Now that the time has expired for the governor to sign or veto bills, things have quieted down a lot in the capitol.
I was there two days last week holding my monthly hearing on Child Abuse and Neglect. We once again had a presentation by the Juvenile Office. Bill Jackson, the Chief Juvenile Officer of the 16th Circuit, gave a presentation on the Signs of Safety program that they, with the Casey Foundation, are implementing in his circuit.
The program attempts to focus on possible wins without ignoring possible losses. It sounds anything but easy! They emphasize complete and early assessment of the case and encourage engaging with the families in a constructive way in order to gather better information. He pointed out that there is a real effort to know the truth, not just a compelling argument. Their intent is to continually reassess the facts as new information becomes available. He feels they have a duty to avoid interpreting the facts in order to support their pre-existing theories of the case.
They strive to involve the child in the assessment process and encourage them to express his or her view of the situation. This approach encourages parents and children to offer possible solutions and moves toward reunification as soon as possible. His district is in Kansas City and they are having great success there with this approach. I am certainly encouraged by the Juvenile Office working toward solving some of the problems that seem to plague us in Kansas City and I hope that we find things there that will be useful in the rest of the state. I have monthly hearings scheduled through November and the Juvenile Office as well as the entire Division of Children's Service are providing extremely helpful testimony.
Child Abuse and Neglect is rising dramatically in our state as well as the rest of the country. What on earth are we doing to our children? Have we become so obsessed with self-gratification and "finding ourselves" that we are ignoring what really matters? Drug use, particularly heroin, is on the rise and with it comes an alarmingly high rate of neglect. It's not that heroin users intentionally abuse their children, they are just so intent on getting their next fix that they forget to tend to the needs of their little ones. Pretty horrible, huh?
Ask anyone in children's service or law enforcement and they can tell you stories that will give you nightmares. I promise you, they have a hard time sleeping some nights! We've got a tough job ahead of us coming up with solutions to not enough foster homes to place children in and increased pressure on the budget to hire more social workers and therapists and fairly compensate them. The division is working with legislators to find answers and provide the best possible solution to a seemingly unsolvable problem.
Now I'm going to rant and rave for a bit!
Just who the heck gets to determine what is politically correct? Have you ever heard of a Federal Division of Political Correctness? How about a state agency charged with determining what you can say or do this week?
We've suddenly run the Common Sense train right off the rails! I guess the Politically Correct Offices must be right down the hall from the Office of Offensiveness. I can just imagine telling my dad that I was offended by something he said! His answer; "tough," or, maybe "you're what?"
Have we become so thin skinned that we need someone to pat us on the back and say, "There, there, they really didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I'll just fine them a couple hundred thousand dollars or make them dig up a general that's been dead for 160 years or so." We are inundated with ridiculous changes brought about by small groups of people who grab headlines long enough to cause knee-jerk reactions. We make heroes out of people who opt to become transgender and refuse to lower the flags to honor the deaths of recruiters at the hands of a rotten terrorist. (Oops, I hope I didn't offend any rotten terrorists.)
We are deleting history at an alarming rate! We allow other nations to laugh at our stupidity!
For crying out loud, what are we becoming?
I imagine that's enough for this week, meanwhile, I am and remain in your service.
-- State Rep. Bill Lant may be reached by called 417-437-8223 or 573-751-9801, or emailing [email protected].
Community on 07/23/2015