|
CALL MIKE NOW
FOR A FREE INITIAL ASSESSMENT:
954-423-4414
|
 |
Reform U.S. Child Welfare System
|
PETER SAMUELSON
GUEST COLUMNIST
Whether Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, Americans
can support unanimously and with a whole heart the well-being
of children. That said, child welfare experts tell us that
a threat equal in cruelty and treachery to today's terrorism
endangers the safety of children: abuse, neglect and the perils
of our nation's child welfare and foster care systems.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
more than 3 million children were involved in reports of abuse
and neglect in 2002. Of those children, 896,000 were thought
to be victims and, tragically, 1,390 of those victims died.
Many more maltreated children die an emotional death and suffer
from post-traumatic stress, severe anxiety, depression and
low self-esteem. Too many contemplate or attempt suicide.
On any given day, a half a million children are in foster
care. The dictionary defines the word "foster" with
such descriptions as "to bring up, nurture; to promote
the growth and development of; to nurse, cherish." Foster
care is intended to provide security and protection from an
unsafe home.
But too many children become stuck, moving from home to home,
and never find permanency. Children and society pay a heavy
price for this unstable, precarious reality. The federal government
sets standards to protect children and find safe, permanent
homes for them. Yet not one state has fully complied with
these standards.
Rep. William H. Gray, D-Penn., former majority whip and chairman
of the House Budget Committee, who serves as vice chairman
of the non-partisan Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care,
notes, "The foster care system is in disrepair. Every
state has now failed the federal foster care reviews and we've
seen far too many news stories of children missing from the
system or injured while in care."
Much of the work to put children first involves changing their
secondary status under our legal system. First Star, a charity
I founded in 1999, is working on three critically important
issues for children in the upcoming 109th Congress: To guarantee
abused children in all 50 states the right to a competent
attorney during court proceedings; to eliminate legal and
regulatory barriers that frequently prevent child advocates
from exchanging information that can be vital to keeping at-risk
children out of potentially dangerous abusive situations;
and to increase system accountability.
First Star recently sponsored our third congressional roundtable
on children on Capitol Hill, chaired by Reps. Mary Bono, R-Calif.,
and Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif. Members of Congress used this
event to draft a letter that urges President Bush to work
to eradicate the national plague of child maltreatment. The
co-chairs plan to ask every member of the upcoming 109th Congress
to join in reforming the current child welfare and foster
care system.
As the father of four children, it is my fervent hope that
the president will prioritize the rights of all children during
his second administration. Likewise, we urge every member
of the 109th Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike, to
join in reforming the current child welfare and foster care
systems. Their disrepair poses a true threat to our nation
and to the safety and happiness of our nation's most vulnerable
children.
Let's nurture these children and give them the chance to healthy
and bright futures ahead. What better investment can we make?
Peter Samuelson is a Hollywood producer and co-founder and
president of First Star, the children's rights legal advocacy
organization based in Washington, D.C.; www.firststar.org.
|
