3 children's deaths spur call to action

[hippiechick]

http://www.indystar.com/articles/4/230412-2744-092.html

Rash of abuse deaths prompts child advocates to urge state to step up efforts to prevent such cases.


By Tim Evans
[e-mail]
March 19, 2005


Three children whose families had prior contact with the state's child protection system have reportedly died at the hands of caregivers in recent days, prompting advocates to call on the state and citizens to step up efforts to prevent abuse and neglect.

"We keep looking at how we can fix the problem, rather than what we can do to prevent it from ever happening in the first place," said Andrea Marshall, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Indiana.

"If we don't do a better job of preparing ourselves to be parents and caregivers, the abuse and neglect issues are never going to go away."

Marshall said innocent children like Aiyana Gauvin, of Lafayette; Romeo Randolph, of Kokomo; and George Rawls, of Gary, will continue to die until the state makes prevention a priority.

Their deaths highlight a tragic trend in Indiana: parents and caregivers accused of killing children they should be protecting.

hmmm, let's see ... how about, oh ... working on things like low income prenatal care & access to mentoring and counseling, middle and high school educational programs and uh -- jobs might be nice too - so that these traditionally younger and very much more stressed individuals can either
a/ realize that they don't have to become parents in the first place or
b/ have a base of support and coping skills so they don't 'act out' on the child when they get angry, mad, frustrated ...

DUH, Indiana ??? :freak:

[Ariana Celeste]

1. That is so sad...

This should have been taken care of before the fact!!

[kliljedahl]

2. DUH!! That's the state motto isn't it?

Underfund all the crucial programs (as you mentioned) & then act surprised when these things happen. They'll reprimand an overworked, underpaid caseworker & say the problem is "fixed."
That's the standard Hoosier solution.




http://www.kliljedahl.net

[hippiechick]

3. Hi K !

:hi: Lookit that post-count of yours !!
You're gonna be an old-timer right quick !

Woo Hoo ! :party:

[Gemini Cat]

4. Either that or they will toss up their collective...

...hands and say the children "fell through the cracks," as if that excuses them.
You are right however, they do underfund these programs.

[SpeedwayDemocrat]

5. No action until a crisis happens!

In this state, no one acts until AFTER there's a crisis (usually a death or horrible tragedy). Is this state just lazy or stupid? How many children must die before the legislators actually make this a REAL priority, and not just a sound byte? If they put the same effort behind this issue as they do surrounding the anti-gay marriage issue, it would have been solved years ago. Just one more reason I'm embarrassed to be a Hoosier!