Although it seems we are surrounded by huge political discussions, it’s not these big ticket items that have caught my eye or my ire in the past months. It is also not the presidential debate or the controversy over gun control that has taught me more about the American political process than I ever learned in History or Government class. I’m actually learning more about the way our legislature, namely state legislature works because of the impact a senate bill signed into law by our governor will have on children and the professionals who work with them.
A Little Background
I work at a residential treatment center for children ages 3-13. The children that enter our program have histories of horrendous behaviors. They kick, bite, hit, scratch and head-butt people. They have broken other children’s bones, stabbed people, killed the family pet, burned their house down and even committed murder. They are sexually reactive and have molested siblings and classmates. They’re defiant, manipulative, liars and thieves. They self-harm, cutting, head-banging, jumping from moving vehicles and have attempted suicide, numerous times. They threaten to kill themselves and others. But these are all behaviors. They are symptoms of what these children have suffered through and endured. They have experienced every type of abuse and neglect possible from their time in-utero to the time they were taken away by a system that often left them in their horrible circumstances longer than necessary. Much to the despair of so many who work in child welfare, often their stint in foster care just gave them more of the same abuse and neglect. It’s no wonder that they develop survival mechanisms that appear on the outside as behaviors that land them in psychiatric hospitals, juvenile detention and residential programs. They suffer from a myriad of psychiatric disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and reactive attachment disorder (RAD). These mental health issues add to the inappropriate and violent symptoms they exhibit on a day-to-day basis. Their past and their reaction to their past (their behaviors) are why they often blow out of placement after placement. Many have more than one disrupted adoption. Nobody knows what to do with them or how to help them. One thing is for certain, if these children do not receive the treatment that they need, treatment that helps heal their trauma through therapy, structure and a rewiring of their survivalist world-view, they will never be able to function in society, and even worse, they will never have a quality, happy, healthy life with connection to themselves and those around them. Why do I mention all of this in a discussion about politics and a senate bill? Because understanding the children says a lot about the juvenile justice, child welfare and mental health professionals who chose to dedicate their lives to make a difference to children.
Knee Jerk Reaction
We see it all the time. Something awful happens, especially something that could have been prevented if people would have paid attention and then performed their jobs with due diligence. Everyone scrambles to find answers to how this bad thing could have happened. In politics this usually ends up as a bill spearheaded by a passionate legislator who is going to protect the innocent, punish the guilty and save the world. This all sounds fine and dandy until you look at the process. In the case of the bill I’m focused on (Oregon SB 1515 if you’re interested), one residential program was shut down after findings of fraud and neglect. Should it have been shut down? Absolutely. Should those in charge be punished? You bet. Should the state child welfare workers who looked away when they knew something was amiss be fired? Yes. Should this incident have created a legislative whirlwind that will punish and harm child care workers; one that has the potential to shut down the only safe, therapeutic places in the state that help children heal? Absolutely not! The sad and infuriating thing about this process and this bill (like so many other ones that affect juvenile justice) is that those who could have made a stand and kept this from becoming law consciously chose to do nothing. The reasons why this happened have a lot to do with the political process itself which to this residential employee makes me seethe and fear for the future of not only the children currently healing in our care, but the ones who might never have the chance because of the fallout.
Oregon Senate Bill 1515 Ensuring Children are Safe regulates child caring agencies, tightens licensure rules and is designed to regulate the way child abuse and neglect are investigated. On the surface, who could argue that this is a bad thing, especially those of us who work with children? But underneath it eliminates oversight of the very system that needs overhauled (foster care) putting the onus of scrutiny, investigation and overly broad child abuse/neglect definitions on those working with children in residential settings. How could something like this pass? Just listen to the answers of all the other legislators who believed that the bill was not going to help but hurt when they explained, “How could I vote against a bill called ‘Ensuring Children are Safe’?” Then add on top of that conundrum, the fact the senator pushing the bill is head of the committee that holds the purse strings for the state. Basically, everyone knew that if they voted against this bill not only would they be labeled as someone who doesn’t want to protect children but at the same time anything they tried to get financial backing on would be killed in committee and you can understand why this bill passed 29-0. You can also see how learning the way our legislature works can make one cranky and quite honestly sick to your stomach.
I know I’m not alone in this frustration as I wait and watch good, caring people who dedicate their lives to working with damaged children fall prey to allegations and founded investigations of child abuse due to the overly broad definitions that I mentioned. For example, a carer gave the wrong medication to a child. Was there an expectation that this mistake could cause harm to the child? Yes. So by definition it is child abuse. But where is the intent to harm? It doesn’t exist but that doesn’t matter under the new law which has emergency rules going into affect July 1st. What do we anticipate will happen? Good people will choose not to work with children because of the liability. Good people will have their careers ruined. Programs will choose to or be forced to shut down. Then where will these traumatized children who need therapeutic help to heal and become viable, valuable members of society as adults go? Over-populated and completely inappropriate juvenile detention centers. That’s where. Now you can see why I wish I could bury my head back into political ignorance. But unfortunately, issues like this are happening all over the juvenile justice world. We have to be aware. We have to speak up. Fighting against political ignorance about the real nature of our work is just as important as caring for the children. Because if we are unwilling to fight for them, they don't stand a chance.
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Michelle Perin worked as a police telecommunications operator with the Phoenix (AZ) Police Department for eight years. She has an M.S. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Indiana State University and writes full-time from Eugene, Oregon. For more information, visit www.thewritinghand.net
