I want to say "Only in Florida." I want to, perhaps in the hopes that it's true. I certainly would hate to find that such miscarriages of justice and parenting couldn't exist in other parts of the country. However, I suspect that this is not the case, and what has happened in the Tampa Bay Area could and does happen elsewhere, too.
Recently, a 13 year old boy who sexually molested his 4 and 7-year-old brothers has been court-ordered to return home. As the St. Pete Times article stated:
When she balked, the mother said, protective investigators threatened to charge her with child abandonment if she didn't let him return.
Now her husband sleeps with the two younger children on a pallet of blankets in the living room to guard them at night.
How have we, as a society, come to THIS?
Now, I hasten to add that his mother is no angel. Both she and her ex-husband have abused and allowed abuse repeatedly in their home, as records show. As my grandmother always said, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Children are almost always a direct reflection of parenting.
However, we now have the opportunity to take the monster out of the home, or create even more victims. Why would we choose to put him back in that home?
The article also tells us that agencies are scrambling to find alternatives to get him out of there just as fast as he's been put back in. However, this should never have happened. There should have been an alternative from the beginning: No sane judge should have made such a ruling, and no well-structured, responsible society should tolerate it.
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9 comments:
This whole episode with the sibling molester makes me SICK!!! It is hard not to feel real sorrow for the perp ... he is a kid. This is not to say that I think there is much hope in turning him around at this late date. The system (which we oversee and fund) is a damn mess. Walk into an office of CFS and look around ... talk to some of the employees ... watch (if you can bear it) the inefficiency and incompetence ... get a feel for what our tax dollars are sponsoring and supporting. It would be laughable if it weren't such a horrible human mess!!! Sorry to sound so jaded, but ... sometimes the truth ain't so pretty.
The judge is not the one responsible for seeking and finding a placement for this boy ... that is what "the system" is paid to do. Given none of that was done, he is required to release the boy. The time to get the placement right is BEFORE the boy MUST be released. ARGHHHHHHH!
I agree with you about the parents.
This whole damn thing is heartbreaking!!
Do you think that social services are designed to fail so that people like Jeb can say "This is not working, therefore I propose we privatize it all and save some tax dollars"?
I do. DCF, public schools, WIC, and so on. All set up to fail so that people can get rid of it and have more money to hire more cops to keep poor (probably dark) people far far away from the gated communities and new $100,000 cars.
After all - that would be a good use of tax money. Keeping people out and/or away. Using the money to possibly help or educate po folks is a horrible waste.
Public Schools work great in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and so on. But not here. Huh.
The law is an ass.
Daniel is right. Some times the law does not serve society very well.
"Do you think that social services are designed to fail so that people like Jeb can say "This is not working, therefore I propose we privatize it all and save some tax dollars"?"
Lazy, the failure of social services did not begin with Jeb Bush. Yes, I'm that old. The system is fatally flawed, yet we keep it alive on life support. Look at the loins from which it sprung... flawed from the beginning it increasingly becomes a bigger mess with each new incantation or social fad. We keep adding on bells and whistles (mostly from political correctness) that increases the variables, loopholes and paperwork resulting in reduced effectiveness. Just one more big-ass government debacle. And, God help the deluded soul who points out the reality to the gatekeepers. being drawn and quartered would be merciful.
Just say' in.
There are forces at large that wanted social services to fail once everything was integrated. At least it seems so.
Jeb's true colors were shown when he suggested the "voucher" program. As if that will solve anything. What it will create is two school systems - one for the poor and one for everyone else. Say the voucher is for $3k. The private schools that charge that much now will just raise their fees to $6k. The people paying for it now will just keep paying, and kick in the voucher to boot.
So where does that leave the poor? The people the program is supposed to help? They will be forced to the voucher only schools. Schools with a lower budget. Teachers at those schools will be paid less. Equipment will be cheaper and older.
And we are back to "separate but equal". Only this time everyone will know there is no equal.
Jeb also started the move to privatize prisons. Wackenhut got contracts to run them.
Do you think it is a good idea to create an industry that only profits if people are locked up?
There are many many more examples.
And of course, this all makes sense. People stand to make money on the privatization of public goods and services.
Could this be why things were allowed to rot? So some asshole who lives in a castle can buy a bigger nicer castle?
KATHLEEN TO THE GOP RAMPARTS!!!
I want some ramparts. I would also like a 15 pound or even 20 pound cannon for my boat. That would be awesome.
All & Sundry, thanks so much for weighing in. I enjoyed reading it all! I have nothing to add, as you all have said so much that is admirable. That, and I have to finish my Harry Potter book that has been neglected for days. :P
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