2010 October | INVISIBLE CHILDREN

Monthly Archive for October, 2010

The Heart Of Child Protection Services

Published

on October 30, 2010

. 3 Comments

The following study from the University of Pennsylvania points a very negative picture of Child Protective Services in that state. http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/DomesticViolence/22557

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).

It hurts me greatly to acknowledge that a big part of our nation does not see the need to support at risk children.

The authors suggestion that child abuse should be treated as a crime only adds to the violence and ignores the pain and dysfunction these families have been living through. To send the police into private homes to solve child abuse problems has to be the harshest and most ungrounded suggestion that I’ve heard on the subject. The trauma these children suffer even with trained and caring social workers is beyond description; uniformed police officers taking children out of homes would be extremely hurtful to children.

Our nation already has more people incarcerated per capita than any other nation. Thirteen million prison and jail releases in the U.S. last year. 5% of the world’s population and 25% of the world’s prison population.

In my experience as a guardian ad-Litem, almost always the abuser had been the abused growing up. Jails have not solved this nations problems so far and perhaps are a large contributor to what is hurting us.

Many would argue that America’s huge investment in prisons and jails (and privatization) have created a stigmatized and almost hopeless population of folks who know they are not going to achieve a quality of life like they see all around them no matter what they do.

Decent paying work with a criminal record is almost impossible to find, felons can’t vote in many states, and they are hard pressed to climb out of poverty, let alone raise a family and lead a productive life.

There is no doubt that America’s challenge of saving abused and neglected children far exceeds the training, resources, or public support this nation has been willing to give to the people doing the work. We are now blaming teachers for failing schools. How long will it be before we blame the police for the criminals?

The system needs help at many levels and there usually are not simple answers to complex social problems.

One thing is certain; these children need and deserve our help and it will pay us big dividends as a community to provide it. “What we do to our children, they will do to society” Pliny, 2500 years ago

Support KARA’s effort to stop punishing children; sponsor a conversation in your community (invite me to speak at your conference) / Buy our book or donate

Continue reading ‘The Heart Of Child Protection Services’

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After Traumatic Event, Early Intervention Reduces Odds of PTSD in Children by 73 Percent

Published

Mike Tikkanen

on October 23, 2010

in Health and Mental Health

. 0 Comments

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.

Most of the articles written (like this one http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/09/child-ptsd-early-intervention/ ) would lead one to believe that these traumas are isolated incidents in the life of an at risk child.

This was not what I saw. Instead, children generally spend years in dangerous environments and are only rarely removed from the harshest circumstances and then into an underfunded and overworked system of foster/group homes that provide a minimum degree of the services desperately needed by the child.

This study shows us what needs to be done. The good news is that we know what to do to save abused and neglected (traumatized) children.

The bad news is that only rarely, do these children receive help in a timely manner. It has been my experience, that only after they act out and get into trouble, do we really pay attention to them.

We can do better.

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Support KARA buy our book or donate

Become part of KARA’s email network by sending a request to join to;

amy.rostronledoux@yahoo.com
Continue reading ‘After Traumatic Event, Early Intervention Reduces Odds of PTSD in Children by 73 Percent’

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A Great Rally for Children In MN (Thanks Amy)

Published

Mike Tikkanen

on October 19, 2010

in Invisible Children and KARA Events

. 0 Comments

On Sunday October 10, 2010, 5 wonderful KARA volunteers joined roughly 1000 others at the State Capitol for a March and Rally for Children and Youth. Dubbed 10-10-10, the first of its kind event organized by the young leaders of the Children’s Defense Fund and dozens of local, partnering organizations, was a whopping success!

Attendees were able to fill their bags with worthwhile literature, bumper stickers and activities and fill their minds with the wisdom and insight of speakers such as Garrison Keillor, Peg Chamberlain and Marion Wright Edelman. Following the rally, those in attendance were asked to fill out commitment cards stating that they will do their part to assure that ALL Minnesota children are given a fair start in life by informing law makers and holding them accountable for the decisions they make on behalf of children.

The event was conceptualized by a gentleman from North Minneapolis. Four years ago, Darrel Young brought his brother to the Twin Cities from Chicago. Intending to give him a better life than what he could find in Chicago, Darrel quickly became dismayed when his brother was slain just 4 doors down from his home on the streets of North Minneapolis. His 17 year old brother was walking home to his brother’s house when he was shot and killed. The next day in the paper, the headline merely read “Number 37″ because Darrel’s brother was the 37th homicide in Minneapolis in 2006.

As a result of this event, Darrel pledged to honor his brother by being a stronger influence in the lives of young people. He began working with the youth leaders of YALT, Youth Advocacy Leadership Training, at the Children’s Defense Fund and the vision of the 10-10-10 Rally and March came into fruition. The youth created, planned, organized and led the March and Rally every step of the way; they will even continue the momentum by speaking at congregations and working with the 2011 legislature to pass into law issues that are of importance in the lives of children and youth.

Visitors to the KARA booth were able to watch a video slideshow produced by KARA, sign up to be on our email list and wear a bracelet displaying a fact about children that they were challenged to share with three other people before going to bed that night. The shocking facts stated on the six different bracelets included:

* 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.

Attendees were also given a copy of Mike Tikkanens’s book, Invisible Children with a KARA bookmark that read:

Each day in America:

– 4000 children are arrested

-30 children die of gunshot wounds

– 4 children are killed by their parents

- 15,000 children are beaten, molested, neglected or watch their mother being beaten or raped

Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/KidsAtRisk

Support KARA buy our book or donate

Become part of KARA’s email network by sending a request to join to;

amy.rostronledoux@yahoo.com

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Across Ages, Youth Substance Abuse & Programs That Work

Published

Mike Tikkanen

on October 17, 2010

in Occasional Authors

. 1 Comment

This article was submitted by KARA’s Century College volunteer Dave Mast.

Substance Abuse Prevention for Teens

The impact of substance abuse on children and teenagers, as discussed in KARA’s recent article 254 Children, 220,000 Crimes, 12 Months, is very detrimental to their futures and to society in general.

Identifying programs that have shown success in the prevention and reduction of teenage substance abuse is crucial to keeping America’s youth happy, healthy, and productive.

Some programs exist that are taught at schools to students and involve education about the use and abuse of drugs, consequences of drug abuse, and ways to avoid getting involved with drugs. Perhaps the best known example of this type of program is Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE).

Other programs include more in-depth approaches to drug prevention, through the use of one-on-one mentoring, community service, and competency programs.

A Philadelphia based program called Across Ages was founded in 1991, and has been replicated in many other states in the past twenty years.

Four basic program components prevent, reduce or delay substance abuse by children and teenagers.

* 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).
Continue reading ‘Across Ages, Youth Substance Abuse & Programs That Work’

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We’re Number 1, & that’s not good…

Published

Mike Tikkanen

on October 15, 2010

in Health and Mental Health and Public Policy

. 1 Comment

The following article by 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.

A gay 14 year old boy in my guardian ad-Litem caseload was physically restrained for the better part of his five week stay in a Christian group home that had promised to deal objectively with his sexual orientation. There was nothing rational about the treatment he received at this group home.

He was suicidal when he was seven & put on Ritalin with minimal mental health therapy. He has HIV AIDS today at 20.

As a result of the terrible treatment he received from his family & the lack of organized resources available to him through the child protection system, his entire life has seems to have been dangerous behaviors & a death wish.

I’ve followed the terrible stories of very young children committing suicide and experienced several first hand suicide attempts as a guardian ad-Litem.

The good news is that we have the treatment protocol to save these children.

Let’s support those programs (yes, with our tax dollars – and no, there is not a religion in the world that abandons children) Continue reading ‘We’re Number 1, & that’s not good…’

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Raised By The Courts, A Judge’s Insight Into Juvenile Justice

Published

Mike Tikkanen

on October 12, 2010

in Crime and Courts, Politics and Funding and Public Policy

. 0 Comments

Of the fifty children I worked with over twelve years as a guardian ad-Litem, several of them came to view the court as their parent. It was another trauma for the child when the County changed judges on a child after twenty or thirty courtroom visits with the same judge. The child had come to trust that this judge, who was trying to protect their best interests.

Judge Heidi Shellhas shared her genuine concern with me about the psychotropic medications proscribed to large numbers of very young children that passed through her courtroom. I was often moved by the heartfelt attempts a judge would make to see that these hearings would be personal and meaningful to an abandoned/abused child. It is not an easy task.

How impossible the job of judge must be, removing a child from her mother, or denying visitation rights to a father and knowing the system has such limited resources and is so unable to adequately serve the poor vulnerable children that come before them. Month after month, year after year, seeing these children grow up in your courtroom.

This book, RAISED BY THE COURTS: What happens when a judge has to be the parent?, brings home the feelings and heartfelt observations of a judge that has spent years working with abused and neglected children in Florida’s juvenile justice system.

This quote from the book hurts, but it needs to be circulated; “I remember bringing my Norwegian cousin to my Florida court. She runs her own child welfare agency outside of Oslo. When she saw kids ages 10, 11 and 12 in handcuffs, leg restraints and jumpsuits, she scowled and asked, “Does Amnesty International know about this?”

Judge Irene Sullivan’s observations are very painful & very accurate, and I wish everyone could know what she knows. We would treat children better, our schools would work, and our communities would be safer and happier places to live.

Continue reading ‘Raised By The Courts, A Judge’s Insight Into Juvenile Justice’

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254 Children, 220,000 Crimes, 12 Months

Published

Mike Tikkanen

on October 4, 2010

in Occasional Authors and Public Policy

. 1 Comment

KARA’s Century College Volunteer Dave Mast has written another in depth article. This one uncovers an unhealthy trend in American communities.

To approach the crisis constructively, we need to recognize what needs to happen to decrease drug use by younger and younger children. I would point out that the Missouri model for treating youthful offenders had a dramatic positive impact on juvenile recidivism when it was implemented, and that many states are spending over $200,000 per year per juvenile on punishment oriented models with consistently high failure rates.

As former MN Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz stated about children in child protection, “The difference between that poor child and a felon is about eight years”.

Drug Use by Juvenile Offenders
By Dave Mast
10/3/2010

The fact that substance abuse and other crimes are often related is certainly not a secret.

This can be seen every day in the newspaper, in magazines, and on the television news. The same can be said of substance abuse and juvenile delinquency. When children and adolescents get involved with drugs, they often find themselves on pathways to more serious offenses.

What many people do not know is the tremendous extent to which this problem has grown in recent years. Nor are many people aware of the costs that result from juvenile substance abuse.

Drug use and sale in American schools has been the highlight of much research performed on this topic. 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.

The data related to high schools is also rather disturbing. The CASA survey from 2006 showed that 51 percent of high schools were drug-infested, and this figure has risen to 66 percent this year (Feuerberg, 2010).

With drugs being readily available to teens of all ages, the results of juvenile substance abuse are just as noticeable. A 2002 report produced by the National Institute of Justice’s Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program showed that almost 60 percent of male juvenile arrestees and 30 percent of female juvenile arrestees tested positive for marijuana use (Siegel & Welsh, 2006, p. 384).

A study conducted in Miami looked more specifically at the number of crimes committed by juveniles who abused crack cocaine. The 254 children interviewed by the researchers reported committing a combined total of more than 220,000 crimes in the 12 months prior to the study (Siegel & Welsh, 2006, p. 385). Continue reading ’254 Children, 220,000 Crimes, 12 Months’

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Rally To Restore Sanity

Published

Mike Tikkanen

on October 3, 2010

in Events and KARA Events

. 0 Comments

Several otherwise sane friends and family (OSFF) have firm beliefs that government does a poor job of helping people and therefore we should not have or support programs for the poor or disenfranchised.

When I talk to OSFF about the helplessness of children in terribly abusive homes, and the need for social workers and resources to mend traumatized children, they repeat meaningless phrases from political heads that indicate they have little or no understanding of the children I speak of or their issues.

It’s almost like they don’t want to know. Several of my OSFF have fetal alcohol babies & drug or alcohol problems and could have benefited from more prenatal care or government (any) program to help them deliver healthy babies.

What is most disturbing to me, is the fierceness of OSFF arguments against helping the weakest and most vulnerable among us. They have been convinced by the insane political rhetoric being poured into their heads from radio and TV, that their neighbors children, grandparents, single mothers, and any other persons in need)
will not benefit, and should not receive help from government programs.

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.

Misguided beliefs are a dangerous thing. We have burned witches, imprisoned perfectly harmless Japanese families (WWII), tortured war prisoners, and inflicted unnecessary suffering on thousands in the name of belief.

Sometimes, I can convince the OSFF to listen long enough, or to read my book & come to understand the absolutely necessary existence of community services for abused and neglected children. But this is the hard, painful, and slow way of changing the political climate in this nation.

Here’s my suggestion to be more effective in this endeavor;

Start or attend a rally to help children & restore sanity and we will help bring compassion and reason to America’s politics that will benefit us all. Continue reading ‘Rally To Restore Sanity’

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INVISIBLE CHILDREN

Monthly Archive for October, 2010

The Heart Of Child Protection Services

After Traumatic Event, Early Intervention Reduces Odds of PTSD in Children by 73 Percent

A Great Rally for Children In MN (Thanks Amy)

Across Ages, Youth Substance Abuse & Programs That Work

We’re Number 1, & that’s not good…

Raised By The Courts, A Judge’s Insight Into Juvenile Justice

254 Children, 220,000 Crimes, 12 Months

Rally To Restore Sanity

Kids At Risk Action (KARA)

The Book

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