How does a society fight it terrible parenting?
By JohnMichael Davis
http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071010/OPINION05/710100311/1006/OPINION
With tears in my eyes, I read the very sad story of 8-year-old Levares
Key, beaten to death last week by his 13-year-old brother over a
dessert. Levares, who lived in Orlando, apparently had been the victim
of abuse for quite some time. The news reports stated that his siblings
would hold him down while his mother beat him. I cannot imagine the
depth of his sadness and fear, most likely on a daily basis.
The Florida Department of Children and Families had investigated the
mother, Tangela Key, in the past and thought it was OK to leave her
other children with her. This is the same agency that since January of
this year has paid $16 million to settle lawsuits brought as a result of
cases of abuse.
We hear reports of people locking their foster children in cages, about
beatings or starving them and committing other heinous acts.
We have other parents who are feeding their children to death.
We have parents who are shocked that their 15-year-old can't read, but
then they blame the schools and the teachers. Where were they before the
big discovery?
We have fast videos, fast video games, fast food, and now we have so
many children with ADD and ADHD. Coincidence?
I was leaving a store a while back and a little boy was playing with the
automatic doors. His father told him to stop and then called him an
expletive for someone's backside. I wonder what that little boy really
thinks of his father.
Another time I saw two children outside a store playing on the
carnival-type rides that are outside of grocery stores. These children
were about 6 and 3 years old. They wanted the little car to move and
make noise; I gave them two quarters and went inside to shop.
Thirty minutes later when I came out, they were still there, alone. I
watched from my car for several minutes to make sure they were safe.
They were still there, alone, when I finally left. I regret not calling
the police, and the next time I will.
I expect someday that my tax dollars will pay for the incarceration of a
lot of these children. Our prisons are already packed with the results
of bad parenting. What are we doing about it? How do we change all of
this? Are we going to keep spending tax dollars on community centers and
after-school programs for at-risk youths? Are we going to search for
more mentors? Are we going to create more parenting classes?
Perhaps we need to start with the people who decide to bring children
into this world. Sadly, maybe it is time to require some kind of license
for people to have children. I hope it doesn't come to that.
I don't know where Levares is now, but I want to tell him I'm sorry. I'm
sorry that his family, the government, society and his neighbors failed
him. I'm thinking about you, today, Levares, and if you see Rilya, tell
her I'm thinking about her too!
JohnMichael Davis is a local photographer, printer and taxpayer. Contact
him at justwrite_811@msn.com.
An Inconvenient Truth about Child Protective Services, Foster care, and
the Child Protection "INDUSTRY"
CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.
every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com
Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS
*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*
Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5
Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.
Currently Child Protective Services violates more civil rights on a
daily basis then all other agencies combined, Including the NSA/CIA
wiretaping program…
FOSTER CARE IS A 80 PERCENT FAILURE:. A Brief Analysis of the Casey
Family Programs. Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study. By Richard Wexler
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:E2PcWEpNCD4J:www.nccpr.org/reports/cfpanalysis.doc
or for .doc
http://www.nccpr.org/reports/cfpanalysis.doc
HOW THE WAR AGAINST CHILD ABUSE BECAME A WAR AGAINST CHILDREN
http://www.nccpr.org/issues/1.html
A recent study has found that 12-18 months after leaving foster care:
30% of the nation’s homeless are former foster children.
27% of the males and 10% of the females had been incarcerated
33% were receiving public assistance
37% had not finished high school
2% receive a college degree
50% were unemployed
*Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support
Children in foster care are three to six times more likely than children
not in care to have emotional, behavioral and developmental problems,
including conduct disorders, depression, difficulties in school and
impaired social relationships. Some experts estimate that about 30% of
the children in care have marked or severe emotional problems. Various
studies have indicated that children and young people in foster care
tend to have limited education and job skills, perform poorly in school
compared to children who are not in foster care, lag behind in their
education by at least one year, and have lower educational attainment
than the general population.
*Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support
80 percent of prison inmates have been through the foster care system.
The highest ranking federal official in charge of foster care, Wade
Horn of the Department of Health and Human Services, is a former child
psychologist who says the foster care system is a giant mess and should
just be blown up.
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=2017991
This study found thousands of children already in foster care who would
have done better had child protection agencies not taken them away in
the first place.
Front-page story in USA Today.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-07-02-foster-study_N.htm?csp=34#Close
The full study is available here.
http://www.mit.edu/~jjdoyle/doyle_fosterlt_march07_aer.pdf
The bottom line? - the foster care system nationwide for the most part
turns out young adults that are nothing more than walking wreckage...
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