I'm sorry to deviate, yet again, from my usual post, but I have found another subject that needs to be addressed. I was actually going to write about this the other day, but I need to take time for myself too, plus it gave me some time to really get my thoughts together better about this. The subject is the increase of child abuse and subsequent death. In Arizona, in the last year, I believe we have had 6, that we know of. That is six children, that their parents, abused to the point of death! What is the worst thing that these children could have done to deserve being killed? Now the general public is crying out for a major upheaval of Child Protective Services (CPS) because they feel that the social workers are not doing their jobs.
I have two points of view to look at this from. One is from the view of the social worker. As a former case worker myself, I can honestly say that there is not enough time to truly focus on everyone on your caseload, and sometimes people fall through the cracks. It's my understanding that a special task force will be started that will be fully trained on how to detect child abuse with out the child saying anything. This is something that we should have had in place a long time ago. CPS is completely overwhelmed with cases, they do not have the time to focus on which children are being abused and which ones are at risk. With different departments focusing on different children, maybe these children can be taken off the "at-risk watch list", and the other children can continue to live without fear of continued abuse. When I worked with people with mental illnesses, I had a small caseload, which allowed me to focus on all of my clients. However, most other case workers had caseloads over 100. This is, I'm sure, what the CPS caseworkers have to deal with. It's too many people for the amount of pay. Not that that should be an excuse, but when you pay mediocre wagers, you are bound to hire mediocre people. Another example from my old job, there was a woman that was so rude to the clients, she would treat them stupid and demean them. It was disgusting to watch. She was actually the reason I left that job. Someone needs to protect these children since it is quite apparent that their own parents choose not to, but a better system needs to be implemented or restructured so no child is left behind.
The other point is from that of a parent. Sometimes it is rough being a parent, especially a single parent. When G was young, I remember telling my mom that I can see why some parents shake their children. I never would, but when you are all alone with a child that won't stop screaming and crying it feels like the last resort. I had a great support system when G was little, so that if I felt like I was getting to that point, I could pass her to another relative. However, these parents that starve their children or beat them with belts and other objects, well that is just inexcusable. The latest child that was killed, was kept in a closet for days. Her older siblings described the odor coming from the closet as death, and the girl looked like a "zombie", I assume because she was gaunt from malnutrition. They mentioned not seeing her for a few weeks before her mother finally called the police saying she was kidnapped.
We have all seen this "show" before. Parent calls police stating that their child has been abducted. Weeks into the investigation, police focus more on the parent, and eventually it is found that the parent killed the child. It's getting old. The worst part is that when Casey Anthony was acquitted, I knew the nation was going to see an increase of child abuse/killings because the abusive parents knew they were going to be able to get away with it. What bothers me the most is why are these children being killed, when the parents can take them to a fire station or a hospital and leave them there. Why are these people having these children to abuse?
I love my G with all my heart. If I could have her sleep next to me so I could hear her breathe all night, I would be in Heaven. I wouldn't sleep, but I'd be in Heaven! I feed her first at dinner time. Any money I have goes towards buying things for her. I can't imagine loving anyone more that I love her. So as a mother that gave birth to my little angel, I can not understand how other mothers can kill their little angels! Children need discipline, yes, but not torture and abuse. It just makes me so angry how people can do this to their own children! I'm more of an eye for an eye type of person, so I think that these abusers need some of their own medicine, but the country would never let us lock prisoners in a closet and starve them to death. It's immoral and illegal. Huh, what's good for the goose isn't good for the gander. Sad.
Next time: Seems so superficial to follow up with my next post, but I will.
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