Inviting Conversation for January 26, 2010
The situation in Haiti is disheartening. One of the world’s poorest countries will need help from countries around the globe in order to rebuild. Sadly, many children lost their lives in the recent earthquakes. Many children are also now orphaned and displaced. Reading about the joys and frustrations people are experiencing attempting to adopt some of these orphaned and displaced children prompted me to also do some reading on the joyful stories and frustrating tales of people trying to adopt children in the United States. Most of the frustrations focus around the “process.” There seems to be no set standards or protocols for the adoption process. Now I certainly understand why there must be background checks and other screenings before adoptions should take place. I certainly do not want a convicted pedophile to even have the minutest possibility of adopting a child. The frustrations do not seem to be about undesirable candidates getting through the process. No situation is perfect, of course. Most of the frustrations come from people who very likely are qualified, but paperwork, inconsistent and poorly managed processes seem to be the biggest preventers of adoptions. The process is expensive, slow and cumbersome. Many “adoptable” children in the United States never get adopted. Can uniform standards and processes be established? Can the process be streamlined? What can be done to effectively improve the adoption process?
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
“How do Society and the court deal with an 8-year-old who kills his father?”
Inviting Conversation for January 19, 2010
There are times when the article itself is enough.
(CNN) -- A 10-year-old Arizona boy who admitted to shooting and killing his father and another man in 2008 was sentenced Thursday to "in-patient treatment" that could go on for several years, according to the prosecutor. The boy pleaded guilty in February to one count of negligent homicide in exchange for a plea deal that dropped the two counts of murder he was charged with initially. The boy was accused of killing his father, Vincent Romero, 29, and Tim Romans, 39, who rented a room in Romero's home in St. Johns, Arizona. Both men were found dead at the home November 5, 2008, and police said the next day that the boy confessed to shooting them with a .22-caliber weapon. At the time, the boy was 8. "Under the plea agreement, he can be there (in treatment) up until he is 18," Apache County, Arizona, Attorney Michael Whiting said after the sentencing. "We hope that the treatment won't take that long. Obviously, it's not going to be successful if he is there when he is 18, and they are still treating him." Whiting did not specifically describe what type of treatment the boy will undergo, beyond saying a psychiatrist will be involved and that the youth will be kept at his treatment facility with no ability to leave. The judge in the case ordered follow-up evaluations of the boy every two and a half years to update court officials on his progress. Defense attorney Ron Wood said the boy was upset and crying in court during the sentencing and, "He was frightened." The boy apologized and "accepted responsibility for what he did," Wood said.
During a news conference after the sentencing, Wood was asked how confident he is the treatment will work for his client. "I don't know, ask me in three years. Ask me when he's been through the process of having his brain picked ... then maybe we will find out," Wood said. Asked the same question, Whiting replied, "50-50 ... I would bet it's going to be a tough road." Earlier, Whiting said, "There is not a question of who committed this crime. The question becomes, how does society and the court system deal with this crime."
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/15/arizona.boy.homicide/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Attorney Whiting’s question is valid: “How does Society and the court system deal with this crime?”
There are times when the article itself is enough.
(CNN) -- A 10-year-old Arizona boy who admitted to shooting and killing his father and another man in 2008 was sentenced Thursday to "in-patient treatment" that could go on for several years, according to the prosecutor. The boy pleaded guilty in February to one count of negligent homicide in exchange for a plea deal that dropped the two counts of murder he was charged with initially. The boy was accused of killing his father, Vincent Romero, 29, and Tim Romans, 39, who rented a room in Romero's home in St. Johns, Arizona. Both men were found dead at the home November 5, 2008, and police said the next day that the boy confessed to shooting them with a .22-caliber weapon. At the time, the boy was 8. "Under the plea agreement, he can be there (in treatment) up until he is 18," Apache County, Arizona, Attorney Michael Whiting said after the sentencing. "We hope that the treatment won't take that long. Obviously, it's not going to be successful if he is there when he is 18, and they are still treating him." Whiting did not specifically describe what type of treatment the boy will undergo, beyond saying a psychiatrist will be involved and that the youth will be kept at his treatment facility with no ability to leave. The judge in the case ordered follow-up evaluations of the boy every two and a half years to update court officials on his progress. Defense attorney Ron Wood said the boy was upset and crying in court during the sentencing and, "He was frightened." The boy apologized and "accepted responsibility for what he did," Wood said.
During a news conference after the sentencing, Wood was asked how confident he is the treatment will work for his client. "I don't know, ask me in three years. Ask me when he's been through the process of having his brain picked ... then maybe we will find out," Wood said. Asked the same question, Whiting replied, "50-50 ... I would bet it's going to be a tough road." Earlier, Whiting said, "There is not a question of who committed this crime. The question becomes, how does society and the court system deal with this crime."
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/15/arizona.boy.homicide/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Attorney Whiting’s question is valid: “How does Society and the court system deal with this crime?”
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
When is it time to “blow the whistle” on family members or friends?
20-year-old James McNeely is gone. His body was found stripped and frozen in the abandoned trailer of Chester Harvey’s truck. James had a difficult life. He grew up in a foster home, with a father in prison for life after being convicted of stomping a toddler to death, and a mother who lost custody and allegedly lost interest in her children. James McNeely allegedly turned to selling drugs as an income source, possibly to provide for his son from a very brief marriage. It is an unfortunate story…something went wrong. Police are investigating.
One aspect of this story really concerns me. On a recent visit to an uncle, James admitted that he was heading back to Missouri with a “scheme to sell drugs with his new friends from Missouri .” The uncle told James it was a stupid idea and made him promise to not get involved. James made the promise, but did not keep it. This has elicited some dynamic conversation. Many of us, if not all of us, know people very close to us who are breaking the law. Child abuse, harassment, neglect, illegal drug use, driving while intoxicated, petty theft, tax evasion…the list goes on and on. I do not fault James’ uncle for not reporting James and his “friends” to the authorities, because many will turn a blind eye to illegal behavior rather than turn in our closest friends or family members into the law. Some believe family ties supersede the law. Some don’t want to see family or friends in such deep trouble. Some believe the authorities won’t do anything anyway.
Where does one draw the line? I am reminded of the mother who this past December made her six-year-old daughter return an item she had taken from a local store in order to teach her daughter that taking something that is not hers is wrong.
For what illegal activities would you turn a blind eye where family/friends are concerned? When is it time to “blow the whistle” on family members or friends?
One aspect of this story really concerns me. On a recent visit to an uncle, James admitted that he was heading back to Missouri with a “scheme to sell drugs with his new friends from Missouri .” The uncle told James it was a stupid idea and made him promise to not get involved. James made the promise, but did not keep it. This has elicited some dynamic conversation. Many of us, if not all of us, know people very close to us who are breaking the law. Child abuse, harassment, neglect, illegal drug use, driving while intoxicated, petty theft, tax evasion…the list goes on and on. I do not fault James’ uncle for not reporting James and his “friends” to the authorities, because many will turn a blind eye to illegal behavior rather than turn in our closest friends or family members into the law. Some believe family ties supersede the law. Some don’t want to see family or friends in such deep trouble. Some believe the authorities won’t do anything anyway.
Where does one draw the line? I am reminded of the mother who this past December made her six-year-old daughter return an item she had taken from a local store in order to teach her daughter that taking something that is not hers is wrong.
For what illegal activities would you turn a blind eye where family/friends are concerned? When is it time to “blow the whistle” on family members or friends?
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
What must be done to stop the rapidly rising rate of drug-related deaths?
What do Ohio, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah and Washington all have in common?
These are the states in which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug-related deaths have now taken over traffic fatalities in terms of numbers of lives lost. Cocaine and heroin continue to be killers, but most of the increase is attributed to prescription opiates such as methodone, OxyContin and Vicodin. This is not just a “young generation” problem. From 1999-2006, death rates for such medications climbed in every age group. With traffic fatalities declining (thankfully), down 6.5 percent from 1999-2006, one wonders how long it will be before drug-related deaths top traffic fatalities nationwide. The CDC reports 45,000 US deaths from traffic accidents in 2006, and 39,000 US deaths from drug-induced causes. The rate of drug-related deaths nearly doubled from 1999-2006.
Obviously it would be wonderful for traffic deaths to continue their decline. But what must be done to stop the rapidly rising rate of drug-related deaths?
These are the states in which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug-related deaths have now taken over traffic fatalities in terms of numbers of lives lost. Cocaine and heroin continue to be killers, but most of the increase is attributed to prescription opiates such as methodone, OxyContin and Vicodin. This is not just a “young generation” problem. From 1999-2006, death rates for such medications climbed in every age group. With traffic fatalities declining (thankfully), down 6.5 percent from 1999-2006, one wonders how long it will be before drug-related deaths top traffic fatalities nationwide. The CDC reports 45,000 US deaths from traffic accidents in 2006, and 39,000 US deaths from drug-induced causes. The rate of drug-related deaths nearly doubled from 1999-2006.
Obviously it would be wonderful for traffic deaths to continue their decline. But what must be done to stop the rapidly rising rate of drug-related deaths?
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