2008 Woodie Awards
Leaving a child behind
Sardie Izzard
Issue date: 4/3/07 Section: Letters to the Editor
With the birth and mandate of the "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001, there was supposed to be a mass improvement on a student's success. One would have thought that many of the state programs that are here to assist in ensuring that the welfare of the child is taken care of would have followed suit. Yet, there are still children locally that are within the circle of Foster and Adoption and these cases are still not complete.
Just to embellish on that thought, some of these children have been in their out of home placements for over two or three years and because of the fact that there is an expectation of birth parent reunification, if possible, these cases tend to drag on and on. Sometimes they even result in these children going back to their birth parents and being reassigned to yet another out of home placement.
Let us not even start to discuss the Child Support Enforcement Agency. Quite frequently, there are several cases of delinquent parents that have not paid the proper support needed to ensure that the child or children involved have that extra hand. Studies now show that it is not the amount of adults in a household that contributes mainly to the well being of the child; it is the social systems and stability of those that are raising that child. If that parent or even parents is under financial stress, then how are we to expect them to assure that child is attending and doing well in school? One stressor leads to another. We must find ways to empower these parents, so that they empower their children. Only then may no child be left behind.
Just to embellish on that thought, some of these children have been in their out of home placements for over two or three years and because of the fact that there is an expectation of birth parent reunification, if possible, these cases tend to drag on and on. Sometimes they even result in these children going back to their birth parents and being reassigned to yet another out of home placement.
Let us not even start to discuss the Child Support Enforcement Agency. Quite frequently, there are several cases of delinquent parents that have not paid the proper support needed to ensure that the child or children involved have that extra hand. Studies now show that it is not the amount of adults in a household that contributes mainly to the well being of the child; it is the social systems and stability of those that are raising that child. If that parent or even parents is under financial stress, then how are we to expect them to assure that child is attending and doing well in school? One stressor leads to another. We must find ways to empower these parents, so that they empower their children. Only then may no child be left behind.
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