Here is a news article I found about the shelter I work in, this sums up my stress pretty well. (and by the way, we are at the point now that we are turning children away because we have sooo many kids)
Casa de los Ninos crowded with kids
Posted: Sep 4, 2008 05:15 PM MST
By Barbara Grijalva - email
The number of child abuse cases in Tucson in the past few weeks is raising huge concerns.
Grandparents were accused of keeping their 9-year-old grandson locked in a closet..
A mother admitted she starved her 6-week-old baby to death.
A mother's boyfriend was charged with murder in the January death of her 4-year-old son.
And, a Tucson woman testified she helped her boyfriend kill his two children.
You might be shocked by all the abuse cases surfacing, but the people on the frontlines in the fight against child abuse are downright angry, and amazed.
We can understand the anger.
The amazement comes because of the silence.
Casa de los Ninos Executive Director Susie Huhn says, "Why aren't we all up in arms and screaming out our windows. This is enough."
Tucson's Casa de los Ninos is being called on to shelter more and more babies and young children.
Huhn says Casa is almost at the point of having to turn children away.
There'll soon be no room for all of them.
She says everyone, from community leaders and organizations to each individual, needs to act.
She says, "It's not a state issue. It really is going to take community agencies. It's going to take government. It's going to take faith-based communities at large to say we're not going to put up with this. We're better than this."
Most of the young victims are victims of neglect.
And neglect can kill.
Law officers often are the first to reach the scene of a case of abuse or neglect.
Tucson Police Sergeant Carlos Valdez is with the Dependent Child Unit.
He has seen the worst.
He says, "Sometimes I've had nightmares. Yeah. Makes you cringe sometimes."
But Valdez says more often it's a case where parents, especially very young ones, have no idea how to care for a baby.
He says they treat the baby like a toy, instead of like a person for whom they are responsible.
Valdez says, it's "how do I treat my baby? How do I feed the baby? How I take care of it overall? A lot of people don't have those skill sets and don't know where to reach out."
Like Susie Huhn, Sgt. Valdez wants the community to get more involved.
Valdez says, "If a person is out there and sees a child who doesn't look right, give law enforcement a call or give CPS (Child Protective Services) a call, so we can all look after each other's child."
He says, "We're not out to arrest every person we see, but if we can change the deviant behavior of the parent so they can become a better parent in the long term for the child, we've done our job."
Huhn says, even the tiniest babies can be affected for a lifetime by abuse, neglect or even being exposed to domestic violence.
She says "What we know now is that it does affect them. In fact, their brains actually grow smaller than children who aren't exposed to violence or trauma. Their brain wires differently."
Huhn says the experts also know that, with intervention that reaches the child and the caregiver, the child and family can be treated successfully.
Casa de los Ninos opened its Great Beginnings Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Clinic last year.
The children in treatment range in age from birth to five years old.
There's a waiting list.
Huhn and Valdez say there is help out there, and they want parents to ask for it before the pressures of life or the cycle of abuse or alcohol or drug addiction lead to another child being hurt.
Valdez says, "And if they were to take a step back, take a deep breath, and say I need some help here, I think we can prevent a lot of problems with our children."
There are parenting and prevention programs for parents, but abuse or neglect can be multi- generational.
Huhn says the community conversation should include finding ways to help families over a long period of time because their problems didn't happen overnight, and won't be fixed overnight.
If you suspect abuse or neglect, there is a toll-free Child Abuse Hotline you can call.
The number is 1-888-SOS-CHILD (1-888-767-2445).
To reach Casa de los Ninos, the number to call is (520)624-5600.
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