A Petition in Behalf of the
Forsaken Children
of Texas to the
Governor and the 76th Legislature
III. ASSIGNING BLAME FOR THESE FAILED INVESTIGATIONS
The cases of Victoria and Nakia are not unusual. About 55% of all cases are neglect cases. About 26% are physical abuse. About 14% are sexual abuse. About 5% are emotional abuse. When these cases come to court, they often have in common a lengthy history of failed investigations something like these two stories. Every day in every part of Texas, CPS is called but never responds or inadequately responds regarding children in circumstances as serious-or more serious--as Victoria's and Nakia's.
So who is to blame for the neglect of these children? In the first instance, of course, their families are responsible. Whenever it is appropriate, families need to be held accountable. But to hold a family accountable, CPS must investigate and its investigation must be effective.
Saying that the family is responsible in the first instance, however, does not discharge our own responsibility. Victoria's mother had limited capabilities; she lived little better than Victoria. Nakia's mother was a teenager, living in abject poverty. Neither Victoria's nor Nakia's father was anywhere to be found. When mothers and fathers fail, we have a moral responsibility to their children.
Beyond this moral responsibility, it is very much in our self-interest to ensure that such children are not abused or neglected. This point will be explored in detail in Part VII, which explains how a significant number of abused or neglected children mature into juvenile and later adult perpetrators of crime.
Beyond identifying our collective responsibility to these children, however, this petition does not assess or assign blame. The problems in child protection that this petition identifies are not--by and large--problems CPS can solve. The men and women who make up the Child Protective Service care about children, work for children, and manage state resources responsibly. In the case of both Victoria and Nakia, for example, conscientious investigators were simply overwhelmed by heavy case loads and complex problems. What should really distress you about the cases of Victoria and Nakia is not what happened to them, but is instead why it happened--that when CPS investigated, each investigator faced more immediately serious problems in other families. As you will see, the problems this petition will identify are--by and large--resource issues that only the Governor and the Legislature can address.
In saying that, this petition implies no criticism of our state leadership. The Governor and the Legislature have a history--both immediate and past--of caring about children. For example, under the leadership of Governor Bush, the 74th Legislature significantly reformed juvenile justice and increased resources to children. As another example, again spurred by Governor Bush and his Committee to Promote Adoption, the 75th Legislature significantly reformed the child protection laws, requiring courts to move children through the system and to permanent homes as soon as possible. More specifically to the problem considered here, the 75th Legislature launched two pilot projects of methods to strengthen child abuse investigations. In addition, through the leadership of Senator Ratliff and Representative Junell, the 75th Legislature increased funding to CPS. Our state leadership cares about our children.
But in the drift of time, as this petition will demonstrate, Texas has come to ask the Child Protective Service to do too much with too little. This petition is a call for action by our state leadership to address this problem at a time when God has blessed our state with the resources to do so.
