The following essay is the latest in the IFCWB essay series, Perspectives on Our Work:
Greetings, and thank you for reading this issue of our ongoing analysis and commentary publication, Perspectives on Our Work.
A report released earlier this year by UNICEF ranked twenty-one economically advanced countries according to six measures of child well-being. The report, Child Poverty in Perspective: An Overview of Child Well-Being in Rich Countries, ranked countries according to levels of material well-being, health and safety, educational well-being, family and peer relationships, behaviors and risks, and subjective well-being.
Not surprisingly (to many of us at least) the United States was ranked among the lowest of the ranked countries. Only Great Britain was worse in the average rankings. In fact, according to the report, “Great Britain and the United States find themselves in the bottom third of the rankings for five of the six dimensions reviewed.”
Even a casual review of national trends regarding child well-being confirms the above-mentioned report’s conclusions, and should be cause for alarm. Just last month the Annie E. Casey Foundation released the 2007 Kids Count report detailing the current state of child well-being in this country. The results, covering 10 indicators of child well-being, continue to be alarming. According to the report, “the size of the gap between black and non-Hispanic white children varies by indicator, but the outcomes for black children are worse on every one of the 10 indicators.”
Among the indicators… One in three (36%) African American children in this country live in poverty (income below $19,806 for a family of two adults and 2 children), more than three times the percentage for white children and almost double the percentage for all children. The African American infant mortality rate is 13.8 per 1,000 live births, more than twice the national average and almost 2.5 times the rate for white infants.
This data notwithstanding, there are still many African American families and children doing very well, and as I have mentioned previously, thriving against tremendous odds.
Ultimately, I want to strongly encourage all of us to reflect more seriously on the kind of society we live in, and the systems that would be necessary to truly respond to the challenges of struggling families in this country. More specifically, there is an extremely urgent need for us to develop culturally responsive strategies to significantly improve African American child and family well-being.
For those of us working in the child welfare system, it is our obligation to use all of our power and influence to ensure that African American families in need receive the supports that would truly be effective, not just those that have typically been made available.
Relevant services would include (but not be limited to) safe and affordable high quality housing; proven effective substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation programs, effective mental health services comparable to those accessible by families “with means;” stable and family-friendly employment opportunities that pay a living wage; access to free and/or affordable child care; relevant job training and educational advancement programs; safe and publicly accessible recreation and athletic facilities; as well as free comprehensive health care coverage for all families. Far from exhaustive, these would at least make for a good start.
It is imperative that we exhaust all of the support services practical, available and necessary before a child is removed from her or his family. There is nothing more sacred in the realm of African American childhood relationships than the relationship of an African American child to her or his family and community.
When a child must be removed from her or his parents’ home, it is our obligation to find relative caregivers or members of the extended family support network that would be appropriate resource families while the parents work on their challenges. We must ensure that these kinship caregivers and guardianship resource families get at least the same financial resources afforded non-relative (stranger) foster families.
Truly effective support and coordination programs must simultaneously be in place so that birth parents working on their challenges can have constructive interactions with their children and other family members. Experience has demonstrated, and research has documented, that this results in (expedited) family reunification when coordinated effectively.
Our challenge is not just to make the child welfare system that we have known in this society for decades work better. We must leave open for consideration that the foundational values upon which the modern day child welfare system rests is in fact contradictory to the aims of the system reform and transformation efforts we work toward… in fact contradictory to the aim of promoting family and child well-being.
I argue that we must articulate the foundational values that should undergird a truly effective and responsive set of systems that promote comprehensive community development and family well-being. At that point we can identify the real services and support resources families and communities frequently need and develop the structures and institutions that can provide those supports and services effectively and equitable to the need.
Ultimately, this country needs more than an improved child welfare system. We need a fundamentally revamped set of economic and human service systems that truly promote the well-being of family and community. My interactions with families, as well as child welfare and other human service professionals around this country, suggests that this is indeed a possibility.
I firmly believe this country is at a crossroads. We have the know-how and the resources to make this vision a reality. The critical question is whether we have the will, the courage and commitment to do it. Our challenge is to make our voices heard so that individuals with similar ideas can work together. This is our generation’s challenge. We can do this! We will do this! And we will do so in our lifetime!
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The author of this essay, Oronde A. Miller, can be reached via email at omiller@ifcwb.org.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Sometimes we must protect our children from the institutions!
Center's abuses didn't deter DHS | Inquirer | 08/05/2007
Every now and then we get a glimpse of what life can be like for some of our youth involved in this nation's child welfare, juvenile justice and youth rehabilitation systems. This story from this past Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer highlights the ways in which some youth "fall through the cracks" while institutions and their leaders look the other way. More than anything, this article and the conditions described highlights the fact that we have come to tolerate so much and demand so little when it comes to supporting those of our youth experiencing difficulties in life.
It is not surprising to me that some youth develop and display so little respect for adults in today's society, given the fact that many adults do so little to shield them from abuse at the hands of this nation's child welfare, juvenile justice and other youth development institutions. Even youth who are in trouble deserve basic rights, levels of respect and decency. We live in such a punitive society that is so unforgiving of youth and otherwise marginalized community members, yet we give a pass to others least deserving. The quality of our society in the future will mirror the quality of our children's developmental experiences today.
I realize that Philadelphia's child welfare system continues to get pounded with negative publicity. Fortunately, the system is undergoing significant reforms at this time. I still thought this story was worth sharing as it really does highlight an ugly reality that so many of us rarely see or hear about.
We have to do better when it comes to protecting our youth. Even if it means protecting them from those whose responsibility it is to support their development.
Every now and then we get a glimpse of what life can be like for some of our youth involved in this nation's child welfare, juvenile justice and youth rehabilitation systems. This story from this past Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer highlights the ways in which some youth "fall through the cracks" while institutions and their leaders look the other way. More than anything, this article and the conditions described highlights the fact that we have come to tolerate so much and demand so little when it comes to supporting those of our youth experiencing difficulties in life.
It is not surprising to me that some youth develop and display so little respect for adults in today's society, given the fact that many adults do so little to shield them from abuse at the hands of this nation's child welfare, juvenile justice and other youth development institutions. Even youth who are in trouble deserve basic rights, levels of respect and decency. We live in such a punitive society that is so unforgiving of youth and otherwise marginalized community members, yet we give a pass to others least deserving. The quality of our society in the future will mirror the quality of our children's developmental experiences today.
I realize that Philadelphia's child welfare system continues to get pounded with negative publicity. Fortunately, the system is undergoing significant reforms at this time. I still thought this story was worth sharing as it really does highlight an ugly reality that so many of us rarely see or hear about.
We have to do better when it comes to protecting our youth. Even if it means protecting them from those whose responsibility it is to support their development.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
The Unseen Victims of War... Preventable Maltreatment
Stress of war hits Army kids hard... Study: Child abuse goes up during deployments (USA Today)
USATODAY.com: "The Army-funded study found child neglect was almost four times greater during periods when the husbands were at war. Physical child abuse was nearly twice as high during combat deployments."
I suspect this is really not surprising to many individuals that work in child welfare, social services or (based on the sentiments shared by the family members featured in the article) military families. War is particularly difficult for families that have loved ones deployed. The stress of having a loved one deployed can reasonably be expected to affect both spouses as well as the children, increasingly one could reason, with a longer duration of deployment.
It is under these conditions, without the appropriate types and levels of support present for the family, that child maltreatment is more likely to occur. Many social service professionals would argue that these incidents of child abuse and neglect are largely preventable with the appropriate services and support mechanisms in place.
Ironically, the same can be said about so many children that come to the attention of child protective services in jurisdictions around this country... that many families would be less likely to abuse and neglect their children with more approprite support systems in place.
As tragic as this is, it does not seem too complicated to figure out at least some preliminary strategies for responding to this crisis. If this is true, the challenge is not in understanding the nature of this phenomenon, but in allocating the resources necessary to respond effectively.
Military families deserve it, as do so many families unnecessarily caught up in the often messy web of child welfare in this country.
USATODAY.com: "The Army-funded study found child neglect was almost four times greater during periods when the husbands were at war. Physical child abuse was nearly twice as high during combat deployments."
I suspect this is really not surprising to many individuals that work in child welfare, social services or (based on the sentiments shared by the family members featured in the article) military families. War is particularly difficult for families that have loved ones deployed. The stress of having a loved one deployed can reasonably be expected to affect both spouses as well as the children, increasingly one could reason, with a longer duration of deployment.
It is under these conditions, without the appropriate types and levels of support present for the family, that child maltreatment is more likely to occur. Many social service professionals would argue that these incidents of child abuse and neglect are largely preventable with the appropriate services and support mechanisms in place.
Ironically, the same can be said about so many children that come to the attention of child protective services in jurisdictions around this country... that many families would be less likely to abuse and neglect their children with more approprite support systems in place.
As tragic as this is, it does not seem too complicated to figure out at least some preliminary strategies for responding to this crisis. If this is true, the challenge is not in understanding the nature of this phenomenon, but in allocating the resources necessary to respond effectively.
Military families deserve it, as do so many families unnecessarily caught up in the often messy web of child welfare in this country.
Interconnection of Incerceration Dynamics and Family Well-Being
States Export Their Inmates as Prisons Fill - New York Times
So much of the activity that people involved in social serices and social justice efforts are involved in is talked about in terms of "issues." We work on this issue or that issue. But more often than not, so many of the issues are interconnected. The experience of priosoners, and as a result their families, is one of these such cases.
In discussing the challenge of being moved both frequently and great distances from their home towns, one of the prisoners was quoted in the article as saying, "You lose your family identity." This is one of many places that connect the issue of criminal justice and child and family well being in this country.
The relocation of prisoners across great distances tends to result in less frequent visits and even telephone contact with their families and children. It also tends to result in more frequent disruptions in their educational and other vocational pursuits as a part of the increasingly dwindling rehabilitation and training component of incarceration in this country. These dynamics directly affect the ability of prisoners to transition effectively back into their families and society-at-large upon release.
This article doesn't do the best job of covering these dynamics, but it does at least highlight some of the strain on priosners and their families.
So much of the activity that people involved in social serices and social justice efforts are involved in is talked about in terms of "issues." We work on this issue or that issue. But more often than not, so many of the issues are interconnected. The experience of priosoners, and as a result their families, is one of these such cases.
In discussing the challenge of being moved both frequently and great distances from their home towns, one of the prisoners was quoted in the article as saying, "You lose your family identity." This is one of many places that connect the issue of criminal justice and child and family well being in this country.
The relocation of prisoners across great distances tends to result in less frequent visits and even telephone contact with their families and children. It also tends to result in more frequent disruptions in their educational and other vocational pursuits as a part of the increasingly dwindling rehabilitation and training component of incarceration in this country. These dynamics directly affect the ability of prisoners to transition effectively back into their families and society-at-large upon release.
This article doesn't do the best job of covering these dynamics, but it does at least highlight some of the strain on priosners and their families.
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