Montgomery County Juvenile Court’s Post

Do you care about children, especially those who face life challenges and traumas and need to know they are not alone? Join us and be a child advocate. Fight for justice, equity, and wellness for every child. Learn more about our programs which: 👉 Provide legal services that serve children placed in the child welfare system after facing abuse or neglect at home 👉 Provide the only free, in-house attorneys in Indiana to represent older foster children in court and what they want for their future through direct representation 👉 Provide services to help Hoosier families apply for a Medicaid-funded child mental health wraparound program from a state agency 👉 Provide free educational liaisons to help children who are struggling in school due to life challenges or traumas 👉 Provide workshops that are "Interrupting Racism for Children" to help build them a future where their race does not predict their life outcomes To get the help a child may need, support our work in any way you choose, attend a race equity workshop, and join us in being a child advocate, click here to learn more: https://lnkd.in/gBSfAJg2 #education #childwelfare #familyandrelationships #childadvocacy #childabuseprevention #childabuseawareness #children #childadvocate #mentalhealth #nonprofit

The local church is vital in this mission to build, strengthen, and restore Arkansas families. A case manager for Desired Haven Family Care shares, "Our most successful stories are the moms that get involved in a church and get surrounded by community. Some moms don't initially. They push that away for a while until we show them how beneficial it can be. We'll have churches come into the family care home to do a Bible study for the moms or have a Bible study in our community. We ask different churches to provide meals for the those times. That allows the moms to enjoy a warm meal and they experience a church that loves them enough to do that for them. It just softens their heart. So we're working really hard to build those relationships between the church and these women who maybe have never been to church or they don't feel comfortable. As we work on tearing down those walls with them, they get more and more comfortable about going to church. Advocacy is something that brings somebody from the church into the lives of these families. They get involved with a family and they build a relationship. It shows our moms that people really do care because Jesus cares. They build those connections and get strengthened and then they'll come to church. Then we see that those families are the most successful in our program when they allow themselves to get involved in a church and get surrounded by people that really support them and love on them. Advocacy is a beautiful component of what we do because it is the church being the church. God has called us to step into the lives of people who are broken and to care deeply and to stay with them even on the hard days and to show them the love of Christ." Here are three ways your church can impact the lives of children and families in your community: 1. Pray for our staff and the families we serve 2. Give to our Annual Offering 3. Support the families we serve by learning how you can volunteer Visit arkansasfamilies.org to get involved.

This case has such immense potential to make our systems of justice meaningful for young people facing exclusion from school - an issue that stats show will impact a person's wealth, health and happiness for the rest of their life. It is difficult to adequately express how much bringing exclusion hearings back within legal aid scope could impact young people who find themselves in this situation and their families - giving them access to specialist, consistent legal advice and advocacy. Legal challenge is a crucial part of improving social justice in the UK and we must use the full available toolkit to achieve greater equity - there are so many dark spots for young people in the UK at the moment, but this is a real spark.

The Star Tribune recently published a 3-part series about the need to better protect Minnesota’s children from abuse and neglect. The article noted that a dozen children with a child protection history died from maltreatment in 2021 – the second-highest figure in at least a decade. That’s about one child per month. Just as disturbing is the rate of recurrence. The number of children suffering from repeat abuse is up 60 percent in Minnesota, which is twice the national average. While the problem is multi-faceted, many people believe the state’s child protection system is skewed too much toward protecting abusers rather than the abused, including Kathleen Blatz, former chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. “We’ve got this system now that I think has elevated family preservation and parents’ rights over children,” Blatz said. “And the child pays the price. … If we ever did to domestic abuse victims what we do to children, there would be such a huge outcry.” We’re gearing up for the 2024 legislative session and planning to talk with legislators about the need for meaningful changes. And we’d love to have you join us in this work. Together, if we don’t advocate for these children, who will? Volunteer to help with legislative efforts at https://lnkd.in/gZXk6Duf Make a year-end donation at https://lnkd.in/gbvNnQd6 #safepassagemn #safepassage #forkids #childprotection #mnleg

Ten Reflections from Ten Years by Claire Louge "This month, I’m celebrating ten years with Prevent Child Abuse Arizona. To mark the moment, I’d like to share ten reflections from my past decade in this work:   1. Prevention is an act of faith. The everyday work of child abuse prevention doesn’t often bear immediate, tangible fruit. It’s planting seeds for trees that we may never get to climb or rest under. It’s worth doing anyway, even if we personally don’t directly benefit from it.   2. Understanding is evolving. In a good way. This may be a rare thing to say nowadays, but I think mindsets are shifting for the better, at least in our work. In the past ten years, we have seen an evolution in the understanding of what it means to actually prevent child abuse and neglect. Whereas many of us, myself included, used to focus on reporting maltreatment and improving foster care as the solution to child abuse, we’re now thinking differently. We’re running upstream, even though that sometimes feels a lot like running uphill. We’re focusing on getting families what they need, when they need it.   3. Being a parent is hard. And parenting is the most influential job in the shaping of our collective future. That’s why we need to do everything we can to support the needs of families.   4. System bias exists. More of us are aware of the biases that were baked into systems when they were designed, and the tragic impacts those biases have on groups of people. It’s up to us to redesign those systems to promote equity.   5. This work requires constant self-reflection...." Continue Reading: https://lnkd.in/ggpRZh7R

We must ensure that children's relationships with ALL of their important people are maintained in the face of removal from a parent or caregiver (AND otherwise). Health and healing happens in "their relationships" not the ones we fabricate for them. This is a Public Health issue. This is a human health issue. It is well proven that facing adversity with frequency and intensity is harmful to the growth and development of children physically emotionally and otherwise. Meeting adversity or alleged adversity...with further systemically imposed adversity as the intervention for kids??? (isolation of kids from their people) is outright harmful and makes absolutely no common sense. If we as a system are intervening due to kids being exposed to adversity...it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever that our response in fact replicates the same issue. Further adversity through separation and isolation. Relationships Matter

So you want a job where you can make a difference

I want to share a message from the President of Sunflower House, a child advocacy center here in Kansas that helps us in our investigations by conducting forensic interviews with children in a non-threatening environment: "Today, I ask for your help to advocate for child victims and their families.   For the last 40 years, the Victims of Crime Act and the Crime Victims Fund (CVF) have been the primary source of federal grant funding for thousands of Child Advocacy Centers and victim service providers across the nation—Sunflower House is one of them. Over recent years, we have experienced several funding cuts, and this year, Congress has left the CVF out of its 2024 appropriations. Without this appropriation, VOCA funding could be cut by 40%. These cuts would greatly diminish the critical services and support network for thousands of children and families who need help. These cuts would hurt Sunflower House and children and families in Kansas City. Children who have been victims of abuse, trauma, and violence are vulnerable and need our help and protection. Our essential services are at risk without VOCA funding. Like you, the thought of having to turn a child away is unimaginable for me. Here’s how you can help: A bill in the House of Representatives and the Senate would create a VOCA Stabilization Act to ensure funding is available for child advocacy centers nationwide. Call your local legislators, email them, and ask others to call to show support for this stabilization act. Every signature can help secure funding for Sunflower House and other Child Advocacy Centers to continue providing much-needed resources and life-changing care to child victims and their families. The minutes you take to reach out can be the difference in a child’s life. See below for more information and instructions on advocating for Sunflower House and thousands of children nationwide. With your help, children can receive care and support when they need it the most." -Judi Rodman, President and CEO Support Sunflower House's mission in protecting children. Call your legislators to help stabilize VOCA funding in Kansas!

There were over 76,000 calls into counties about possible child abuse and maltreatment in 2021, according to the most recent public data. That’s over 200 calls per day. Most reports are made by mandated reporters, such as teachers, law enforcement and social workers. However, the vast majority of reports are never investigated. That’s because the decision of whether to assign a case to Family Investigation or Family Assessment Response is made quickly, and often with limited data about a child’s immediate safety and risk factors. We believe counties should assess allegations of abuse and neglect prior to assigning a case to either Family Investigation or Family Assessment Response. The ability to gather more information leads to better decision-making – and safer children. Family assessment shouldn’t be the default. It should be the “alternative response” it was intended to be. Join us this session as we educate legislators about the work that needs to be done to improve the child protection system. We’ll provide all the training you need. Volunteer to help with our legislative efforts on Monday April 8th! Learn more and register at https://lnkd.in/gZXk6Duf Make a donation to support our work for kids at https://lnkd.in/gbvNnQd6 #safepassagemn #safepassage #mn #minnesota #mnleg #childabuse #childabuseawareness #childprotection #childwelfare #volunteer #give #forkids