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RICHARD WEXLER: REAL FOSTER CARE SCANDAL IS NUMBER OF KIDS REMOVED
RICHARD WEXLER: REAL FOSTER CARE SCANDAL IS NUMBER OF KIDS REMOVED
BY RICHARD WEXLER http://www.kansas.com/205/story/219708.html The real scandal in Kansas child welfare is not that the state is oppressing Sedgwick County by giving authorities "only" 72 hours to keep a child in limbo before a court decides if he ever needed to be torn from his family in the first place ("More time: Courts need flexibility on foster care," Nov. 1 editorial). The real scandal is that somewhere near 80 percent of the children torn from their families in Sedgwick County probably never needed to endure that trauma. If you can send a child home within a week, odds are you never needed to take that child at all. The same authorities who claim that tearing apart a family is done only when parents are a dire, imminent threat to their children now tell us that 80 percent of the time, the threat goes away within a week. Either the child goes home or is placed with a relative. Those authorities also tell us they need six days to investigate the case. But the way it's supposed to work is that you investigate first, then decide if conditions are so bad that there's no alternative to traumatizing the child by taking him away. The only exception is supposed to be an emergency. But if 80 percent of the children don't need to stay in care, few of these cases really were emergencies. In Sedgwick County, the mantra is: take the child and run first, ask questions later. Children experience time very differently from adults; for children it moves far more slowly. Six days of "protective custody" -- a better term would be "internment" -- can be agony for an infant, a toddler or a young child. Even as time moves at a snail's pace, there is no way to explain to the child why this has happened. How do you tell an 18-month-old it's all "for your own good"? The child may experience it as akin to a kidnapping. Other children may believe they've done something terribly wrong, and now they are being punished. As for the claim that Sedgwick County needs the extra time because of the area's complex urban problems, the counties that include the cities of Los Angeles and Chicago take children at a far lower rate than Sedgwick County without holding them for six days first, and both cities have excellent safety records. The claim that Sedgwick County takes children at the lowest rate in the state is a mirage, based on relabeling 80 percent of placements in foster care as something else. The federal government doesn't put up with that. The feds say if the child is out of the home more than 24 hours, it counts as an entry into care. It should. You can be sure it "counts" to the child. Richard Wexler is executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform in Alexandria, Va. CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA WIRETAPPING PROGRAM.... 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. CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON... BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION... |
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