This is a depressing diary to write, but I feel I must share this information. Today
Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez announced there was an "epidemic" of child pornography. His plan was a big new Federal Program to end Child Pornography- mostly by punishing the offenders. Like all epidemics, you could approach this by treating those who are sick or by preventing the contagion.
Child pornography is wrong. Sort of like 9/11- who could possibly be for child pornography?
So Gonzales is announces the Justice Department will fight those predatory pedophiles lurking on-line. Gonzales issued a "wake-up call" to the growing problems of pedophiles prowling the Internet and online images of sexual abuse of children.
Of course this is a serious issue- no jokes or humor. But the solution Gonzalez and the Justice Department offer is simplistic: greater penalties to the internet service providers unless they cooperate with the feds on these child pornography investigations.
"This legislation will help ensure that Internet service providers report the presence of child pornography on their systems by strengthening criminal penalties for failing to report it," the attorney general said.
Even though punishing offenders is a good idea, more must be done to catch child abuse early and get its victims help.
Is sexual child abuse the only problem?
Child death from abuse and neglect is a huge problem not mentioned by Gonzales. Children in these sexually abusive families are the ones murdered in many cases. Child deaths from abuse and neglect should be considered to be as serious a problem as child pornography.
Who are the front lines in protecting children from abuse?
Child Protective Services- Social Workers. They investigate complaints from neighbors, teachers, health care workers and even family members. How much does the Federal or state government want to spend to provide these social workers to enforce the existing laws against child abuse and neglect? Not much.
What state has the biggest problem with child abuse and neglect deaths?
West Virginia, according to a study from the DHHS announced in March of this year, at least between 2001 and 2003.
On March 28, 2006 the Charleston Gazette reported:
For those three years, the state's rate is almost double that of the next highest state, Texas, and about three times the national average. Altogether, 70 children died from neglect and abuse in West Virginia during those three years, about 23 children every year, according to those statistics.
Is WV that horrible compared with other states? Not necessarily- WV has been keeping better track of all child abuse and neglect deaths, according to Maureen Runyon, director of the state Child Fatality Review Team. DHHS gets its child death numbers from the state Department of Health and Human Resources.
For years, DHHR officials only reported children where child abuse is listed on their death certificate.
But starting in 2001, they began including the deaths investigated by the Child Fatality Review Team. The number of deaths the state reported increased from 4 to 29 within two years.
"I think it's too soon to say whether West Virginia is that much worse than other states," Runyon said. "Three years is not enough data to make that determination."
It appears that fewer state children died of abuse and neglect in the past two years, according to some preliminary numbers from the DHHR: 12 in 2004 and 16 in 2005. Those numbers still put West Virginia near the top of states in child abuse deaths.
The state Supreme Court is making prevention of child abuse a top priority. Chief Justice Robin Davis has declared this "the year of the child" and promised a series of judicial reforms to keep kids safe.
State legislators also have studied the child protection system since the December 2004 death of a Raleigh County infant.
Jonathan Coffman froze to death in the Stanaford home of his mentally retarded mother. He was 5 days old.
DHHR employees knew Sherry Coffman had no heat, but they failed to make sure she and her baby were safe, according to Lt. Steve Tanner of the Raleigh County Sheriff's Department.
In January, Delegate Virginia Mahan, D-Summers, and other lawmakers proposed two bills designed to help prevent child abuse and neglect deaths. One bill would create a special victims unit within the State Police to investigate child abuse. Another would create a child abuse registry so state workers could track offenders.
Both those bills enjoyed wide support among lawmakers. But they died earlier this month as a bill to increase penalties against child sex offenders dominated the media and lawmaker's attention.
That sex offender bill also died amid confusion and partisan wrangling on the last night of the regular session. Gov. Joe Manchin has proposed taking up all three bills in a special session in April or May.
Another proposal to prevent child abuse received little media attention despite evidence that it works. Child advocates hope that Manchin and lawmakers will include funding for in-home family education during the special session.
Punishment is one answer for child abuse and neglect, but prevention is better. However, being a CPS social workers is a hard and dangerous job. The burnout rate is very high and the work can be as dangerous as police work. And the salaries are very low, which fails to attract qualified people.
Personal story: My spouse was a front line CPS worker here in WV for over a year. He was paid about $25,000 a year with an MSW, licensing and several years of experience. This was a difficult and emotionally draining experience for him. He had to make life and death decisions on a regular basis. He was on call one week each month and often left in the middle of the night to deal with some crisis.
In his first week on the job, spouse took one baby from a mentally retarded mom at 5 days after birth when it was clear the mom couldn't feed the baby, who was dehydrated. Now the baby is adopted in a safe family environment. A local doctor reported the neglect to the authorities and my spouse was there or this could have been a tragedy like the frozen child! But there was terrible sorrow to take a child from a mom, even a neglectful and incapable mom. And lots of time and state resources were used to enforce this decision.
Is this just a WV problem?
No.
In 2000, the Atlanta Constitution wrote a story on child protective services in Georgia.
Low salaries are at the root of the state's failure to protect many children, experts say. Overwhelming caseloads in some counties also put children at greater risk. And a scarcity of foster homes and other resources often leaves workers with no alternative but to leave a child in a dangerous home.
The deaths of many Georgia children could have been prevented if caseworkers had acted quickly or decisively, according to a review of more than 500 child-protection files. In some cases, poorly trained caseworkers failed to take abuse complaints seriously, conduct thorough investigations, recognize danger signs or move aggressively to protect a child.
Only Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia pay lower entry-level salaries to child welfare caseworkers than Georgia, according to a survey of all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
So what could be done to prevent these deaths by abuse?
Charleston Gazette reports:
A study by the federal Centers for Disease Control found that child abuse could be reduced by up to 40 percent through in-home family education programs.
In such programs, new mothers and fathers are paired up with a trained, experienced parent who helps guide them through pregnancy and early childhood. For example, new parents learn how to deal with a baby who won't stop crying, a leading trigger of abuse.
WV has several of these programs, such as Maternal and Infant Health Outreach Workers in Fayette and Mingo counties, Healthy Families America in Cabell and Wayne counties, and Parents as Teachers in Kanawha and Putnam counties. Research has shown they help prevent abuse and improve child health.
But the programs are small and reach only a fraction of the families that need help, said Laurie McKeown, executive director of the nonprofit Team for West Virginia's Children.
For about $5 million, in-home family education programs could be taken statewide, McKeown said. That's small compared to the estimated $162 million annual price tag of the proposed sexual predator bill.
"I think it is great that lawmakers want to protect kids," she said. "I just think the discussion needs to be broader. We should support families up front instead of picking up the pieces when they fall apart."
Here is a report from Arizona after they began a similar program for child death investigation. This linktakes you to the 2005 report.
This study indicates that child death was preventable in 30% of the cases. The vast majority of the child deaths were due to premature birth, birth defects or illnesses. Methamphetamines contribute to many child deaths as does alcohol abuse.
Based on my spouse's experience, a lot of sexual child abuse arises in families with a boyfriend or re-marriage. Drugs and poverty aggravate the problems.
I know WV has problems. But I think Gonzales and the Republicans are putting the money in the wrong place with this emphasis on the dramatic child pornography issue. Why not encourage states to fund helping young families raise their children in programs the CDC has found to work to prevent child abuse and neglect?
Spending millions to track and lock up the sexual predators is less effective than intervening early to prevent abuse. And while we are at it, pay the Child Protective Services workers adequately and don't overwork them and burn them out. CPS is a terribly hard job, but critical and worthwhile.
Until Alberto Gonzales puts some money into CPS and prevention of abuse, he is a hypocrite using child pornography as an emotional political issue. Don't let Republicans get away with commandeering this issue- ask where the money for CPS is coming from to stop child abuse in its tracks. Ask whether Jeb Bush and Florida have done a good job to prevent these problems?
I will keep trying to prevent the local Republicans from hijacking a worthy legislative effort to prevent child abuse and turning it into another prison expansion bill that emphasizes punishment rather than education and prevention.
And say a prayer for those heroic foster families who met my spouse after an ordeal at the ER with a neglected or abused little child. Those foster families were amazing. Yes, there are some bad apples, but most were outstanding.