Louisville Courier Journal "Spotlight[s] Abuse".
Spotlight on abuse
One of the most chilling, and unforgettable, stories in The Courier-Journal's “Children in Crisis” special report on child abuse deaths in Kentucky was about Samantha Chapman, and how she pleaded with child protection officials in Covington to remove her grandchildren from what she believed was an abusive home life. “I just started bawling. I was crying and begging the social workers,” she told reporter Deborah Yetter.
It is horrible enough that Ms. Chapman's 3-month- old grandson, Robert Ross Jr., died at the battering hands of his mother's boyfriend. Compounding the tragedy is that Ms. Chapman cannot learn what social workers did to try to help Robert, and neither can the public.
Laws of confidentiality impose an all-but-impenetrable shroud of secrecy around the system that is supposed to protect children.
That must change.
Something clearly isn't working with Kentucky's system of child protection. It is Kentucky's shame that 270 children died of abuse in the past 10 years, 41 of them in a recent 12-month period.
Alarm bells for transparency should be sounding for all stakeholders over those numbers — and over the concern of Patricia Wilson, Kentucky's social services commissioner, when she says past budget cuts have hurt services to children and families, and that further cuts “will have a significant impact on … our ability to meet our mandates.”
It is past time for victims, their families and the public to know how severely these cuts in dollars and programs have inhibited child protection workers and agencies in their duties, and whether and how their systems can be improved.
It also is past time for Kentucky to embrace a balance of accountability and confidentiality when it comes to child protection. Flexibility for that balance is written into Kentucky's law, but it is rarely practiced. The “discretion” mentioned in the statute has become a blanket that is seldom pulled back.
That, too, must change.
As the “Children in Crisis” series reported, most Jefferson County family court judges support opening family courts as long as the judges can close sensitive hearings. (A special salute to Judge Joan Byer for allowing Ms. Yetter to sit in her family courtroom, with permission of involved parties and without identifying them.) Half the states offer full or partial public access in family court. It is time for Kentucky to join those ranks, and Chief Justice John Minton's statement of support for a pilot project to allow access is welcome news.
Also in the name of sunshine — and for assessing the depth of the crisis and its impact on services, personnel and children and families, and offering lawmakers a solid basis for budget and program decision-making — the state auditor should conduct a performance audit on the Department of Community Based Services, which oversees child welfare in Kentucky.
Samantha Chapman deserves answers. So does the memory of her 3-month- old grandson, Robert Ross Jr. So do all Kentuckians.
One of the most chilling, and unforgettable, stories in The Courier-Journal's “Children in Crisis” special report on child abuse deaths in Kentucky was about Samantha Chapman, and how she pleaded with child protection officials in Covington to remove her grandchildren from what she believed was an abusive home life. “I just started bawling. I was crying and begging the social workers,” she told reporter Deborah Yetter.
It is horrible enough that Ms. Chapman's 3-month- old grandson, Robert Ross Jr., died at the battering hands of his mother's boyfriend. Compounding the tragedy is that Ms. Chapman cannot learn what social workers did to try to help Robert, and neither can the public.
Laws of confidentiality impose an all-but-impenetrable shroud of secrecy around the system that is supposed to protect children.
That must change.
Something clearly isn't working with Kentucky's system of child protection. It is Kentucky's shame that 270 children died of abuse in the past 10 years, 41 of them in a recent 12-month period.
Alarm bells for transparency should be sounding for all stakeholders over those numbers — and over the concern of Patricia Wilson, Kentucky's social services commissioner, when she says past budget cuts have hurt services to children and families, and that further cuts “will have a significant impact on … our ability to meet our mandates.”
It is past time for victims, their families and the public to know how severely these cuts in dollars and programs have inhibited child protection workers and agencies in their duties, and whether and how their systems can be improved.
It also is past time for Kentucky to embrace a balance of accountability and confidentiality when it comes to child protection. Flexibility for that balance is written into Kentucky's law, but it is rarely practiced. The “discretion” mentioned in the statute has become a blanket that is seldom pulled back.
That, too, must change.
As the “Children in Crisis” series reported, most Jefferson County family court judges support opening family courts as long as the judges can close sensitive hearings. (A special salute to Judge Joan Byer for allowing Ms. Yetter to sit in her family courtroom, with permission of involved parties and without identifying them.) Half the states offer full or partial public access in family court. It is time for Kentucky to join those ranks, and Chief Justice John Minton's statement of support for a pilot project to allow access is welcome news.
Also in the name of sunshine — and for assessing the depth of the crisis and its impact on services, personnel and children and families, and offering lawmakers a solid basis for budget and program decision-making — the state auditor should conduct a performance audit on the Department of Community Based Services, which oversees child welfare in Kentucky.
Samantha Chapman deserves answers. So does the memory of her 3-month- old grandson, Robert Ross Jr. So do all Kentuckians.
Labels: News reporting
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 3:03 PM
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