D.C. failing abused and neglected children, but yet manages to write rules for homeschoolers

Everyday Neglect, 5 August 2008, Washington Post, Washington, D.C.

When children die in the District, the public, politicians and the media get worked up over deficiencies in the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA). Brianna Blackmond is bludgeoned, or the decaying bodies of four young sisters are found: Officials are quick to react. What doesn’t get attention is the everyday damage to children lingering in foster care, being moved from place to place, missing out on medical treatment, never being part of stable families.

…

Last month, [C]hildren’s Rights Inc. and the American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area asked a federal judge to hold the District in contempt for its failure to make needed improvements to the agency. … Moreover, it’s clear the agency was in free fall well before the case of Banita Jacks, the mother of the four sisters. A court monitor had identified critical shortcomings. No one — not in the mayor’s office or on the D.C. Council — was paying attention.

But yet, in a matter of months, officials managed to stack up a tower of new regulations controlling homeschooling families.

The District of Columbia service to protect children is in Federal Court receivership from a 1991 class action lawsuit.  During that time, a disabled child died a painful death from neglect in the care of this organization, but yet who takes it in the chops when the agency personnel again drop the ball and allow a mentally ill mother enough time to kill her daughters?  Homeschooling families.  Granted, a separate agency enacted the homeschooling rules, but I’ve got to wonder who was working with more zeal.

• an agency with a poor 20-year track record?
• an agency with a tragedy that officials connected to ‘homeschooling’ instead of mental illness?

Anyone want to guess whether more children are affected by the CFSA or by having their parents homeschool them?

• D.C. Child and Family Services Agency  FY 06 & 07 Total Children Served: 1082 & 1009 (page 9)

• Andrews AFB homeschoolers:  59 members
• Bolling AFB homeschoolers: 71 members
• Holy Family Homeschool Group:  47 members
• Jewish Homeschoolers of Metropolitan D.C. Area (Baltimore/Washington): (address listed as Columbia, Maryland … just a ‘few’ miles north)

But yet, in a matter of months, officials managed to stack up a tower of new regulations controlling homeschooling families.

But yet, in a matter of months, officials managed to stack up a tower of new regulations controlling homeschooling families.

But yet, in a matter of months …

Tags: home education, homeschooling, Washington D.C. homeschooling

This entry was posted on August 6, 2008 at 5:38 pm and is filed under Regulations, State News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.