical aspects of child well-being, stability, and long-term success that remain unmeasured

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The Assault on Child Protection Part 4 (Racial Disparity)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child Protection, Data, Education, Public Policy, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - US Based, Statistics

Medicaid and SNAP cuts will disproportionately harm poor people and communities of color across the United States, with devastating statistical impacts:

Medicaid Coverage Losses: Over 13 million Black and more than 19 million Hispanic individuals rely on Medicaid for health coverage, with nearly 30% of Black and Hispanic populations dependent on it,

Bar chart showing annual public spending per child on early childhood care by country.

The Assault on Child Protection PART 3 (what this will cost)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child Protection, Child Protection, Data, Education, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - US Based, Statistics

Nationally, cuts will deepen inequality, entrench generational poverty, and erode the foundation for future economic growth. This is not budget tightening—it is a deliberate dismantling of the infrastructure that keeps children safe and families stable. We will be a sicker, poorer, less educated, and less productive America, with the highest price paid by its most vulnerable children and the communities already struggling to survive.

Illustration of trauma's impact on person, family, and people, emphasizing decontextualization over time.

The Assault on Child Protection – Part 2

Adoption, Foster and Kinship Care, All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child Protection, Child Abuse and Deaths, Child Protection, Data, Day Care and Education, Public Policy, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - US Based, Statistics, The States

The combined cuts to child friendly programs will impact some states more than other. This article presents a snapshot of what different states will be experiencing. Send  KARA information concerning what’s happening in your state (send to info@invisiblechildren.org with CUTS in the subject line).

California:

Close-up of a child's face with braided hair and intense eyes.

Politics, Religion, and At-Risk Children

CASA, GAL and Child Protection, Child Abuse and Deaths, Children's Rights, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - US Based

This is a dangerous time to be an abused child in America. Slash and burn politics and religious organizations are dismantling a large percentage of government and non governmental agencies keeping children safe. The COVID lockdown kept defenseless children in horrific circumstances without access to safety or healing for two years. Services before COVID and…

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Tennessee’s Child Marriage Bill & Taliban Doctrine

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Children's Rights, Religion, Politics + the Law, Reporting and News - US Based

Massachusetts has the lowest minimum marriage age with parental consent of 14 years old for boys and 12 years old for girls. Afghan parents sell their 7 year-old daughters into arranged marriages & the Taliban has for years practiced child sex abuse.

Tennessee may soon have child brides in common with the Taliban and Afghan parents.

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Children Living & Dying As Martyrs to a Parents Religion

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Religion, Politics + the Law

Many American newborns remain untested and untreated for very treatable metabolic disorders, hearing, sight & blood lead level s. 48 States allow religious exemptions from vaccination.

Some states allow religion to keep children from TB testing in school. 43 states give some kind of criminal or civil immunity to parents injuring their children by withholding medical care on religious grounds.

Six states let parents keep teachers from teaching their children about disease in school.

Over the years KARA has reported on children dying because their parents withheld medical treatment because the church told them to do so.

Some religions allow child neglect and abuse & some states allow a religious defense against charges of murdering their child – and “some can’t be charged with murder at all” (Slate).

2 years ago, Kansas State Rep Gail Finney vowed to pass a bill that allowed caregivers to leave bruises and cause bleeding. Arkansas State Rep Charles Fuqua promoted the death penalty for rebellious children (based on religious grounds).

As a volunteer County guardian ad-Litem, it has been awful to observe sexually abused two and four year old children and children suffering from violent physical abuse and neglect live through that abuse & try to overcome the terror and traumas inflicted upon them to make for themselves a normal life. Not many do.

KARA believes the U.S. should ratify the International Rights of the Child Treaty (we are the only nation not to have done so).

There are many cults in America that need to be exposed for the terrible way they treat children. Here’s one reported on by the Daily Beast this morning (send KARA your examples & forward this to your state rep).

Here’s a breakdown from Children’s Healthcare that shows a breakdown of states and their religious exemptions.

Silhouettes of a family with two adults and one child.

Catholic Charities of Boston vs. The Vatican (from 2012)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Religion, Politics + the Law

I should know. I was the chairman of the board of directors for Catholic Charities of Boston.

I feel compelled to set the record straight and let voters in Maine, who might not remember what actually happened, know the truth.

Like many of my fellow Catholics, I believe our greatest commandment is to help those who are in need and to love our neighbors as ourselves. That call is why I joined the board of directors of Catholic Charities of Boston.

I was especially proud of our work facilitating the adoption of abandoned and neglected children.

Catholic Charities used the one and only criteria that’s appropriate for adoption agencies — the best interest of the child.

A plush teddy bear resting on an open book with text.

YAY Teachers (running for office)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Religion, Politics + the Law

Our mean spirited and child unfriendly politics is driving teachers into public office. This is a sample and it the most positive movement towards better treatment of children than we have seen in a long time. Blaming teachers for trouble schools is so wrong.

Looking for better schools, higher graduation rates and safer communities? Support schools and the people on the front lines.

What we do to our children, they will do to society (Pliny the Elder 2000 years ago)

Blue umbrella with 'Care for Life' text on it.

Child Friendly / Less Friendly Candidates For Governor (thank you Safe Passage For Children MN)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Religion, Politics + the Law

Safe Passage deserves big kudos for this survey of declared candidates for MN Governor. Until recently, not many legislators understood the depth and scope of the problems facing at risk children in our state (or any state).

It is only by asking lawmakers to express their knowledge and views about child abuse and child protection that we can vote in people that understand the traumas these kids suffer from, heal them and l interrupt the epidemic of trauma and abuse in our community that is wrecking our schools, public health and safety.

Read candidate responses here and share this link with your friends and contacts.

Thank you Safe Passage For Children MN

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Good Governance, Betsy DeVos & Education For the Rest of Us

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Religion, Politics + the Law

Institutions define us (they keep us safe, educated and healthy)Why anyone with a stake in a safe, functioning community would withhold support or throw rocks at people doing this work is incomprehensible.

Turning our schools, highways, corrections and care of the young, sick and elderly into the hands of greed driven Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli and Trump University folks is not helping build healthy communities. It’s to be expected that institutional outcomes (public health, public safety, public education – don’t forget bridges) are suffering. Performance of any complex institution or endeavor demands support & critical thinking.

A safe, livable community requires support for the worker bees laboring in schools and other social institutions for those institutions to perform well. It’s for your own good.

A young boy sitting alone in a hallway looking thoughtful.

Prosecuting Legislators (can this work?)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Religion, Politics + the Law

A single Minneapolis hospital, HCMC sees 800 to 1000 emergency psychiatric visits a month (one of many metro hospitals).

There have never been enough beds and there will never be enough Prozac to humanely treat the people suffering from terrifying mental health problems.

When 6 year old foster child Kendrea Johnson suicided by hanging, her grandmother sued the County. After Jeff Weis shot dead his grandfather, himself and 8 others at Red Lake MN the community built a modern mental health facility so that it wouldn’t happen again.

The only stories that come to our attention are the most horrific.

There are thousands of stories left unknown except to the DHS staff, social workers and law enforcement, foster and adoptive parents, teachers & health workers dealing with severe, chronic and often dangerous people that would benefit with the help we are talking about.

White bird spreading wings near water and green plants.

Faith Healing Child Death (more common than you think)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Religion, Politics + the Law

Two members of an Oregon Sect that believes in faith healing were charged with murder in the death of their premature infant daughter. What would Jesus do? this is not a difficult spiritual question.

8 month old Brandon Schaible died of treatable pneumonia as did two year old Ella Foster because their parents didn’t believe in medicine, Two of Herbert and Catherine Schaible’s children died years apart from each other for the same reason.

Children in Idaho have been dying by the dozens for years at the hands of their parents. By 2014 144 children lay in the Peaceful Valley Cemetery because their parents denied them available medical care – it is likely that the number is above 200 today.

This U.S.is the only nation on the planet to not sign the International Rights of the Child Treaty, most likely because the treaty bans training children as soldiers which our Southern States do regularly (military schools).

A red sad emoticon with a frowning face.

Children As Political Chips – how bad can this get?

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Religion, Politics + the Law

CHIP provides health care coverage to nearly 9 million children. Approximately 1.9 million children are at risk of having their CHIP coverage terminated during the month of January if Congress takes no action.

Call your Senator & let them know that playing politics with the life of a child is awful. Be bold and tell them that you could not support someone who would allow the life of a child to be less important than a political party chit.

Leopard cub playfully biting spotted tail

Protecting Children From Bad Politics (a note from the Child Welfare League of America)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Religion, Politics + the Law

Protecting Children in Changing Times   Our Children at Risk Never before in the Child Welfare League of America’s (CWLA) 100-year history has there been a higher level of anxiety and uncertainty about the fate and well-being of our children. The plans and policies of the new leadership in Washington, DC, will do egregious damage to social…

Blue umbrella with 'Care for Life' text on it.

The Election & Children (from Safe Passages For Children of Minnesota)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Religion, Politics + the Law

This recent piece from Safe Passages for Children of Minnesota paints a more positive picture for Minnesota’s at risk children than can be seen in the rest of the nation.

It’s good to know that MN politicians on both sides of the isle care about the youngest and most vulnerable among us. They recognize that healthy children become healthy adults creating a safe and productive community.

The rest of the nation’s children are at risk as attacks on healthcare and education will dismantle working programs and the well-being of millions of America’s poorest and youngest citizens.

Politicians blaming educators and other service providers replace objective discussions about what it takes to improve safety nets and troubled institutions. It hurts me to see just how quickly children’s services become wasted money that some states have been all too ready to reduce for political benefits.

Thank you Minnesota legislators for doing the right thing. Your critical thinking skills and the ethical standards you have maintained to accomplish so many of the recommendations from the Governor’s Task Force on Child Protection Services and Mental Health will benefit this state for decades to come.

As the holiday season approaches, let’s all be grateful for the hard work of these two task forces (and the people that volunteered to staff them) and the results they have accomplished this year.

Close-up of koala on tree branch

Using Bibles In Defense of Child Abuse (not the Jesus I knew)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Religion, Politics + the Law

Indiana Governor and Vice Presidential Candidate Mike Pence’s Religious Freedom signature law RFRA allows beating 7 year old’s with a coat hanger leaving bruises and bleeding severe enough to cause the child’s doctor to have mom arrested.

It will be a very sad thing an Indiana Court uses Pence’s law to rule that bibles can be used to torture and traumatize children.

A few years ago I spoke to adoptive parents in Indiana where the prior Governor, Mitch Daniels redirected the funding promised to families adopting special needs children (after the adoptions were completed) to his appointees in social services who could cut the most from social services programs.

Mitch was also running for Vice President at the time. My conversations with those families were really sad (really, really sad).

For the second time in just 3 election cycles, Indiana Governor’s have shown children just how little they matter to the State.

Tiny stepping stones to higher political office; kids can’t vote and only make the media under the most tragic of circumstances. A clear win for Indiana Governor’s (and a few other states too).

If there is a silver lining in Indiana Governor’s political abuse of children, it is that Indiana’s helpless kids are the only youth voice in America’s most important political battle (there is no other meaningful child friendly discourse in our presidential election).

Know anyone in Indiana? Share this with them and suggest that using children as political stepping stones should be a crime.

All Adults are the Protectors of All Children

Lamp reflection overlooking lake at dusk

Vote For Minnesota’s At Risk Youth Here (today)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Religion, Politics + the Law

Please contact Senator Terri Bonoff and request her support of SF 2411. Sample language is provided below. Please personalize it, if you wish, and email it to Senator Bonoff at sen.terri.bonoff@senate.mn or call her at 651-296-4314. As the bill is being heard on Tuesday, please send your email or call as soon as possible.

Also, please let us know if you were able to call or email your Senator. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Johnna K O’Neill
Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota
(507) 993-2925
johnna@safepassagemn.org
www.safepassagemn.org

Dear Senator Bonoff –

On Tuesday, April 5, the Senate Finance Committee, K-12 Budget Division will consider SF 2411 which will increase the number of early learning scholarships and give priority to children in foster care or the child protection system. Quality early learning experiences have been proven to reduce child abuse and neglect. More funding directed at the prevention of child maltreatment is essential. In addition to better outcomes for individual children and their families, society benefits from stronger families, less crime, and decreased social service costs.

Please support SF 2411 to ensure there is adequate funding for the proven benefits of quality childcare.

Thank you for your efforts on behalf of abused, neglected, and at-risk children in Minnesota.

NAME
ADDRESS
CITY, ST ZIP

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If You Don’t Do This, Who Will? (children can’t stop child abuse)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Religion, Politics + the Law

Tuesday was Day At the Hill for advocates supporting policies to improve the lives of Minnesota’s abused and neglected children.

Thank you Safe Passage for Children for organizing an effective effort to bring awareness to the people (lawmakers) that can make positive change for at risk children happen.

Without your efforts and the efforts of your volunteers, It is unlikely that lawmakers will come to understand that;

Many of the Governor’s Task Force recommendations may not be implemented or those recommendations will later be abandoned without continued oversite,

Tracking program outcomes is the only way we can know the difference between ineffective and effective and terrific programs,

The level of trauma foster children live with has created a terrible problem in our foster care system as there are fewer and fewer families able to manage the behavioral problems exhibited by this growing population of abused children,

The recent media coverage and added attention to child protection has increased reporting and is overwhelming already overburdened County systems leading to unmanageable caseloads and higher burnout rates among social workers,

A waiting list of 7000 names for subsidized daycare leaves vulnerable children in the care of drunk and drugged uncles,

It is a rewarding experience to advocate for children, I recommend it (at least once a year – it’s only for a few hours – and it can make a real difference in the policies that govern the lives of the most vulnerable among us.

Join Safe Passage For Children Volunteer army and dedicate a few hours a year telling your State Representatives how important children’s issues are to you.

Adult tiger carrying cub by scruff

America’s Science Phobia Ravages Children

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Religion, Politics + the Law

The facts of recent demographic studies are mind boggling. In 2008, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention shocked the nation with the news that fully a fourth of America’s teen girls now have a sexually transmitted disease, with rates still rising. Earlier the Alan Guttmacher Institute announced results of a study comparing teens in the U.S. with Great Britain, Canada, France and Sweden. By far U.S. teenagers have the highest rates of Sexually Transmitted Disease (STDs), pregnancy, births and abortions. For example, the teen pregnancy rate of the U.S. is four times the French rate, three times the Swedish rate and twice as high as Great Britain and Canada. America’s policy of turning its back on our youth is nothing short of shocking in its irresponsibility.

Fishing boats docked at coastal harbor

Make A Mess, the Pope’s Message to Young People – but help us clean it up (Paraguay speech)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Religion, Politics + the Law

Young people unite, get involved in changing the rights of the poor and our assault on the planet was Pope Francis message to thousands of South America’s young people yesterday. Bring your hope and strength and demand change.

Friends, let’s take the Pope’s message to all of our leaders (religious and political) and push for helping young families and improvements in child protection and juvenile justice in America. The more people involved, the faster change can happen.

All adults are the protectors of all children. All religions are the protectors of all children.

Indoor party with toddler and adults

Without Understanding Core Issues, Better Answers Are Hard To Come By (or why legislators need more information to do their jobs well)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Religion, Politics + the Law

It was the final question and statement from the Legislative Committee after my testimony about generational child abuse and the “real costs” of under-funding Child Protection and Children’s Mental Health at the State House yesterday that caught me off guard and made it difficult for me to fall asleep last night.

This is my best rendition of that last question and statement from the Tax Committee considering funding for the recommendations of the Governors Task Force on Child Protection that hurts me and makes me fear that better answers will remain hard to find from our state lawmakers;

1) the question; Do you think that anything state funding of programs can do will alter the fact of generational child abuse and damage it causes?

2) the statement; I’ve been on this committee for many years and not seen anything work.

A yellow bird curiously looks at a chessboard with white pieces.

Where Bad Laws Come From (& why it’s not fair to blame the worker bees)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Religion, Politics + the Law

Brandon Stahl’s article in the Star Tribune today suggests that Minnesota is probably the only state in the nation to have forbidden social workers from considering past screened out cases of child abuse in evaluating new reports. Pressured to put a consistent policy in place by a state auditor, DHS institutionalized a policy that would lead to untold suffering and death of abused children for four years (it ended today with the Governor’s signing of the reversal of that bill.

That is just the tip of the iceberg that the Governor’s Task Force is working on. Perhaps with the added attention to the Task Force and Brandon Stahl’s continued reporting we can move up a few notches among the states in what we spend on child protection in MN (we rank 47th currently).

It befuddles me that the studies completed by the Federal Reserve Bank by Art Rolnick and Rob Grunewald have not brought the larger business community into appreciating the fundamental issues underlying a productive work force. It may be that the arguments should be made in terms of cost instead of savings. I think it would scare people to know how expensive ignored at risk youth are to our community. A single boy in my caseload cost this county at least 3 million dollars by the time he aged out of child protection (not including the awful things he has done to people).

By any measure, taking care of vulnerable children is duty of all of us and to make you feel better, saves you money and is the right thing to do.

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Dear State Representative Lohmer

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Dear Representative Lohmer,

Responding to your note to me below (decrying the cost of early childhood programs being recommended by Governor Mark Dayton), I’ve been a volunteer CASA guardian ad-Litem for almost 20 years and watched what short changing MN children does to our schools, city streets, and state budget.

One of (I have 50 stories)my case load boys cost the county between 2 and 3 million dollars and that does not include the people he has stabbed, teacher he beat up, or hundreds of others he has caused great suffering to in his young life.

He’s in his early 20’s today and recently aged out of foster care (I met him in 1996 when he was 7) today, he has AIDS, is on the most expensive medicines in the nation, has always been a state ward, and I expect will always be a state ward.

To not support programs that could have helped him lead a normal life is fiscally irresponsible and morally reprehensible.

If I were to describe to you the costs some of the other fifty children I have worked with (as a volunteer) in child protection, you would make better decisions concerning early childhood programs.

We launch a new generation of abused and neglected children with or without coping skills every five years (by five a child is able to cope with his or her environment, go on to school and succeed or Not). It hurts me to meet people that don’t understand this. Quit thinking of a generation as 20 years. It is not. It is five years for the children we are talking about.

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Changing A Bad Law (thank you Brandon Stahl & Star Tribune)

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Minnesota’s abused and neglected children finally catch a break. Brandon Stahl’s superb reporting on the tortured death of 4-year old Eric Dean after fifteen ignored reports finally reached the State’s top child protection people (Erin Sullivan Sutton) and is trickling down to the legislators that voted to eliminate what was at the time already weak tracking, reporting, and responding to of child abuse complains by counties.

While this is great news for the 68,000 children that are reported as abused in MN each year, it will not restore the millions of dollars that have been cut from County budgets for child protection services that would allow counties to:

Provide the public access to a transparent record keeping and tracking that will allow transparency that the rest of us might monitor how reports of abuse are responded to across the state,

Create consistent standards for screening in cases from county to county (today, four MN counties screen out 90% of child abuse reports)

Fix the damage done already to the thousands of MN children that have been screened out and are living in horrific circumstances,

It is left to be seen if the legislative turnaround will impact the 29% of abused children in the system that today are sent back to abusive homes,

Or our state ranking as 47th in the U.S. on the amount it spends on children in child protection,

Or that 80% of Minnesota’s abused children are abused again while under court supervision,

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Kilah’s Law

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In May of 2012, at the tender age of 3, Kilah Davenport was cruelly beat by her stepfather. She had to have emergency brain surgery that involved removing a portion of her skull to relieve swelling on her brain but was still left with permanent brain damage and in a wheelchair. The injuries she sustained caused complications that led to Kilah’s death in March of 2014, just a few weeks before her 5th birthday.