BALTIMORE - Maryland : Child advocates: State must do better forkids

Child advocates: State must do better for kids

http://www.examiner.com/a-846207~Chi...or_k ids.html

BALTIMORE - Jaime Malarkey, The Examiner
2007-07-25 20:14:46.0

In the same year a Baltimore teenager died in a state-run residential
detention center and a Prince George’s county youth died after a tooth
infection spread to his brain, child advocates today pressured Maryland
lawmakers to improve problems affecting kids that, according to a new
report, appear to be worsening.

Maryland’s rank nationally fell from 23rd to 24th in an annual child
wellness report released today from the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey
Foundation, which analyzed factors including infant mortality, teen
pregnancy and high school dropout rates. Using the foundation’s
indicators and some of their own, local advocates said the ranking
should be much better considering Maryland is the second wealthiest
state in the nation.

They said the gap is the third largest in the country. (Click here to
read the Annie E. Casey Foundations' KIDS COUNT 2007 Data Book.)

http://www.kidscount.org/sld/databook.jsp

“There is a pattern of consistent disappointment for the well-being of
Maryland’s children,” said Matthew Joseph, executive director of
Advocates for Children and Youth. “The first step to moving Maryland
from a state of disgrace to a state of success is to stop being a state
of denial.”

Statistics indicate Maryland’s achievement gap, juvenile recidivism
rate, kids’ access to dental care and the number of abused an neglected
children in group homes are also worsening, according to a panel of
local and national experts.

But their study used newly analyzed data that predated Gov. Martin
O’Malley’s administration — which they said is showing initiative, such
as considering bonuses to attract principals to under-performing schools.

Citing 17-year-old Isaiah Simmons, who died in January while being
restrained by staff at Bowling Brook Preparatory Academy in Carroll
County, Department of Juvenile Services Secretary Donald DeVore, an
O’Malley appointee, said the state is seeking to keep offenders in the
community rather than transfer them out of state or into detention
centers. The state closed Bowling Brook in March.

Foster home recruitment is also a top priority for the new
administration, said Brenda Donald, secretary of the state’s Department
of Human Resources, another O’Malley appointment.

“We do agree Maryland can do better and we will,” she said.

But advocates said they’ve heard the promises before. Charles Cooper,
administrator of the state’s Citizens’ Review Board for Children said
the state could save $50 million by recruiting foster homes instead of
sending children to group homes — the wrong solution, he said, for kids’
with “fixable” problems.

“We’ve heard before there was going to be progress, but we haven’t seen
it,” Cooper said. “This crisis is one that could be a danger and an
opportunity.”

BY THE NUMBERS
* Maryland has the nation’s second worst achievement gap for low-income
fourth-graders and others in reading and math; the gap is the fifth
worst nationally for eighth graders
* 70 percent of Maryland’s children enrolled in state-funded health
programs go without any dental care in any given year
* Of the nearly 10,000 Maryland children removed from their parents’
house because of abuse or neglect, 27 percent live in group facilities
rather than foster homes or with relatives; the figure has doubled in
the last decade
* 53 percent of juvenile inmates commit a crime again within one year of
release
Source: Advocates for Children and Youth Inc.



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.

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...