Warning: depressing content ahead...
Maybe I shouldn't be depressed. Afterall, "...the days are evil" (Eph. 5:16).
The Sacramento Bee reports that seven children have died "on CPS' watch" over the course of the past year. These were children who the county knew about. The implication being that the county could have prevented their deaths (although one of the children died while in foster care placement).
The problem here is not CPS. The problem is parents -- aka human beings who have failed in fulfilling their responsibility to protect their children (among other neglected responsibilities, no doubt).
Goodness, I sound prideful. Like I've never let my children fall out of trees and break their arms, tumble down a flight of stairs (twice in one weekend), or run into the street as I shout "Stop! Stop! Stop! Now!" (apparently they didn't stop at the first command).
So we all make mistakes. None of us are perfect parents. We don't need the government deciding who's doing a good job and who's not, right? Or snatching more kids from their homes?
I'm just depressed because I wish someone had snatched up these seven.
I would point out that there is a difference between "mistakes" good parents make and those who intentionally cause harm to others. Don't we have an obligation to the weak among us? Granted, I hear the point of an over-reaching government but if we fight for the unborn shouldn't we have the same concern for those among us?
ReplyDeleteBy all means we should have concern. My heart breaks! I just don't think government is the answer (ultimately). We need a good dose of "love thy neighbor" and a whole lot of "come ye sinners, poor and needy."
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback, Stacy :-)
Wow. Truly depressing.
ReplyDeleteJust half an hour ago, I was having a conversation with a friend about a situation where CPS stepped in a took kids from good, loving parents... And another where CPS was unable to take a child, and really should have...
I certainly think that, if the government should be doing anything, they should be rescueing those headed for slaughter... but sadly, even the government can't foresee everything.
Thankfully, we do have a great God, and we can cry out to Him for His love and mercy to intervene on behalf of these little ones...
We have a word for the kind of neglect and abuse that results in removal of a child from a home -- we aren't dealing with mistakes here. We're dealing with crimes. It's no less a crime when the state fills the role of a parent in these dire circumstances and neglects or abuses a child.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who works directly with the kids on whose behalf CPS intervenes, I'd love to see the day where there's no role for the state in any of this, where churches and people step up and actually care for these "orphans." That day is not now and I sure don't see it coming any time soon, and these kids' needs are pressing and real.
yeah...I hear ya...
ReplyDeleteOn a personal note...we'll just pray that their parents go to jail first just to release custody to nearby family--even if just temporarily! BUT, Sharon, your long-term perspective is really the answer. And, yes,...God is greater than any situation, but also works in our own hearts to help implement His work, no?