My family moved to Colorado a couple of years ago, to be near a beautiful, newborn granddaughter. The gorgeous landscape of this state was a bonus, but of course beautiful places can have ugly realities, too. Like every other state, Colorado has child abuse and neglect, and like every other state, Colorado’s public systems don’t always prevent repeated maltreatment of these children as reported by Jordan Steffan in a Jan. 29 Denver Post news story, “.”
The Denver Post rightly brings this problem to light, because we all care deeply for kids. We’re moved by the young victims’ haunting eyes staring out at us from Sunday’s paper, and we yearn for accountability and justice when we hear that the “system fails” to protect these vulnerable young lives. Yet all that love and concern, on its own, will not do much to keep Colorado kids safer. For that, we’ll need an honest public debate, one that doesn’t kid us into thinking that accountability or justice will bring these children back to life, or do the slightest thing to prevent others from joining their ranks.
To do that — to truly improve the safety of Colorado’s children — we have to ask questions that don’t have simple answers, and can’t be reduced to a concise, high-impact news story. When do we intervene in a family’s life? How much risk of harm must be there for us to respond? Once we respond by sending someone to the home, what are they looking for? How are they to decide whether the risk of harm to a child is too much for Colorado to tolerate, or whether a family deserves another chance to succeed before the state starts removing their children?
Those are just some of the questions facing those who respond to allegations of child abuse and neglect. Even more questions come up once we decide that a child is better off in state care. What do we do with this child we’ve removed from family, and how do we know we’re doing them any good? Should they be placed with a family, or (as often done in Colorado) with an institution? How do we know when it’s safe to return a child home, and if a child returns, how do we make sure they’re not being harmed again? Does it matter that all these questions may be answered differently from one county to the next, or should local, county and state authorities work more closely together, under uniform standards?
Yes, let’s hold everyone accountable, but let’s admit that “everyone” includes us. Many tears and many keystrokes are expended in our society on the lives of children before they’re born or after they’re dead; what we need is more attention between those two points in time. Child protection authorities can only work within the laws and resources provided by legislators, who are in turn elected by us. What should those laws say, and what resources do state and local agencies need to do this job right? And, if we all decide we need to do “more” just what does that mean? More investigations, and more foster care, or more prevention, and more families reunified?
We all have to be a part of this debate, because we all must be a part of the solution. We have to move beyond quick fixes and easy clichés to confront the difficult, complex questions behind those 43 child deaths highlighted by the Post. Child protection only works when everyone — from family members to neighbors to local cops to judges, social workers, legislators, and yes, journalists — joins the team. That granddaughter of mine has a thousand advantages in life, including a family that treats her like she’s the center of our universe. Only when all of us in Colorado see every child as important can we work together to effectively keep kids safe.
Kendall Marlowe lives in Conifer.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an online-only column and has not been edited.
