911 call: Mom makes me do HOMEWORK!

AnneF- wrote:
Greegor wrote:
AnneF- wrote:
So will CPS provide free child care to single parents like this mother?
Or would CPS rather spend 40-60 thousand dollars a
year once a child like [this] one is in foster care?

40-60 K per year is only a FRACTION of what it costs.

Based on newspaper reports a few years ago it looks
like 160 K per year would even be low.

If a family actually fights the legal costs could
easily push the total package up to $ 230 K per year or more.

All of those "contractors" add up fast.

Probably with big bucks spent on state's attorneys and
$ 200 spent on the public defender
(raised from 50/hour up to 60/Hour in Iowa months ago).

If that is true than that's sad! Truly the money is not spending in
the right place.
A babysitter would have cost less than 20K.

AF

That $20K is also money that is paid by taxpayers...some surely people
who can't afford a $20K year babysitter.
Why should our tax money go to ongoing high expenses such as this for
parents who demonstrate an inability to responsibly care for their
children?

Why didn't this mom seek out alternatives?

I used to clean businesses at night and take my kids with me because I
could not pay for a babysitter...I don't mean that I could not AFFORD a
babysitter, I mean there was NO money for such a luxury. My children
were too old to qualify for state paid child care, and my only option
was to take them with me to work.

I know other parents who have done the same thing.

No one depended on the state to pay their child care. It's rediculous
to think that they should.

If you have kids take care of them or expect the state to 'help' you
take care of them.

0:- wrote:
AnneF- wrote:
0:- wrote:
AnneF- wrote:
Greegor wrote:
AnneF- wrote:
So will CPS provide free child care to single parents like this mother?
Or would CPS rather spend 40-60 thousand dollars a
year once a child like [this] one is in foster care?
40-60 K per year is only a FRACTION of what it costs.

Based on newspaper reports a few years ago it looks
like 160 K per year would even be low.

If a family actually fights the legal costs could
easily push the total package up to $ 230 K per year or more.

All of those "contractors" add up fast.

Probably with big bucks spent on state's attorneys and
$ 200 spent on the public defender
(raised from 50/hour up to 60/Hour in Iowa months ago).

If that is true than that's sad! Truly the money is not spending in
the right place.

See the public. See your legislator. Fix it then.

Gee! If only I were the Emperor.

Only Emperor's can speak out publicly, and to their legislator?

Fix it then!

I must be in some other country....or you are.

I am in dreamland! ;-)

Surely you have a solution to the problem that feminist liberals
(socialists) have been trying for decades to resolve...cheap or free
child care.

So you would rather spend 40K instead.

Now where did I say that?

How much does it cost to care for a foster child?

A babysitter would have cost less than 20K.

And who would that be? Greg?

I heard there is alot of immigrants willing to do the job.

You looking for something more than dog food for dinner?

I am looking for a baby-sittier. How much doest it cost?

This child, by the way, dummy Doan, was not removed. Remember, or can't
you read a cut and paste article?

Now where in the post did I said that the child was removed?

Well, you'd have a hard time arguing that this child could have been
given a baby sitter base on the argument that otherwise it would cost
thousands to remove him...as you see, he was't removed.

Now were you referring to some other children? Like those who are
removed?

Most of those are removed for cause far more serious than leaving them
home alone at 10 years old.

Really? Like being spanked?

Whatsamattah, USC catch up with your misuse of their servers? You
reduced to using anon remailers, or anon proxies?

What makes you think that?

Cause you are a stupid asshole.

Hahaha! From all the **** that came from your mouth, the asshole is
YOU!

Are you exposing your stupidity in public
again?

Nope, just yours.

Hihihi! You were the one that claimed I used "anon remailers, or anon
proxies"!
You are the stupid one!

AF

No class, Doan. Stupid, clumsy, crude, and half asleep.

Go back to your dogmeat dinner, dummy.

Hihihi! Your mom must be proud.

AF

0:-


AF

http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...612300316/1151

Lower Hudson area of New York

A kid's 911 call reminds us parents dodge many a bullet

(Original publication: December 30, 2006)

OK, we're going to say something that we don't really mean, just to get
it out of our system: Had "our" kid called 911 because we made him do
his homework, he would likely need the combined services of the
district attorney's office, the police department and child protective
services. And maybe the witness-protection program as well, because
they would have to let us out of the penitentiary eventually.

That was our unfiltered response to the story of the 10-year-old boy
who called police, asking that officers "come and take his mother
away," as police said, because she was pressuring him to do his
homework. Kids do say the most incriminating things. Yet we know there
is more to such a story than an overburdened 10-year-old and the police
who jumped to his 911 entreaties.

The mother on Thursday pleaded not guilty to a charge of child
endangerment, which was brought after responding officers discovered
the boy was home alone; his mother was working the 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
shift at a local restaurant. She apparently gambled, as so many parents
do, that no calamity would intervene in her absence. During a call home
to check on her son, she discovered that the boy had company - White
Plains police.

A lesson learned

New York has no bright-line rule on how old a child should be before
she can be left alone; the answer is subjective, based upon the
maturity of the individual child. The instant case offers some
guidance, albeit it tautological: If a child calls the authorities
because mom cracks down on homework, the child probably isn't old
enough to be home alone. That said, we know next to nothing about this
mother, this 10-year-old, or any other relevant circumstances, or about
the authorities who have pressed the matter so far.

From tragic experience, however, we do know that "home alone" can be
quite unfunny in real life, inasmuch as fires, poisonings, medical
emergencies and related calamities do not come with "advance" notice.
We can only hope, in any case, that the authorities investigating
"homework mom" exercise sound judgment; we suspect at this point that a
hard lesson has been learned, by her and no doubt countless others.

Rare is the parent - and by parent we mostly mean "mom" because that's
who typically is in charge of the kids - who doesn't roll the dice on
child care from time to time, praying their address won't end up in the
next day's police blotter. According to an October study by the
National Center for Children in Poverty, anywhere from 11 percent to 13
percent of children in grades kindergarten through eighth engaged in
"self-care" after school, meaning the kids are babysitting themselves.

Parents like us

The percentages are about the same at different income levels, a bit
higher for blacks, one-parent households and households where the
mother works 35 hours or more a week. That's legions of kids being left
to their own devices, whether for a few hours or sometimes longer. More
child-care alternatives - such as more affordable and accessible care,
and more after-school and community-based programs - would, of course,
free more parents of the "gamble" referenced above. Indeed, employers
and government certainly could do more to make such care more
available. (We bet if more bosses and elected officials were moms,
child-care would be as plentiful and accessible as mall parking spaces.

But in this age of two-income households, long commutes, busy schedules
and frequent surprises . . . let's just say there isn't much more than
grace separating many of us from the occasional "home alone" gamble and
an appearance in Family Court. We should cross our fingers that that
doesn't translate into more 911 calls and real emergencies.

so if "mom" (or in rare cases dad) is incapable of providing appropraite
care, we should have pity on them? Maybe the kid should be with somone who
*can* provide the proper care..... Or maybe mom should spend the child
support (welfare) money she gets on day care or a babysitter.
-JD




"Greegor" wrote in message
s.com...
http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...612300316/1151

Lower Hudson area of New York

A kid's 911 call reminds us parents dodge many a bullet

(Original publication: December 30, 2006)

OK, we're going to say something that we don't really mean, just to get
it out of our system: Had "our" kid called 911 because we made him do
his homework, he would likely need the combined services of the
district attorney's office, the police department and child protective
services. And maybe the witness-protection program as well, because
they would have to let us out of the penitentiary eventually.

That was our unfiltered response to the story of the 10-year-old boy
who called police, asking that officers "come and take his mother
away," as police said, because she was pressuring him to do his
homework. Kids do say the most incriminating things. Yet we know there
is more to such a story than an overburdened 10-year-old and the police
who jumped to his 911 entreaties.

The mother on Thursday pleaded not guilty to a charge of child
endangerment, which was brought after responding officers discovered
the boy was home alone; his mother was working the 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
shift at a local restaurant. She apparently gambled, as so many parents
do, that no calamity would intervene in her absence. During a call home
to check on her son, she discovered that the boy had company - White
Plains police.

A lesson learned

New York has no bright-line rule on how old a child should be before
she can be left alone; the answer is subjective, based upon the
maturity of the individual child. The instant case offers some
guidance, albeit it tautological: If a child calls the authorities
because mom cracks down on homework, the child probably isn't old
enough to be home alone. That said, we know next to nothing about this
mother, this 10-year-old, or any other relevant circumstances, or about
the authorities who have pressed the matter so far.

From tragic experience, however, we do know that "home alone" can be
quite unfunny in real life, inasmuch as fires, poisonings, medical
emergencies and related calamities do not come with "advance" notice.
We can only hope, in any case, that the authorities investigating
"homework mom" exercise sound judgment; we suspect at this point that a
hard lesson has been learned, by her and no doubt countless others.

Rare is the parent - and by parent we mostly mean "mom" because that's
who typically is in charge of the kids - who doesn't roll the dice on
child care from time to time, praying their address won't end up in the
next day's police blotter. According to an October study by the
National Center for Children in Poverty, anywhere from 11 percent to 13
percent of children in grades kindergarten through eighth engaged in
"self-care" after school, meaning the kids are babysitting themselves.

Parents like us

The percentages are about the same at different income levels, a bit
higher for blacks, one-parent households and households where the
mother works 35 hours or more a week. That's legions of kids being left
to their own devices, whether for a few hours or sometimes longer. More
child-care alternatives - such as more affordable and accessible care,
and more after-school and community-based programs - would, of course,
free more parents of the "gamble" referenced above. Indeed, employers
and government certainly could do more to make such care more
available. (We bet if more bosses and elected officials were moms,
child-care would be as plentiful and accessible as mall parking spaces.

But in this age of two-income households, long commutes, busy schedules
and frequent surprises . . . let's just say there isn't much more than
grace separating many of us from the occasional "home alone" gamble and
an appearance in Family Court. We should cross our fingers that that
doesn't translate into more 911 calls and real emergencies.

jd wrote:
so if "mom" (or in rare cases dad) is incapable of providing appropraite
care, we should have pity on them? Maybe the kid should be with somone who
*can* provide the proper care..... Or maybe mom should spend the child
support (welfare) money she gets on day care or a babysitter.
-JD

Call me a cold-hearted bitch if you want but I can't find any reason
why a parent can't find daycare these days. If money is an issue,
there are plenty of programs to help parents pay for daycare. These
programs are usually offered by social services/welfare department
either federally or locally.

In my opinion 10 is an iffy age, at best, to be left alone. I do know
a couple 10 year olds that could handle a couple hours alone at home
but the majority of 10 year olds just don't have the maturity to be
left alone. It's a very hard age. They aren't little kids anymore yet
they aren't teenagers yet either.

My daughter at 10 would have never been able to handle a minute alone
let alone several hours. Yet, my oldest son when he was 10 probably
could have. I never tested the waters in either case though. I even
have trouble leaving my daughter, now a mid-teen, alone for any longer
than a few minutes. It's all subjective as to when a child can be left
home alone.

lostintranslation wrote:
jd wrote:
so if "mom" (or in rare cases dad) is incapable of providing appropraite
care, we should have pity on them? Maybe the kid should be with somone who
*can* provide the proper care..... Or maybe mom should spend the child
support (welfare) money she gets on day care or a babysitter.
-JD

Call me a cold-hearted bitch if you want but I can't find any reason
why a parent can't find daycare these days. If money is an issue,
there are plenty of programs to help parents pay for daycare. These
programs are usually offered by social services/welfare department
either federally or locally.

In my opinion 10 is an iffy age, at best, to be left alone. I do know
a couple 10 year olds that could handle a couple hours alone at home
but the majority of 10 year olds just don't have the maturity to be
left alone. It's a very hard age. They aren't little kids anymore yet
they aren't teenagers yet either.

My daughter at 10 would have never been able to handle a minute alone
let alone several hours. Yet, my oldest son when he was 10 probably
could have. I never tested the waters in either case though. I even
have trouble leaving my daughter, now a mid-teen, alone for any longer
than a few minutes. It's all subjective as to when a child can be left
home alone.

I really don't want to fault anyone for their inability to pay for care
for their child from time to time. Things come up.
I had a friend who was working a part time job at night and paying her
sitter very little because the kids were in bed when the sitter was
there so they really didn't have to do anything but be there.
Well, her husband died, and suddenly she could not pay for the sitter
anymore, or the rent, or the food, or anything else.
It was just one of those things that happens in life that throws your
world into a tailspin.
It certainly didn't show that she was not capable of caring for her
kids, just going through a rough spot in life. That's all. It took
months and months for her to finally smooth things out, but she did.
I went through something similar when the kids dad and I were
divorcing, not getting any help from him at all, and he thought that he
owned the house, the cars, the business, everything and I owned
nothing, so there I was trying to support five kids on my income alone
and pay for sitters, I mean, it was a nightmare.
Temporary, but still didn't demonstrate that I could not take care of
my kids, just a little hump in the road full of humps in the road.
So, I understand that people fall on hard times, and that care is
expensive.
There are programs out there that can help, and they aren't all run by
the state or DFS.
The Salvation Army has some before and after school programs, as does
the Boys And Girls club, and in this area I believe that there are
churches that have daycares that are sliding scale fees.
The 'neglect' is in realizing you have problems and NOT looking for the
solution to those problems.

Betty

lostintranslation wrote:

I've got my tux reserved. ;-P

Hey Dan! Can I hitch a ride with ya to the wedding? I just got a
lovely Ren gown for my bday that would be most appropriate for such an
event! Greg, do you have a DJ lined up for the wedding that will
happen when Lisa's daughter comes home? If not, I'll bring along my
mixing table and all my CDs.

Wait! I have a friend who runs a 'karaoke on the road' show, I could
get a couple hours for about $300, and I have another friend who
caters...so that could take care of the food.
Not to toot my own horn, but I do wedding decor, flowers, etc and have
for years now for family, friends, and those referred...I could do up
some LOVELY flowers for the wedding party, unity candles, etc.
I'm looking forward to the day