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July 27, 2005

Make the Call--Now

The Oklahoma county in which I worked had a policy (and it may be statewide I don't remember) that all calls to its Child Abuse Hotline were investigated by someone in the field.*** It's a good policy, because all too often in my experience, a call regarding a relatively minor sounding complaint will turn out to be just the tip of the iceberg. I don't know whether or not that's how this investigation got started (hotline calls are confidential by law), but I suspect it's likely.

Police say when they arrived at the mom and step-dad's house, they found their trailer had no running water or electricity, and just one bed. Investigators say there was more dog food in the house than food for the family. They say, they found just one can of soup in the cupboards.

The legal catchphrase for this is 'environmental neglect'.....in other words, the kid(s) aren't being taken care of as they should. Usually cases like these are lower priority, services are provided to the family and everyone works together to get things back up to par and keep them that way.

However, in this case, like too many others I've seen, that's not all investigators found once they were at the residence.

It's a case of child abuse so horrific; it's reduced a police department to tears. Investigators in Gore, Oklahoma rescued a four year old boy who--they say--is skin and bones. The little boy tells police--that's not all--saying he was punished by being beaten, handcuffed, and put in a closet. The boy says it's happened in two homes, two counties. His mom, step-dad, and his aunt have been arrested.

More details in the article. Go read them. I'll wait.

Now imagine, if you can, what would've happened to this little guy if no one had called the hotline.

I've posted about this story not to sicken you, though it certainly will. But to point out that if you think there's something just not quite right about a family situation, or you think there's some type of abuse going on....call your Child Abuse Hotline. While it may just be a family down on their luck, err on the side of caution. It could be much, much more.

Your call could be a lifesaver.

Unlike Arkansas, which has the asinine policy of requiring the hotline operators to pre-screen calls....only some of which are passed along for investigation. An extremely stupid and dangerous policy which will eventually bite Arkansas in the ass, mark my words.

Just imagine what would've happened to this little guy if investigators had never actually visited his home.

And just imagine what an earful I could give our governor & state legislators on the ways to overhaul our present child welfare system. If I ever get the opportunity, I'll be all over them like a chicken on a junebug.

Posted by Rita at July 27, 2005 03:07 AM

Comments

My younger brother was a social worker for several years, and specialized in children. He was working a lot with the Rosebud reservation, and really liked his work. And then he transferred to the eastern part of South Dakota, and worked mostly with white folk. That's when it all went really sour for him.

He only made it a couple of years more, realized that he always had a huge bottle of Tums on his desk, and got out of it. He just couldn't take it. He's told me some stories about what he saw. It's just heartbreaking, how badly some people treat their children.

Posted by: Keith [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 27, 2005 08:38 AM

I'd much rather work with the Cherokee Nation CWS workers than anyone. The Oklahoma county in which I worked was a mixture of good, bad & indifferent. The latter two would drive you crazy.

Mike always asks me how can people do that to kids? I don't have a good answer. Most of the time, drugs and/or alcohol are involved. A small percentage are just freaking sadists, IMO. Another small percentage are mentally ill. And the remainder just don't know any better b/c that's how they were raised. Which is really sad.

Posted by: Rita [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 27, 2005 08:48 AM