TPT/KARA Movie Trailer (2 minutes)
Friends of KARA, watch our 2 minute movie trailer here and share it with your friends, 2 minute KARA/TPT television trailer
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Total Disaster In Tennessee (NV, TN, CA, & TX in Trouble Too) Disappearing Watchdogs Around the Nation
When detectives interviewed Brewer, she told them the children were punished for stealing food. The case “even shocked some of our most veteran children’s case workers,” Hudson said.
Brewer pleaded not guilty to eight felony counts, including torture, cruelty and assault with a deadly weapon at her arraignment Jan. 18. Her attorney, alternate public defender Hung Phi Du, declined to comment.
After Brewer’s arrest, county investigators uncovered a history of child maltreatment investigations involving Brewer going back to 2001, when callers to a hotline twice reported that she was abusing her two biological children. Both times, social workers concluded that the allegations were unfounded.
In 2006, Brewer was recruited by a private agency called Aspiranet. Based in South San Francisco, the contractor is one of the state’s largest foster care providers, serving 2,000 children a year.
Aspiranet placed 23 children in Brewer’s care over the next five years, among them the half siblings she ended up adopting.
The children’s mother had been found to be suffering from schizophrenia and depression. They came to Brewer in 2009; it was their fourth foster home.
During Brewer’s five years as a foster parent, the county child-abuse hotline received at least seven calls from people alleging that she was maltreating children, including the half siblings.
DetailsTortured Twice In Louisiana; A Sad Abused Ten Year Old Boy Facing Prison For Escaping His Abuser
What does it take for a child to find refuge in Louisiana? Will the state execute the boy (he is being tried as an adult & Texas has ignored a federal ban on executing the mentally incompetent).
DetailsTorture vs. Child Abuse
Children in American child protection systems are only removed from their homes if their lives are in imminent harm. The average length of child sex abuse in America is four years.
Abused children and torture victims suffer from the same kinds of trauma. They exhibit many of the same kinds of problems. They need the same kinds of long term mental health therapies to allow them to rebuild their traumatized mental states, learn coping skills, and how to function in our communities.
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Tolerating Child Death in Minnesota (thank you Safe Passage for Children of MN)
This short powerful article from Safe Passage for Children of MN identifies the how and why two girls could be beaten with bats, starved, raped and chained over 12-15 years in the same house and over 50 police calls to the home never resulted in an investigation. The neighbors knew, the police knew, the county knew – but nothing was done.
It’s how Eric Dean the 4 year old was tortured to death while 14 reports of abuse by mandated reporters were ignored. The single visit to the home by child protection workers did not interview the child. If they had, they would have seen the bite marks on his face and head, broken arm and other scars.
We need state wide guidelines to maltreatment reports, statewide coordination of child protection activities and standards for child protection with a focus on keeping children safe.
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Toddler Shoots Both Parents (becoming a commonplace event)
A three year old Albuquerque NM boy shot and wounded both his parents with his pregnant mothers loaded hand gun last Saturday. His two year old sister was uninjured. Below are recent articles concerning guns and American toddlers.
Three People Shot In One Week By Toddlers
More Americans Shot By Toddlers Than Terrorists
Two Year Old Shoots Florida Mother To Death (a state that fines doctors for telling mothers to lock up their guns).
100 Children Killed by Gunfire Since Newtown (June 2014)
America has about ten times the rate of gunfire death than the rest of the industrialized world.
Guns kill more infants & toddlers than police officers in the line of duty.
A gun in the home increases the risk of suicide by 3 to 5 times, homicide by 3 times, and accidental death by 400 percent.
Since 1963, three times as many American children and teens have been shot dead than soldiers killed abroad – in 2010, five times more children and teens were shot dead than soldiers killed in Iraq and Afgghanistan.
Gun violence kills more black youth (from one to nineteen years old) every year except for car accidents. Below are stunning graphs that demonstrate these facts (courtesy of ScienceBlogs.com (the pump handle)
DetailsToddler found submerged in St. Paul bathtub dies
Our Child Protection System
Brutal Truths and Best Practices Forum at Century College
Join our focused and energetic conversation ab
out children in need of protection and the people, programs, and policies that impact them. Have your views and questions heard.
DetailsToday’s Grand Magazine Radio Interview Cancelled – it will be rescheduled
Today’s Grand Magazine Radio Show Cancelled – it will be rescheduled.
Barb Beach, the talk show host had a family medical emergency. Best wishes for you and your family Barb.
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To KARA Followers – KARA does not offer services
KARA is unable to help our readers with personal counselling.
Regularly, we receive your mail and email requesting assistance in dealing with child protection, police and juvenile justice. We just do not have the resources to say yes.
Use KARA’s links link to start your search for help. The “resources’ heading provides contact information to identify people that can talk to you about your specific issues.
Thank you for understanding,
The KARA team
DetailsTip Of The Iceberg; Abused Children Dying Due To County Backlogs
“The social worker staff simply cannot keep up with everything we are asking them to do,” she said, adding that she planned to make the case to county supervisors that hundreds of additional social workers were needed. “All of the things that equate with quality do take time.”
In the end, Ploehn never submitted a budget request for additional social workers, citing the county’s tight finances.
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Tip Of The Iceberg – Medicating Six Year Olds
We forget that before Prozac, there was Thorazine and the side effects were pronounced and obvious. These new drugs are much more insidious in how side effects manifest themselves.
The underlying issues driving dangerous and emotionally charged behaviors in children must be identified and dealt with if mental health is going to be attained. Anything less fails the child and the community.
Public policy assumes that it’s economically way cheaper to provide drugs than really helping a child.
Work done by the medical community and the Federal Reserve proves that building children is much more economically viable than trying to rebuild badly broken adults. In my volunteer work within the system, I’ve seen it born out again and again.
DetailsTip Of The Iceberg
Those who molest family members get lighter sentences than outsiders, data show.
DetailsThis Weeks Important At Risk Youth News
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 and Century College for your hard work and good programs.
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This Week’s News For At Risk Children
VA: State finds Richmond DSS not at fault in two child deaths
WTVR – April 18, 2014
A review conducted by Virginia’s Department of Social Services determined Richmond’s Department of Social Services (RDSS) did not contribute to the death of two children known to RDSS last year. VDSS is reviewing what happened to five children who died since April of last year and were known to RDSS at some point.
https://wtvr.com/2014/04/18/state-finds-richmond-dss-not-at-fault-in-two-child-deaths/
This Week’s Child Death Reporting
DFCS child death cases spike in 2013MyAJC.comThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a series of stories in 2013 and 2014 cataloging Georgia’s failure to protect children from abuse and neglect …
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This Week’s At Risk Children’s News
SC: Exclusive – Robert Guinyard’s life and death in SC’s child welfare system
The State – August 17, 2014
Since his death, Robert has become the face of the debate over whether Social Services is doing all it can to protect children like the 4-year-old, one of 67 children who died last year after contact with the state’s child welfare agency.
http://www.thestate.com/2014/08/17/3623563/exclusive-robert-guinyards-life.html
This Saturday (9.19.20) KARA’s Twin Cities NonViolent Event (2pm)
Friends of KARA, This Saturday at 2pm Central Time, KARA presenting at the TWIN CITIES NON VIOLENT event.
Link to participate (free)
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sdOitpjIoE91gdtyUTY82STHThprRe7xc
Link to Mike and Damon’s time and presentation
https://twincitiesnonviolent.org/virtual-10-days-free-from-violence/virtual-10-days-detailed-schedule/
DetailsThis May Not Be The Case
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.
DetailsThis Is Happening (KARA’s Public TV Documentary Project)
Take a moment to check out KARA at Indiegogo and share it with your friends. All the tools and perks are there. Get perks, make a contribution, or simply follow updates. If enough of us get behind it, we can make “At Risk Children’s Documentary Project with TPT TV” happen.
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/836689/emal/5177013
DetailsThis Doesn’t Change What’s Wrong In Kentucky (and elsewhere) For Abused & Neglected Children
Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear is hiding the records of dozens of dead children (from child abuse) because life for abused children is so awful in his state he wants it hidden from the rest of the nation.
The core issue in this nightmare of crazy people killing and abusing their children is the hiding or destruction of court records.
If you think your state doesn’t live by the same standards as Kentucky, look again.
Many states delete records of horrible abuse after three or four years.
My own state, Minnesota has the problem, Indiana, has the problem (the state known for cancelling funding promised to parents that adopt special needs children).
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Think Again MN Feb 16 (includes KARA presentation)
THE IMPACT OF DOMESTIC ABUSE ON CHILDREN
Tuesday, February 16
6 p.m. Light Supper and Social 6:30 P.M. Program
Cafeteria, Hennepin Technical College, 9000 Brooklyn Blvd, Brooklyn Park, Map
RSVP on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1kWpPiG or to CarolWoehrer@usfamily.net
The Week In Toddlers Shooting People (Huffington Post Article)
3 people shot in one week by toddlers with guns (around the nation)
DetailsThe Volunteer Spirit
The CASA program I came through is a volunteer program that connects volunteers to abused and neglected children in their community. CASA provides a great learning experience as well as a terrific service to children unlucky enough to be born into tragic circumstances.
DetailsThe Value of Healthy Children
Children that have suffered severe or prolonged abuse need a counseling regimen that will be part of their life for a long time. Short term counseling for severely damaged children is just one more abandonment.
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The Unspoken Truth (from Kristin Rode)
My name is Robert Hamelin and when I was 4 years old I entered the Foster Care System. My stepmother began to physically and mentally abuse me. I was taken out of the home I lived in, with her and my father and moved into the first foster home. When I was 9 years old my father was killed. He was the only good memory I had left. His loss had such a deep impact on me. I knew now that I was completely alone. By the time I reached the 6th grade I began acting out for attention. My behaviors became worse. The abuse had continued worse than ever, as now, I was being sexually abused. By the time I was 18 years old I joined the Marine Corps. I needed stability but even more important, I needed to find out if I could overcome my past and succeed, despite 14 years of violent child abuse.
The system failed me but it did not beat me!
Today I am a successful Regional Vice President for Transamerica. I have raised 5 beautiful daughters, 4 of which have already graduated from college. What is disheartening is 32 years after I got out of the Child Protection System, it continues to fail children and the abuse, still all too common. We need to come together to fix a broken system.
Each year, about six hundred thousand abused and neglected American children are removed from their homes, placed into group homes, foster homes, and adoptive homes with minimal mental health counseling and often not much history or training provided to the new care giver. These children are expected to adjust well into society, succeed in school and with their peers
Children in child protective services are only removed from their homes if their lives are in imminent harm. These children are often returned to their homes by Child Protective Services if changes are made. Many children are returned to abusive homes, with little to no follow-up.
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