LGBTQ+ youth and young adults are at high risk of being trapped into modern day slavery. Sex Traffickers target vulnerable youth who lack support, financial resources, or those who have experienced extreme abuse in the past.
Human trafficking is the third most profitable criminal activity nationally and in the world. It is superseded only by the trafficking of weapons and drugs. Human trafficking generates $32 billion in the US alone annually and $150 billion globally. While sex trafficking is largely associated with girls and women, young boys are just as likely to be…
America is the only nation on earth that is not a party to the international rights of the child treaty of 1989.
Kids At Risk Action gathers stories and statistics
about child abuse and child welfare
State By State + International)
100 years ago, women were property (legally) and a husband could do just about anything to his wife. Murder was still murder, but anything else was treated by law enforcement much like animal abuse was in the day (not a big deal for the courts to be concerned with).
20 years ago I became a volunteer *CASA guardian ad Litem (voice for the child) in County child protection and saw first hand what it’s like for an American citizen to have no voice in the home, no voice in the courts and no voice in the media.
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 and not to be enslaved).
Human Rights and the Psychotropic Medicating of Children is common in foster care and juvenile justice in the U.S. Self-harm and suicidal ideation play a roll in the early death and physical harm these children suffer.
Is it Child Safety and Wellbeing or Parental Rights?
Have we lost sight of the purpose of Child Protective Services in our political wars to keep the rights of the person that can scream the loudest?
Abolishing County Child Protection would eliminate the rights of children to the most basic human right of a safe home.
Eliminating CPS would spell doom for at risk children.
CHILD ABUSE & CHILD PROTECTION IN YOUR STATE
Where does your state rank in protecting children & what can you do to make improvements. These statistics tell the stories of our best and worst states around the nation
Nicholas Christof’s article in the NYTimes today points a finger at “pro-family” people “preserving” child poverty in America.
Lest you believe this a stretch, America stands out as the country with the highest child poverty rate and one of the lowest levels of social expenditure. This has been true for many years.
This means food insecurity for five year olds, and the statistical probability that homeless ten year olds are three times more likely to be sexually abused than other children.
There is a heartlessness behind the politics of separating immigrant babies from their mother (over 5000) and not returning those children to their birth parents (over 1000 still are separated today).
We the people now have public policies that have led to the sad reality that;
37% of children are reported to child protection agencies in this nation by their 18th birthday.
almost one third of American children will have a criminal record by their 23rd birthay
80% of youth aging out of foster care lead dysfunctional lives
Dallas News, on March third 2016, almost 6000 children needing immediate contact were not visited by CPS within the mandatory deadline for extreme cases
This 2020 report examines 24 variables and includes three new health behaviors—recent prescription opioid misuse, STD testing, and HIV testing. It also provides data on the health behaviors and experiences of sexual minority youth from the 2015, 2017, and 2019 cycles of the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), allowing trends to be reported for this population for the first time.
As a long time volunteer County CASA guardian ad Litem it has been hard to comprehend the explosive growth of child abuse in my lifetime. This study
The impact of the Supreme Court’s decisions in the coming year are huge. If the Court overturns the ACA, Millions of children will be uninsured or lose affordable coverage that does not meet their pediatric-specific needs.
Children aging out of the foster cares system will lose affordable health coverage, mental health and substance abuse coverage and access to preventative services because of pre-existing conditions and there will lifetime limits on care for the seriously ill.
Foster care children will see the pool of highly qualified foster and adoptive parents shrink if
Those of us that know about the traumas abused children suffer need to say more if we are ever to reverse the trend of generational child abuse in America. These articles were compiled over the last week. The COVID pandemic has reduced reporting and increased domestic violence & child abuse. Read these short articles and help KARA spread the word about the problems facing at risk children.
Foster Care; Every state is struggling to make life safe for traumatized state ward children. Here are their stories from October & November 2017;
KS: Nowhere Else to Go: Why Kids Are Sleeping in Child Welfare Offices (Commentary)
Governing – October 11, 2017
Every month, there are kids in Kansas forced to sleep on cots or couches in a foster care contractor’s office because they don’t have anywhere else to stay that night.
All Adults Are The Protectors of All Children
KARA Signature Video (4 minute) Public Service Announcement( 30 Second) 25 years ago, KARA board member David Strand went from CASA guardian ad litem volunteer to writing his PHD student thesis “NATION OUT OF STEP” comparing America to the rest of the Industrialized World in how we treat children. At the time, we ranked…
Across the board, America’s Southern States seem to maintain an anti tax mantra that devalues the well-being of other people’s children. This clear from the KIDS COUNT statistics over the years. This is their most recent data for 2020
28 states place children in the adult criminal justice system, 25% of pit youth are charged as adults, 30% of our youth are arrested by 23rd birthday
What does it take for a child to find refuge in Louisiana? Will the state execute the boy (he is being tried as an adult & Texas has ignored a federal ban on executing the mentally incompetent).
These videos are disturbing but accurate. Not knowing cannot help the state ward children of Florida (the password is “foster”). What we know, we can change. What we don’t know, gets worse until we do know.
Florida To Completely Privatize Juvenile Correctional Facilities. In an effort to reduce costs, Florida’s state-run residential programs for juveniles will soon be completely privatized. … About 95 percent of Florida’s youth residential facilities for underaged offenders are now privately run.
This reporting over the last 45 days is a fraction of
the child death in our communities today
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All Adults Are the Protectors of All Children
Dropping napalm on children and families in Vietnam (PBS video) was an unforgivable evil. Thousands of small children died by napalm.
Burned alive is the most painful death anyone can suffer. Survivors live with scars and trauma that never end.
Today, my government takes helpless babies & children from parents and places them in the custody of money driven defense contractors who warehouse them in cages at vacant shopping centers by the thousands.
The American Psychological Association condemns this act as needlessly cruel threatening “the mental and physical health of both the children and their caregivers”.
*Torturing immigrant children for political reasons is a vile act and it needs to be called out. *The World Health Organization defines torture as “extended exposure to violence and deprivation”.
I visited Indiana a few years ago after the governor redirected funding from parents adopting special needs children after the adoptions had been completed (AFTER). Then governor mitch daniels directed those dollars to people most successful in dismantling services to abandoned children.
The complaint (new lawsuit) alleges that Indiana removes children from their homes to be placed into foster care at a “staggering rate — more than double the national rate” and then fails to keep them safe while in DCS custody “often placing them in inappropriate, unstable or overly restrictive placements; fails to provide necessary support services and medical and mental health care; and fails to provide meaningful case management.”
While the rest of the industrialized world is busy using public policy to make quality education, health & child care affordable for all, America has doubled down on commercializing prisons, group homes & schools and making health care a
KARA gathers news about abused abused children in America and around the world to provide a snapshot of Child Protection and how states and nations value their children.
Kids At Risk Action needs an aspiring writer/research to help gather and report on these stories.
If you are an aspiring writer/researcher with an urge to speak for your communities abused and neglected children,
Contact mike@invisiblechildren.org with REPORTING in the subject line.
All Adults Are the Protectors of All Children
37% of children overall and 54% of Black children are reported to child protection services in America by the time they turn 18.
(American Journal of Public Health 1.17)
6 to 12 million children a year are reported to child protection services and in many states,
About 1/3 of foster children are required to take psychotropic medicines
Losing 1475 migrant children as a political statement was an awful example of what America is becoming know for internationally.
Letting Migrant Kids Rot in shabby poorly run centers for months or years stinks of racism & an administration without a conscious.
Boarder agents threatening children with adoption and Drugging them just adds a vile and criminal element to the equation. If these children die will there be consequences?
CLASS CERTIFIED IN MISSOURI PSYCH MEDS LAWSUIT
August 1, 2018
In an historic ruling, United States District Judge Nanette K. Laughrey has granted class certification to all Missouri foster children “who presently are, or in the future will be, prescribed or administered one or more psychotropic medications while in state care.” The ruling in M.B. …
SC: South Carolina, Under Lawsuit Settlement and Needing 1,500 Foster Homes, Could Become 20th State To Create Ombudsmans’ Office (Commentary)
Chronicle of Social Change – April 30, 2018
South Carolina is set to become the 20th state to establish an autonomous office to hold its child welfare agency accountable.
NH parents of child who died arrested on drug charges
Boston 25 News
Following the child’s death, police executed a search warrant at 473 Hevey St. and said they found 28.1 grams of heroin, 11.8 grams of cocaine, 15.3 …
Flag as irrelevant
Day care provider enters guilty plea in baby death case
MLive.com
MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI – A day care provider has pleaded guilty to child neglect in a case involving the death of a toddler in her care at the hands of …
Flag as irrelevant
Iowa sees spike in confirmed child abuse cases
Seattle Times
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials say publicity around high-profile child abuse cases in Iowa has caused a surge in such reports. Confirmed child …
Iowa sees spike in confirmed child abuse cases – WRAL.com
Accused child killers plead not guilty in Seneca County Court
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
The mother and stepfather of a 3-year-old taken off of life support last week after being beaten until he was brain dead pleaded not guilty to murder …
Seneca Falls couple plead not guilty to beating 3-year-old boy to death – 13WHAM-TV
Couple accused of killing toddler pleads not guilty – Spectrum News
American states are struggling to find answers for ending adverse childhood experiences (ACES) and saving at risk children by reversing the explosive growth of child abuse and neglect. Today, many state ward children are the 4th and 5th generation of abused children raising their own families without parenting skills and with serious drug, alcohol and mental health issues
37% of children overall and 57% of Black children are reported to child protection services in America by the time they turn 18. (American Journal of Public Health 1.17)
12 million children a year are reported to child protection services each year and in many states, 1/3 of foster children are required to take psychotropic medicines
Today, many state ward children are the 4th and 5th generation of abused children raising their own families without parenting skills and with serious drug, alcohol and mental health issues
37% of children overall and 57% of Black children are reported to child protection services in America by the time they turn 18. (American Journal of Public Health 1.17)
12 million children a year are reported to child protection services each year and in many states, 1/3 of foster children are required to take psychotropic medicines
American states are struggling to find answers for ending adverse childhood experiences (ACES) and saving at risk children by reversing the explosive growth of child abuse and neglect. Today, many state ward children are the 4th and 5th generation of abused children raising their own families without parenting skills and with serious drug, alcohol and mental health issues
37% of children overall and 57% of Black children are reported to child protection services in America by the time they turn 18. (American Journal of Public Health 1.17)
12 million children a year are reported to child protection services each year and in many states, 1/3 of foster children are required to take psychotropic medicines
Track Critical Child Protection/Child Abuse Issues & News In Your State Here (free)
Track Critical Child Protection/Child Abuse Internationall Issues & News Here (free)
Get KARA’s Weekly EBrief Updates (free) every Friday Morning
American states are struggling to find answers for ending adverse childhood experiences (ACES) and saving at risk children by reversing the explosive growth of child abuse and neglect. Today, many state ward children are the 4th and 5th generation of abused children raising their own families without parenting skills and with serious drug, alcohol and mental health issues
37% of children overall and 57% of Black children are reported to child protection services in America by the time they turn 18. (American Journal of Public Health 1.17)
12 million children a year are reported to child protection services each year and in many states, 1/3 of foster children are required to take psychotropic medicines
KARA’s reporting is only sampling of what should be reported – the great majority of child trauma & abuse is never known.
American states are struggling to find answers for ending adverse childhood experiences (ACES) and saving at risk children by reversing the explosive growth of child abuse and neglect. Today, many state ward children are the 4th and 5th generation of abused children raising their own families without parenting skills and with serious drug, alcohol and mental health issues
37% of children overall and 57% of Black children are reported to child protection services in America by the time they turn 18. (American Journal of Public Health 1.17)
12 million children a year are reported to child protection services each year and in many states, 1/3 of foster children are required to take psychotropic medicines
American states are struggling to find answers for ending adverse childhood experiences and saving at risk children by reversing the explosive growth of child abuse and neglect. Today, many state ward children are the 4th and 5th generation of abused children raising their own families without parenting skills and with serious drug, alcohol and mental health issues
37% of children overall and 57% of Black children are reported to child protection services in America by the time they turn 18. (American Journal of Public Health 1.17)
12 million children a year are reported to child protection services each year and in many states, 1/3 of foster children are required to take psychotropic medicines
KARA (Kids At Risk Action) tracks current news about at risk children bringing transparency and attention to our youngest and most vulnerable citizens. KARA’s reporting is only sampling of what should be reported – the great majority of child trauma & abuse is never known.
American states are struggling to find answers for ending adverse childhood experiences and saving at risk children by reversing the explosive growth of child abuse and neglect. Today, many state ward children are the 4th and 5th generation of abused children raising their own families without parenting skills and with serious drug, alcohol and mental health issues
37% of children overall and 57% of Black children are reported to child protection services in America by the time they turn 18. (American Journal of Public Health 1.17)
12 million children a year are reported to child protection services each year and in many states, 1/3 of foster children are required to take psychotropic medicines
HI: Girl who was severely beaten after state returned her to mom gets $450K payout (Includes video)
Hawaii News Now – March 02, 2018
Twelve years ago, Shari Rodrigues suffered permanent brain and internal injuries after she was beaten by her biological mother’s boyfriend. The state initially took the girl, who was 2 at the time, away from her mother. The girl was then returned.
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/37636849/girl-who-was-severely-beaten-after-state-returned-her-to-mom-gets-450k-payout
AL: & AZ: Lawsuit was catalyst for cutting caseloads in Alabama (Commentary)
Arizona Daily Star – March 08, 2018
Across the state, average caseloads were 65. Within six months, James was the only one of five people hired with him who hadn’t quit. But Alabama’s child welfare system was on the cusp of wholesale reform that took place county by county after a sweeping 1988 lawsuit filed by advocates on behalf of a foster child known as R.C.
http://tucson.com/news/lawsuit-was-catalyst-for-cutting-caseloads-in-alabama/article_c3a733aa-224b-11e8-b859-477daa1e1099.html
CA: Social Workers Concerned With Increase in Babies Exposed to Meth
Santa Barbara Independent – March 15, 2018
An increasing number of infants exposed to methamphetamine have raised concern among Santa Barbara social workers. In the last three months, about 30 babies were in need of a court-appointed special advocate, better known as a CASA. Most had been exposed to meth.
https://www.independent.com/news/2018/mar/15/social-workers-concerned-increase-babies-exposed-m/
CA: County official seeks to expand support for foster youth
Woman Arrested In Death Of 11-Month-Old Girl
CBS Boston / WBZ
QUINCY (CBS) – A 27-year-old Quincy woman is facing charges in the death of a baby. Prosecutors say Shu Feng Hsu assaulted 11-month-old Chloe Chen in February. Police say that she either shook her niece or struck her in the head. The baby died two days later at Boston Medical Center.
DA: Quincy woman to be charged in death of baby girl – Boston Herald
Woman accused of assaulting baby who later died – WCVB Boston
Quincy: Arrest & Arraignment in February Baby Death Investigation – 95.9 WATD-FM (blog)
Full Coverage
CA: LA County Board looks to shut down pipeline from foster care to juvenile hall
City News Service – March 20, 2018
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to reevaluate the treatment of youngsters in the county’s care, aiming to keep foster children out of juvenile halls and camps.
http://theavtimes.com/2018/03/20/la-county-board-looks-to-shut-down-pipeline-from-foster-care-to-juvenile-hall/
AZ: Fixing Our Foster Care Crisis
Arizona Daily Star – March 27, 2018
After peaking with nearly 19,000 children in foster care in 2016, Arizona set out to keep more families together and pull fewer kids from their homes. Some changes are taking hold, and the number of kids in out-of-home care is trending downward.
http://tucson.com/fixing-arizona-s-foster-care-crisis/article_10fe027e-31f5-11e8-b4b8-ef0126c7b046.html
KARA (Kids At Risk Action) tracks current news about at risk children bringing transparency and attention to our youngest and most vulnerable citizens. KARA’s reporting is only sampling of what should be reported – the great majority of child trauma & abuse is never known.
American states are struggling to find answers for ending adverse childhood experiences and saving at risk children by reversing the explosive growth of child abuse and neglect. Today, many state ward children are the 4th and 5th generation of abused children raising their own families without parenting skills and with serious drug, alcohol and mental health issues.
37% of children overall and 57% of Black children are reported to child protection services in America by the time they turn 18.
(American Journal of Public Health 1.17)
12 million children a year are reported to child protection services each year and in many states, 1/3 of foster children are required to take psychotropic medicines
37% of children overall and 57% of Black children are reported to child protection services in America by the time they turn 18.
(American Journal of Public Health 1.17)
12 million children a year are reported to child protection services each year and in many states, 1/3 of foster children are required to take psychotropic medicines