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September 2010
NGOs
A liberating force for convicts’ kids
So Care, a Trust and free home for children of convicts, also provides vocational training to youngsters not inclined or equipped to go to school or college,writes Aruna Chandaraju
We are sitting at the office of So Care, a Trust and free home for children of convicts, talking to its genial Founder-Secretary V Mani. He is narrating to us how and when this unusual home came into being when Manoj Kumar, a well-mannered, earnest-looking teenager comes in with cups of tea. A group of brightly dressed, giggly, young girls troops in to replace their paint-boxes and books in a cupboard nearby, they have just returned from participating in a painting competition.
We try to chat them up. Manoj, now in his PUC, wants to study law and dreams of becoming a respected, successful lawyer. Some of the girls want to become doctors, a few say “engineer” while the rest only smile shyly and scamper away. These are among the 154 children currently at So Care.
The age of So Care inmates ranges from two to 20 and they are all well-behaved boys and girls who are also studying diligently. Most of them are enrolled at a dozen different private schools, a few are in junior college or engineering colleges and some are undergoing vocational training (like tailoring). All of them are children of lifetime convicts and under-trails across Karnataka’s jails.
It was in the late 1990s that a retired-from-RBI Mani and his wife saw these children languishing outside a jail and were moved by their plight. “These innocent children were suffering because of their parents’ crimes. The children were being deprived not only of parental care but also shunned by society because of the stigma attached to their parent’s status as criminals. We decided to something for these unfortunates,” he explains.
Mani put all his provident-fund savings into the creation of So Care in 1999. It took off with a few children and some likeminded volunteers as staff. Gradually, more children came into this fold and his noble aim became crystallised into a detailed mission statement: Provide comprehensive care to the children of lifetime convicts and undertrails. This care covers food, shelter, clothing, education and health care and help them grow into physically and emotionally healthy, normal individuals. Teach the children to be self-confident and help them integrate with the community. Rehabilitate the convicts’ families. Provide vocational training to children not inclined or not equipped to go to school or college. So Care is now a unit of Sharada Peetham (Sringeri).
The power of a good education
For the children who live here, the facility is truly a great
blessing. They are given good clothes, and delicious, nutritious meals,
and all their health needs are taken care of. And they are all being
educated carefully. As Vice-President M M Rao, whom Mani describes as
his great support, explains, “Education is the great liberating force
for these children. It is the key to their future happiness, success,
and future integration into society. Additionally, some children are
also enrolled in painting or Bharatanatyam classes or in a sport
depending on what they show inclination and aptitude for. Besides, we
emphasise the imbibing of good human values.”
However, ensuring their emotional well-being is probably the toughest job, considering all of them are ridden with a stigma. That is because, the law only metes out punishment, but sadly, society places a stigma on the wrongdoer and his family, and looks down on them. It is a stigma which blights the victim’s family. Also, many of these children have been traumatised. Many of them are victims of a variety of abuses like child labour for example.
There are some children who have actually witnessed their mother or father commit the crime. There are two siblings who saw their father murdering their mother. And some are in anguish because they believe their parent is innocent but wrongly convicted. However, their emotional health is ensured by the loving and caring atmosphere created at So Care by the staff, all of whom display a very sensitive approach to the children.
Mani explains how all this has had a wonderfully gratifying additional result. The children’s betterment has been a positive influence on the convict/undertrial parents. Generally, many hardened criminals and petty offenders tend to be unrepentant and cynical, even justifying their acts saying: after all ‘what has society done for us, it is full of selfish, unjust people’. “However, once they see their children receiving so much unconditional, unlimited love and their lives being transformed for the better, these criminals tend to soften up and understand that society is not so evil and cruel after all. Introspection and self-correction set in. All this reduces their cynicism and also instills some hope, positivity, and human values in them,” explains Mani.
This good work has received recognition. Many an award and honour have come both to So Care and Mani in particular. These include the Mother Teresa Excellence Award, Scroll of Honour from Jayaram Foundation, Canara Bank Recognition and Appreciation of Services to the Society, Shadaksharappa and Tara Charities award, and now the Harmony Silver Award from Harmony for Silvers Foundation.
Yet, Mani himself is largely unaffected by all this fame as he goes about his work quietly and unobtrusively. “As long as a person has productive years left in him, he should contribute to society. And I am only doing that duty,” he says humbly.
Future care
So Care plans to set up a facility to support at least 500 children in the next five years.
The ultimate target is 1,500 children as there are 1,500 life-convicts in jails in Karnataka, Mani tells us.
They also plan to establish a vocational
training centre called Endeavour to train the inmates and other
youth in specific vocations.
Aruna Chandaraju
28 September 2010
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/100058/a-liberating-force-convicts-kids.html
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PENNSYLVANIA
Gang presence makes survival difficult for Chester youths
The eighth-grade boy had an excellent attendance record. But, suddenly, he began to come to school several hours late. He didn’t want to discuss the reasons for his tardiness, so John Linder, then the superintendent at the Village Charter School, gave the student the benefit of the doubt. He said he’d inform his parents and that would be that.
Though the student wouldn’t say why he was late, a few of his friends eventually opened up to Linder, now a Chester City councilman. High school students were confronting the eighth-grader every day at the bus stop, they said. He had to fight every day just to get to school. Having moved to Chester’s East Side, the boy had found himself a pawn in the city’s dangerous east-west rivalry.
“One of the problems we have is the fact that gangs are so overpowering, children have no choice but to join,” said William “Rocky” Brown III, deputy police chaplain who’s trying to unseat veteran State Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland for the 159th District seat. “Especially if you come from a family where you’re an only child, you have very little alternatives, so you turn to the gang for survival. The culture is you’re either with us or against us.”
Gangs can foster a sense of belonging in children and teens who find themselves on the fringe, said Brown and Stephen E. Kauffman, Ph.D., associate professor of social work at Widener University. “It’s their family,” said Kauffman. “(Gangs) serve all the functions of the family. Their commitments are to the gang. “In some cases,” Kauffman added, the gang “is more important than their own life because it’s giving them some meaning.”
It’s a troubling and deadly allegiance.
For some time the prevailing belief has been that the main function of street gangs is to sell drugs, with shootings and killings the result of turf wars. It’s not so simple, says Chester Police Maj. John Gretsky, a second-generation officer who grew up in the city. “It could be anything. A shooting can be sparked over a fight about a female and it snowballs after that,” Gretsky said. Silly stuff like my neighborhood is ‘badder’ than yours. “It could also be a fight within the group itself for position,” Gretsky added.
Kauffman agrees, saying the things people have blamed in the past, such as drugs, are symptoms, not a cause. “Gangs give them a sense of meaningfulness to their lives,” he said. “We have to do something to make these people’s lives to feel more meaningful.”
The boy who had to fight his way to school every day is now an upperclassman at Chester High School. “We have those kinds of situations in the city and those students in the city that have that type of motivation to come to school, no matter the odds,” Linder said. “He’s that type of student. His story is not unique, really. … There’s all kinds of barriers (some students) have to overcome just before they come to school.”
The young man Linder spoke of has the grit and high sense of self-esteem and personal responsibility to succeed. Others are not so lucky. Of the 18 people killed in Chester this year, 12 were young black men under the age of 30; six of the homicide victims were 20 years old or younger. Those numbers don’t include the murder of 2-year-old Terrence Webster, who was shot by a gunman aiming for someone else.
Linder said the street culture perpetuates itself and thrives on those looking to shortcut the process to success. “It gives you a career path that nothing good is going to come out of it, just like the drug world,” Linder said. “In two to five years, you’re going to be dead, you’re going to be addicted or you’re going to be in jail, or a combination of the three. The probability of you being successful in that arena is very, very low.”
Brown, who conducts seminars dealing with gangs in Chester, said many youth are confronted with the gang culture from a young age, learning from older siblings. He provided one picture of a baby with a gang’s signature bandanna draped over its chest. As part of his seminar, Brown shows a video of gang members touting themselves. In it, alleged gang members flash drugs, guns and wads of cash. One member even calls for the end of “innocent” bloodshed. Not bloodshed in general, just innocent bloodshed.
Gretsky said he’s seen similar videos depicting gangs in Chester and said most of the men appearing in those videos are wannabes, imitating what they see on their street or through the media and pop culture. Serious gang members are too smart to post such material online, he said, but he admitted such groups exist in Chester.
But what is happening in Chester is not unique to Chester. Brown, Kauffman and other experts note that black-on-black violence is the number one cause of death of African-American adolescents across the country. “We’re our own worse enemy,” said Brown. “The culture is helping to fuel this, music, television, video games, they promote solving things in this way.”
Kauffman said many urban adolescents have a “severe detachment” from their community, a breakdown in community that is seen in society as a whole to a lesser degree. “Our society places so much emphasis on the individual, and there is a down, dark side to that,” Kauffman said. “If nobody cares about me, why should I care about anyone else?”
Police Sgt. Robert Archacki, head of the city’s juvenile division, said some children he finds roaming the streets after curfew are trying to get away from a bad home situation. “They might be out roaming around because their parents are under the influence of drugs or alcohol or the mom is the victim of domestic violence,” Archacki said. “Sometimes they just want to get away from the situation.” When a child is caught up in those circumstances, a social worker, on loan from Widener, meets with an employee of juvenile probation. The two work together to get the child into a diversionary program and out of the juvenile system.
Chester Mayor Wendell N. Butler Jr., a lifelong resident of the city, said a child’s home life is crucial to their psychosocial development. When a strong adult influence at home is missing, it can have tragic results. “It’s important to be raised by a mom and a dad. I thing that’s just the way life has been structured,” he said. Butler acknowledged that in the Chester community, many would-be male role models are incarcerated. “I know we have a lot of agencies trying to address that, but that’s a heck of a void,” he said.
Councilwoman Portia West believes that if change is to happen, the home is where it needs to begin. West, voicing a concern shared by many in Chester, said the home is where, ideally, children’s needs are met, identities founded and lessons learned. “We need to reach children at an earlier age, teach them to relate to others effectively so they achieve and not fail,” she said. “That should come from home. Children respond to the love.” She spoke of being at a local school recently, wincing at the recollection. “I heard one woman, who was dropping a child off at school, cursing this child out so bad,” she said. “It made me so mad.”
“It takes a village to raise a child,” added Linder. “Now we have to go back and reevaluate who is in the village.”
A lifelong resident of Chester, Kirkland believes that if a child has a solid education, solid family values and a sense of spiritual growth, they are unlikely to become involved in gang activity. “If a child can not read, can not write, or may have dropped out of school at an early age, they have a tendency to gravitate toward violent activities and violent people,” Kirkland said. The violence that is so pervasive in Chester, and other urban areas, is troubling on so many levels. Solutions are not simple. “It’s important we go beyond our own homes and neighbors and provide global education and spirituality to young people who find themselves in this lost situation,” he said.
Kirkland said little things, like a simple meal with the family or watching a movie together, help reverse the cycle. More and more families don’t have that connection anymore. “Everyone is fragmented and going in different directions,” he said. Sometimes that disconnect can be deadly.
Archacki recalled one woman who had lost her son to street violence. The woman was pointing the finger of blame at the police and juvenile probation. “She actually came in and complained to juvenile probation that it was their fault her son was killed,” said Archacki. The woman’s son had an outstanding juvenile bench warrant, but he had not been picked up. “She knew he had juvenile bench warrant, but she didn’t turn him in,” Archacki said. “She said I can’t do that, he’s my kid. Yet somehow, it was our fault.”
Gretsky tells a story about a young boy he met while he was a beat cop in Highland Gardens. He and the boy developed a friendship. But one day, the boy’s uncle saw him talking to Gretsky and came out and grabbed him by the collar. “Don’t you ever let me see you (expletive) talking to a cop again,” the man said to the young boy. “Is that the message you want to send?” Gretsky asks. “Sometimes people say we don’t care. But every one of us cares. It really affects you.”
Growing up in Highland Gardens, Archacki can pinpoint when things began getting bad in Chester. “It was back in the 80’s, when they closed down Sun Ship and there was an influx of crack cocaine,” said Archacki. “High unemployment, cheap drugs, within a matter of two or three years Highland Gardens went from a stable, close-knit community to a war zone. It was the perfect storm.”
Fast forward to 2010. “High unemployment makes it difficult for young people to find jobs,” Archacki said. “Education is still an issue and there are inexpensive drugs on the street.”
The improvements that have occurred along the city’s waterfront, the casino, soccer stadium, have not leveled the playing field by providing a substantial number of good jobs for city residents. If anything, some say, the development has only heightened the frustration of residents, including the city’s youth, who are still living below the poverty line. “It’s benefiting a lot of outsiders, not residents,” said Kauffman. “There is a real contrast between serious money-making operations and what’s happening a block or two away.”
It’s nothing new, Kauffman added. “People are coming into the community, taking advantage of the track, casino and then leaving,” Kauffman said. “It’s been going on for 25 years. I don’t see Chester gentrifying anytime soon.”
Change, if it occurs, will not take place quickly, said Linder. But that does not mean it cannot happen. “For the most part, Chester is changeable,” said the councilman. “Some people think it’s a lost cause. No, it’s changeable. We can do this thing. There’s things we can do, but we have to stay focused.”
John Kopp
26 September 2010
http://delcotimes.com/articles/2010/09/26/news/doc4c9eb6ed09624697177917.txt
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PENNSYLVANIA
Fostering good care results
Bucks and Montco received good marks from a child welfare group.
The number of Bucks County children in foster care declined, while the number of children who left foster homes for permanent homes increased last year, according to a report released Tuesday by a child welfare advocacy group.
In Montgomery County, the number of children in foster care dropped only slightly and the number of children who found permanent homes stayed level.
But indicators of child welfare performance in both Bucks and Montgomery in those and many other areas examined in the report were better than the average for other urban counties or Pennsylvania as a whole. "The good news here is that there is good news here," said Joan Benso, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Partnership for Children, which published the report.
The PPC's report, The State of Child Welfare, is part of its Porch Light Project to pursue public policy reforms and build political will to ensure that all children have a permanent home where their needs for safety and well-being are met. The report looks at data provided by children and youth services agencies in each of Pennsylvania's 67 counties and compares it from year to year to assess progress toward the goal of providing safe and permanent homes. "The overall picture in Pennsylvania is that we are really on the right track here," Benso said.
That statistical picture will be useful in coming months as Pennsylvanians elect a new governor and state agencies prepare for the change in administration, Benso said. The PPC will be able to make a case that current policies and systems are working.
In Bucks and Montgomery counties, the numbers show child welfare administrators are committed to the group's goal of safely reducing foster care placement and increasing family reunions when appropriate, Benso said. According to the report, the number of children in Bucks County's foster care program dropped about 8 percent to 593 from 2009 to 2010. Of those 593 children, more than 91 percent exit the foster care system by going to a permanent home with their birth parents, through adoption, guardianship or to live with other family members. That number increased from about 86 percent in 2009. The state average is about 87 percent.
Although other Pennsylvania counties performed better on average, Bucks increased the number of children placed in foster family settings from 62 percent to 65 percent. It also decreased the number of children placed in group homes or institutions from 33 percent to 30 percent.
In Montgomery, the number of children in foster care dropped negligibly from 526 to 521 between 2009 and 2010. The number of children who left the system to enter a permanent home remained level at 87.8 percent, slightly better than the state average. And the number of family placements in Montgomery County declined from 69 percent to 62 percent, while the number of group or institutional placements increased from about 28 percent to 31 percent.
Benso said that the numbers for Bucks are encouraging. "The trauma of a child being removed from his or her home is being mitigated somewhat because they're living with someone they know," she said. Benso also noted that the number of children leaving the foster care system because they turn 18 has dropped in both counties, which indicates the system is working efficiently to place children in permanent homes. Benso said the fact that Montgomery County's numbers stayed level or regressed slightly is no cause for concern. She said Montgomery County is performing better than the state average in most areas. "I don't think there is anything there that sends us a warning sign," she said.
Bucks County Children and Youth Director Lynne Kallus-Rainey said the agency's improvement in family placements is attributable to two factors: A state law that requires social workers to do an exhaustive search for kin with whom to place abused or neglected children and a new strategy for drawing on the strengths of a child's extended family network.
"Generally, there are strong members of a family network. Are those strong members of the family network willing to come forward and support the child?" Kallus-Rainey said.
Kallus-Rainey said the Bucks County Children and Youth Social Services Agency is also examining why the number of children re-entering the foster care system after returning to their families jumped from 15 percent to 22 percent between 2009 and 2010. Montgomery County saw a similar jump from about 8 percent to 15 percent. Such a jump could be attributable to failed reunions involving a number of large groups of siblings. In other cases people are simply unable to cope with the challenge of caring for children as they watch the children's parents struggle with addiction or other issues, Kallus-Rainey said.
Bucks Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia, a licensed clinical social worker who has paid particular attention to foster care issues as a commissioner, said she's glad that the Porch Light Project is tracking the data.
Marseglia has raised concern about agencies hired by Bucks County that use group homes and foster families outside Bucks County. When children are separated from their parents and schools by long distances, it compounds the trauma of being placed in foster care, she said.
Peter Hall
22 September 2010
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EUROPE
Swedish group to study horse whispering youth
A research team drawn from three Swedish universities is planning to study how children from various cultural backgrounds communicate with horses.
"The purpose of the project is to describe, analyse and to compare how children and youths with different cultural backgrounds communicate with horses," the researchers at Chalmers and Gothenburg universities stated in their application for ethical approval submitted to the Swedish Board of Agriculture (Jordbruksverket). The project is to be conducted within the framework of operations at the Gothenburg Disabled Riding Club and will analyse the behaviour of the children aged 10-18-years-old and is hoped to contribute to learning about horse-aided therapy.
The researchers plan to film the interaction between the children and the horses, and study cultural aspects of their interaction, such as languages spoken, values with regards to animals. They will then identify issues to address for those conducting therapy on children of varying ethnic and cultural backgrounds. "The project intends to contribute to knowledge about human-horse interactions within horse-aided therapy and in activities which raise the quality of life of participants, such as recreational riding for people with temporary or permanently reduced functional capacity or participation in society," the researchers stated.
Horses are a common resource used within therapy and the researchers observed that their beneficial effects are well-documented. Research into how the animals are affected in various care situations is not as broad however, and is thus cited as a reason for the study.
The study will be carried out as a partnership between linguists and language researchers from Gothenburg University and Chalmers, and ethologists from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
Swedish Ethical Committee on Animal Research (Djurförsöksetiska nämnden) has approved the research.
Peter Vinthagen Simpson
21 September 2010
http://www.thelocal.se/29160/20100921/
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MALTA
Will noise rage take over road rage?
Several days ago I read about a 60-year-old man being harassed by a couple of youngsters because he complained about their loud music. I was appalled that anyone should be physically abused for asking neighbours to keep the noise down. The two brothers ended up in prison for their actions.
Actually it wasn’t just because of their actions, but because they could not meet the magistrate’s requirement, for bail to be granted, that they live away from the apartments where the man they assaulted resides.
They were charged in court with breaking down their grandmother’s neighbour’s front door after he asked them to turn the volume down three times when they were playing loud music last Sunday night. The man only suffered slight injuries, but he must have been terrified to have his front door forced open and be confronted by two aggressive young lads and all because he complained about being denied peace and quiet in his home.
According to a comment online noise disturbance in apartment blocks is not uncommon. “Similar things are happening all over the island, in most apartment blocks, where most of the residents are too afraid to speak out, knowing they will not be protected, by the law.” And it is not just in apartments: “The same is happening with bars which are playing loud music and disturbing everybody else. Something has to be done, and soon”, said another.
Of course the boys’ behaviour was unacceptable and they should be shown that one does not go around breaking people’s doors down and bullying them, but I found some of the comments in response to the news item online uncalled for and a particularly tyrannical commentary from a woman, which I shall refer to later, even more appalling.
Before people start talking about boot camps, military service, locking young people up for a long time and worse, they should really look around them and accept the complete indifference to the excessive noise pollution all over the island. Let’s leave aside the worst noise polluters, especially in the summer, for today and look at why young people are completely unaware that loud music is a problem. Many of them are allowed to drive around the island rocking the streets with very loud car stereos, disturbing whole neighbourhoods, with no come back. So one can hardly blame the two boys in thinking that they can be just as noisy, in this case, in their grandmother’s apartment. Blame, however, is due for their aggressive reaction and they need to show remorse for their actions. Whether prison is the right place for susceptible young men to see the error of their ways is debatable.
“Keep them locked for as long as it takes, that will teach them a lesson,” said a commentator. My worry is the genre of lessons learnt in prison. And please stop blaming the parents, if you do not happen to know the people involved. Of course there are irresponsible parents who do not educate their children in what is and what isn’t acceptable behaviour, but one just cannot make gross generalisations. I just wish some people would do a bit of reading up on issues before passing on their ‘wisdom’ and despotic tendencies online.
“Military training for more or less everyone... Experience has convinced me beyond any shadow of doubt that child and youth upbringing is too imperative for a healthy society to be left solely to the whims of the natural parents and guardians. There would be no need for conscription if we could ensure that all children are brought up by responsible parents – but unfortunately, nature does not work that way,” said one particular female with obnoxious opinions that really got my goat. She had commented earlier: “All youths in Malta (females as well as males in the 16-25 age group) should undergo at least a year of boot camp and at least the discipline associated with living in a controlled institution for those deemed not to be physically fit enough to undergo full military training.
“Associated with this should be rigorous laws to ensure that people who get themselves out of such training will not be allowed to claim social security benefit or bring up children (even if their own). And parents would do well to teach their children – tactfully but continuously – to avoid mating with partners who have somehow managed to get out of this ‘formal, social training’.”
OMG, has this woman forgotten about some kind of branding, or perhaps an enclosure to keep all but the very pure away from her and her ilk? That wasn’t all she had to say either. “Apart from remanding in custody, in cases like these I believe that the law should be amended to allow a magistrate to impose hearing and mental health tests upon the culprits/criminals and also to impose the wearing of hearing aids if deemed necessary as well as to order sessions with clinical psychologists and/or psychiatric treatment. “Sadly, excessive personal liberty and abuse of the right to privacy are giving rise to far too much unsocial behaviour, sadism and crime in our country,” she declared. Wow, I just hope this woman does not have any children. “Mental health tests, psychiatric treatment and excessive personal liberty”, where has this woman been getting her ideas from, Mien Kampf?
From one extreme to another one commentator felt “very worried living in a police state cemetery here at times”, which was rather ironic considering it was the lack of enforcement of the cacophony around us that was at issue.
The following comment not only reinforces the latter statement but was rather amusing: “Ineffectual policing is one of the major problems here. A few weeks ago a policeman parked his car near where I live while he went off to control traffic during the village feast. His car’s alarm kept sounding off repeatedly every time fireworks were let off, which was basically all the time. When I pointed this out to the officer he retorted that I hadn’t been asleep because it wasn’t night time (before 23:00) so it wasn’t a problem! With that sort of attitude it is small wonder any policing is ineffectual.”
Then we had people blaming “Children’s Rights”, which of course has nothing to do with children and young people behaving badly. And as another commentator put it, not only the young are disturbing neighbours with loud music: “Youth has nothing to do with it. I am in my late 20s and my downstairs neighbour is somewhere in her 40s yet she is the one who plays loud music, which floods my whole apartment. All she has to do is lower the volume and close her yard window. I have spoken to her, said so, and she acted all flustered. Things were well for a few weeks but she’s at it again. I will have to talk to her again, and I am extremely uncomfortable doing so. With a bit of common sense and common decency, which at her age I’d expect her to have, I wouldn’t have to play the annoying neighbour.” This young man’s comments put it all in the right perspective.
Whereas people advocating challenging violence with worse behaviour was a worrying trend. “Some time ago while in a city in the US I saw two teenagers accost an old man who had corrected them for trying to buy alcohol when under age. When the teenagers tried to harass the old man he simply pulled out a gun and made them get on their knees and ask for forgiveness. “I wonder if we are reaching this situation if we allow old people to be beaten at will by whoever feels stronger, will these old people eventually decide to defend themselves?” Said one and another opined “Shame the old guy wasn’t a black belt, or have a baseball bat handy.
“As far as I know the law states protecting one’s self in your own home is a right and no matter what the consequences are to the intruder.” First of all, the latter statement is wrong. People abroad have been convicted for shooting at intruders in their home. Secondly, what we need is conflict management not escalating violence. Although I agree that equipping elderly people with self-defence moves is a good idea, the baseball bat idea might get them into a worse situation.
But to get to the crux of the matter, what is the authorities take on noise? The government does not only ignore the problem, but it also actually encourages noise, the louder the better. It believes it keeps the masses happy and their minds off anxieties caused by unpopular government decisions, which affect their standard of living. There is no policy that the police follow on the noise problem. It is very much a matter of individual interpretation. One officer could be sympathetic to a caller complaining about noise and will do something about it, while another will claim there is nothing the police can do bla, bla, bla... but may suggest one phones the local council offices, which of course would be shut, if the noise disturbances occur at night.
However, if a permit for loud music to be played has been authorised, especially if sanctioned by a minister, there is little an officer at the duty desk could do. As a commentator online put it: “I bet you that if these two youths had applied for a permit to play music till 3 a.m. they would have been given the go ahead. Proof? Ask the residents of Attard and surrounding localities.”
Of course the police do not give permits for loud music to be played in private residences (as far as I know), but we understand where that comment is coming from. This weekend and up until Tuesday, the Granaries in Floriana will sound like an enormous boom box celebrating Independence Day, if previous years are anything to go by. I was out till very late on Friday and Saturday so cannot vouch for the noise level emanating from the Granaries so far this year.
However, I do know that residents near Hasting Gardens in Valletta have to put up with ‘licensed’ loud music until the early hours, and the same can be said for many other neighbourhoods. Apparently loud music late at night from Ta Qali disturbs people in Mosta and beyond, And it is not just loud music. “I live in Qawra (nowhere near bars or restaurants) yet throughout the night processions of drunks amble their way homewards at all hours of the night, shouting, arguing, kicking cars, swearing and sometimes coming to blows, and no police presence whatsoever,” said another commentator.
Now I am not a party pooper and think people, especially the young should have fun, but it is the utter lack of control that is causing the problem. One must know how far one can go, or in this case how loud one can play or relay music. One cannot have a system whereby one venue is allowed to cause a disturbance, for whatever reason, and another is stopped, which is the way things stand at the moment. The government needs to get its act together on this issue and set proper guidelines for the police to follow. Otherwise they are going to have more noise rage as well as road rage to contend with.
Pamela Hansen
19 Sptermbe 2010
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=112420
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Words to live by: I am because you are
Can you even imagine a mother telling her child she didn't want her? It's hard to believe, yet it's something children in the foster care system know all too well.
If you ask most people, regardless if they've ever even had firsthand experience, they'd give the generic (and some would say, closed-minded) answer that raising adopted children is hard, and foster care kids, even more difficult. But, would the answer remain the same if all people had Ubuntu in mind?
Ubuntu, a traditional African philosophy, explains how we are bound in each other's humanity. Translated as, "I am because you are," Ubuntu describes a sense of unity between people through which we each discover our own strengths and virtues.
When brainstorming options with one of our PROUDgirls on the MOVE teams, we shared the meaning of Ubuntu and decided to make this a focus of our PROUDgives to come.
I am because you are.
When we set out to visit Little Flower Children's and Family Services Facility in eastern Long Island, we went with Ubuntu in mind. We piled into two cars with the same 15-17-year-old girls and took the drive out east into uncharted territory. The ride was similar to the ride to the soup kitchen with a lot of chatty and giddy conversation. Little did any of us know what to expect when we got there.
All we knew was that there was anywhere from 9-15 resident girls about the same age, awaiting our visit. These girls were all from different backgrounds and all had different family circumstances. Most were either awaiting placement in Foster Care or waiting for their parents to be rehabilitated from substance abuse. Some families just needed help getting stability at home so they could properly care for their children.
Once we arrived the vibe was a bit more anxious (I can actually feel the nerves as I write this) As the founders of this group, we were prepared with ice breaker activities to be able to merge the gap between the two groups of girls. You could cut the air with a knife. It was challenging at first to get either of the groups to open up, especially teenage girls from different worlds, but soon the mood shifted and became "cautiously" light-hearted.
The beauty was that after 20 minutes, the girls broke out into small mixed groups to just talk, play games and connect. The Little Flower girls shared their intimate stories about the violence they had experienced at home. One teen spoke of how her own mother told her that she had never wanted her. These were stories that the PROUDgirls could not fathom; yet they were real. It would bond them for months to come.
I am because you are.
There was laughter in the room and lots of dancing, but before you knew it, it was time to go. The mood completely changed. The PROUDgirls were heading back into their cozy worlds, leaving these girls to live their lives there, without a choice. It was hard to go and we all felt a sense of sadness and guilt. The last thing we remembered as we left the facility was glancing back to see nine girls peering at us from inside the doorway, " When are you coming back to see us, can you come next week?" were the last words we heard as we piled into our car.
Our girls were incredibly humbled and realized the good fortune they all were blessed with. They felt simpatico with the LF girls. Their lives were intertwined in just two hours. They could not wait to go back. And this began the most unlikely of friendships. With many more visits, and special events and holiday parties, their divide was non-existent. None of these girls see the differences anymore, but rather friends enjoying life together regardless of their circumstances or good fortunes.
With this example in mind, think twice about adhering to formulaic perceptions, and reach out with an open mind. With Ubuntu in your heart, imagine the possibilities of sharing and receiving love with an abandoned child. Remember it's not their fault their mother doesn't want them.
I am because you are.
"A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed." - Desmond Tutu
Carla Alpert and Diane Prefontaine
15 September 2010
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MICHIGAN
School-based health clinics have positive impact on students
According to a new report from the Michigan Evaluation of School-Based Health, school-based child and adolescent health centers provide a long-term positive impact on students, ranging from better health to improved academic performance.
The Health Department of Northwest Michigan operates two student health clinics, one within Pellston Public Schools, the other with Mancelona Public Schools. Both the Pellston and Mancelona school-based health centers are operated with state grants and provide primary care services on the school campus for free to area youth. Those who visit the health clinics do not have to attend the school.
“Students learn better and achieve more when they are in an environment that assures them a place to go to check on their physical and mental well-being,” said Pat Fralick, director of Family and Community Health for the health department.
The findings from the study indicate that child and adolescent health centers are associated with a wide range of health benefits. Their presence is associated with health benefits for the entire student population, such as less physical discomfort, less emotional discomfort, higher self-esteem, engaging in fewer individual risks, fewer threats to achievement and fewer negative peer influences.
In addition, students who used school-based health centers expressed benefits such as greater satisfaction with health, higher self-esteem and less physical discomfort and engaged in fewer risky activities. “If children are hurting physically or emotionally, it’s difficult for them to focus on school,” said Bill Tebbe, superintendent of Pellston Public Schools. “School-based health centers fill the health care gap that many students need to address.”
The Hornet Health Center in Pellston opened this spring. It serves patients 5 to 21 years of age. It operates on a grant from the Michigan Department of Community Health of $120,000 per year for seven years, when at that time, requests for another cycle can be submitted.
Medicaid and other health insurance policies are accepted. Services are provided at no charge, and are based on a sliding fee scale of the patient’s income.
News report
14 September 2010
http://www.petoskeynews.com/news/article_ae1c1042-c00a-11df-8d3d-001cc4c03286.html
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NEW MEXICO
Children, families and the race for New Mexico governor
I am the president of the New Mexico Pediatric Society and I also provide for the health of the children of Las Cruces and Doña Ana County. I am one of many pediatric colleagues from around the state who is concerned that the gubernatorial candidates address the issues that affect children and their families.
In July we submitted the following letter to both candidates. We have not yet heard a substantial reply. Again we ask them to address our concerns and we urge all New Mexicans to ask the candidates these same questions.
Dear Ms. Denish and Ms. Martinez:
A child playing with mud pies is fun; a candidate slinging mud is not. It is time for the candidates for governor to speak to the issues.
As pediatricians who provide health care to the children of New Mexico, we demand that candidates address the issues facing children and their families. The New Mexico Pediatric Society (the state chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics) helped develop the Agenda for New Mexico's Children in 2002. Now, in 2010, we propose a new agenda and expect that the candidates speak to these issues:
Access to health care for all children. How
will the changes in the new federal health reform help children? How
will Medicaid and SCHIP be continued, since they provide access to
health care for so many children? How will the pediatric workforce
be developed to provide enough pediatric primary care and pediatric
specialists to meet the needs of New Mexico's
children?
Prevention and treatment of childhood chronic diseases. Childhood asthma, dental caries and especially the epidemic of childhood obesity need to be addressed in order to prevent problems and save the lives of children now and in the future.
Behavioral health. Great shortcomings exist in the provision of behavioral health services for children and their families throughout New Mexico. Management of ADHD, depression and early detection and treatment of autism are only a few of the many serious behavioral issues that children and families face.
Early childhood. Investment in early childhood, beginning even before birth and followed with expanded newborn home visiting and a fully funded Pre-K program, will pay off by producing healthy adults who can contribute to their communities.
Youth. New Mexico needs healthy and well-educated young people who will provide the well-educated workforce of the future. We must have an education system that supports that goal. Young people should be supported in their efforts to learn how to lead healthy lives physically, emotionally and developmentally.
Health Disparities. Many children in New Mexico fail to reach their full health and developmental potential. Disparities in their health and well-being result from a complex interplay of multiple social and environmental determinants. We cannot fully address the other five issues that affect child health and well-being without beginning the difficult task of addressing the root causes of child health disparities.
It will take all of us - parents, pediatricians, local, state and federal government officials, non-governmental organizations and businessmen and women - to effect change. So, we pediatricians and other who care for children in New Mexico ask the candidates and all of us: Who's for kids, Who's just kidding?
Dr. Joanne Ray,
12 September 201
http://www.scsun-news.com/ci_16051884?source=most_viewed
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Averting tragedy: World Suicide Prevention Day
More than 3,500 Canadians die by suicide every year and, according to the World Health Organization, most of these deaths can be prevented. This Friday (Sept. 10) is World Suicide Prevention Day, a good time to talk openly about a difficult subject, discuss solutions, and dispel common misperceptions, officials with the North Shore Schizophrenia Society (NSSS) said in a statement.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among British Columbians aged 15 to 24. Up to 90 per cent of people who die by suicide have a diagnosable mental disorder such as depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or an addiction. Appropriate treatment for those disorders lowers the risk of suicide, so it is essential that people with symptoms of a mental illness have access to treatment as quickly as possible, said Christine Buttkus, NSSS Sea to Sky coordinator.
One of the barriers to treatment in the Sea to Sky corridor is that there are no full-time psychiatrists, but working with a general practitioner is always a possibility, as is getting a referral to a psychiatrist on the North Shore, she said. Families of someone who is mentally ill should not sit back. A proactive approach, rather than a wait-and-see attitude, is essential, she said.
For those with an illness who are having difficulty, a stay at Lions Gate Hospital may be required, which in turn may require involuntary admission, since more often than not, people with severe mental illness do not understand they are ill. Families in this situation need to ensure their general practitioner understands the provision for involuntary admission in the Mental Health Act and is willing to use it. Any doctor can issue a first certificate in order to have a patient she/he believes in need of acute care admitted to hospital for further evaluation and a second certificate if a hospital stay and treatment are called for.
Family members should contact the support coordinator at the Family Support Centre in West Vancouver, operated by the NSSS but covering all serious mental illness. NSSS has been providing services in Sea to Sky since 2008, including a support group. Family members should also register for NSSS’s Family-to-Family education course, now being offered in Squamish. Family-to-Family is a powerful tool for those with a mentally ill loved-one, providing understanding of the illness, support, know-how, and the background necessary to work effectively with doctors and psychiatrists, Buttkus said.
There are a few immediate things about “suicidal ideation” — thoughts of suicide — to remember as well. Many people are scared to raise the subject of suicide when they are concerned about someone who may be in distress, on the mistaken assumption that asking will trigger a suicide, or even put the idea in someone’s head. According to experts, the opposite is true, Buttkus said. Many people who are thinking about suicide are relieved to have someone care enough to ask. Questions like, “Are you thinking about hurting yourself,” and “How were you thinking of doing it,” are not easy, but they could save someone’s life, she said.
Another common myth is that when someone talks about suicide, he/she is looking for attention and is not serious. In fact, the “attention” the person is looking for is immediate and urgent help, and no suicide threat should be ignored.
The people left behind when someone dies by suicide often feel guilty, wondering if there was something they could have done — even when it is someone they weren’t that close to. It’s part of the grieving process, and should decrease over time. Attending a support group or one-on-one support sessions can help with the healing process and clarify feelings.
For immediate help for those who are thinking of hurting themselves, or are concerned about someone who may be in distress, call the 24-hour Crisis Centre Distress Line at 1-866-661-3311 or 1-800-784-2433 (Suicide).
8 September 2010
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CALIFORNIA
Class acts: Mary Asgill, Turlock High School
Soraya Fregosi nominated Mary Asgill for Class Acts. Fregosi said Asgill is a special, talented and dedicated teacher who pushes her students to "find their voice in writing." Asgill puts on a literary night at the end of the school year to showcase her students' writing and public speaking talents, Fregosi said.
Name: Mary Asgill
City of residence: Delhi
Occupation: English teacher, Turlock High School
Family: Married, three children
Education background: Bachelor's in English; master's in
reading; former literacy coach; current Great Valley Writing Project
teacher consultant
Teaching experience: 16 years
Why did you get into teaching?
When I was in high school, I had an opportunity to volunteer in
a literacy program at my church and saw, firsthand, the terrible
emotional and economic impact of functional illiteracy on people's
lives. I decided to try to help bridge the gap between the haves and
have-nots as much as I could.
What is your favorite thing about
being a teacher?
One of my favorite things is seeing a student who had zero
buy-in to education, zero belief that school had anything to offer him,
change his mind and decide to give learning a try and change his path.
What is the most challenging part of
your job?
Balance. Teaching can be very taxing -- especially with 150
students and 150 essays to grade, etc. The work is literally never done,
so finding ways to balance teaching demands with life demands can pose a
bit of a challenge.
What is the most important lesson
you've learned?
To continue updating my knowledge and examining my practice.
New research, teaching strategies, approaches to curriculum and
instruction, brain research, adolescent psychology and the like are all
foundations for good teaching practice, so no matter how long a teacher
has taught, it's important to learn, unlearn, think and rethink what we
do to ensure that we help our students.
What is your favorite teaching tool or
activity?
Students have grown up in this age of technology, so I've
learned to use technology as a tool they can easily use. We have a class
wiki, a collaborative reading and writing Web site. I might use the wiki
to post a video clip about a current event, or a radio interview with an
author, or a scholarly article. Then in small groups, we meet online,
using the discussion board to analyze and evaluate the work. We then
write, collaboratively, about it. The wiki allows students to tap into
their knowledge of technology but also learn to read multiple texts --
texts that come in the form of images and sound as well as alphanumeric
forms.
What's next in your classroom?
I will ask students to engage in problem-based learning. In the
past we have tackled problems in education, the environment, the economy
and the like. This year, our focus will be on community. The central
question will be this: What is the relationship and responsibility of
the individual to his or her community, and what problems exist within
that community that can be solved? I will ask them to look at,
understand and try to solve real-world problems within their
communities.
What advice do you have for students?
Students should always believe that they can achieve the goals
they set for themselves and take the steps to put plans in motion. I try
to help my 11th- and 12th-grade students understand that high school is
very different from the real world, so they'll need a plan. I help them
stay focused on life after high school by having them research the steps
they will take after graduation, whether it's college, military, the
workplace or vocational school.
What advice do you have for parents?
Find a way to stay in touch with children, especially teenagers
who can be very private people when it comes to sharing information
about their school day and social lives. Sometimes parents are the last
people to know what's going on in a teenager's life, so staying in touch
with teachers, coaches, campus supervisors, librarians, youth pastors,
employers and any other adult associated with the teenager is always a
good idea. It's also a good idea for parents to be more concerned about
being parents of their teenagers than being friends with their
teenagers.
What will it take to improve academic
success in the valley?
Recognition that we should not throw out the old ways of
teaching, just because the latest, newest method has come along, is a
start. Some of my best mentors are veteran teachers who have taught for
many years using techniques that set the foundations of good teaching
practice. We should also recognize that everyone has to help in the
literacy effort, including business, churches, city governments,
neighborhoods, bookstores, coffeehouses -- everyone.
How do you to reach students not
interested in school?
I find many ways to insert myself into their lives to show them
that I am here for them and that I care. I connect with their parents,
other teachers, counselors, coaches, significant others, friends and
employers. I tutor before school, during my prep period and after
school. I communicate online with them on the class wiki and class
e-mail. I help them find jobs. I make sure that I direct them to
resources to help them with emotional or socioeconomic challenges. I
attend their football games and theater performances. I am always there
to show them that I'm not just a teacher for them in the classroom, but
outside of the classroom as well.
What one area should schools put more
emphasis on?
Focusing on the reciprocal process of reading and writing is
key. Every teacher, no matter what content area, should teach reading
strategies and teach students to write about what they read or learn.
High school students know how to read, but may not always understand
what they've read, or how to analyze, synthesize or evaluate the
information, so teaching students reading strategies -- how to
deconstruct text structures, particularly in nonfiction -- should be a
daily focus.
If you could change one thing about
the current educational system, what would it be and why?
One great thing about this current era of accountability,
data-driven teaching and collaboration is that teachers have a better
handle on how to help students, but one of the downsides is that the
pace of teaching is accelerated. Teaching takes time. Classrooms contain
a vast variety of learners, and teaching all of them requires mastering
the skill of differentiating the curriculum and instruction to meet the
needs of every student in the room. This requires time. If I were queen
of the education world, I'd slow the pace of instruction.
What would surprise people about your
job?
Teenagers are very cool people. People tend to believe that
teenagers are difficult and downright scary to be around all day. That
is so very far from the truth! I have one of the few jobs in the world
where I can go to work every day and hear engaging discussions, read
powerful insights, and have side-splitting laughter with some of the
best and brightest in the world.
"Class Acts" is a weekly spotlight on outstanding teachers in the Northern San Joaquin Valley and foothills.
Sacramento Bee
6 September 2010
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/05/3008303/class-acts-mary-asgill-turlock.html
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PENNSYLVANIA
More grandparents fighting to stay in grandchildren's lives
When Carolyn and Dennis Konopka made the three-hour drive to McKean County early last month, they were looking forward to a visit with their granddaughter. They hoped it would not be the last.
The Konopkas, of North Huntingdon, had spent much of the previous year in court, fighting first for visitation — then custody — of Michell Hardy, 23 months. Michell's mother, Megan Konopka, 21, was murdered in a Bradford hotel in September 2009. Michell had been placed in foster care without the Konopkas' knowledge before her mother's death, and the foster family was trying to adopt her — a move that would terminate their legal relationship with their granddaughter. "After fighting all this time and maybe losing her, we would almost say, 'Go ahead, raise her, but we want to see her,' " Carolyn said before the Aug. 13 court date that would decide their fate.
While their daughter's murder made their case unusual, the Konopkas are not the only grandparents who have gone to court to protect relationships with their grandchildren. A 1996 Pennsylvania law that was upheld by the state Supreme Court in 2006 allows grandparents to petition for visitation if parents divorce, or for custody if they already are serving as caretakers.
As more and more grandparents take on some or all of the responsibility of caring for their grandchildren — more than 80,000 in Pennsylvania, according to census data — family and divorce lawyers say they are seeing more grandparents fighting to stay a part of their grandchildren's lives. "More people are aware of grandparents' rights," said Pittsburgh family lawyer David Pollock, who takes several grandparent cases each year. "The words 'grandparent visitation,' that's in the lingo now."
While many cases involve grandparents fighting parents, others, like the Konopka case, pit grandparents against child protective agencies. A 2008 federal law requires these agencies to make every effort to find relatives if a child is removed from his or her parents' care. In the sometimes hectic world of Pennsylvania's child protection agencies, however, notification does not always happen. "The agencies are underfunded, and to do due diligence is difficult," said Carol McCarthy, a Pittsburgh family lawyer and former child advocate. "If a kid comes into the system in crisis, they take care of that and move on to the next crisis. The grandparents didn't know they were there. And now they're bonded with the foster family."
'It was too late'
Like the Konopkas, Barbara Clayton and her husband Kirt were
not notified when their grandson, Marc, was placed in foster care. The
Philadelphia couple found out in 2007 that Marc had been removed from
their daughter's care because of her drug problem. He already had been
in a foster home for nine months. They were given visitation rights, but
they said the Philadelphia Department of Human Services did not allow
them to become Marc's foster parents. "They said it was too late,"
Barbara Clayton said.
In the three years that followed, the rights of the child's parents were terminated and Marc's foster mother filed paperwork to adopt him. The Claytons had not served as primary caretakers, and a judge told them they had no standing in court. In 2009, after two years, he ended their visitation rights. "What do you tell a child when his grandparents disappear?" Barbara Clayton asked. "Do you tell him we don't love him? Do you tell him we died? If it's confusing to us as adults, what do you tell a child?"
The Philadelphia Department of Human Services does not comment on individual cases, but spokeswoman Alicia Taylor said the agency's policy was to place children with relatives whenever possible.
Custody challenges
When grandparents do get custody of their children, they may
still face challenges. Sandra and Ronald DeSalle of Beaver Falls took in
their grandchildren, Kimberlee and Benjamin, in 1997 when their mother
began to struggle with personal problems. The DeSalles later were
awarded primary custody of the children, but they soon felt the
financial strain of caring for them.
The couple briefly considered letting them go into foster care. "Ron and I, we sat down with our granddaughter and said, 'Grammy and Pappy love you very much, but it's hard on us,' " recalled Sandra, 63. "And she said, 'You mean you would let me live with strangers?' "
Had they been an unrelated foster family, the DeSalles would have been entitled to a stipend, but the couple were denied the aid. With the ACLU, they took Beaver County Children and Youth Services to federal court. Six years later, they were granted back payments. "That was a big thing," DeSalle said of the precedent-setting lawsuit, which was combined with a class action and resulted in aid to many more grandparents across the state. "That was a long time in coming."
Her granddaughter Kimberlee, now 16, said she was grateful to her grandparents for everything they had done to keep her and her brother, now 13. "You need your family, even if sometimes it's rough and they don't have a lot of money," she said. "You need to know who your family is."
On Aug. 13, Carolyn and Dennis Konopka lost their bid for Michell, who turns 2 this month. Though a judge ruled that the foster parents should adopt her, Carolyn Konopka said the hearing left her and Dennis hopeful that Michell will grow up knowing who her birth family is. "The good news is we talked later to the foster parents," Carolyn Konopka said. "They want us to be a part of Michell's life, they said. I know that they love her, and we love her. We're just going to work for her own good and have a new friendship in the process."
Amy Crawford
5 September 2010
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/westmoreland/s_698096.html
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ONTARIO
Final report on mental health released
Ontario’s Select Committee on Mental Health and Addictions – which included Dufferin- Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones – has released its final report, entitled, Navigating the Journey to Wellness: The Comprehensive Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan for Ontarians.
Over a two-year period, the committee held 25 public hearings and heard testimony from more than 200 people.
Ms. Jones, Progressive Conservative Community and Social Services critic, was one of nine MPPs on the committee, which had representatives of all three political parties. It was called for in a resolution tabled in December 2008 by PC MPP Christine Elliott, who stated that a committee should be struck to develop a mental health and addictions strategy for Ontario. “After almost two years of meetings with hundreds of mental health and addictions organizations, clients, and families from across Ontario, I am pleased to see the committee’s vision for mental health and addictions services in Ontario,” Ms. Jones said in a press release. Being a member of this committee was important because I hear from many families in Dufferin- Caledon who are struggling to get assessments and then treatment; and I hope this report will bring meaningful change not only to Dufferin-Caledon, but to all Ontarians.”
The provincial Centre for Addiction and Mental Health has calculated that, in economic terms, mental illness and substance abuse cost Ontario about $34 billion a year. “Of course,” the centre adds, “millions of families in Ontario know that the biggest cost can’t be measured in dollars and cents.”
In its final report, the committee concluded that, in general, Ontarians wait too long for treatment. Youth are caught in the gap between programs for children and adults and their case histories often end up being repeated to series of unconnected service providers. First Nations people, the report said, struggle with above-average rates of mental illness, addictions, and youth suicide and francophones are misdiagnosed because they are not treated in their first language. Linguistic and cultural barriers may also affect newcomers and refugees. “Seniors unnecessarily languish with depression, often undiagnosed,” said the report, “while society as a whole must face what has been called the coming tsunami of Alzheimer disease.” It was discerned that individuals with autism, eating disorders, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, or a dual diagnosis are “orphaned by a system that seemingly has no place for them. Seriously ill people are often turned away from emergency departments, or released from hospital before their condition has stabilized or without a discharge plan.”
The report said that those with a concurrent disorder – one in which a person has both a mental illness and a substance abuse issue – are told to deal with their addictions first. Approximately one in 10 people suffer from highly treatable, yet overlooked, conditions such as anxiety disorders, the committee reported. Finally, it was found that the term “community support” often means that an individual is cared for by a stressed, over-burdened family struggling along without assistance.
The committee pointed out that a major problem with Ontario’s mental health and addictions system is a lack of coherence.
Mental health and addictions services are funded or provided by at least 10 different ministries. Community care is delivered by 440 children’s mental health agencies, 330 community mental health agencies, 150 substance abuse treatment agencies, and approximately 50 problem gambling centres. “Many people simply fall through the cracks, or give up in frustration because of the complexity of the system,” the committee reported.
The committee has suggested that a new umbrella organization – Mental Health and Addictions Ontario (MHAO), responsible to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care – be created to ensure that a single body is responsible for designing, managing, and coordinating the mental health and addictions system, and that programs and services are delivered consistently and comprehensively across Ontario.
Dan Pelton
2 September 010
http://www.citizen.on.ca/news/2010-09-02/Local_News/Final_report_on_mental_health_released.html
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Juvenile law: The basics
Juveniles are defined as young persons, usually under eighteen years of age. Sometimes, juveniles are enamored by the tougher side of life, or they are forced into a harder lifestyle by their circumstance. These children may find temptations to stray from the law, and cause the law to correct them. Juvenile law is the branch of law which deals with our youngest law breakers, and this is an overview of that branch of the law.
Juvenile law is an area of justice applicable to individuals not old enough to be legally held responsible for criminal acts. In most states, 18 years is the age set for criminal responsibility. The main goal of most states' juvenile law system is rehabilitation rather than punishment. Juvenile law is governed by states and most states have been responsible enough to create a code for care of misbehaved juveniles.
The safety and welfare of children is the responsibility and concern of individual states, so statutes creating juvenile courts and rehabilitation methods are considered an acceptable branch of state police power for the safety of children. "Parens patriae", Latin for "parent of the nation", allows states to draw legislation relating to the care, custody, and welfare of the children citizens of the state.
While the states shoulder most responsibility for juvenile law, the federal government takes a role as well. The federal government acts largely to contribute funds and set standards for juvenile law. In 1968, the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention and Control Act was passed, being revised in 1972 and renamed the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Act. The act states the cost to citizens to uphold the life of a delinquent and the standards problems delinquents can cause. The act then continues to propose methods for states to rehabilitate juvenile law breakers and further prevent children from breaking the law the first time. The act further dictates a need for trained individuals to assist with youth services, and a need for technical assistance in the field of juvenile prevention and rehabilitation.
Federal law defines juvenile delinquency as any act that is otherwise a crime, but is committed by someone under the age of 18. The federal government, with the Act stated above, set forth guidelines for states to provide rehabilitation and facilitate redirection to these misguided youth. The states are free to interpret the law as set forth and appropriate facilities, professionals, and programs as they see fit.
Rebecca Mayglothling
31 August 2010
http://www.helium.com/items/1938526-juvenile-law
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