NCCPR Child Welfare Blog: Foster care in DC: As a matter of fact, most foster parents ARE middle class…
…AND IT TAKES QUITE AN ACT OF STATISTICS ABUSE TO PRETEND OTHERWISE
The previous post to this Blog dealt with a response to an op ed column I wrote for The Washington Post. The response came from Marcia Lowry, executive director of the group that so arrogantly calls itself “Children’s Rights.”
Of all the things I wrote, the item that seemed to upset Marcia the most was a line at the very end in which I referred to the highest-in-the-nation pay rates for foster parents in D.C. (From $10,000 to more than $11,000 per child per year, tax free) as giving “middle-class foster parents … more than they need.”
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, January 25, 2011
Child Abuse Reporting Biased And Sensationalized
Child Abuse Reporting Biased And Sensationalised | Scoop News
Researcher Finds Child Abuse Reporting Biased And Sensationalised
Newspaper reporting of physical abuse of children in New Zealand is unbalanced, with disproportionate coverage given to incidents where Māori are the victims or perpetrators, according to research undertaken by Eastern Institute of Technology lecturer Raema Merchant.
Working on a thesis for her Master of Social Work, Raema examined news reports, feature articles, opinion columns and editorials about physical child abuse from 2000-2007. She also interviewed journalists writing such articles to identify and explore factors which might influence the way in which the print media portray the issue.
Researcher Finds Child Abuse Reporting Biased And Sensationalised
Newspaper reporting of physical abuse of children in New Zealand is unbalanced, with disproportionate coverage given to incidents where Māori are the victims or perpetrators, according to research undertaken by Eastern Institute of Technology lecturer Raema Merchant.
Working on a thesis for her Master of Social Work, Raema examined news reports, feature articles, opinion columns and editorials about physical child abuse from 2000-2007. She also interviewed journalists writing such articles to identify and explore factors which might influence the way in which the print media portray the issue.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Afghan infants fed pure opium - CNN.com
Afghan infants fed pure opium - CNN.com
Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan (CNN) -- In a far flung corner of northern Afghanistan, Aziza reaches into the dark wooden cupboard, rummages around, and pulls out a small lump of something wrapped in plastic.
She unwraps it, breaking off a small chunk as if it were chocolate, and feeds it to four-year-old son, Omaidullah. It's his breakfast -- a lump of pure opium.
"If I don't give him opium he doesn't sleep," she says. "And he doesn't let me work."
Aziza comes from a poor family of carpet weavers in Balkh province. She has no education, no idea of the health risks involved or that opium is addictive.
"We give the children opium whenever they get sick as well," she says, crouching over her loom.
With no real medical care in these parts and the high cost of medicine, all the families out here know is opium.
It's a cycle of addiction passed on through generations.
RELATED TOPICS
Afghanistan
Opium and Opiates
Drug Addiction
The adults take opium to work longer hours and ease their pain.
Aziza's elderly mother-in-law, Rozigul, rolls a small ball in her fingers and pops it into her mouth with a small smile before passing a piece over to her sister.
"I had to work and raise the children, so I started using drugs," she says. "We are very poor people, so I used opium. We don't have anything to eat. That is why we have to work and use drugs to keep our kids quiet."
The entire extended family is addicted.
This part of Afghanistan is famous for its carpets. It's so remote there are no real roads. The dirt ones that exist are often blocked by landslides.
The closest government-run drug rehabilitation center is a four-hour drive away. But it has just 20 beds and a handful of staff to deal with the epidemic.
The health dangers from opium
"Opium is nothing new to our villages or districts. It's an old tradition, something of a religion in some areas," said Dr. Mohamed Daoud Rated, coordinator of the center.
"People use opium as drugs or medicine. If a child cries, they give him opium, if they can't sleep, they use opium, if an infant coughs, they give them opium."
The center is running an outreach program to the areas that are most afflicted.
Most Afghans aren't aware of the health risks of opium and only a few are beginning to understand the hazards of addiction.
"I was a child when I started using drugs" 35-year-old Nagibe says.
She says her sister-in-law first gave her some when she was a young teenage bride, just 14 years old. Her children grew up addicts as well.
When her husband died, she remarried.
She said: "My new husband doesn't use drugs, nor does his family. Because of that I was able to come here and get treatment. Now as an adult I understand and I want to leave this all behind."
She has been clean for four months, but every day is a struggle.
Carpet weaver Rozigul, 30, is in the detox program with her three-year-old son Babagildi, his pudgy face covered in blemishes. She started using six years ago.
"When I was pregnant with this baby I was using drugs. So he was born addicted and was always crying. I would try to keep him quiet and make him sleep, so I just kept feeding him opium," she says.
Her addicted mother-in-law shares the bed next to her, curled up in a ball and mumbling to herself.
Three generations from one family, all struggling with a curse that afflicts well over one million Afghans.
Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan (CNN) -- In a far flung corner of northern Afghanistan, Aziza reaches into the dark wooden cupboard, rummages around, and pulls out a small lump of something wrapped in plastic.
She unwraps it, breaking off a small chunk as if it were chocolate, and feeds it to four-year-old son, Omaidullah. It's his breakfast -- a lump of pure opium.
"If I don't give him opium he doesn't sleep," she says. "And he doesn't let me work."
Aziza comes from a poor family of carpet weavers in Balkh province. She has no education, no idea of the health risks involved or that opium is addictive.
"We give the children opium whenever they get sick as well," she says, crouching over her loom.
With no real medical care in these parts and the high cost of medicine, all the families out here know is opium.
It's a cycle of addiction passed on through generations.
RELATED TOPICS
Afghanistan
Opium and Opiates
Drug Addiction
The adults take opium to work longer hours and ease their pain.
Aziza's elderly mother-in-law, Rozigul, rolls a small ball in her fingers and pops it into her mouth with a small smile before passing a piece over to her sister.
"I had to work and raise the children, so I started using drugs," she says. "We are very poor people, so I used opium. We don't have anything to eat. That is why we have to work and use drugs to keep our kids quiet."
The entire extended family is addicted.
This part of Afghanistan is famous for its carpets. It's so remote there are no real roads. The dirt ones that exist are often blocked by landslides.
The closest government-run drug rehabilitation center is a four-hour drive away. But it has just 20 beds and a handful of staff to deal with the epidemic.
The health dangers from opium
"Opium is nothing new to our villages or districts. It's an old tradition, something of a religion in some areas," said Dr. Mohamed Daoud Rated, coordinator of the center.
"People use opium as drugs or medicine. If a child cries, they give him opium, if they can't sleep, they use opium, if an infant coughs, they give them opium."
The center is running an outreach program to the areas that are most afflicted.
Most Afghans aren't aware of the health risks of opium and only a few are beginning to understand the hazards of addiction.
"I was a child when I started using drugs" 35-year-old Nagibe says.
She says her sister-in-law first gave her some when she was a young teenage bride, just 14 years old. Her children grew up addicts as well.
When her husband died, she remarried.
She said: "My new husband doesn't use drugs, nor does his family. Because of that I was able to come here and get treatment. Now as an adult I understand and I want to leave this all behind."
She has been clean for four months, but every day is a struggle.
Carpet weaver Rozigul, 30, is in the detox program with her three-year-old son Babagildi, his pudgy face covered in blemishes. She started using six years ago.
"When I was pregnant with this baby I was using drugs. So he was born addicted and was always crying. I would try to keep him quiet and make him sleep, so I just kept feeding him opium," she says.
Her addicted mother-in-law shares the bed next to her, curled up in a ball and mumbling to herself.
Three generations from one family, all struggling with a curse that afflicts well over one million Afghans.
A Berkshire Horror Story-Ma. Atty. Louis Piccone
A Berkshire Horror Story
A Shattered Existence
Louis and Elena Piccone were one day living an idyllic life when the retaliation of a legal opponent put in motion the machinery of the Massachusetts Department of Social Services, an incompetent, corrupt and vindictive local Police force and a court system not quite up to the the task, resulting in the arrest, and incarceration in solitary confinement of Louis and the scattering of his family across the globe. The story includes professional misconduct, lies, procedural errors, incompetence, denial of civil and constitutional rights and just plain bureaucratic inertia that resulted in damage to this family and young children.
Idyllic Life
Louis Piccone: ivy league graduate, attorney, young father, happy husband, proud homeowner settled with his young wife and three young children in Dalton, Massachusetts because his career with General Electric brought him to the community with the promise of Norman Rockwell’s ideal of small town America. His devoted wife Elena, graduate of a prestigious Moscow University, daughter of the Russian diplomatic corps, successful business woman, loving mother settled into a happy life in her adopted community of the Berkshires by conducting her numerous errands in her beloved Jeep Liberty as any mother of three young children aged 3,5 and 7. Three happy, healthy, well adjusted, remarkable, well cared for children in the full enjoyment of the innocence of an early small town childhood who will hopefully make significant positive contributions to our world. Little did this happy family know that their happiness would soon be shattered by a cabal of vengeful, sadistic social workers, bullying, overzealous police and vindictive judicial system – the underbelly of small town politics and corruption in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts.
Please click on the link above to read the whole article.
A Shattered Existence
Louis and Elena Piccone were one day living an idyllic life when the retaliation of a legal opponent put in motion the machinery of the Massachusetts Department of Social Services, an incompetent, corrupt and vindictive local Police force and a court system not quite up to the the task, resulting in the arrest, and incarceration in solitary confinement of Louis and the scattering of his family across the globe. The story includes professional misconduct, lies, procedural errors, incompetence, denial of civil and constitutional rights and just plain bureaucratic inertia that resulted in damage to this family and young children.
Idyllic Life
Louis Piccone: ivy league graduate, attorney, young father, happy husband, proud homeowner settled with his young wife and three young children in Dalton, Massachusetts because his career with General Electric brought him to the community with the promise of Norman Rockwell’s ideal of small town America. His devoted wife Elena, graduate of a prestigious Moscow University, daughter of the Russian diplomatic corps, successful business woman, loving mother settled into a happy life in her adopted community of the Berkshires by conducting her numerous errands in her beloved Jeep Liberty as any mother of three young children aged 3,5 and 7. Three happy, healthy, well adjusted, remarkable, well cared for children in the full enjoyment of the innocence of an early small town childhood who will hopefully make significant positive contributions to our world. Little did this happy family know that their happiness would soon be shattered by a cabal of vengeful, sadistic social workers, bullying, overzealous police and vindictive judicial system – the underbelly of small town politics and corruption in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts.
Please click on the link above to read the whole article.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Obama says: “Government should not intrude on private family matters.”
Obama says: “Government should not intrude on private family matters.”
Yes, it is true, President Obama said “Government should not intrude on private family matters.” Unfortunately he said this in reference to the right of women, doctors and nurses to kill unborn children – in other words, abortion.
Does his statement apply to the child welfare system? No. The government’s role, apparently, is to encourage the killing of babies (because they want population reduction) but once those babies are born they’ll do whatever they can to break up families and take babies and children who will later be so scarred, hopeless and homeless they’ll decide to go fight in the government’s wars. Of course, they can’t take all children, so they focus on the sub-set of families that are having a hard time in life. When these families aren’t strong and well-moneyed, it is easy to kick them while they’re down. Bully-government-agent-mentality.
So, President Obama, I thank you for that nice thought – that government should not intrude on private family matters, but so long as CPS is attacking families, you sound like a hypocrite to me.
Parents have been writing to you about the horrors of CPS intrusion into their families ever since you became president. And what have you done for them? Have you interceded in the county child welfare agency destructions of families? Have you asked to know the facts? Have you contacted any of these families for more information? Have you helped even one traumatized child return to his parents who love him? Have you done anything to stop the drug-crazed doctors from forcing drug cocktails on foster children? Have you refused to renew CAPTA to save this country’s children and their families?
Just what have you done about child welfare? Anything? Anything at all? I ask because from my point of view you haven’t done a thing and when I see in the news that you say government should not intrude on private family matters I can only laugh. Since when do you really care about what government is doing to harm families?
Oh, I know you care about abortion. Killing babies is fine with you. Allowing government agents to traumatize children by pulling them away from their loving parents is apparently fine with you. Forcing husbands and wives to separate seems to be fine with you.
I’ll be praying for you, President Obama. I think you’re the one who needs to change.
Source: Obama recalls Roe v. Wade, backs abortion rights by David Jackson, published January 22, 2011 in The Oval.
Yes, it is true, President Obama said “Government should not intrude on private family matters.” Unfortunately he said this in reference to the right of women, doctors and nurses to kill unborn children – in other words, abortion.
Does his statement apply to the child welfare system? No. The government’s role, apparently, is to encourage the killing of babies (because they want population reduction) but once those babies are born they’ll do whatever they can to break up families and take babies and children who will later be so scarred, hopeless and homeless they’ll decide to go fight in the government’s wars. Of course, they can’t take all children, so they focus on the sub-set of families that are having a hard time in life. When these families aren’t strong and well-moneyed, it is easy to kick them while they’re down. Bully-government-agent-mentality.
So, President Obama, I thank you for that nice thought – that government should not intrude on private family matters, but so long as CPS is attacking families, you sound like a hypocrite to me.
Parents have been writing to you about the horrors of CPS intrusion into their families ever since you became president. And what have you done for them? Have you interceded in the county child welfare agency destructions of families? Have you asked to know the facts? Have you contacted any of these families for more information? Have you helped even one traumatized child return to his parents who love him? Have you done anything to stop the drug-crazed doctors from forcing drug cocktails on foster children? Have you refused to renew CAPTA to save this country’s children and their families?
Just what have you done about child welfare? Anything? Anything at all? I ask because from my point of view you haven’t done a thing and when I see in the news that you say government should not intrude on private family matters I can only laugh. Since when do you really care about what government is doing to harm families?
Oh, I know you care about abortion. Killing babies is fine with you. Allowing government agents to traumatize children by pulling them away from their loving parents is apparently fine with you. Forcing husbands and wives to separate seems to be fine with you.
I’ll be praying for you, President Obama. I think you’re the one who needs to change.
Source: Obama recalls Roe v. Wade, backs abortion rights by David Jackson, published January 22, 2011 in The Oval.
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