2006 Archive:...January..February..March..April..May..June..July..August..September..October.November..December
GrandsPlace News - February 2006
UNITED WE MUST STAND
Deb Eulo
United we must stand… as KINship caregivers, to advocate for the rights
of children who are too small to stand up for themselves. We must unite
our voices so that the cries of our beaten, abandoned and abused children
can be heard.
United we must stand…as KINship caregivers to change the laws, Laws
that were written with the misconception that “Every parent wants what
is best for their children“. Laws that were written long before the scourge
of Meth and cocaine invaded our schools , our homes, and our communities.
Before the need to get that next fix became more important than feeding
our children.
Now is the time to push for laws through our states, that address the
most pressing issues. With the federal and state budgets in such crisis,
and the children's services departments being scrutinized internally and
externally, change will have to come. It amy not come in the form of money,
but it must come. It must come in the form of custody issues, time frames,
services, benefits, and children's rights issues, whose sole goal is the
absolute best decisions made for the welfare of the child Those who have
the power to make the decisions must begin to look at the children first
and all other issues second.
United we must stand….as KINship caregivers we must educate not only
fellow caregivers but senators, congressmen, judges, attorneys, teachers,
preachers, and the woman next door. KINship care is not about stealing
our children's children. The goal of KINship care is to protect our children
, all children, from a system that is over-worked and under trained.
Now is the time to teach everyone around us that KINship care is a
provision for full-time nurturing and protection of children by family
adults other than parents.
United we must stand….as KINship caregivers we must understands that
all families are not the same. That what is right for one maybe wrong for
the next. That NOT all grandparents have the emotional, physical, or financial
ability to take on the tremendous responsibility of raising a second family.
Now is the time that we give a added hug to that family that must depend
on strangers we call Foster Parents to care for their precious little angels.
Foster parents are not our enemy but our ally. We are all fighting to protect
the children in our care. They are delivered babies in the middle of the
night. With no diapers, bottles, or formula. Foster parents are paid less
a day to care for your precious child than one would to kennel your pet
for a day.
United we must stand…. As a NATION, ready to say we have had enough.
It is unacceptable to abuse, neglect, and abandon A child. Now is the time
to remember that each and every child in this United States has been guaranteed
the same irrefutable rights as those who abuse those children; the right
to know health, the right to dream safely, and the right to pursue their
own happiness. It is time as a nation to remember when a child comes into
the picture that adult rights should stand secondary to children's rights.
This is the true issue, whose rights are primary? Now is the time for us
to stand united, stomping our feet and yelling at the top of our lungs…….STOP
ABUSING OUR KIDS……Now is the time to change the LAWS to give the rights
to the child. Now is the time to search for the “BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD”
A time comes in your life when you finally get it...
When in the midst of all your fears and insanity you stop dead in your
tracks and somewhere, the voice inside your head cries out - ENOUGH!
The GrandsPlace Virtual Quilt
Do you and your children feel alone? Does your child think its weird to
live with grandparents and other kinship caregivers? Then view the GrandsPlace
Virtual Quilt. This Online quilt has the names of over 3,200 children living
with grandparents I special others. It is living proof that lots of children
do not live with parents. to see the GrandsPlace Virtual Quilt log on to
http://grandsplace.org/quilt2/quilt.html
To have your child's name on our quilt send an e-mail to kathy@grandsplace.org
Become A CASA Volunteer And Help Protect Our Kids.
Do you find yourself recoiling in horror watching the news as yet another
child suffers horror abuse and even death at the hands of his parents or
caregivers? Do you wring your hands helplessly and cry out at the injustice
of it all? Do you wish there was something you could do to help stop the
cycle of child abuse, neglect and murder?
Do you then sit back, wring your hands again and think, “What
can I do? I am just one person without the power, training and skills to
do anything.” You are wrong. Just as you advocate t help save the
children and grandchildren in your care, you have the ability to join forces
with others in our movement to protect kids.
Ask Debby, a parenting grandparent in Florida that gives her time as
a CASA Volunteer. She has the opportunity to go into homes of neglected,
abandoned and abuse children, find out what they need and go to courtrooms
across Florida to see that they get it. She finds this work rewarding frustrating
and inspiring. She is an every day hero to the children she serves.
“What does having a CASA volunteer mean to an abused child?
Imagine what it would be like to lose your parents, not because of
something you did, but because they cant - or won't - take care of you.
Now, into your life come dozens of strangers: police, foster parents, social
workers, judges, lawyers, and more. Having a CASA volunteer means having
by your side a trained and committed adult who has been appointed by a
judge to watch over and advocate for your best interests. That volunteer
will make sure you don't get lost in the overburdened legal and social
service system or languish in an inappropriate group or foster home. They
will be there for you until your case is closed. It can make the difference
between homelessness and a safe home, between dropping out and completing
school, between unemployment and success, between jail and becoming a productive
member of society.
CASA volunteers are the only volunteers that are appointed by a judge
and empowered to stand up for an abused or neglected child in court. We
invite you to learn more about becoming a CASA or Guardian ad Litem volunteer
by contacting a CASA program in your community. We hope you decide to join
our family of volunteers, everyday people, who are committed to improving
children's lives. “
Quoted from the CASA web site at http://www.nationalcasa.org/htm/volunteer.htm
CASA Is a national organization that has a mission, together with it's
state and local members to support and promote court appointed advocacy
for neglected and abused children so that they can grow and thrive is safe
and permanent families.
They provide training for the volunteers who will then go out into
their own communities, interact with children and their caregivers and
advocate for the children in courts.
Our world is so big and a child's voice is so small but you van be
the voice of a child in need.
