The child welfare system is the canary in the coal mine. Anyone who truly gives priority to fixing this system needs to understand that the only key is to strengthen families while focusing on the best interests of the child.
Kids are removed from their families and placed in state custody because their parents cannot take care of them and keep them safe. Either the parents are abusive or neglectful or the child or youth has issues that they are unable to address in the home due to being too severe or because the necessary supports are not available.
A lot of legislators are determined to do what it takes to reduce the number of kids who are in state custody, which is at an exponentially higher rate than any other state in the country.
All legislators and other decision-makers may not always recognize the connection between the full range of their actions and doing what is really required to make the change that they want to see.
Any threats to the basic safety net for food; income; housing; physical and behavioral health care; child care and public education are also threats to families who are vulnerable to the mistreatment or distress of their children and youth. I do not need to recite here what these threats are that we see and learn about every day in real time.
Any reforms in the child welfare system are still tinkering around the edges, which key legislators say they do not want to do.
Reforms in the system itself are still badly needed, but they cannot get the total job done.
Flat budgets, funding freezes, cutbacks and anything that affects the availability of qualified professional and paraprofessional staff only make things worse. Minuscule tax breaks for working families, heroic volunteers and under-compensated caregivers can in no way make up the difference.
Combatting the resource issues requires a united front of all three branches of government and the private profit and nonprofit sectors along with other community institutions and supports. Pulling together this united front entails inspired and committed leadership and commitment to making the necessary changes at every level.
Every parent and every child need to be equally respected and valued. No one can be stigmatized as greater or lesser as a measure of their worth.
This is all so basic that I am almost embarrassed to write it. I live pretty much in a bubble where my neighbors and colleagues understand these things at a gut level even though we may vote differently.
I have been hearing and reading about legislators and other public officials who express extreme views of the value of their fellow citizens and families. I am puzzled about how those who hold or by default accept these kinds of views are able to reconcile them with their stated determination to fix the child welfare system.
At the end of a recent discussion in a legislative committee meeting about fixing this system, one member, a Republican, said that without money, their concerns are just sound bites. I am not sure of the scope of what he was referencing in terms of addressing family needs, including threats to safety net services.
The words “cognitive dissonance†come to mind. If there is a treatment or cure for this condition, I do not know what it is.
Maybe the first step is to recognize that this condition exists. Then together find and nurture the love, acceptance and mutual support that we need in order to work together to get the job done.
Betty Rivard, of ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä, is a retired social worker and planner for the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.
