The 2007 35 W bridge failure cost taxpayers one billion dollars. Perhaps five hundred times more expensive than the death and destruction and 5 million dollars bridge maintenance (DOT requested) to keep the bridge in “pristine condition”** At the time if fell the bridge was in the bottom three percent of all bridges in the U.S. It’s failure was not a complete surprise.
This bridge metaphor works well when discussing public policy. Are we doomed to see our city streets, schools, public safety and, child protection system, fall apart just like the bridge? As a volunteer CASA guardian ad litem child advocate, I see every day the benefits of taking care of children to avoid their collapse when they become juveniles without the skills to cope in their environment.
Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz states, “ninety percent of the youth in our juvenile justice system have come through child protection”. Identified and treated early, young children can be given the skills to succeed in school and our community. Support these pages & KARA’S documentary and book project here All adults are the protectors of all children
It’s not that we are short the money to invest in children. We have billions for bridges, stadiums and transportation.
All good things.
The current bad government hate frenzy to drown it in a bathtub disrespects the people doing the work and refuses to support efforts to make these institutions function well. It’s a lose lose mentality.
This is stupidity or hypocrisy of the highest order. I hope it’s just stupidity. Education can fix that.
Teacher turnover is almost as high as social worker turnover. It’s become unpleasant and even dangerous to hold these jobs.
Law enforcement faces an even greater challenge as officers become the keepers of order throughout our society including schools and mental health issues (with guns and tasers).
We have become a mean spirited and confused people, willing to let bridges fall in the river, over medicate unmanageable children with psychotropic medications* instead of medical assistance, let schools fail and communities disintegrate into crime and extraordinary rates of incarceration.
*America put 20,000 one and two year old children on Prozac like drugs in 2014 and Johnson and Johnson was fined four billion dollars for illegally selling these drugs to pediatricians for use on young children.