We’re Failing Our Children

Marissa Totaro, Copy Editor • March 18, 2024

Child Protective Services (Pix4Free)

Trigger Warning: Discussions of child abuse, violence, and neglect

Imagine you’re walking home from school. It’s been a pretty good day; you got an unexpectedly good grade on your math test even though you didn’t study. You had a fire drill during your English class which worked out perfectly in your favor because you didn’t do your homework, which was due today. You cracked probably the funniest joke of your life with your friends that will definitely become an inside joke. Everything was perfect… until you got home. Home was a different story. Home, the place that’s supposed to be the safest, is somewhere you loathe to be. Maybe one or more of your caretakers have substance abuse problems, or they’ve hurt you/others in the house, or they’re just not there at all. Now, this scenario is all just make-believe for most people reading this, but for some, it’s their entire life.

According to the work Child Physical Abuse and Neglect by Casey L. Brown, Musa Yilanli, and Angela L. Rabbitt, a piece published by the National Library of Medicine, “[approximately] one in four children experience child abuse or neglect in their lifetime.” Now, I’m sure this is just a number to most of you, but for a moment let’s look at this statistic for what it is, a reflection of actual human beings like you and me.

As of 2023, there are approximately 73,602,753 children in the U.S. as told by UNICEF (United Nations InternationalChildren’s Emergency Fund). If we do the math, 25% of that is roughly 18,400,688, and this figure doesn’t even begin to cover the number of unreported instances of maltreatment. Isn’t that a horrifying number? Shouldn’t the entire world be up in arms about this, especially considering the popularity of the phrase “protect the children?” I mean, there has to be some kind of way to combat this right?

From this point on, I’ll be focusing on the U.S., but that in no way means that children outside of the U.S. aren’t suffering the same situations or worse outside our country’s borders. We should never forget that there are people outside of the U.S., and they need just as much help, maybe even more so, as those here. People are suffering, and complacency facilitates this suffering. We need to do everything in our power to help the people who need it, or how can we call ourselves better than those creating the pain?

Department of Homeland Security Logo (Picryl)

In the U.S. there’s a national social service, Child Protective Services (CPS) provided by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that intends to eradicate the issue we’re talking about today. In theory, this sounds incredible, right? Groups like these can help all the children in the world who need it, so what’s the point in even talking about this issue if there’s already something in place to fix it? This is where the primary issue lies, CPS isn’t working, at least not to its best ability.

Now, I’m sure we’ve all seen those horrific news stories online of how a caretaker ended up fatally harming their child(ren) – such as the case in our very own Calvert County where a mother fatally wounded her 2-month old – and how CPS was involved along the way but essentially “let it happen.” Maybe my view of the online space is different because I tend to seek out topics such as this to keep myself informed, but it feels like cases like these are being uncovered almost every day, desensitizing the public to their awfulness. That problem aside, I think we need to address this at a section of its foundation; why is CPS failing this way and this often?

To further educate myself, I spoke to former Child Protective Services Investigator, Mrs. J about the

ideas we’re discussing here. Regarding the issue of why this is happening, she stated that the true root of the issue is that more needs to be done to “inform, educate, and empower the individuals and communities we interact with.” I could not agree more with her, people – adults and children alike – need to be aware of the laws and policies in the places they reside in and how those apply to themselves. The first step to fixing the issue with CPS is to educate yourself to truly understand how you can help yourself or others who may need it. The stigma around CPS is still so prominent, that those who call CPS or seek similar help can be branded as “weak,” or are just looking for a problem, but that’s simply not true. It takes a lot of courage to call out an unjust situation and ask for help. If you know a child whose family is being investigated by CPS, uplift them – let them know that what they did was the right thing to do. This is a multisided issue and multiple things will need to be done at once in order to fix things and help all the children who need it.

Mrs. J also further recommended that everyone become more knowledgeable about the laws and policies that guide these practices, as well as contact their local and state representatives to advocate for vulnerable youth and those who need it to “ensure… [they] receive the most supports and resources this community can offer.” Additionally, Daniel, another person I spoke to who’d been let down by CPS in his youth, advised that those in need should “[stay] strong” and that regardless of your situation when you’re a dependent, you can always leave once you’re an adult.

Regardless of your background, everyone’s goal should be to protect children and to prevent them from being in harm’s way. It’ll be a long journey until that point when all children are safe, but we must do everything in our power to accomplish it. All children matter and deserve to be safe.

References: