August 31, 2022
There are many things in this world that are messed up. It’s easy to have a lengthy discussion about social injustice if only to see the ills that are happening to our people, especially our children. It’s sad to see poverty and strife, and you think you can’t see anything worse than that.
But if there’s anything worse than seeing the already desolate situation of a foster child, it has to be when a Child Protective Services employee encourages her to become a prostitute.
“You gonna be a hoe, be a real hoe,” the caseworker was quoted saying in the now-viral video. Now that has got to be messed up – as messed up as it can ever be.
First, let’s take a look at reality. How widespread is child abuse happening in our society today? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of seven American children in today’s modern world are victims of some form of abuse.
Now for some context:
If you are looking at a classroom filled with about 15 children, you can expect that two of those poor souls in there are experiencing abuse. Or maybe as you’re walking on your way to wherever you’re headed on a random day, try to count the number of children that pass you by – and when you’ve counted seven, you’re pretty sure you’ve seen the actual face of an abused child on that exact day. Try it today or tomorrow and have a feel of how close you actually are to the situation.
Get it? That’s how bad it is.
And logically, because the government recognizes this, it has provided a governance measure in the form of Child Protective Services – and certainly, the people who have sworn to serve the agency to the best of their abilities also have a code that they live by.
According to the CPS Caseworker guide, it is the responsibility of the agency to:
- Assess the safety of children
- Intervene to protect children from harm
- Strengthen the ability of families to protect their children
- Provide either a reunification or an alternative, safe family for the child
There’s a provision that should incentivize this, as we can all expect. We need these people to be inspired for them to do their jobs the right way. But then, when news about a CPS worker actually telling a child to become a prostitute hits the internet, you know you’re looking at something extremely wrong.
These caseworkers are supposed to be the source of protection for foster kids. And this particular caseworker had no business working under the agency. In a more recent development, the caseworker was fired. Now that would have passed as a fitting ending to the tragedy. The CPS apologized for the incident, as they should have done. But the sad news is that the CPS itself is having the case dismissed.
Are we now looking at an agency that would go all out to protect its reputation, even if it means that it conceals the harsh truths about what’s going on between children and caseworkers? It makes us wonder further – could it be because this turning into a full-blown case could open up other similar incidents?
Then what might be other dark secrets being kept from the public’s view? Their behavior is way too suspicious to be ignored.
It seems that what we need right now is to have an investigation – something that runs a bit deeper. They shouldn’t have anything to fear if they’ve been doing things right, should they?
