beautiful MN lake sceneTuesday I spoke at the Aitkin DFL club and enjoyed an hour of spirited conversation around what we can do as organizations and as individuals to make life better for abused and neglected children.

Everyone in this group got it.  They appreciated just how serious under-serving babies & children can be and what a great investment programs that improve at risk children are.

Why has subsidized daycare remained unobtainable for 95% of Minnesotans that need it?

Why were no mental health services available for Jeff Weiss (Red Lake) or Michael Swanson’s mother (years of fruitless searching for mental health services for her son).

The sadness that remains decades after the violence committed by children in need of services is never measured, never considered by the media or politicians and rarely spoken of outside the cost of jails and prisons that so often become the cornerstone of at risk children’s lives.

I’m hopeful that the Aitkin DFL club will continue our conversation and the battle to speak out for children to give them a voice in a world that today doesn’t hear them.

I enjoyed this visit, great people, and the terrific discussion on a most important subject.