The 2014 murder of Eric Dean by his stepmother spurred limited but important reforms of Minnesota child protection practices. Today, in contrast, even very disturbing child murders often get limited attention from the media and public.
This Child Welfare Monitor analysis of Chase Allen’s death in Michigan could have been written about similar fatalities in Minnesota. Child protection left Chase to be abused by his mother for years, even after she blinded him. Ultimately his body was found in a home freezer. Afterwards, the story was quickly forgotten.
Perhaps we are suffering from child fatality fatigue because nothing seems to change. Rather than giving up, we need to challenge the inaccurate Progressive narrative that child protection removes children, particularly BIPOC children, from their homes for trivial reasons. Only then will authorities stop leaving children in violent settings until they are killed.
“Rather than giving up, we need to challenge the inaccurate Progressive narrative that child protection removes children, particularly BIPOC children, from their homes for trivial reasons.” More than one thing can be true at the same time – people can have fatigue, policy systems can be slow to change, some children can be justifiably removed from harm, and some children (particularly those of color) can be removed disproportionately for reasons that are unfair or don’t protect their immediate safety or long-term wellbeing. I don’t think this type of rhetoric around “inaccurate progressive narratives” is particularly helpful. Acknowledging that the system is broken – for all kids, frankly – is important and warrants a more critical analysis.
Rebecca. Thanks for your comment, I’m glad you are tracking these blogs. We try to be very nonpartisan in our comments but decided it’s time to name the reality that Family Assessment practices are getting children killed, and they are primarily promoted by Progressives, especially Casey Family Programs. When people hear practices like giving advance notice that child protection is coming for a visit and interviewing children in front of their alleged abusers they are stunned. I think it’s time for Progressives to own the fact that this approach has not worked and be open for making changes that rebalance the system more towards child safety.The tremendous pressure to keep children with their families is also causing great harm. We are experiencing an average of two child murders per month by their caregivers and as I believe our upcoming analysis of these deaths will show, many are preventable.
I don’t believe there is empirical evidence that BIPOC children are being removed unnecessarily, in fact the National Incidence Study suggests that Black children are being left longer in situations where other children are removed for their safety. As for Family Assessment or Alternative Response as it is called in most states, I recommend Kathryn Piper’s meta-analysis of these programs and it’s predecessor report by Hughes and Rycus. I will send them to you via an email. They give a solid, scholarly analysis of this approach.
I don’t think it’s child fatally fatigue that our nation suffers from. I think our nation could do better with teaching about child development and learning . At the root of this problem is that our nation does not support young families and parents.We talk a good line about children and families but in many parts of the country support for families is limited.
Stress , untreated mental health, and a drug epidemic add to problems impacting child safety. In addition there is the underlying view of children as property. I was raised by an abusive parent who went to church every Sunday. So I’ve experienced this concern both personally and as a mental health professional .
As a nation we need to take a look in the mirror as we move toward addressing the escalation of child abuse in our country.