Troubled by failure to protect children

The shame of California's foster care system
Neslon, Jennifer. Sacramento Bee, Dec. 14, 2008.

The recent story about the boy who was held for a year against his will in Tracy and physically abused should make our state leaders reflect on the success of our child welfare system and how seriously the courts deal with child abuse.

The facts around this case are horrifying. … (And) just last September, the Bay Area was rattled by the death of a 15-year-old foster child in her aunt's care. …

The maddening fact is that our state leaders would rather worry about global warming and spaying dogs and cats than protecting our children. These children were in the "system." Authorities knew that the boy was being abused. The state's solution? Send him to foster care (although the foster care system had already harmed him – it's no wonder he ran away from that home). We didn't even put his abuser in jail. (And the 15-year-old from the Bay Area) didn't even get the chance to be removed from her abuser's care. … Let's not forget that we, the taxpayers, pay these guardians – family members or not – to "care" for the children we place with them.

Every adult in this state should feel shame about these cases. …

Our state leaders need to find a way to shake up our foster care system and increase the protections for children of unfit parents. We should look at the possibility of creating a system of orphanages where children can be better supervised and protected. The Schwarzenegger administration and legislators should take a fresh look at the academic evidence of the success of orphanages and think about ways to support their growth. Honestly, if our leaders spent as much time trying to help fix the foster care system as they do talking about what kind of light bulbs we're supposed to be using, maybe we'd see some improvements in the lives of California's foster children.