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Putting Children First |
| Section: BOOK WORLD / REVIEWS |
| Author: Richard J. Gelles |
| Publication:
The World & I Online |
| Issue Date: 2/1/2000 |
| Size: 2,225 Words, 14,282 Characters |
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NOBODY'S CHILDREN
Abuse and Neglect, Foster Drift, and the Adoption
Alternative
Elizabeth Bartholet
Boston: Beacon Press, 1999
304 pp., $28.50
Our child welfare system is in trouble. The most obvious problem, the failure to protect children from harm, is reported by local media almost weekly. Although the names and locations change, the stories are numbingly familiar--a child, usually an infant or toddler, is killed or horribly injured by its caretakers. The death or injury is tragic enough, but it is compounded by the fact that the child, its caretakers, or its siblings were already known to the state, county, or local child welfare agency. Occasionally, a death is so horrific that it captures national attention, as in the case of Elisa Izquierdo in New York City or Joseph Wallace, whose mother hung him with an electrical cord in Chicago. More often than not the tragedies are local events, focusing a critical spotlight on a local or state agency and not the national system.
The troubles are not merely local. They are not the failings of individual caseworkers, supervisors, or administrators. When tragedies occur, the mantralike claim is that the child "fell through the cracks in the system." These are not small cracks. They are national fault lines: long, deep, and always on the verge of swallowing up more victims.
The limitations of child welfare systems are well known. Eight y...
Read Full Article
... to improve, it must forsake a search for the "one size fits all" solution. The system cannot attempt to preserve all families or even make exhaustive efforts to preserve most families. As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, "Try everything, hold fast to that which is good." Adoption is good. We need to hold fast to it as one way of protecting children and assuring their developmental futures. vbcrlf
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Publication Details
(The World & I Online) |
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The World & I Online is a
comprehensive academic resource that encompasses a broad range of
articles by scholars and experts in the areas of Global Studies,
Liberal Arts, Fine & Applied Arts, General Science, and Spanish.
Originally published monthly in print as The World & I, our site
includes the complete contents since 1986 and continues to publish
a new issue online each month. |
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