Recently, I was reminded of an old episode of "The Simpsons" - the one where Child Protective Services takes away Bart, Lisa and Maggie, placing them in the foster care of the Flanders. See, Homer and Marge went out for the weekend and left the children with Grandpa. They returned to the house in shambles, with Maggie in soiled diapers, Bart dressed in a muddy brown sack and Lisa barefoot and infested with lice. CPS took away all three of them. While it did make for an absolutely hilarious episode, the real-life parallel wouldn't be nearly as funny. That's because CPS might not have taken the children away, even if warranted.
While more children have been taken in this past year than previous years, it's hard to ignore recent happenings. According to The Arizona Republic, a call was placed in 2001 regarding a case concerning two twins. Being labeled as a case involving "mild neglect," it was passed down to the volunteer program, Family Builders. A Family Builders worker visited the home, found the boys to be healthy and dropped the case when the family rejected services offered.
"If it's obvious there's no abuse, how can they assist them?" explained Fernando Vender, public affairs officer for CPS.
Jump to 2003. The same two young twin boys, now 5, were found Saturday night literally living in cages in Phoenix, their surroundings soiled by their own feces, unable to speak.
Although it seems as though the correct steps were taken and nothing more could have been done, certainly we should not be satisfied that these two boys slipped through the cracks like that.
Two children were found in roach-infested cages! We should be shocked; we should be appalled. But we shouldn't be asking, "Haven't we already been through this?"
Yet as appalling as the entire situation is, this story is overwhelmingly filled with the disgusting stench of déjà vu.
We have been through this before, a different variation on the same sickening theme. His name was Charles Joseph (C.J.) Young, a toddler living in a home reported to CPS years before. And less than two weeks ago he died from multiple injuries. With five children in the family, the Mesa mother was investigated for up to eight reports of neglect and abuse before the death. So what happened? And what happened to the 26 other children over the past five years who died from abuse or neglect, though cases had been filed with CPS before their deaths?
You don't have to be a humanitarian to see that this major problem is in need of a fix: It really is a matter of life and death for our Arizona children. While the twin boys didn't die, it wasn't CPS that stepped in in the end; it was the Phoenix Police Department. When it was left to CPS, the agency could not save little C.J. or any of the other 26.
Our children are not being adequately protected by the system, and something needs to be done.
Gov. Janet Napolitano's Advisory Commission on CPS Reform has come up with a list of recommendations to, as Vender told me, "formulate a plan of implementation." The commission's report states its function as a "specialized child welfare program that investigates any act, failure to act or pattern of behavior on the part of the parent, guardian or custodian that may result in dependency, abuse or neglect of a child." And that is definitely a start.
Just a glance at the problems with child abuse in Arizona is enough to realize the problem can no longer be ignored. The current system is being revamped, but it will take more than that. Community involvement is also key. "Child Protective Services relies on the community to report abuse so that proper investigation can take place," Vendor said.
We don't need yet another shocking case to make us realize something is amiss. Speak up, for the children's sake.
Rosie Cisneros is a journalism sophomore. Reach her at rosie.cisneros@asu.edu.
