A great online forum for adoptees to share experiences and perspectives run by truly committed people and worth investigating;
http://discussions.aha.mn/
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Monthly Archive for December, 2010
A few years ago, one of my guardian ad-Litem cases walked about thirty miles on a ten degree night when he was put outside at a juvenile detention center. That he did not die or suffer permanent physical damage was a miracle.
Last year, a Pennsylvania judge was incarcerated for sending youth to prison for profit (he behaved as a commissioned salesman – selling innocent youth into jail).
The following article brings to light the commonality of for profit youth prisons and I think the abundance of meanness and poor management that combine to further damage the lives of America’s youth.
Reading the Class Action lawsuit that this report is based on is moving, and deserves to be made known to a larger public audience. That this nation supports the intensity of abuse to youth that it does explains the crime rates, prison rates (13 million prison and jail releases last year) and failing schools.
Federal Lawsuit Seeks to End Years of Physical, Sexual Abuse of Teenage Inmates
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Continue reading ‘For Profit Youth Prisons’
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Yesterday I wrote about how the data appears to minimize child abuse in America. Today, the ” National Media Blackout” article by EVERY CHILD MATTERS, digs deeper into the numbers and why U.S. children suffer three to eleven times the death rate of the 24 other industrialized nations. From the article;
Other causes of death receive far more media attention that child maltreatment deaths;The most current figures show the following annual numbers for much more widely publicized causes of death:
• U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan: 479.
• H1N1 pediatric fatalities: 281.
• Food borne illnesses: 74.
• Toyota accelerator malfunction: 34.
• Coal mining accidents: 33.
• Total of above: 901.
In my own experience, when a baby drowned in a bath tub after 14 police calls to the home, the reporters that called me were very surprised to find out that I had experienced 49 police calls to a home before a child was removed (and only then because the seven year old tried to kill the five year old in front of the police officers).
Newspapers no longer have the financial luxury of assigning reporters to areas of news that don’t generate big readership.
Child abuse is a painful subject and much under reported. I encourage everyone to read the following article and make some effort to positively impact the lives of abused and neglected children. Continue reading ‘Child Abuse Death; Every Child Matters’
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The latest federal report on child abuse shows a decline for the third straight year.
From my perspective the decline reflects a change in policy and refusal of child protection agencies to accept cases (MN now rejects 2/3 of all reports of child abuse).
The equation works like this; if fewer cases are investigated, that must mean there are fewer cases of child abuse, which leads to less funding and fewer resources for terrified and traumatized children.
This report flies in the face of what we read in the newspaper and data that relates to abused and neglected children.
More children died last year at the hands of their parents and teen suicides had the highest rate increase in 15 years.
This is the same logic that has hidden child sex abuse from the public eye. When I wrote the book INVISIBLE CHILDREN in 2005, there were 895 cases of child sex abuse reported in the state of MN.
At that time I counted fifty children that I knew had been sexually abused. There were about five hundred guardians at that time. It is my experience that child sex abuse is the most underreported crime in America.
Again, the equation works like this; if a problem is not reported, it gets no attention and is not perceived by the public to be an issue that needs to be addressed.
Until our communities begin to solve the terrible problem of generational child abuse, our schools will continue to fail, our jails and prisons will remain full, and we will continue to lead the world in the number of very young women with sexually transmitted disease and pregnancy.
Continue reading ‘New Federal Report; Drop In Child Abuse? I Don’t Believe It’
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It is really hard to be in a troubled home or the child protection system around the holidays.
The world feels unfriendly and uncaring at a time when others are joyful. It seems so unfair.
It may help to know that you are not alone & that people do care.
Part of the problem is that once we start believing people don’t care, we can behave in a manner that makes it harder for them to care.
Be very careful what you believe to be true.
There are many good people, the challenge is to believe in good people and find them.
Another big factor is that we are all more stressed this year, because of the added poverty from the recession and how this multiplies the problems of families, workers, and friends.
It is difficult to be thoughtful and kind when sadness and trouble are at our own door (but it is important to try).
My recommended blog of the day is written by a former foster child & I think it the best I have ever read (do send me other great foster blogs);
http://looneytunes09.wordpress.com/”>
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Support KARA buy our book , send the ebook free to a friend, or donate
Become part of KARA’s email network by sending a request to join to;
amy.rostronledoux@yahoo.com
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As a volunteer guardian ad-Litem, I have spoken with too many frustrated social workers, CASA workers, educators, birth, foster, and adoptive parents that have experienced gaping holes in our child protection systems.
Overburdened workers are managing large numbers of very troubled children with minimal resources, educators coping with seriously damaged youth in classrooms without adequate training or skills, and parents that need crisis nurseries, available daycare, and mental health services for their troubled children are often left without any help.
These are the folks that have a hard time finding the time to call a state representative, congress person, or governor to explain that these Invisible Children will soon be visibly troubled youth that will blossom into dysfunctional adults if we continue to avoid the obvious holes in our institutions.
They need our help.
For years now I have tried through the CASA guardian ad-Litem program, speaking, and writing to bring information to a larger audience hoping that every mind enlightened would benefit an at risk child somewhere.
Feel free to download (FOR FREE) and email my ebook INVISIBILE CHILDREN to people in your network.
Share your ideas in the comment section for helping to identify and address the most glaring problems facing abused and neglected children.
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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