Archive for the 'The States' Category

What Oklahoma Will Show The Nation

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on July 11, 2010
in Public Policy and The States
. 1 Comment

Recently a class action lawsuit was filed in Oklahoma claiming that children are being mistreated within the child protection system. http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=14&articleid=20100708_14_A1_Marcia556191

It was filed against various DHS officials in Tulsa federal court in February 2008. The judge is unhappy that DHS is taking too long to prepare for the trial.

The plaintiffs (children) ask for improvements in the following areas:

Lower Caseloads for DHS workers and supervisors.

Education and training for agency employees, foster parents and adoptive parents.

Monitoring of the safety of children in state custody.

The original plaintiffs were nine children who are alleged to have suffered in DHS placements. The case has since become a class-action lawsuit with thousands of children in DHS custody as plaintiff

How many states have caseloads that are just too high to provide a realistic safety net for the children they support? How many states need more training and education for the agency employees, foster parents, and adoptive parents?

Without educating judges, court workers, and criminal justice people, this nation is still on the path to maintaining excessive prison populations and disastrous school performance among the population of abused and neglected children.

This is the tip of the iceberg. Legislators in many states ought to be finding money to make these changes without class action lawsuits. To think that we are a nation forced to sue on behalf of abused and neglected children because legislators did not see the need to provide the services or resources to keep children safe shows a deep failure within our system.

To those social workers and supervisors that will be made to look bad as this case becomes news; you need to stick together and make your arguments clear and concise. Support each other and recognize that it is a glaring fault of an uncaring institution that would make the people doing the hard work look bad when failure is almost guaranteed as resources are stretched too thinly. Stick together, support each other, and make your arguments to the public. The size and scope of this problem has become too large to keep buried and silent.

America’s child protection systems need help at many levels. Like all of us, social workers do the best they can with the resources they have.

Children need this victory. They will have more resources and support if the case is resolved fairly (& maybe legislators will see the wisdom of avoiding class action lawsuits and vote for more child friendly programs).

There needs to be more money for training and services.

Without it, abused and neglected children will continue to become preteen moms & felons and lead dysfunctional lives in and out of our institutions, costing our nation a multiple of what we might have spent saving them with the price of training and services when they were young.

America is on trial here. Oklahoma is not the only state to abandon its abandoned children.

Here are a few other examples;

http://www.invisiblechildren.org/2010/06/01/cant-make-this-stuff-up/

http://www.invisiblechildren.org/2010/06/18/the-state-of-child-welfare/

http://www.invisiblechildren.org/2010/06/30/tip-of-the-iceberg-abused-children-dying-due-to-county-backlogs/

Continue reading ‘What Oklahoma Will Show The Nation’

Can’t Make This Stuff Up

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on June 1, 2010
in Invisible Children, Politics and Funding, Public Policy and The States
. 0 Comments

An article appearing in the Star Tribune May 29th by Seema Jilani (Houston Pediatric physician) points out the stunning impact that the economic chaos and anti tax sentiment are having on the abused and neglected children that I came to know as a volunteer guardian ad-Litem.

It is painful to know that children who come from trauma and abuse, are now finding fewer services, more burdened staff, less resources, and inevitably, less chance of finding help in many communities.

Seema points out that a Hawaii program that had serviced 4000 families now services 100, South Carolina now has caseload ratios as high as 60 to 1 in some regions & that nearly half of the abused children murdered in Texas have been investigated by Child Protective Services.

I did know most of the financial problems facing the people and programs created to help abused and neglected children. I also know that eliminating those programs will not save communities any money*.

I did not know that children raised in families with incomes under $15,000 are 22 times more likely to to be abused and I am well aware of the dismal standing of certain states when it comes to how they treat children.

Continue reading ‘Can’t Make This Stuff Up’

This Weeks Important At Risk Youth News

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on April 18, 2010
in Kids At Risk Action (KARA), Politics and Funding, Public Policy and The States
. 0 Comments

This is a compilation of recent news that reflects the conditions of youth and youth policy in the U.S. this past few weeks. Thank you Jamie Wilt for your hard work and Century College for your great programs.

I would like reader comments on the style and substance of this article and appreciate receiving information from you about youth programs, policy, and data.

Continue reading ‘This Weeks Important At Risk Youth News’

The Importance of DayCare, DC, LA,

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on March 25, 2010
in Public Policy and The States
. 0 Comments

The Ontario “budget cookie” (below) requesting affordable daycare I found worth repeating. Daycare allows young working families to work & have a life and their children a safe & healthy environment. Without it, parents struggle with often inadequate ways of caring for their children while they earn a living.

As a guardian ad-Litem, I have seen plenty of cases where unsavory family members and other questionable practices become the only available answer to a family that cannot find daycare.

The child pays, the family suffers, and the community bears the burden of troubles that arise as the stresses and chaos build in our neighborhoods.

The return on investment of subsidized daycare is high. Allowing parents to work, children to learn and thrive in healthy environments is what gets young kids prepared to enter school and do well. The first step in becoming a healthy citizen. Continue reading ‘The Importance of DayCare, DC, LA,’

The Ghost Of Christmas Future

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on March 17, 2010
in Public Policy and The States
. 0 Comments

This generation has it in for American children. By all significant indicators, U.S. youth will not be as educated, financially well off, live as long, or be as healthy as their parents. Comparing these same indicators in other developed nations the results are very different.

For many years the U.S. was a leader among the developed nations in health, quality of life, education, and mortality. Not so any more. America’s public policies have become punitive to where we now have 5% of the world’s population & 25% of its prison population & there were 13 million prison and jail releases last year alone.

Public policy makers have been satisfied building more and bigger prisons, and schizophrenic about dealing with dysfunctional families and the problems their children pose to the schools and larger community.

Any valid study of U.S. institutions shows a direct correlation between abused and neglected children, failed schools, unsafe / unhealthy communities and full prisons.

A serious look at other industrialized nations (and many emerging nations) will show that these nations do not suffer the same terrible crime problems, failing school problems, and generational poverty issues because their public policy makers have come to understand that investments in early childhood programs & support for young families are a much better investment than prisons and jails.

Some states are fighting to keep programs that protect and foster their poor and vulnerable children, but many are not.

What can be said to people that would deny health, education, and the most basic needs for the babies and young children living among them that would change their mind to a more compassionate (and practical) understanding that we all benefit when healthy children become healthy citizens?

Perhaps, remind them that all religions demand caring for the weakest and most vulnerable among them.

“When institutions are defined by what they create, instead of what they were designed to create”, it must be said that American courts and legislatures are now creating preteen moms and juvenile felons.

*(Kathleen Long, DANCING WITH DEMONS)

Abused & Neglected Children Around The Nation

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on March 15, 2010
in Public Policy and The States
. 2 Comments

With reduced funding to manage the increased calls coming in from the community distress that results from the poverty and chaos from our declining economy, social service agencies are becoming unable to respond adequately to the calls they are receiving.

Caseloads were too high before the downturn, & funding from non profits and governmental agencies has been significantly reduced, leaving more dysfunctional families & their abused and neglected children without help.

The future holds more and bigger juvenile detention centers, jails, and prisons until this trend reverses & our communities grasp the wisdom of investing in youth.

The rest of this article is a compilation of recent updates on how states from around the nation are managing troubled families and their abused and neglected children;

Thank those of you who have sent me important articles. I appreciate the information.

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

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

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Continue reading ‘Abused & Neglected Children Around The Nation’

Abandoning Abandoned Children

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on March 12, 2010
in Public Policy, The States and education
. 1 Comment

Not one third of Kansas City’s elementary students read at grade level.

Texas recently refused almost a billion dollars from the federal government to improve its school system. Texas has suffered the lowest graduation rates in the nation with the worst racial disparities.

Houston schools superintendent wrote at the time; “I have 100,000 kids in Houston who don’t read at grade level”.

Georgia education officials recently ordered investigations at 191 schools across the state where they found evidence of tampering on answer sheets for the state’s standardized achievement test.

The list of inner city schools struggling to educate the children of those who could not get to (or for reasons of loyalty, love, or ethics) decided not to, escape to the suburbs where the schools still function is long.

My old high school, Edison, built in 1922, graduates less than 50% of its students, its sister school across town has graduated less than 30% of its students for five years running.

As a nation, we know that high school dropouts have a far greater chance of preteen pregnancy, years of costly incarceration and leading dysfunctional lives that they pass on to their children (who will repeat this cycle).

25% of America’s graduating seniors are now functionally illiterate, and U.S. graduation rates are among the worst in the world.

Today, many states are increasing their percentage of spending on juvenile justice and criminal justice while maintaining or reducing spending on education.

New York and California have been spending about $250,000 per year per juvenile in their juvenile justice systems. MN has reached the half a billion dollar mark for maintaining its prison system this year after five years of double digit growth.

We are spending more on prisons than on schools and we are getting more accomplished criminals than good students.

Which is what Pliny meant when he said 2500 years ago;

“What we do to our children, they will do to our society”

Kids At Risk Action seeks information about what is happening in your community that impacts abused and neglected children.

Send us your stories.

Comment here, or privately; Info@invisiblechildren.org

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

Continue reading ‘Abandoning Abandoned Children’

Acting Like A Responsible Adult

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on February 26, 2010
in Politics and Funding, Public Policy and The States
. 4 Comments

Every state has it’s loud and mean “I got mine” Tea Party contingency, but it is prudent to look deeper into who has voted us to where we are today.

America’s aging population is retreating into retirement with its pensions and savings and leaving young families with failing schools, health systems, and communities.

The lack of financial or public support for day care, early childhood programs, schools & health care is being compounded by the increased political footballing of five year olds.

At Risk Children have been sold out to the pharmaceutical firms of our very young children as guinea pigs for Prozac, Ritalin, and other psychotropic medications (Ritalin was banned in Sweden in 1968 due to the increase in suicides).

Educators are expected to deal with the mental health issues of thousands of abused and neglected children in their classrooms each year & then be denigrated by political figures in election years.

At the same time, media & politicians are blaming the people working in the field instead of taking a constructive approach to understanding the issues and creating public policies that address the problems.

Building prisons has not worked (500M budget in MN this year), nor has under-serving abused and neglected children (double digit prison growth 4 of last 5 years).

There is nothing responsible or adult-like in accusing bad teachers for failed schools, or for blaming social workers when a baby is found in a dumpster. That is like blaming the police for the criminal in the squad car.

It is to our own best interest to approach these issues in a responsible fashion and make the investment in determining what needs to be done and then doing it.

We will continue to degrade our cities and spend far more money maintaining prisons, fighting crime, and paying for damage and insurance than we would if children received the attention they need to succeed in school and go on to lead productive lives.
The following are a few examples of the how various states are dealing with the current financial crisis and how it is impacting their public safety and children;
Continue reading ‘Acting Like A Responsible Adult’

Kansas Losing Health Care For 40,000 Children

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on February 15, 2010
in Health and Mental Health, Politics and Funding, Public Policy and The States
. 2 Comments

Another state is putting the burden of health costs back onto families earning less than 200% of the federal poverty level.

Kansas budget cuts and layoffs have created a backlog that appears to be growing dramatically.

Budget cuts hurting state child health program

By Marshanna Hester http://www.ktka.com/news/2010/feb/01/budget-cuts-hurting-state-child-health-program/
Continue reading ‘Kansas Losing Health Care For 40,000 Children’

The Impact Of Tampering With Georgia’s Student’s Test Results

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on February 12, 2010
in Public Policy, The States and education
. 0 Comments

Georgia’s hiding of hard truths is a terrifying trend in our nation. Here’s why;

When the truth is not reported, the critical problem is not perceived and no steps are taken to correct the underlying core issues. Things can only get worse until the system is destroyed.

Operating on false information forces people to make choices based on lies, causing more terrible results and disruption and eventual failure in what was a functioning system (education, social work, courts, or any other institution).

What would have been accomplished had these people succeeded in hiding the failure rate of Georgia’s students?

The next generation of students would be lacking in knowledge and critical thinking skills (just like the adults responsible in the tampering, but a hair less intelligent). Would they continue the convention of hiding critical information from the community?

When would the system implode?

Let this be an example of why systems need to be transparent.

Bad results are good BECAUSE we see them and can do something about them.

Not teaching 21st century American children how to learn, read, and compete in school is a disaster at many levels. Not supporting educators, parents, children, and public policy in this endeavor has cost us greatly as a nation. http://www.invisiblechildren.org/2009/03/02/kara-action-group-manifesto-for-early-childhood-education/

Continue reading ‘The Impact Of Tampering With Georgia’s Student’s Test Results’

Juvenile Injustice – Mental Health

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on February 11, 2010
in Health and Mental Health, Public Policy and The States
. 5 Comments

Today’s NY Times article on the lack of oversight in New York’s mental health facilities for youth mirrors the rest of the nation.

2 Important truths; most of the youth in the juvenile justice system have come through child protection services, & a large percentage of these youth suffer from mental health issues.

Children don’t become involved in child protection systems unless they have suffered extended exposure to violence and deprivation in their birth homes.

The World Health Organizations definition of Torture is; Extended Exposure to Violence and Deprivation – Trauma.

New York is now spending about $250,000 per year / per youth in their juvenile justice system.

http://www.invisiblechildren.org/2009/12/14/new-york-meet-missouri/

In my experience as a guardian ad-Litem in MN I have watched really terrible things happen to very troubled children under the direction of people and programs that were supposed to be “helping” the child.

One young boy walked home many miles without a coat, on a sub zero MN night (with no home to go to) from a juvenile facility after being severely abused.

While it would be easy to blame the people in the institutions, it is really the fault of poor public policy, resulting from lack of understanding of underlying issues.

Mental health is all about functioning within our communities. Bear that in mind as you read the New York Times article and the following KARA pieces.

My note on the following; The amount of psychotropic medications being proscribed to this population is enormous in relation to the the therapy that is needed but not available.

Continue reading ‘Juvenile Injustice – Mental Health’

California’s Child Protection Problems Grow

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on February 6, 2010
in Kids At Risk Action (KARA), Politics and Funding, Public Policy and The States
. 1 Comment

According to the 2006 California Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster Care, the state has more than 75,000 children in foster care, almost 80% removed for neglect, 45% have been in foster care for over two years, 17% for more than three years.

African American and American Indian children are disproportionately represented in the system as well as in their probability of leading dysfunctional lives as they age out of foster care.

These recent news posts will bring you up to date on the difficulties being faced by the people of California (and other states) in dealing with the policies and politics of abused and neglected children Continue reading ‘California’s Child Protection Problems Grow’

This May Not Be The Case

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on February 4, 2010
in Public Policy and The States
. 7 Comments

A new federal study will soon be getting rave reviews and making us feel like the nation has made great progress in ending child abuse.

From where I stand, the reported decrease in incidents of serious child abuse tells only part of the story, and is certainly not a cause for celebration.

If anything, this years financial chaos and increase to poverty is having a multiplier effect on families experiencing abuse and violence.

While strides were made during the years measured, there are serious problems in accepting the results as “mission accomplished”.

Continue reading ‘This May Not Be The Case’

Georgia Child Protection: Too Many Children Too Few Resources

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on January 27, 2010
in Politics and Funding, Public Policy and The States
. 1 Comment

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

New York-based Children’s Rights claims that Georgia is failing abused and neglected children. The Department of Human Services has been under a consent decree since 2005 that came out of a class action lawsuit in 2002 claiming the division was mismanaged and overburdened.

I find it hard to accept that abused and neglected children in our advanced nation, find it so hard to receive adequate help to get a fair start in life.

With budget cuts throughout the nation, states that were already underfunding, under-supporting & doing poorly for children in child protection service before this economic collapse are beginning to see these unhappy results. Growing caseloads in juvenile and criminal courts, more preteen pregnancies, and unhappier communities. Continue reading ‘Georgia Child Protection: Too Many Children Too Few Resources’

Spending On Children

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on January 26, 2010
in Politics and Funding, Public Policy and The States
. 0 Comments

This Jan 18 NY Times article points out just how much more we spend on the elderly than on children (2.2% vs 5.3% of GDP) & how important early childhood education is for developing children. http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/remembering-the-little-people-accounting-for-kids/

The author, Nancy Folbre points out that , full-time, year-round child care for young children costs more than public university tuition in 44 states.

As a guardian ad-Litem, I’ve been chartered to removed children from a home where the father could not afford day care and the waiting list for subsidized day care was so long he could not hope to be awarded a subsidy.

Continue reading ‘Spending On Children’

Friends of Texas vs Friends of Children

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on January 25, 2010
in Politics and Funding, Public Policy and The States
. 0 Comments

These Friends of Texas Linked In discussions explain how children have become America’s new political football. If states can refuse government help failing schools with no political backlash, the dream for educated youth and an informed democratic society dies with the schools. This discussion needs more attention. Pass it onto your friends and coworkers. http://twitter.com/KidsAtRisk

http://www.invisiblechildren.org/2010/01/25/friends-of-texas-vs-friends-of-children/

“What we do to our children, they will do to our society” Pliny the Elder 2500 years ago.

Continue reading ‘Friends of Texas vs Friends of Children’

A Program Worth Repeating

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on January 23, 2010
in Invisible Children and The States
. 0 Comments

Every state releases youth that are troubled and without the skills or resources to cope in the community. Nationally, up to 80% of the 15,000 youth aging out of foster care each year are leading dysfunctional lives.

Few states think through the consequences when youth do not meld into the community to become healthy and productive citizens. Here’s one great example, this program Katz said is successful: 61 percent of the women have high school diplomas or GEDs, 97 percent are enrolled in school and 60 percent have found part-time work or are in school full-time.; http://www.miamiherald.com/492/story/1398131.htmlMiami-Dade nonprofit offers affordable housing to women aging out of foster care.

BY JONATHAN DAVILA

JDAVILA@MIAMIHERALD.COM
In Miami-Dade County, more than 130 girls become too old for foster-care eligibility every year, according to a study by Our Kids, a Florida-based nonprofit.

They’re given a monthly stipend of about $1,135 by the county and are required to attend school to keep receiving it.

“I was living paycheck to paycheck. It was kind of crazy,” said Rachel Johnson, a 25-year-old former foster child who aged out of the system at 18.

Continue reading ‘A Program Worth Repeating’

Texas Blog Sequel

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on January 20, 2010
in Politics and Funding, Public Policy and The States
. 5 Comments

Because last weeks Texas/Alaska Politics Trash Children blog generated so much controversy on the social networking sites that hosted it, providing more information about Texas and its ranking among the states in how it treats children is in order. Factually, Texans can’t make the argument that they spend too much money on children by these numbers.

April 2008, Every Child Matters, Geography Matters

Child Well-Being Indicators

Infant Mortality 20th
Child Death (1-14) 29th
Teen Deaths (15-19) 14th
Births to Teen Moms 50th
Late/No Prenatal Care 33rd
Child Poverty 44th
Uninsured Children 50th
Juvenile Incarceration 34th
Child Abuse Deaths 45th
Child Welfare Expenditures 42nd
Total Tax burden* 41st
Overall Rank** 46th

Continue reading ‘Texas Blog Sequel’

Michigan: 16% Confirmed Increase in Child Abuse & Neglect Cases

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on January 19, 2010
in Politics and Funding, Public Policy and The States
. 0 Comments

Few would argue that helping at risk children saves communities, taxpayers, and the child. Reading this article from the Detroit news indicates that some policy makers still don’t understand the relationship between healthy children and productive adults (or unhealthy children, preteen mothers and adolescent felons).

Last Updated: January 12. 2010 12:47PM
Child poverty, neglect on rise in Michigan
Catherine Jun / The Detroit News

Childhood poverty, neglect and abuse continue to rise in Michigan, troubling signs that children continue to bear the brunt of the state’s economic woes, according to a report released today.

Read more: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100112/METRO/1120362/1409/METRO/Child-poverty–neglect-on-rise-in-Michigan#ixzz0d4mLZOj4 Continue reading ‘Michigan: 16% Confirmed Increase in Child Abuse & Neglect Cases’

Texas & Alaska Politics Trash Children Openly

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on January 14, 2010
in Public Policy and The States
. 4 Comments

Today’s newspapers have printed the story of how Alaska and Texas are refusing federal funding for schools (up to seven hundred million dollars for Texas) because governors want to make a political statement against the Obama administration.

Texas has suffered the lowest graduation rates in the nation with the worst racial disparities.

To so pointlessly and blatantly refuse money for strapped schools when the Houston superintendent writes “I have 100,000 kids in Houston who don’t read at grade level” is putting another generation of Texas children at risk.

Texas had taken $250,000 from the Gates Foundation to complete the grant application and had a good chance of at being awarded funding.

The risk of youth not being able to read by the third grade going on to lead dysfunctional lives is well documented. .

Children depend on the government for their education. This government is investing its capital in politics rather than children.

Texas is laying off teachers, cutting useful programs and closing schools.

Texas has also suffered from one of the highest rates of crime and incarceration in the nation. It is well established that educated children have a far better chance of becoming productive citizens and the people of Texas would all benefit from that.

Governor Perry, these are your state’s children.

Please reconsider this counterproductive and political decision.

Continue reading ‘Texas & Alaska Politics Trash Children Openly’

Growing Up In America

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on January 8, 2010
in Kids At Risk Action (KARA), Public Policy and The States
. 1 Comment

One of my guardian ad-Litem youth walked home for many hours on a below zero Minnesota night without a coat because of the abuse he received at a juvenile detention center. He had had enough troubles for a lifetime before this happened.

A Pennsylvania judge was just sent to prison for receiving commissions for each youth he sent to a privately run juvenile detention center run by his friends.

Thousands of innocent youth paid for this crime. Illinois has recently stun gunned, choked, and brutalized young girls in its juvenile justice system.

A MN judge has sent me the Ritalin, Prozac, and other psychotropic medications proscribed to five, six, and seven year olds that passed through her courtroom (seldom receiving adequate mental health therapy to accompany these not yet recommended for children medications).

Missouri had suffered a 90% recidivism rate in its juvenile justice system, New York & California are close (and topping the expense charts at almost $250,000/per child per year) & all states seem to be moving toward trying more and more children as adults

Today’s NYTimes Report: Sex Abuse High at 13 Juvenile Centers

establishes that almost a third of juvenile justice detainees are victimized. About 12% are sexually abused & six of the sites had abuse rates of over 30%. Continue reading ‘Growing Up In America’

Prevent Child Abuse Wyoming to Close

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on January 2, 2010
in Politics and Funding and The States
. 0 Comments

After losing a $95,000 grant (about half its budget) Prevent Child Abuse Wyoming announced it will be shutting down.

With state, county, and federal funding diminishing, it is painful to see the disappearance of one of few non profit services to abused and neglected children in Wyoming.

Read more;

http://www.sheridanmedia.com/news/child-abuse-prevention-group-close6898

Send them a donation to keep the doors open; Make checks payable to:
http://www.pcawyoming.org/donate.php
Prevent Child Abuse Wyoming
1902 Thomes Avenue, Suite 204B
Cheyenne, WY 82001

New York, Meet Missouri

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on December 14, 2009
in Crime and Courts, Public Policy and The States
. 1 Comment

Todays NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/nyregion/14juvenile.html article on the mental illness, violence, recidivism, and dangerous conditions within New York’s juvenile justice system make me wonder if this nation cares enough about youth to read the newspaper. Missouri went from 90% recidivism in its juvenile justice system to one of the most successful programs for juvenile justice in the nation.

Today over 75% of children entering New York’s JJS have drug and alcohol issues over half have mental health problems, and one third have developmental disabilities. The state spends about $210,000 per child annually and 75% of the children are re-arrested within three years.

Other states look this bad too (California, Florida, Texas)

A few years ago Missouri had the same problem and solved it by concentrating on reducing confinement, a humane approach to youth combined with the mental health needs of children, and restorative justice.

Continue reading ‘New York, Meet Missouri’

What We Do To Our Children They Will Do To Our Society

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on November 1, 2009
in Politics and Funding, Public Policy and The States
. 0 Comments

PLINY said that 2500 years ago.

Another state (Hawaii) has slashed education rather than think through measures that would be less damaging to children.

Saving money by denying health or mental health services, foster care*, education, or other critical developmental assets, to children is way more expensive than making children whole and insuring that they become contributing members of the community.

Minnesota will soon be facing huge cuts to children’s services due to the cuts made by our governor Tim Pawlenty. As the bridge fell into the river because it was not maintained, these children will fall into the category of troubled, dysfunctional, and nonproductive, costing the community for many years to come.

Visit a prison and consider the correlation between failed students and prisoners, and the cost of thirty years of institutionalizing a child. Add the cost and human suffering of crime, disruption in the schools from under treated at risk children and growing fear in our communities

Remember MN Supreme Court Justice Kathleen Blatz statement, “the difference between that poor child and a felon is about eight years”.

If we aren’t willing to provide education for children today, we ought not expect much governance from them when their turn comes as legislators and managers tomorrow.

God help us

*As a guardian ad-Litem, it was my job to support the county in its efforts to remove children from a very stable and fit father who could not afford daycare (and the list for subsidized day care had 4000 names in front of his). Putting four children into foster care could not have been less expensive than subsidizing day care for this man (think of the unnecessary pain caused the children – have we no soul?)

I do not cast stones at the workers. They are hard working people implementing policies drafted by elected officials. It is up to us (in a representative democracy) to see that we elect officials that create policies that have more soul and make more sense.

Do you know your state representative?

Find out and call her/him with the important message that you know that short term savings DO NOT APPLY to the politics of children.

Ruben Rosario: Rising Toll of Child Abuse Deaths Reaquires Attention & Action

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on October 27, 2009
in Kids At Risk Action (KARA), Public Policy and The States
. 0 Comments

Ruben Rosario: Rising toll of child abuse deaths requires attention – and action
By Rubén Rosario
Updated: 10/25/2009 01:26:43 PM CDT

As painful as this story is, I am happy to see a major newspaper printing the stories and data that shine a light into the frightening world of abused and neglected children.

The question we should all be asking ourselves is what life was like for these children before they were suffocated, burned, starved, and beaten to death.

Children forced to live in cages

Seven year old hangs himself

Murdered metro baby

It has been my experience as a guardian ad-Litem, that children spend many years being abused and neglected, often under the eye of an under – resourced social service provider. The worst abuse is invisible. The impact of abuse lasts forever. Early and extensive intervention can help an abused child lead a normal life.

I agree with Ruben Rosario, that the public has no clue about the depth and scope of child abuse. I would add that three million cases of abuse and neglect are reported each year, and only a small percentage of child sex abuse is ever dealt with openly or adequately.

This years death toll of murdered, hanged, and otherwise suicidal very young children is a powerful indicator that we as a community are failing the weakest and most vulnerable among us.

Without intervention, at risk children become adolescent felons and preteen moms, perpetuating the kinds of dysfunctional families that they were born into. The cycle can only end with our help. Our schools, city streets, and newspaper headlines will be much happier if we should make that choice.

Another Concerned Grandmother

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on September 12, 2009
in Kids At Risk Action (KARA), Politics and Funding, Public Policy and The States
. 1 Comment

In my morning email was  a sad plea for help from a  grandmother with granddaughters taken from her home where they were in school and well cared for.

These two young girls are now living with non family, in another state, not attending school, and living in less than ideal conditions.

The children have demonstrated hunger when grandma visits.  Grandma’s state social service agency simply told her that she had no legal authority to care for the children and sent the girls to another state (like MN does with its homeless people).

If the county allowed grandma to keep the children until mom returns  (if possible), there would be continuity, education, and the building blocks of healthy child development for these two girls.

The disruption in this case  is total.  In my experience as a guardian ad-Litem, these types of decisions are motivated by lack of funding at a state and county level.  The county saves money by moving the children away.

In the end, it costs the other state more money both in foster care and the long term costs to society of youth failing in society.  A recent study determined that 80% of youth aging out of foster care were leading dysfunctional lives.  Many of my guardian ad-Litem cases showed this to be true.

America’s only national policy for children is the “Imminent Harm Doctrine”.

If you have read this blog or the national news this summer you know that this policy did not save hundreds of very young children from death this summer.

This grandmother has an uphill battle finding help for her grandchildren to insure that they are enrolled and attending school, being fed, and that they are not being abused or neglected.

This is one more example of the great need for KARA’s grassroots effort to raise awareness to the needs of America’s at risk children.

Until that happens, children, schools, families and communities, will contintue to suffer.

It is a bigger step to convince people that healthy children become healthy citizens, but it is true.  Help For Grandparents

COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES (CASA)

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on August 2, 2009
in Crime and Courts, Guardian ad-Litem, Public Policy and The States
. 2 Comments

The CASA program was created by a Seattle Washington judge who was concerned with his decisions about how to handle cases with abused and neglected children without sufficient information.

This judge began using trained community volunteers to speak for the best interests of these children in court. The program was such a great success in Seattle that very soon judges across the country decided to use citizen advocates.

Perhaps the hardest decision a judge will ever make is to remove a child from a birth family.

For people outside the legal system, it is important to recognize the adversarial nature of courts and law in America. Divorce law is a tiny example of how painful our system makes the resolution of family legal matters. Child abuse and neglect are a sad but very real part of life in America and children must be protected against dangerous home environments.

Today, federal law mandates that children in need of protection will have a CASA voice in the courtroom. After all, a five or six year old has not much more comprehension or ability to testify than a three year old in a courtroom setting.

Not all CASA members are volunteers. Some CASA are paid staff and some are attorneys.

As a long time volunteer CASA, I am partial to the volunteer programs mainly because we take fewer cases and by taking fewer cases we can spend more time and have more involvement with the child and family (read my book; http://www.invisiblechildren.org/our-book/ ) — these children really do need all the time, concern, and resources that this community can deliver.

The following are a few CASA blogs and websites I have discovered that give a snapshot of CASA programs and accomplishments: Continue reading ‘COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES (CASA)’

FEATURED GUARDIAN AD LITEM PROGRAM WASHTENAW COUNTY

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on August 1, 2009
in Guardian ad-Litem, Kids At Risk Action (KARA) and The States
. 0 Comments

If you know of an outstanding guardian ad-litem program please forward it to us at info@invisiblechildren.org

WASHTENAW COUNTY
426 children confirmed victims of abuse or neglect.

252 children in out-of-home care due to abuse or neglect.

As of October, 2008, 37 CASA volunteers are serving 78 children in Washtenaw County.

(October, 2007: 30 CASA volunteers serving 54 children in Washtenaw County.)

http://www.casawashtenaw.org/

CASA guardian ad-Litem programs provide volunteers that learn the family circumstances in child abuse cases and make impartial recommendations to the court. Judges find the impartial insights of trained volunteers helpful in discerning the true state of the family and the risk of future abuse and neglect to the child.

Take a moment and read the Washtenaw County Blog to get a feel for how this program works.

http://www.casawashtenaw.blogspot.com/

MN day care

It is a bigger step to convince people that healthy children become healthy citizens, but it is true.

6 Month Old Dies After a Dozen Calls To Child Abuse Hotline

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on July 25, 2009
in Crime and Courts, Guardian ad-Litem, Invisible Children, Public Policy and The States
. 1 Comment

Two weeks ago in my City of Minneapolis, an 18 month old baby drowned in a bathtub after 14 calls to child protection services.

The local newspaper (Star Tribune) interviewed me because I have written about a case (as a guardian ad-Litem) where the police had been to a home 49 times before removing the child from a terrible environment (I believe the 7 year old was prostituted). I told the editor about several of my cases where three year olds were sexually abused and cocaine positive, and one experience where the four year tried hard to kill herself.

Its important for each and every one of us to react as compassionate beings for children. It is all that separates us from animals.

Not having empathy for the screams of your neighbors six year old child as he is being murdered, or as she is being sexually abused is the very last sign that we have entered the dark ages. Not having resources or systems to insure that children will be removed from toxic environments is the community’s way of not having empathy for the screams of your neighbors six year old.

From the Los Angelas Times By Hector Becerra and Garrett Therolf
July 25, 2009 South L.A. boy died after previous reports of abuse Continue reading ‘6 Month Old Dies After a Dozen Calls To Child Abuse Hotline’

Abandoned, Abandoned Again Then Tasered – What’s Next For At Risk Youth?

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on July 23, 2009
in Crime and Courts, Invisible Children, Public Policy and The States
. 1 Comment

As a long time guardian ad-Litem, I’m familiar with abused and neglected children responding badly to authority figures. And I understand why.

The stun gunning, choking, obscene language, and over the top violence by police to kids at the Illinois emergency youth center shows just how deplorable America’s policies for At Risk Children are.

Well meaning, often under trained and under resourced youth center staff call on police to help with uncontrollable youth. Under trained police respond with a level of violence appropriate during a prison riot. Note (below) Sheriff Mulch’s attitude towards dealing with children at the youth center. Perhaps he shouldn’t.

It is absurd to expect at risk children to live peacefully among us when they are mistreated by their families & communities, and then brutalized by law enforcement. Their graduation rates remain extremely low and their criminal records extremely high. The only way this will change is by supporting children while they are young. Missouri seems to have one of the best programs in place in our nation today.

http://www.invisiblechildren.org/2005/12/17/missouri-model/.

The following is an example of what not to do;

From the Huffington Post Blog 7.20.09 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/20/sheriffs-deputy-used-stun_n_241332.html

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A sheriff’s deputy zapped three children with a stun gun at an Illinois emergency youth shelter, threatening to sodomize one of them before choking a fourth child and throwing her in a closet, according to a federal civil-rights lawsuit.

The suit against Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy David Bowers and another deputy claims they were unprovoked in the incident at the adolescent center in southern Illinois that houses youths ages 11 to 18, often with behavioral issues.

No charges have been filed in the case. Sheriff Roger Mulch, who also is named in the lawsuit, said Monday the deputies followed protocol and did “nothing out of the ordinary.”

The suit, filed July 1, called the deputies’ actions “extreme, outrageous and unjustified,” and it does not release the names or ages of the three boys shot with the stun gun. The fourth kid was a foster child who did not live at the center, according to the lawsuit.

The suit claims that Bowers and sheriff’s deputy Lonnie Lawler went to the center near Marion on July 4, 2008 in response to a report that three teenagers were acting unruly. But the young people suing the deputies were not those disruptive children, the lawsuit said.

Bowers allegedly pushed one boy toward his bed, and repeatedly shocked him with a stun gun. Bowers then held down a second boy, stunned him several times and threatened to sodomize him, ultimately causing the child to soil himself, the lawsuit claimed.

A third child complied with the deputies’ demands that he sit on a couch, but Lawler handcuffed him before Bowers zapped him repeatedly, the lawsuit said.

The fourth child, a girl, pleaded with the deputies to stop but Lawler handcuffed her. Bowers lifted her off the ground, pressed her against a wall and choked her, the lawsuit alleges.

“Do you want to live or die (expletive)?” the lawsuit, filed July 1, claims Bowers asked the girl before she was thrown into a closet, vomiting.

Bowers did not immediately return messages left at his home, and Lawler does not have a listed home telephone number. It was not known whether either had an attorney.

Gene Svebakken, president and chief executive of Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois, which runs the center, said Monday after reviewing the lawsuit that he was “really alarmed and distressed by the allegations.”

“These are young people often traumatized in their circumstances, and that they, like all children, needed to be treated with dignity and respect,” he said, noting that the shelter serves a myriad of children, ranging from runaways from placement elsewhere to youths between foster homes.

Mulch portrayed the center as a chronic hassle, this year accounting for more than 100 requests for his department’s help.

He defended his deputies, saying separate investigations by his department and Illinois State Police determined Bowers and Lawler did nothing wrong.

Support at risk children, become a CASA volunteer/start a KARA group in your community.

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Nevada Pays for Lost 2 Year Old Foster Child

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on June 27, 2009
in Crime and Courts, Guardian ad-Litem, Invisible Children, Kids At Risk Action (KARA), Politics and Funding, Public Policy and The States
. 3 Comments

With shrinking resources, each state and all counties need to remember the burden placed on county workers & what happens when that burden is excessive. As a long time Hennepin County volunteer guardian ad-Litem, I appreciate the work social workers do to help at risk children and understand the value cared for youth bring to our communities. I also know what happens to children that are not taken care of. This article from the Las Vegas News points out a small part of the cost of failure:

I-Team: Settlement Reached in Missing Girl Case

A settlement has been reached in the civil lawsuit surrounding the disappearance of a 2-year-old foster child. The natural parents of Everlyse Cabrera sued Clark County when their daughter went missing from her North Las Vegas foster home three years ago.

Not long ago, Everlyse’s mom said she wasn’t sure she’d ever settle. Marlena Olivas wanted a trial, she claimed, to expose Clark County’s failure to protect her little girl. But after intense negotiations, the parties reached a $500,000 deal with $250,000 earmarked for Everlyse, should she be found alive on or before her 25th birthday. If she is not, the money is returned to the county.

Some remaining funds will be distributed to her little brother Benjamin, who shared the foster home with Everlyse, and to her biological mom and dad. Benjamin stands to receive $35,000. Her parents get $22,000 each.

The settlement also provides for a scholarship fund in Everlyse’s name, a reward for information about her disappearance, and monies to continue the private investigative effort to find her.

The agreement releases Clark County from any future claims and its employees do not have to admit any wrongdoing. “The most important thing for my perspective is not necessarily a punishment for the county, but to take care of Everlyse. So my concern was not seeing that the county had to turn over the money and had to risk losing that money, but realistically that if Everlyse is found there’s going to be money to provide for her,” said Everlyse’s guardian ad litem Dara Goldsmith.

Before a judge can formally approve the settlement, it must be accepted by the Clark County Commission.

A second battle is brewing over a $200,000 payout from Clark County’s foster parent insurance carrier. Those funds are not part of the negotiated agreement.

Anyone with information about the case, no matter how small, is encouraged to share it with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST or James Conklin with ExFed Investigations at (702) 204-7654.

Support at risk children, start a KARA group in your community.

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Tennessee’s High Infant Death Rate

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on June 27, 2009
in Health and Mental Health, Invisible Children, Politics and Funding, Public Policy and The States
. 2 Comments

Tennessee’s High Infant Death Rate

Baby Death Public Health Crisis Thwarted by Poverty

By CRAIG LEAKE and DAVID APPLEBY
Aug. 22, 2008 ABC’s Health News Blog

There are places in America where the unthinkable is happening: Thousands of babies are dying.

The costs associated with saving a premature infant can be staggering.

Of the 23 richest countries, the United States has the highest rate of infant mortality, according to the CIA World Fact Book. And in Shelby County, Tenn., which encompasses Memphis, the state health department says a baby dies every 43 hours — a rate higher than that of any other major city. The babies most at risk come from impoverished parts of town with largely black populations.

This old Mississippi River town is now part of the “new South.” More than a million people live in Memphis’ city and suburbs. As in many other places, the city has been divided between those who can afford an upgraded lifestyle and those who remain in the older version of the city.

In the richer sections they’ve created their own parks, hospitals and schools — and, of course, churches.

Twice a year the Rev. Eli Morris, a minister at Hope Presbyterian, leads volunteers from his suburban congregation to a mission downtown, where they tour what can seem like a foreign country.

Support at risk children, start a KARA group in your community.

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Minnesota; Let Them Eat New Stadium

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on June 25, 2009
in Health and Mental Health, Politics and Funding, Public Policy and The States
. 0 Comments

Thank you MN Catholic Conference (from which this is taken)

my note;
12 years watching abused and abandoned children struggle to make their way through a poorly resourced county system as a Hennepin County guardian ad-Litem makes it tough to witness the Governor’s defunding of programs that have kept them from the most basic services and abject poverty.

The Governor’s line-item veto of GAMC and proposed unallotments ignore the human dignity of our poorest and most vulnerable neighbors, and will cause significant harm to those among us who we are called to place first. And, in turn, it will further weaken our state’s continual pursuit of the common good. Though the Governor’s plan includes several harmful unallotments, our greatest concerns are with the following seven proposed unallotments:

1. Elimination of Emergency Assistance: On November 1, 2009, two of Minnesota’s three Emergency Assistance programs will end: Emergency General Assistance (EGA) and Emergency Minnesota Supplemental Assistance (EMSA). These two critical safety-net programs provide needed assistance to Minnesotans who cannot fully support themselves, usually due to illness or disability, and who are facing an emergency that threatens their health or safety. Oftentimes related to imminent eviction, foreclosure or utility shut-off, ignored emergencies place our already struggling neighbors on the edge of homelessness….

2. Elimination of GAMC Coverage on March 1, 2010: Health insurance for “the poorest of the poor and the sickest of the sick” will end four months earlier than expected. When the Governor line-item vetoed GAMC on May 14, the program was slated to end on July 1, 2010. However, under the executive power of unallotment, GAMC will instead end on March 1, 2010…. the Minnesota Legislature will have less than four weeks, after reconvening on February 4, 2010 to address the elimination of health care coverage for our 30,000 neighbors who are living at or below 75 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.

3. Cutting Children & Community Services Grants: Children & Community Services Grants provide crucial funding for counties to purchase or provide social services for seniors, adults, children and families struggling with abuse and neglect, living with a disability, mental illness or chronic health condition, or living in poverty. Additionally, these grants provide services for: pregnant adolescents, adolescent parents and their children; adults who are vulnerable and in need of protection; people over the age of 60 who need help living independently; and people with developmental disabilities. The Governor proposes cutting Children & Community Services Grants by 25 percent during FY 2010, and by 33 percent during FY 2011.

These grants fund a variety of critical services: adoption, case management, counseling, foster care for adults and children, protective services for adults and children, residential treatment, services for people with developmental, emotional or physical disabilities, substance abuse counseling, transportation, and public guardianship.

As Pliny said 2500 years ago; “what you do to your children, they will do to your society”, or as former MN Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz said just a few years ago, “90 % of the youth in juvenile justice have come through child protection”. Nationally, over 50% of youth in juvenile justice have diagnosable mental illness, and fully half of that population have multiple and severe diagnosis (this goes along way in explaining why America’s schools and streets are troubled).

Minnesota’s governor’s won’t maintain bridges or people, and he thinks it economically sound policy in the face of disaster and double digit prison growth. He believes in God and stadiums, yet I know of no religion in the world that abandons the weakest and most vulnerable among us. I’m not against stadiums, I’m simply more pro children).

Support at risk children, start a KARA group in your community.

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Continue reading ‘Minnesota; Let Them Eat New Stadium’

DCF: More Florida Parents Taking Their Money Troubles Out On Kids

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on June 23, 2009
in Invisible Children, Politics and Funding, Public Policy and The States
. 2 Comments

TAMPA, Fla. – The economy is being blamed for a rise in Florida child abuse, and with it a rise in bullying. The state Department of Children and Families says there’s also an increase in the severity of the cases, with 59 deaths so far this year being investigated as possible child abuse.

Paul D’Agostino, executive director of the Child Abuse Council, says tough times may trigger parents struggling with anger issues to abuse their children – and these abused children, in turn, often bully others.

“Children are being taught that ‘might makes right,’ that striking out is a way of handling your own anger, of handling your own frustration. Increased bullying is an example of that.”

He says the problem could increase over the summer months because funds for children’s summer camps have been cut, leaving families no time out from the stress. He says counselors work with parents to reduce stress, identify anger’s triggers and learn new ways to cope without hurting their children.

D’Agostino says more than 90 percent of abusive parents were abused as children, creating what he calls the “cycle of violence.” He says living in an abusive home deprives children of the nurturing they need, teaches them poor anger management skills, and hurts both their self-esteem and their schoolwork.

“Violence always has an impact on children. It’s very frightening for children when they do not feel safe in the very relationship in which they should be the safest, and that’s in their home and with their parents.”

D’Agostino says the problem could increase over the summer months because funds for children’s summer camps have been cut, leaving families no time out from stress. He says the recession has meant fewer counseling resources at a time when families need it the most. Still, he says, everyone can help by being supportive and encouraging of all children.

“You do not know what is going on in that child’s life, and sometimes you can be the person who offsets that child’s negative concept of themselves.”

D’Agostino says this can make a difference in a child’s life, a difference that breaks the cycle of violence.

The above is from Gina Presson, Public News Service in Boulder CO June 22, 2009.

MN day care

It is a bigger step to convince people that healthy children become healthy citizens, but it is true.

..

Amy Sherman’s Blog for Florida’s At Risk Children

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on June 21, 2009
in Guardian ad-Litem, Health and Mental Health, Invisible Children, Kids At Risk Action (KARA), Politics and Funding, Public Policy and The States
. 2 Comments

Gabriel MyersKids need care, not pills, ex-foster children tell panel

Gabriel Myers, 7, hung himself in the bathroom of his
Margate foster home in April

A state group looking at the suicide of a young foster child met Thursday to discuss ways to improve care and listened to adults who said they were overmedicated in the foster-care system.
Foster Child: “felt like I was an animal on a farm being tested’

BY AMY SHERMAN

Mez Pierre, 22, and Kimberly Foster, 25, both from Broward County, told the group that mental health drugs — already at the center of the investigation of Gabriel Myers’s tragic death — aren’t the answer for many foster youth. Children need caring adults who will look at the causes of their difficult behavior, they said — not simply write prescriptions in an attempt to control it.

Foster said doctors prescribed medication when she got upset about being removed from her home. She was ultimately placed in facilities with locked windows and restraints.

”They were trying to control the symptoms I had from being put into the system. . . . How I reacted was normal,” Foster said. “I was sad. I was taken away from my home. Because of that they felt medication was the right way to treat me.”

Florida Department of Children & Families (DCF) administrators and child advocates who formed a work group to study Gabriel’s death held their third meeting Thursday in Fort Lauderdale. Gabriel hanged himself in the bathroom of his Margate foster home in April.

He had been prescribed several psychiatric drugs during his nine months in foster care.

Workgroup members spent much of the day talking about issues such as how to improve communication between various professionals who care for foster kids. The leaders discussed various forms and documents collected for each child, and the potential roadblocks in gathering the data — sometimes as simple as a fax not going through.

Anne Wells, pharmacy director for the state Agency for Health Care Administration, questioned how some of these efforts will help children in foster care. .

”I don’t mean to criticize, but I have listened to improvements, and checked boxes, forms and paperwork. I’m sorry. I just don’t get it,” she said. “Where does all of this stuff head off the outcome that Gabriel had?”

Wells also questioned whether administrators were too quick to blame medication for Gabriel’s death, rather than talking about what led to his being medicated in the first place.

OVER-MEDICATED

But both Pierre and Foster told the group that they were over-medicated as foster children.

”To hear a story about a foster youth who lost his life, I take that very, very personally,” said Pierre, who choked back tears during his presentation. “I went through a lot of things that Gabriel went through and to see one loss is very painful.”

Gabriel ‘wasn’t being cared for. He was just told `you have problems,’ ” Pierre said.

Pierre added that he was first prescribed medications when he entered the foster-care system at age 5. He was given multiple pills and various diagnoses, including attention deficit/hyperactivity and bipolar disorders.

”When I was on medications, I always felt like a zombie,” he said. “I felt drowsy. I didn’t feel human. I felt like I was an animal on a farm being tested.”

Today, Pierre is doing what many told him he couldn’t do: living a successful life without medications. Pierre, who lives in Deerfield Beach, said he has a job, attends Broward College and hopes to become a lawyer.

”Consider the lives . . . even though it’s a difficult job,” he told the group. “That doesn’t mean to neglect your responsibility and to not work together.”

Foster said she took herself off the medications when she was 18 and pregnant. She now lives in Pompano Beach with her husband and son.

NEVER SUICIDAL

”I have never displayed any suicidal ideations, no mutilations, no disorientations,” Foster said. ‘We are lost if we send a message to youth, `if you cry you are depressed.’ We are so quick to put diagnoses on a child for a lot of times being a normal adolescent.”

Both Pierre and Foster are active in a group called Florida Youth Shine which, among other things, testifies in Tallahassee about foster-care issues.

A Miami Herald article that showed Gabriel had been on several drugs, including anti-depressants associated with a higher risk of suicide, prompted DCF to investigate the prescribing of mental health drugs to children.

DCF Secretary George Sheldon formed the work group as part of the wide-ranging investigation.

The group Thursday discussed a recent state review of more than 100 foster children age 5 or younger receiving psychiatric drugs. The study revealed that child welfare administrators are ignoring rules designed to protect the children.

In the majority of cases, for example, there was no documentation to show that case managers coordinated with the prescribing practitioner to obtain a psychiatric evaluation.

Broward County’s top child-welfare judge, Circuit Judge John A. Frusciante, read a statement that he recently wrote to ChildNet, Broward’s private foster care agency, in response to child advocates in recent hearings who had no knowledge about the existence of ”black box warnings” on medications. He called for more education of case workers.

”It is deeply disturbing that child advocates have no knowledge of the FDA’s highest warnings for possibly life-threatening adverse effects of medications,” he wrote.

Comments can be made here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1104243.html
(short registration required)

You can see a CBS News video of the foster kids here:
http://gabrielmyers.wordpress.com/2009/06/18/dcf-panel-reviews-mental-health-policies/

Bookmark this page http://gabrielmyers.wordpress.com/ for up to date media coverage on this issue.

Postscript… I too have had 4 year old and 7 year old suicides as a Hennepin County guardian ad-Litem and a judge that has shared with me the pages of documented Prozac, Ritalin, and other Psychotropics given to very young children. This conversation needs to take place at a higher level (where something can be done about it).

Thank you Psych_News@psychsearch.net for this information.

MN day care

It is a bigger step to convince people that healthy children become healthy citizens, but it is true.

No More Child Advocacy In Much of Illinois

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on June 14, 2009
in Guardian ad-Litem, Health and Mental Health, Invisible Children, Kids At Risk Action (KARA), Politics and Funding, Public Policy and The States
. 4 Comments
Children Abandoned in Illinois;
Carmi, Ill. -

Children’s advocacy centers across Illinois received bad news Thursday, said Sheryl Woodham, executive director of The Guardian Center, based

http://www.carmitimes.com/news/x986610407/State-officials-choose-to-cut-children

A fax indicated that, on July 1, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services would execute a plan to no longer honor or renew contracts with children’s advocacy centers.

Difficult choices must be made to create a fiscally responsible budget for Illinois, Woodham said. “However, this severe loss of funding is resulting in a blatant disservice to the children of Illinois.”

Here is the balance of her statement:

“Children’s advocacy centers of Illinois exist for the sole purpose of protecting our abused children. With 38 offices serving 85 of the 102 counties of Illinois, CACs reached out to help over 11,220 children last year alone.

“CACs provide a multidisciplinary approach and services to sexually abused children and their families. Annual funding for these necessary services comes PRIMARILY from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. This tremendous loss of funding will force our local children advocacy centers to eliminate services, staff and may result in CACs closing their doors.

“Where will these children now go? What safe haven will be available to help children who have experienced the raw pain and hurt of child abuse?

“What a terrible decision for the state to make. These cuts were made under the auspice of saving money for the state. These cuts will COST the state, not save! Children’s advocacy centers save their communities money every day!

“A CAC provides a SAVINGS of over $1,000 per case compared to non-CAC investigations. Last year alone, CACs saved the State of Illinois over $11 million. In less than 20 days, all this will change due to this tremendous cut. The State of Illinois is choosing to cut a service that clearly SAVES state money.

“CACs exist to offer guidance, support and relief to children and their families. The State of Illinois needs to understand the seriousness of this miscalculated budget choice. Children need security and support. The drastic cuts by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services will prohibit the CACs from assisting in the protection and support of our children. This is not an acceptable answer. The State of Illinois must find a way to protect our children.

“CACs save taxpayers money, decrease trauma for child victims by providing a child-friendly environment and ensure that the child receives comprehensives services to begin the healing process

“1 out of 3. 1 out of 6. These statistics represent how many girls and boys will be sexually abused or assaulted by the age of 18. 1 out of every 3 girls. Think of neighbors, sisters, cousins and daughters. 1 out of every six boys. Think of friends, brothers, nephews and sons. Who will protect them?

“Stand up and protect our children today. We must speak for those in our lives with the softest voices and greatest needs.”

Postscript;

As each state battles with its own deficit, legislators must decide whether to complete the new ballpark, or fund child protection.

My argument for child protection of course, is that healthy children make healthy adults and good citizens;  or as Pliny stated 2500 years ago, “what you do to your children, they will do to your society”

Support at risk children, start a KARA group in your community.

MN day care

It is a bigger step to convince people that healthy children become healthy citizens, but it is true.

California’s Growing Child Protection Problem

Published
by
Mike Tikkanen
on June 14, 2009
in Guardian ad-Litem, Health and Mental Health, Invisible Children, Politics and Funding, Public Policy and The States
. 0 Comments

I lived in Alhambra CA where the following article outlines the deaths of fourteen children under county supervision.  Remember, it’s not that social workers don’t care… it is about public resources, and public policies that allow the weakest and most vulnerable to fall through the cracks.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-childabuse14-2009jun14,0,7157276.story

As L.A. County spun its wheels, children died

Sarah Chavez was returned to the home of her great-aunt and great-uncle in Alhambra despite having shown signs of abuse. She later died, primarily from a severed lower intestine, caused by a blow to her abdomen, the coroner found. She had just turned 2. The uncle was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter and child abuse. The aunt pleaded no contest to being an accessory.
Agencies have long failed to share information that could save lives. Repeatedly, ghastly cases shock officials, who call for action, which eventually fizzles. An effective database remains elusive.
By Garrett Therolf
June 14, 2009
» Discuss Article (182 Comments)

By the time he was rescued last year, the 5-year-old South Los Angeles boy was so malnourished his kidneys were failing. His hands were so badly burned he could barely open them.

Child welfare officials traced his history, trying to make sense of what had happened. According to documents obtained by The Times, they learned that eight separate agencies in Los Angeles County had pieces of information on the household:

One had evidence that the mother and her girlfriend were abused and neglected as children. Others knew both had committed violent crimes. Still others were aware that both women had been ordered into mental health treatment and that the sickly boy had missed appointments with county doctors.

Over the years, these agencies had come into contact with the boy or his caregivers 108 times — yet no one had pieced together how much danger the child was in. Indeed, county social workers had closed a 2005 child abuse investigation because the evidence was “inconclusive.” They might never have stepped in but for a concerned stranger who delivered the child into their hands.

It was a lesson in how poor communication had put a child’s life at risk — but it was hardly the first. For at least 18 years, Los Angeles County has repeatedly received urgent and sometimes gruesome reminders that its agencies don’t share vital information about potentially abused or neglected children, according to a Times investigation.

There have been numerous calls for reform — but little action. In the passing years, an unknown number of children have been harmed or killed.

At least a dozen reports have landed on county leaders’ desks since the early 1990s saying agencies that work with troubled families must improve their ability to talk to each other. County supervisors have freely admitted that the system is broken, and even have voted several times to establish computer systems to open communication channels.

Solutions have been doomed by bureaucratic infighting, turf wars, privacy concerns and limited political attention spans. When horrific deaths or abuse drop out of the news, the board and department heads often focus elsewhere, leading to long stretches of inaction — until another case gives them a terrible jolt.

“I couldn’t believe it,” former Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke said last year, upon learning of the 5-year-old’s ordeal. “Our system has to be just tighter. . . . This is a time when we really have to be vigilant.”

She joined her four colleagues in once again ordering county workers to draft a plan to improve information sharing. The plan has yet to materialize.

Meanwhile, county officials recently acknowledged that at least 32 children in L.A. County died from abuse or neglect in 2008. That set off another round of questions about what was needed to make kids safer.

“If we had a computer system that allowed us to the see the domestic violence, medical or mental health history in some of these families, some of these children might have been saved,” said Trish Ploehn, director of the county Department of Children and Family Services.

To those who have followed the issue over the years, these words are sadly familiar.

Postscript;   “Children that are the victims of failed personal responsibility are not my problem, nor are they the problem of the state of MN”

Initially stated by MN Governor Jesse Ventura,  four years later, repeated to David Strand and Andy Dawkins by MN Governor Tim Pawlenty.

Support at risk children, start a KARA group in your community.

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Support at risk children, start a KARA group in your community.

Have something to add? Tell us your point of view or story…

If you think someone might appreciate this information, press the share button below..