Children at Risk
Thursday, July 30th, 2009
pic via Robin Hutton
Each day decisions are made on thousands of children in a system of child welfare that is risk adverse. This aversion to risk is contrary to how most parents balance promoting healthy experiences, independence and growth in their children. While it might seem heartless by using an insurance risk analysis but every decision carries risk and statistically someone will get hurt. However, it does not mean that all children have to suffer to decrease risk. In fact this aversion to risk is harming more youth than helping. As parents we take into consideration our child’s wants, wishes, feelings, need to learn and balance it to our interpretation of its level of risk.
Since Child Welfare systems are incapable of acting as a parent I would promote that each child have a court appointed child advocate who has the right to challenge decisions that go against what seem to be reasonable goals or preferences by the child. This should especially be mandated for those children where parental rights have been terminated and the child is 13 or older.
