Study: Why Child Abuse Investigations Don't Help Kids
By Maia Szalavitz Monday, October 4, 2010
Child welfare agencies have a thankless task: investigate reports of child maltreatment and determine, first, whether they are true or false, then whether more damage will be done by a) leaving children in a potentially harmful environment, or b) ripping them away from the only parents they know and placing them in a new family that may or may not be better.
Now a new study published Monday suggests that child abuse investigations do not result in long-term improvement in family functioning or child behavior, and in fact are associated with increased depression among mothers. An editorial accompanying the new study proclaims: “Child Protective Services [CPS] Has Outlived Its Usefulness.” (More on Time.com: Side Effect of the Recession: An Increase in Child Abuse)
The study and editorial were both published in the most recent edition of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. The research examined data on 595 at-risk children who were already involved in a study about the long-term causes and consequences of child maltreatment. It compared children whose families were investigated by CPS — about 28% of the sample — with those who were not.
The study did not investigate the effects of foster care placement: researchers looked only at cases where the child had the same maternal caregiver at age 4 and again at age 8, although those who spent some time in foster care were not excluded. Since about 80% of child maltreatment cases do not result in child removal, the results would probably apply to the majority of children in the CPS system.
According to lead study author Dr. Kristine Campbell, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Utah: “Over a long-term view, between ages 4 and 8, there was no evidence within this sample that a CPS investigation changed certain modifiable risk factors such as education, poverty and social support [for these families.] There was no change in family [functioning or child behavior problems] where a CPS investigation occurred, and for maternal depression symptoms there was actually a worsening.”
Campbell notes that the research couldn't determine whether being investigated for child abuse caused depression among mothers — but it would obviously not be surprising if it did.
“I don't think we should be surprised by [the findings] and I don't think that it's role of CPS to fix poverty. But we do spend lot of money on investigations. They're mandated by law. If we are going to go through this process as a society and say that it's important to do investigations, we should look at it as an opportunity to prevent future problems,” Campbell says. But her research suggests that that opportunity is currently being missed. (More on Time.com: Cyberbullying? Homophobia? Tyler Clementi's Death Highlights Online Lawlessness)
That's why editorial author Dr. Abraham Bergman, professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington, proposes a radical solution. He suggests leaving investigations of physical abuse to police, turning prevention and treatment services over to public health nurses and leaving CPS with a narrower role as intermediaries when courts must be involved with child abuse.
He says that what CPS does now “is mostly investigation and not much support and it's an overwhelming task given to people who don't have much training and tremendous turnover.” In the editorial, he cites a 2003 GAO investigation that found that only 28% of CPS workers even had undergraduate degrees in social work (15% had a bachelor's and 13% had a Master's) and that most workers had spent two years or less on the job.
Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform (NCCPR), thinks the research illustrates obvious problems with the system, but believes different solutions are needed.
“My first reaction to the study is simple,” he says. “They had to do a study to figure this out? This study simply confirms what NCCPR has been saying for years: Child Protective Services won't be effective until it becomes Child *Poverty* Services.”
He adds, “That doesn't mean you have to eliminate poverty to eliminate child maltreatment — though whoever does the first will come closer than anyone else to doing the second. You can make enormous strides simply by ameliorating the worst effects of poverty.”
Wexler thinks that much of the problem with CPS has to do with the way families are approached when trouble arises. “It's almost always a cookie-cutter 'service plan' requiring lots and lots of 'counseling' and 'parent education' while the actual problems of poverty are ignored. So the 'services' only add more burdens to this family,” he says.
For example, a single mother who cannot afford daycare might leave her child home alone — telling the mother that this is a wrong-headed choice won't help her if she needs to work and has no safe place to leave her child. As a result, it's not surprising that CPS investigations don't produce change.
"I don't think we know how to solve this problem," says Dr. Bruce Perry, senior fellow at the Child Trauma Academy (full disclosure: Dr. Perry and I have co-authored two books). "A lot of times the situation calls for the formation of a healing relationship and so the very act of going there in an investigatory mode impairs the ability to form a meaningful relationship in which parents can be open, ask for and get help."
Eighteen states are currently experimenting with an approach that offers services rather than investigations to families in which the risk of severe abuse or neglect is not high. Wexler suggests that this “differential” or “alternative” response might make a real difference. “If you go into a home where the allegation is a typical case of neglect, extending an open hand instead of a wagging finger, you are likely to get more cooperation from the family,” he says.
With research suggesting that the bad economy is increasing child abuse — and with no sign that extra funds to help will be forthcoming — it's more important than ever to determine which approaches work and target scarce dollars accordingly.
(Note: The Federal Administration for Children and Families, which is in charge of the Obama Administration's child welfare policies, did not reply to a request for comment before the deadline for this article.)
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2010/10/04/study-why-child-abuse-investigations-dont-help-kids/#ixzz11XXRNncd
Isabella Brooke Knightly and Austin Gamez-Knightly
In Memory of my Loving Husband, William F. Knightly Jr. Murdered by ILLEGAL Palliative Care at a Nashua, NH Hospital
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
FDA Okays First ADHD Drug for Use With Stimulant
FDA Okays First ADHD Drug for Use With Stimulant
By Cole Petrochko, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: October 05, 2010
WASHINGTON -- The FDA has approved clonidine hydrochloride (Kapvay) as the first attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug concomitantly used with a stimulant.
The drug -- manufactured by Shionogi -- is an alpha2-adrenergic receptor agonist indicated for children and teens ages 6 to 17. It is also approved for use as a monotherapy in ADHD.
The drug's formulation "minimizes peaks and troughs in blood levels," Donald C. Manning, MD, the chief medical officer at Shionogi, said in a statement.
Approval was based on two phase III trials of 6-to-17-year-olds, one of which tested the drug as a stand-alone ADHD treatment, while the other tested efficacy and safety as an add-on to therapy with a stimulant.
The eight-week monotherapy trial randomized 236 patients with ADHD or combined inattentive/hyperactive subtype to either clonidine 0.4 mg/day, clonidine 0.2 mg/day, or placebo. Patients in either clonidine group were started on 0.1 mg/day and received a dosage increased weekly by 0.1 mg to the respective dose, and then treated on that final dose for at least two weeks before then gradually decreasing dosage down to 0.1 mg/day during the final treatment week.
The second eight-week study included 198 patients ages 6 to 17 who had been treated with a psychostimulant (methylphenidate or amphetamine) for four weeks and had an inadequate response. Patients were randomized to a clonidine 0.4 mg/day and psychostimulant group or to a psychostimulant-only group. Those in the clonidine group were started at 0.1 mg/day and had dosage increased weekly by 0.1 mg as divided doses over three weeks based on tolerability and clinical response, before gradually decreasing dosage to 0.1 mg/day for the final week of treatment.
ADHD symptom scores showed significant improvement in each clonidine group over placebo, and in the clonidine and psychostimulant group over psychostimulant-alone group at five weeks of treatment.
In the monotherapy trial, adverse events included somnolence, headache, upper abdominal pain, fatigue, and upper respiratory tract infection.
In the stimulant trial, adverse events included somnolence, fatigue, abdominal pain, nasal congestion, throat pain, decreased appetite, increased body temperature, dizziness, insomnia, epistaxis, rhinorrhea, anxiety, and pain in extremities.
Patients taking tricyclic antidepressants may experience reduced efficacy of clonidine.
Clonidine may have increased risk for bradycardia and AV block in patients taking drugs that affect sinus node function or AV nodal conduction.
Patients taking hypertension drugs should avoid taking clonidine due to risk of hypotension and other overlapping side effects.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/FDAGeneral/22563
By Cole Petrochko, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: October 05, 2010
WASHINGTON -- The FDA has approved clonidine hydrochloride (Kapvay) as the first attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug concomitantly used with a stimulant.
The drug -- manufactured by Shionogi -- is an alpha2-adrenergic receptor agonist indicated for children and teens ages 6 to 17. It is also approved for use as a monotherapy in ADHD.
The drug's formulation "minimizes peaks and troughs in blood levels," Donald C. Manning, MD, the chief medical officer at Shionogi, said in a statement.
Approval was based on two phase III trials of 6-to-17-year-olds, one of which tested the drug as a stand-alone ADHD treatment, while the other tested efficacy and safety as an add-on to therapy with a stimulant.
The eight-week monotherapy trial randomized 236 patients with ADHD or combined inattentive/hyperactive subtype to either clonidine 0.4 mg/day, clonidine 0.2 mg/day, or placebo. Patients in either clonidine group were started on 0.1 mg/day and received a dosage increased weekly by 0.1 mg to the respective dose, and then treated on that final dose for at least two weeks before then gradually decreasing dosage down to 0.1 mg/day during the final treatment week.
The second eight-week study included 198 patients ages 6 to 17 who had been treated with a psychostimulant (methylphenidate or amphetamine) for four weeks and had an inadequate response. Patients were randomized to a clonidine 0.4 mg/day and psychostimulant group or to a psychostimulant-only group. Those in the clonidine group were started at 0.1 mg/day and had dosage increased weekly by 0.1 mg as divided doses over three weeks based on tolerability and clinical response, before gradually decreasing dosage to 0.1 mg/day for the final week of treatment.
ADHD symptom scores showed significant improvement in each clonidine group over placebo, and in the clonidine and psychostimulant group over psychostimulant-alone group at five weeks of treatment.
In the monotherapy trial, adverse events included somnolence, headache, upper abdominal pain, fatigue, and upper respiratory tract infection.
In the stimulant trial, adverse events included somnolence, fatigue, abdominal pain, nasal congestion, throat pain, decreased appetite, increased body temperature, dizziness, insomnia, epistaxis, rhinorrhea, anxiety, and pain in extremities.
Patients taking tricyclic antidepressants may experience reduced efficacy of clonidine.
Clonidine may have increased risk for bradycardia and AV block in patients taking drugs that affect sinus node function or AV nodal conduction.
Patients taking hypertension drugs should avoid taking clonidine due to risk of hypotension and other overlapping side effects.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/FDAGeneral/22563
Prosecutorial Misconduct Is Rarely Punished, Says New Study
Prosecutorial Misconduct Is Rarely Punished, Says New Study
Leigh Jones
The National Law Journal
October 05, 2010
Only a tiny percentage of prosecutors who engaged in misconduct were disciplined by the State Bar of California during a 12-year period, according to a report released Monday.
The report, issued by the Northern California Innocence Project at Santa Clara University School of Law, found 707 cases between 1997 and 2009 in which courts explicitly determined that prosecutors had committed misconduct. It examined more than 4,000 cases.
Among the 707 cases, only six prosecutors -- 0.8% -- were disciplined by the State Bar of California. Only 10 of the 4,741 disciplinary actions by the state bar during the same period involved prosecutors.
"In the most populated state in the country, we have a legal system that does not hold prosecutors accountable who have abused public trust," said Kathleen "Cookie" Ridolfi, executive director of the Northern California Innocence Project, in a press release.
The project found that judges often failed to report misconduct to the state bar despite having a legal obligation to do so. Sixty-seven prosecutors committed misconduct more than once and some as many as five times. The majority of those prosecutors were never publicly disciplined, the project said.
"Preventable Error: A Report on Prosecutorial Misconduct 1997-2009," issued by the Innocence Project's Northern California chapter, was written by Ridolfi and Maurice Possley, a visiting research fellow at the project. Possley won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting at the Chicago Tribune. Ridolfi is a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law.
The report included recommendations for reform. It called for district attorneys to adopt internal policies that do not tolerate misconduct. It also called for the state bar to increase disciplinary transparency.
The State Bar of California issued a written statement in response to a request for comment.
"[P]rosecutorial misconduct as indicated in the Innocence Project report does not always equate with attorney misconduct for disciplinary purposes," the association said. "The State Bar believes that it is disciplining criminal prosecutors where appropriate and where the misconduct was willful and can be establish by clear and convincing evidence." It added that misconduct is a "serious issue" and that the bar association is looking into the assertions made by the Innocence Project.
The report also found that in 282 of the cases, the courts did not decide whether a prosecutor's actions were improper. Instead, they concluded that regardless of the alleged misconduct, the defendant received a fair trial. The Innocence Project reviewed only appellate court rulings and a few other cases.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202472897418
Leigh Jones
The National Law Journal
October 05, 2010
Only a tiny percentage of prosecutors who engaged in misconduct were disciplined by the State Bar of California during a 12-year period, according to a report released Monday.
The report, issued by the Northern California Innocence Project at Santa Clara University School of Law, found 707 cases between 1997 and 2009 in which courts explicitly determined that prosecutors had committed misconduct. It examined more than 4,000 cases.
Among the 707 cases, only six prosecutors -- 0.8% -- were disciplined by the State Bar of California. Only 10 of the 4,741 disciplinary actions by the state bar during the same period involved prosecutors.
"In the most populated state in the country, we have a legal system that does not hold prosecutors accountable who have abused public trust," said Kathleen "Cookie" Ridolfi, executive director of the Northern California Innocence Project, in a press release.
The project found that judges often failed to report misconduct to the state bar despite having a legal obligation to do so. Sixty-seven prosecutors committed misconduct more than once and some as many as five times. The majority of those prosecutors were never publicly disciplined, the project said.
"Preventable Error: A Report on Prosecutorial Misconduct 1997-2009," issued by the Innocence Project's Northern California chapter, was written by Ridolfi and Maurice Possley, a visiting research fellow at the project. Possley won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting at the Chicago Tribune. Ridolfi is a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law.
The report included recommendations for reform. It called for district attorneys to adopt internal policies that do not tolerate misconduct. It also called for the state bar to increase disciplinary transparency.
The State Bar of California issued a written statement in response to a request for comment.
"[P]rosecutorial misconduct as indicated in the Innocence Project report does not always equate with attorney misconduct for disciplinary purposes," the association said. "The State Bar believes that it is disciplining criminal prosecutors where appropriate and where the misconduct was willful and can be establish by clear and convincing evidence." It added that misconduct is a "serious issue" and that the bar association is looking into the assertions made by the Innocence Project.
The report also found that in 282 of the cases, the courts did not decide whether a prosecutor's actions were improper. Instead, they concluded that regardless of the alleged misconduct, the defendant received a fair trial. The Innocence Project reviewed only appellate court rulings and a few other cases.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202472897418
ATTENTION! To ALL Families Screwed Over By Nashua, NH DCYF
REMINDER!!!!
Today, October 5th, 2010 4-6 PM
Listening Session at the Nashua Boy's and Girl's on Grande Ave. in Nashua
All Families screwed over by Nashua DCYF and surrounding area.
The NH Children and Family Law Committee want input from the public, as to how efficiently DCYF uses it's funding in regard's to children and families.
Now is your time to speak up. Families need to relate how inefficiently this funding is being used and how government mandates are not being followed.
Please attend this session.Our voices MUST be heard!!!
Today, October 5th, 2010 4-6 PM
Listening Session at the Nashua Boy's and Girl's on Grande Ave. in Nashua
All Families screwed over by Nashua DCYF and surrounding area.
The NH Children and Family Law Committee want input from the public, as to how efficiently DCYF uses it's funding in regard's to children and families.
Now is your time to speak up. Families need to relate how inefficiently this funding is being used and how government mandates are not being followed.
Please attend this session.Our voices MUST be heard!!!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Psychiatry Drugs Foster Care Children
Psychiatry Drugs Foster Care Children – Andrew
Psychiatry Drugs Foster Care Children – Andrew I took my video camera to a Foster Care Alumni meeting and asked seven foster kids to tell me about there experiences in Child Protective Services while wards of the state. One thing they all had in common was massive over drugging with psychiatric drugs. Child placement agencies, foster parents, RTCs (Residential Treatment Centers) and Therapeutic Foster Homes get paid a certain amount of money each day for taking care of a foster child. The amount of money they get paid depends on a level of care system. The more difficult the child or the more problems that child has, the more money you get. A child at the basic level of care is worth about 17 dollars a day where as a child in the highest level of care could be worth as much as a 1000 dollars a day. This puts the incentive on diagnosing children with behavior problems to justify raising their level of care. A child on psychiatric drugs is worth more than a child without problems. It is not uncommon for a foster child to be placed on many different psychotropic drugs at the same time. Some investigations have found children on as many as 13 mind altering drugs prescribed by a psychiatrists at one time. These drugs include all categories of psychiatric drugs; antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, anxiety medications, anticonvulsants medications, etc. The SSRI drugs are commons such as Paxil, Zoloft, Prozac, etc. Also a number of these children described taking …
Psychiatry Drugs Foster Care Children - Aisha
Psychiatry Drugs Foster Care Children – Aisha I took my video camera to a Foster Care Alumni meeting and asked seven foster kids to tell me about there experiences in Child Protective Services while wards of the state. One thing they all had in common was massive over drugging with psychiatric drugs. Child placement agencies, foster parents, RTCs (Residential Treatment Centers) and Therapeutic Foster Homes get paid a certain amount of money each day for taking care of a foster child. The amount of money they get paid depends on a level of care system. The more difficult the child or the more problems that child has, the more money you get. A child at the basic level of care is worth about 17 dollars a day where as a child in the highest level of care could be worth as much as a 1000 dollars a day. This puts the incentive on diagnosing children with behavior problems to justify raising their level of care. A child on psychiatric drugs is worth more than a child without problems. It is not uncommon for a foster child to be placed on many different psychotropic drugs at the same time. Some investigations have found children on as many as 13 mind altering drugs prescribed by a psychiatrists at one time. These drugs include all categories of psychiatric drugs; antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, anxiety medications, anticonvulsants medications, etc. The SSRI drugs are commons such as Paxil, Zoloft, Prozac, etc. Also a number of these children described taking …
http://methadoneclinicfinder.com/methadone-treatment/psychiatry-drugs-foster-care-children-andrew/
Psychiatry Drugs Foster Care Children – Andrew I took my video camera to a Foster Care Alumni meeting and asked seven foster kids to tell me about there experiences in Child Protective Services while wards of the state. One thing they all had in common was massive over drugging with psychiatric drugs. Child placement agencies, foster parents, RTCs (Residential Treatment Centers) and Therapeutic Foster Homes get paid a certain amount of money each day for taking care of a foster child. The amount of money they get paid depends on a level of care system. The more difficult the child or the more problems that child has, the more money you get. A child at the basic level of care is worth about 17 dollars a day where as a child in the highest level of care could be worth as much as a 1000 dollars a day. This puts the incentive on diagnosing children with behavior problems to justify raising their level of care. A child on psychiatric drugs is worth more than a child without problems. It is not uncommon for a foster child to be placed on many different psychotropic drugs at the same time. Some investigations have found children on as many as 13 mind altering drugs prescribed by a psychiatrists at one time. These drugs include all categories of psychiatric drugs; antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, anxiety medications, anticonvulsants medications, etc. The SSRI drugs are commons such as Paxil, Zoloft, Prozac, etc. Also a number of these children described taking …
Psychiatry Drugs Foster Care Children - Aisha
Psychiatry Drugs Foster Care Children – Aisha I took my video camera to a Foster Care Alumni meeting and asked seven foster kids to tell me about there experiences in Child Protective Services while wards of the state. One thing they all had in common was massive over drugging with psychiatric drugs. Child placement agencies, foster parents, RTCs (Residential Treatment Centers) and Therapeutic Foster Homes get paid a certain amount of money each day for taking care of a foster child. The amount of money they get paid depends on a level of care system. The more difficult the child or the more problems that child has, the more money you get. A child at the basic level of care is worth about 17 dollars a day where as a child in the highest level of care could be worth as much as a 1000 dollars a day. This puts the incentive on diagnosing children with behavior problems to justify raising their level of care. A child on psychiatric drugs is worth more than a child without problems. It is not uncommon for a foster child to be placed on many different psychotropic drugs at the same time. Some investigations have found children on as many as 13 mind altering drugs prescribed by a psychiatrists at one time. These drugs include all categories of psychiatric drugs; antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, anxiety medications, anticonvulsants medications, etc. The SSRI drugs are commons such as Paxil, Zoloft, Prozac, etc. Also a number of these children described taking …
http://methadoneclinicfinder.com/methadone-treatment/psychiatry-drugs-foster-care-children-andrew/
Help families instead of tearing them apart
Help families instead of tearing them apart
Oct 3, 2010
Written by
Cheryl Hall-Russell
Families are the cornerstone of our society. Educating them and providing supportive services are the key to reducing the number of children who enter the foster care or juvenile justice system.
An article about Department of Child Services removal of Hoosier children from homes stated that in 2009 only five states removed more children than Indiana ("Number of kids taken by DCS up again," Sept. 27). It also indicated a higher rate of removal per 1,000 children than in all surrounding states. While foster care and emergency removal are valid in certain cases such as sexual or physical abuse, prevention is fiscally and emotionally less costly. Often the removal process can be circumvented with early intervention.
In tough economic times, families are particularly vulnerable. Family dynamics are affected as relationships are strained over jobs and budgets.
For example, as families become overwhelmed with parenting and keeping house, their homes and children can begin to reflect an unkempt look that may not reflect true neglect. Removing a child from a messy home is traumatic and can be unnecessary. Teaching family members skills to keep their house clean, allocating chores, setting up a schedule and rewarding children for participating can build families instead of tearing them apart. Loving families want to stay together and maintain healthy lifestyles if given the opportunity.
Instead of supporting preventive approaches, legislators easily divert attention and funds to services that appear focused on fixing a problem that has received media attention. Reacting to a tragedy certainly has higher media impact than training a room full of parents about child development or how to handle preschool defiance. Continuing to throw money after situations, however, simply does not make sense.
Instead of a reactive approach, let's try proactive and allocate money toward some sustainable initiatives such as:
Counseling services for children and families starting to fracture.
Parenting classes.
Training for teen parents.
Independent-living skills training for youth leaving the system so they don't repeat the pattern.
In an article on DelinquencyPrevention. org, author Dr. Neil C. Headman says, "To this day, many programs continue to emphasize services to individual youth who have demonstrated delinquent or pre-delinquent behaviors, without giving sufficient focus to family, neighborhood, and community factors that facilitate or support negative youth behavior."
The Office of Justice Programs has allocated $60 million in discretionary awards to leading national organizations to strengthen, expand and implement youth mentoring activities and youth development programming throughout the nation, according to its website, www.ojjdp.gov. Another $37 million in grants will be directed to local mentoring organizations in fiscal year 2010.
The Indiana system appears designed with a punitive approach: punishment for families who don't have the skills needed to understand their children's development and how to deal with day-to-day issues; and punishment for youth who go against society because they didn't learn what they needed at home to make good decisions.
If we instead channel funding to organizations that support education, referral, training, counseling and support services, maybe fewer Hoosier children will be removed from their homes over the next few years.
Support prevention by funding organizations like Indiana Youth Services Association (www.indysb.org), which focus on the root cause. If legislators take a step back and understand the value of prevention, money can be diverted to these efforts and minimize the damage to families and children from a long-term perspective in the state of Indiana. Statistics are not as alarming where programs for prevention are intact. Let's increase the existing support network.
Maybe we won't have to read about so many tragic stories. Let's create a non-story.
Hall-Russell is CEO of the Indiana Youth Services Association in Indianapolis.
http://www.indystar.com/article/20101003/OPINION01/10030328/Help-families-instead-of-tearing-them-apart
Oct 3, 2010
Written by
Cheryl Hall-Russell
Families are the cornerstone of our society. Educating them and providing supportive services are the key to reducing the number of children who enter the foster care or juvenile justice system.
An article about Department of Child Services removal of Hoosier children from homes stated that in 2009 only five states removed more children than Indiana ("Number of kids taken by DCS up again," Sept. 27). It also indicated a higher rate of removal per 1,000 children than in all surrounding states. While foster care and emergency removal are valid in certain cases such as sexual or physical abuse, prevention is fiscally and emotionally less costly. Often the removal process can be circumvented with early intervention.
In tough economic times, families are particularly vulnerable. Family dynamics are affected as relationships are strained over jobs and budgets.
For example, as families become overwhelmed with parenting and keeping house, their homes and children can begin to reflect an unkempt look that may not reflect true neglect. Removing a child from a messy home is traumatic and can be unnecessary. Teaching family members skills to keep their house clean, allocating chores, setting up a schedule and rewarding children for participating can build families instead of tearing them apart. Loving families want to stay together and maintain healthy lifestyles if given the opportunity.
Instead of supporting preventive approaches, legislators easily divert attention and funds to services that appear focused on fixing a problem that has received media attention. Reacting to a tragedy certainly has higher media impact than training a room full of parents about child development or how to handle preschool defiance. Continuing to throw money after situations, however, simply does not make sense.
Instead of a reactive approach, let's try proactive and allocate money toward some sustainable initiatives such as:
Counseling services for children and families starting to fracture.
Parenting classes.
Training for teen parents.
Independent-living skills training for youth leaving the system so they don't repeat the pattern.
In an article on DelinquencyPrevention. org, author Dr. Neil C. Headman says, "To this day, many programs continue to emphasize services to individual youth who have demonstrated delinquent or pre-delinquent behaviors, without giving sufficient focus to family, neighborhood, and community factors that facilitate or support negative youth behavior."
The Office of Justice Programs has allocated $60 million in discretionary awards to leading national organizations to strengthen, expand and implement youth mentoring activities and youth development programming throughout the nation, according to its website, www.ojjdp.gov. Another $37 million in grants will be directed to local mentoring organizations in fiscal year 2010.
The Indiana system appears designed with a punitive approach: punishment for families who don't have the skills needed to understand their children's development and how to deal with day-to-day issues; and punishment for youth who go against society because they didn't learn what they needed at home to make good decisions.
If we instead channel funding to organizations that support education, referral, training, counseling and support services, maybe fewer Hoosier children will be removed from their homes over the next few years.
Support prevention by funding organizations like Indiana Youth Services Association (www.indysb.org), which focus on the root cause. If legislators take a step back and understand the value of prevention, money can be diverted to these efforts and minimize the damage to families and children from a long-term perspective in the state of Indiana. Statistics are not as alarming where programs for prevention are intact. Let's increase the existing support network.
Maybe we won't have to read about so many tragic stories. Let's create a non-story.
Hall-Russell is CEO of the Indiana Youth Services Association in Indianapolis.
http://www.indystar.com/article/20101003/OPINION01/10030328/Help-families-instead-of-tearing-them-apart
Today is the Five Year Anniversary of the Illegal Kidnapping of My Granddaughter Isabella Knightly by Nashua, NH DCYF
The last picture received by Isabella's REAL Mother by her Case Wrecker in 2007
Isabella and Mommy-October 2005
Today is the five year anniversary of the Illegal kidnapping of my granddaughter Isabella Knightly by Nashua, NH DCYF.
She was stolen on October 3rd, 2005 after a false report was made against her mother, by a social worker who work's with DCYF at their cohort hospital in Nashua, NH.
The social worker was coerced and lied to by a Nashua drug Counselor. A Counselor who is supposed to be helping people, not lying about them in order to help herself. I pray other people see her for what she really is before they have to live through the nightmare my family has been put through for the last five year's. She keeps nothing confidential about anyone falsify's report's.She perjures herself in court. She help's no-one. Only herself. She's known as Nashua's "Crooked Counselor". Stay clear of her. She work's with the hospital and DCYF in order to steal undamaged newborn's. I wonder how much of a cut she's making off each stolen child.
So this is another year without Isabella. Another year fighting for her return. Another year of fighting the corruption within Nashua DCYF and the NH judicial system. Hopefully one day soon the federal government will investigate and stop the i funding of the illegally stolen children by DCYF due to falsified paperwork where services are NEVER given to families before a child is removed and relative placement in Nashua is NOT an option!
We love you Isabella and alway's will and I will NOT give up fighting for your return. You belong with your family, NOT stranger's! Some day you will learn the truth!
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