December 15, 2004
The Real World of Child Placement
Dear Editor,
Thomas Sowell argues the case against the return (or reunification) of abused/neglected children to their parents (see The “Family Re-Unfication” Gamble: Angelo Marinda All Over Again?). As a former prosecutor who represented the public children services agency in seeking removals and court orders, I have seen the results both of ill-advised returns and ill-advised removals. The notion that family reunification follows the path of least resistance and reflects nothing more than a faulty ideology that toys with human lives, is somewhat of a red herring. In the real world of child placement, children get abused and even killed by their parents, by foster parents, by adoptive parents and by institutional placements that serve as destination for kids driven crazy by too many placements.
The aphorism “blood is thicker than water,” may be cliched, but it’s true. Caretakers are not simply interchangeable. And, children will often fight with all their strength to be reunited with families. Often, permanent removal is the only option. But, it should never be the preferred option. And that is because the damage done to the child by destroying the family unit may not be reparable. And, not infrequently, the harm done to a child in substitute care is worse than what the parents have inflicted on the child.
The real problem is that we don’t value children. We either warehouse them or leave them where they are and turn our gaze away.
Regards,
Jonathan E. Schiff
Cincinnati, Ohio
A Marine “Killing An Unarmed Man in Cold Blood”
Dear Editor,
This is a perfect example of what becomes an outrage when war is waged without moral certainty — the world whines about enemy casualties instead of our own. If Bush is going going to compromise on his free-market principles by jacking up government spending and try to outlaw a host of peaceful actions in the name of Christianity, the least Bush could do is defend us with absolute certainty and indifference to how France and Germany feel about it.
Jay P Cross, Jr.
Stratford, CT