Recent headlines confirm that the systems society has put in place to protect our most precious resource for the future—our children—too often fail them miserably.  Perhaps it is time to realize that it isn’t systems that protect children, it is people.  The proverbial “village” it takes to raise a child probably should not, we believe, include the state child protection agency, which IS proverbially understaffed, underfunded, overburdened and overwhelmed…in the same way our most at-risk families are impoverished, overburdened and overwhelmed for lack of connection to the very resources necessary to ensure their well-being and safety.
 
We can focus on the fact that the average CPS worker’s caseload in Texas still remains higher than the 10-17 recommended by the Child Welfare League, and that more than 27,000 children were placed in foster care in 2008; and in 2007 more than 500 abused and neglected children spent at least one night in a caseworker’s office or hotel room because there was no appropriate foster home available.   Perhaps instead, we should focus not on removing children to foster homes, but on going to where the children’s problems are, within the homes of our community’s overburdened families.
 
The key is to address the needs of the entire family.  Parents at risk usually have multiple problems that can be overwhelming when caring for small children -- immaturity and unrealistic expectations, the stresses of child care, economic crisis, broken families, domestic violence, lack of parenting knowledge, depression or other mental health problems and drug or alcohol problems.
 
The kinds of problems these families face each day cannot be fixed through periodic visits by CPS workers or a series of parenting classes.    Intensive home visitation services, however, have been proven to prevent abuse and neglect and other harmful behaviors and improve the lives of both children and parents. 
 
The first months after the birth of a child can be a stressful time for any parent,   Building Strong and Healthy Families Texas is a seven-year pilot program in Houston designed to help parents develop an enduring, healthy relationship among themselves and their baby.  Through home visits by a family worker and meetings with other couples in group sessions during pregnancy and after birth, couples learn the skills necessary to build healthy relationships.    Sharing experiences with others helps to ameliorate the sometimes overwhelming experience of new parenthood.   
 
The Healthy Families Houston home visitation program has had a 99 percent success rate in preventing child abuse and neglect in our community.   And Houston was recently designated as one of several pilot sites for the evidence-based Nurse Family Partnership program.  Although programs such as these have proven to be effective, they reach only a fraction of the families who need these services.
 
These programs work because they form one-on-one relationships. They work because they integrate families into the fabric of a positive society and provide models of good parenting, health and wellness.  And they do so with cost-effectiveness. Why would we spend $50,000 a year to remove a child into foster care when, in many instances, for one tenth of that cost we can reach a whole family and achieve a longer lasting healthy outcome for all involved?
 
We are right to be angry and mourn for the loss of precious children.  Our community loses when young lives are tragically lost.
 
No agency can anticipate every potential case of abuse – it takes every one of us, individually, every community to embrace wanting to eradicate this tragedy. 

Texas spends more than $1 billion a year responding to child abuse, but only about $25 million preventing it, a fraction of what is needed.   The Education Begins at Home act currently in Congress would expand quality programs of early childhood home visitation that increase school readiness, child abuse and neglect prevention, and early identification of developmental and health delays, including potential mental health concerns.

We should support those efforts that have long term benefits to our communities.  Precious lives are at stake. 

- Marianne Ehrlich

The case of little Emma Thompson has grabbed headlines, and with them, outpourings of anger and sorrow. Emma was just one of three children under the age of four whose deaths made headlines in the past few months. But less than a year ago, the headlines, anger and sorrow were focused on the case of Baby Grace, identified as Riley Ann Sawyers, in Galveston. In fact, three children die in Harris County on average each month from child abuse and neglect.  

Unfortunately, some have been part of an investigation and in those cases, we have even less understanding of how such a horrible thing could occur. But like Baby Grace, many of the children who die from abuse or neglect are not part of any investigation by Children’s Protective Services. 

While we cannot make definitive judgments on individual cases, much damage caused by abuse and neglect is preventable. A 2009 research brief by Child Trends showed that children in both lower and upper income families had good outcomes when the family had certain strengths: close and caring parents, including providing for the child’s needs;parental supervision and engagement, including ensuring their children get enough sleep and eat healthy foods; being involved in their child’s education and positive role modeling.  

The key is to address the needs of the entire family unit. The national Nurse Family Partnership home visitation program, which we are now piloting in Houston to low-income first-time mothers, has been proven to reduce family risks and reduce child abuse. In controlled trials, results of the program included a 48 percent reduction in child abuse. Our Healthy Families Houston home visitation program for high-risk families has had a 99 percent success rate in preventing child abuse and neglect. Building Strong Families helps parents strengthen their own relationship while building parenting knowledge and skills. 

As effective as these are, no single program is a solution and not enough services are available in the community to meet the needs. No agency can anticipate every potential case of abuse – it takes every one of us, every community, to embrace wanting to eradicate this tragedy. As a community, we must take responsibility.

- Marianne Ehrlich