Legislative Update 2/25/11

Aside from the walkout by the House Democrats this week, there have been some interesting things happening at the Statehouse in the past two weeks. The controversial immigration bill passed the Senate and is on its way to the House, albeit with some changes. The equally controversial teacher evaluation and licensing bill has also moved on to the House and the unions are packing the Statehouse to protest the Right to Work legislation.

With regard to youth, there are some good and not so good things happening. First, SB 56 Child Care Regulation was not held for vote and is therefore dead for this session. Senator Miller explained that she has not heard enough "compelling" evidence to prove the need for state regulation of church-based childcare ministries. Also, SB538 Bullying Prevention was defeated in committee - a surprising move to most child advocates. Reasoning had to do with an already over-burdened education system and concern that the bill promoted gay rights.

Both SB 4 and HB 1019, dealing with youth suicide prevention, have crossed over to their respective houses. Given the support that both bills have seen, despite being amended, it is likely that this issue will have success in this session - a very positive outcome for our youth.

Finally, HB 1566 School Absenteeism and Dropouts (Porter) passed committee on Monday. This bill will:

• Require schools to report chronic absenteeism to the DOE, identify contributing factors to absenteeism and develop chronic absenteeism reduction plans.
• Directs the education roundtable to study and make recommendations concerning early childhood education.
• Allows school corporations to contract with nonprofit entities to provide health care services in school-based clinics.

Let's hope for a peaceful solution to the standoff at the Statehouse so that we can get down to business and create some meaningful legislation that will help and not hurt the youth and families in our state.

Driven by the desire for freedom

As a somewhat student of history (my undergraduate degree), I have been watching with interest and amazement the events that have been happening in northern Africa and across the Middle East for the past several months. Long-standing autocratic, repressive regimes which have dominated their people for decades are being swept aside in a matter of days by people who have grown tired of poverty, degradation, and authoritarianism. There are two things that strike me most about these changing times: the risk that these people have taken and the fact that the greatest majority of them are youth.



Because most of us have always lived in a society where we could choose our professions, our friends, our places to live, and just about everything else in our lives, it is hard for us to imagine not having the freedom we are so accustomed to enjoying. It is inconceivable that we could be arrested, tortured, and even executed for expressing our disapproval about the actions of our government---yet that is exactly what the protesters risked when they took to the streets. They still did it--driven by the desire to have what you and I so frequently take for granted.



It is youth and young adults who are leading this rapid change--and their elders eagerly followed them. With their energy, idealism, commitment to liberty and social justice, these young leaders are literally re-shaping the history of their country and the trajectory of their own lives.



The young people of our community need to examine closely the actions of their contemporaries and recognize the great gift of freedom which has been given to us and the great responsibility that liberty bestows. Their peers in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Bahrain, and other countries have set us all a pretty clear standard to live up to. Though we are a nation of freedom and laws, we always have to be diligent to stand up for the freedom and the rights of everyone, especially those who are most vulnerable to being overrun by the majority whose views differ from those in charge. Acting as citizens who are focused on the common good is a path that we all certainly need to walk.

Letter to the Editor: Stop tragic stories of bullying with training, new legislation

Several bills in the General Assembly hope to reduce and prevent bullying and youth suicide. More and more tragic stories are coming to light of extreme cases of bullying that have led to criminal trials and youth taking their own lives to escape the torment. Most recently, a youth was arrested for posting threats via social media that he intended to harm the students at his high school.


Research and youth surveys show that bullying is most prevalent among students in grades six through 10.

Legislation introduced in this session will take a critical step to create awareness of youth suicide and bullying, as well as educate those involved with youth on a daily basis.

If we teach adults in schools how to recognize the signs of depression and bullying, we address only one part of the problem. The other component is teaching all youth how to respect and support one another and themselves and how to solve problems constructively. We need to teach youth the value of human life and the acceptance of diversity. Finally, we need to show that we adults support them, and, hopefully, we can minimize some of the more painful parts of growing up.

The Marion County Commission on Youth will host a training session in March in conjunction with the Institute for Behavioral and Family Studies for youth development professionals on how to recognize and prevent signs of bullying and youth suicide.

To learn more, visit www.mccoyouth.org/our-impact.aspx.

Mindi Goodpaster
Public policy and advocacy coordinator, Marion County Commission on Youth

View full-article at:  http://www.indystar.com/article/20110220/OPINION01/102200329/Stop-tragic-stories-bullying-training-new-legislation?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7COpinion%7Cs

Join Us In Feeding Our Youth This Summer!

By Richard G. Lugar
United States Senator

During the school year, a significant portion of students’ nutritional needs are met through the federal school lunch program. However, hunger does not stop simply because school recesses during the summer months. To help meet students’ nutritional needs during the summer vacation gap, I would like to encourage your organization to consider becoming involved in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP).

The SFSP is a federally funded program operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered by the State of Indiana. Local organizations that sponsor the program provide nutritious meals to eligible children and are reimbursed for their efforts. Potential sponsors include schools, summer camps, community centers, and other organizations that offer exercise, education, or guidance to children.

While this program has been in existence for more than four decades, I proposed significant improvements after finding low participation at a food service site in New Albany, Indiana. I learned from Indiana providers that governmental red tape discouraged many providers from participating. As a result, I authored a pilot program in 1999 that sought to streamline the program and remove the red tape. I am pleased that this program has now been made permanent and has increased the participation of Hoosier children by 80 percent.

With the help of more than 234 sponsors last year, the SFSP provided 1.74 million free meals and snacks over the summer to more than 45,000 low-income Hoosier children aged 18 and under. Unfortunately, approximately 500,000 children remain eligible but are not served.

The Indiana Department of Education is currently recruiting new program sites and will be hosting informational workshops for new and returning sponsors. For additional information, please visit: www.doe.in.gov/food/summer/welcome.html or contact Tina Skinner or Marcia Yurczyk at the Indiana Department of Education at (317) 232-0858 or (317) 232-0852. You may also contact them via email at tskinner@doe.in.gov or myurczyk@doe.in.gov.

There are many innovative health and wellness programs at schools, farms, and community organizations across our state. We must work together at the federal, state, local, and individual levels to foster and support initiatives that promote individual and community health and wellness so that each child has a better chance to reach his or her potential.

For more information, visit Senator Lugar's Web site or Facebook page.

EIP Excitement!

The Early Intervention and Prevention (EIP) Team at MCCOY has had a very busy day! John Brandon and I had two meetings with community partners about our Integrated Database Project and our Co-location of Services Project. Both are so exciting and if we can pull them off successfully, we think that they can be among the very best in the nation! Both projects are still in the planning stages, so we are “thinking big” and have high ambitions.

With the Integrated Database, we hope to create a portal that will pull social services information from several different databases and present the information in one clean interface. This project is not about creating a new database, but creating a way to link the existing information together to better serve the needs of the community.

While the Integrated Database will improve the connectivity of the city, the Co-location of Services Project will increase the efficiency of nonprofit service delivery. We know that when people need to traipse back and forth across the county to access early intervention and prevention resources, that programs are not as well-utilized as they could be. By offering several social services at a single neighborhood-based delivery point, we reduce the barriers that people have to finding help. Co-location of services is an integral part of a thriving community.

I think that both of these projects are cutting-edge, innovative, and exciting! If you would like to be involved in this work, please come to the next Early Intervention and Prevention Initiative Task Force Meeting on Wednesday March 23^rd at 10:30am, on the first floor of the United Way building. For more information visit: http://www.mccoyouth.org/our-impact.aspx?id=156&sid=0&pid=2

MCCOY in the News: Action needed on child care bill

Action needed on child care bill


By MINDI GOODPASTER And SHANNA MALOTT

Published: Thursday, February 17, 2011 1:00 PM EST

Several years ago, we both moved back to Indianapolis with our daughters in tow. One was new to Indianapolis and one was returning to her home city. Finding child care was a top priority for both of us and we called and visited several day care facilities that included in-home providers, centers, and child care ministries.

What we didn’t know at the time was that child care ministries are not licensed in Indiana and not well regulated.

As social workers, we understood the importance of quality early childhood experiences and were aware of what to look for. We knew to ask about staff-child ratios, educational levels/training of the staff, curriculum utilized for teaching the children, criminal background checks and how often staff received CPR/first aid training.

We knew to request a tour of the facility, what safety features to be looking for, and how to ask the right questions. However, after learning that child care ministries are not held to the same standards as centers or in-home providers, we both wondered how many other parents knew to ask those questions? We also wondered how many children were being cared for in environments that wouldn’t meet minimum licensing standards.

The person or facility that provides care to a child greatly influences that child’s ability to learn, grow, thrive and succeed.

Consider these facts:

• 85 percent of a child’s capacity to learn is determined during the first five years of life.
• Brain development of young children is directly influenced by the relationships and environments that they experience.
• Children who received high-quality care in the first few years of life scored higher in measures of academic and cognitive achievement when they were 15 years old and were less likely to misbehave than those who were enrolled in lower-quality child care.

As you think of those facts, keep in mind that in Indiana, 66 percent of children under the age of 5 are in some type of child care setting outside of the home and spend an average of 36 hours a week in that setting.

There are 745 unlicensed child care ministries providing care to children throughout the state of Indiana. Although many of these child care ministries are providing quality care to children, there are no minimum set of requirements that a ministry must abide by in order to care for children.

Last year, nearly $34 million of federally funded Child Care Development Funds (CCDF) were paid to unlicensed providers.

A bill has been introduced in the General Assembly that attempts to standardize basic health and safety regulations for all child care facilities. The purpose of Senate Bill 56 and House Bill 1226 is to ensure that child care facilities have, at a minimum, drug testing and policy, national criminal background checks for directors (not all staff), training in CPR, first aid, universal precautions and child abuse and neglect, as well as hot and cold running water.

While this legislation appears very logical, there are those who oppose the bill on the ground of separation of church and state. They believe that the state does not have the right to interfere in church affairs and since a large number of child care ministries reside in or are part of churches, they believe that this legislation is a stepping stone to the state becoming fully involved in church affairs.

It is important to clarify that this is not the purpose of the legislation. The legislation does not address issues such as staff/child ratios, curriculum/programming, Sunday and Vacation Bible School, staff education requirements or fire code regulations.

We need to remember that children’s lives and well-being are at stake in this debate.

View and print this article at: http://indianapolisrecorder.com/articles/2011/02/18/opinion/doc4d5d612f1a721867858290.txt

Put On Your Listening Ears....Parent Engagement Begins with Listening!

Remember when you were growing up and the teacher always said to "Put on your listening ears" whenever important things were being discussed? MCCOY's Student Success Team thinks it's time for the community to "put on our listening ears" and listen to what parent's have to say about the success of their children.

The research is there. Study after study points to involved parents as an indicator of successful students. So why isn't more being done to make sure families can be involved in the educational process? Schools try year after year to host Parent Nights, Parent/Teacher Conferences, and even create strong PTAs. But with all of the responsibilities parents deal with on a daily basis, it is difficult to connect with families in the ways that we all wish we could. Let's face it- there's a lot of competition for parents' time.

MCCOY's Student Success Initiative is committed to ensuring every Marion County student has the opportunity to receive a complete education by attacking the dropout crisis from various angles through 5 different task forces. One of the most critical of these angles is involving parents in their student's academic and social growth in school. This is exactly what our Parent/Family Engagement Task Force is dedicated to doing. To try to bridge the gap between parents, schools, youth organizations, youth programs, and the greater community around this issue of student success and education, MCCOY's Student Success Team is hosting an event geared towards information sharing and listening to what parents have to say. What are the barriers in parents being involved with their student's school? What can schools do better to engage families? What can families do better in connecting with their student's school? How can youth programs and youth development professionals play a role? All of these questions and more will be addressed during an evening event for parents to share.

This event will give parents the opportunity to share their opinions, obstacles, and possible solutions to the age-old struggle of getting parents and schools to work together to support students. The night will include dinner, a guest speaker, as well as a panel of parents and educators. The majority of the evening will be spent on small round-table discussions where parent's voices will be heard and rich discussion will be first priority. The event is being co-sponsored by the Indiana Partnerships Center/Parent Information and Resource Center (PIRC) and Indiana Youth Institute (IYI).

Plenty of events happen to inform and educate parents, but the goal of this event is for us to be informed and educated BY parents.

Date: March 10, 2011 Time: 5-7 p.m. Where: WFYI (1630 N. Meridian St.)

Questions/Comments?
Contact Michelle Clegg, MCCOY Dropout Prevention Coordinator
317-921-1230

Legislative Update 2/11/11

This week was quite busy for the General Assembly with hearings being rescheduled due to the weather last week and trying to get bills through before next week's deadline of hearings scheduled in their house of origin. I had the privilege of providing testimony on Wednesday on SB538 Bullying Prevention in the Senate Education and Career Development Committee. The hearing began at 1:30 and the review and testimony for this bill didn't start until 6:30 p.m. due to a highly contentious bill, SB01 regarding teacher evaluations. Needless to say, it was a long day. I'm hopeful that all who testified were heard and that we will get this much needed bill passed. The committee meets again next Wednesday, 2/16 to review amendments and vote.

Here is a list of other bills that had movement this week:

SB56 Child Care Regulation (Holdman et al) - Still no hearing scheduled, but on 2/7 Senator Gard was added as a co-author.

SB93 Concussions and head injuries in student athletes (Landske et al) - Hearing scheduled for 2/11 at 9:30 a.m. Senate Health and Provider Services Committee.

SB101 Driver education issues (Holdman et al) - 2/8 Third reading: passed; Yeas 41 nays 8. House sponsor: Rep. Hinkle, cosponsor: Re. Soliday, Senator Leising added as coauthor.

SB 406 Use of school bus safety belts (Rogers, Kruse) - 2/8 Third reading: passed; yes 46, nays 3. House sponsor: Rep. Behning, cosponsor: Rep. Porter, Senator Landske added as coauthor.

SB 446 Use of public school property by charter schools (Schneider et al) - 2/8 Second reading; amended, ordered engrossed; Senator Rogers added as coauthor.

SB465 Department of Child Services (Lawson) - 2/11 Hearing scheduled 9:00 a.m. Judiciary Committee.

HB1002 Charter Schools (Bosma et al) - 2/8 Third reading: passed; Yeas 59 nays 37. Senate sponsor: Sen. Kruse

HB1083 Child solicitation (Crouch, Lawson) - 2/7 Third reading: passed; Yeas 96 nays 0. Senate sponsor: Senator Head, Representative Delaney added as coauthor.

HB1340 Adult Education (Behning) - 2/10 Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed.

HB1341 Special Education Grants (Behning, Frizzell) - 2/10 Third reading: passed; yeas 92 nays 1. Senate sponsors: Sens. Yoder & Kruse.

HB 1369 Pay to performance program for school administrators (Soliday) - 2/8 Committee report: amend do pas, adopted; referred to Committee on Ways and Means. 2/10 Referral to Committee on Ways and Means withdrawn.

HB1399 Participation in school athletics (Wesco) - 2/10 Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed.

HB1418 Child protection registry (McNamara et al) - 2/10 Third reading: passed; Yeas 94 nays 0. Senate sponsor: Sen. Head.

HB1422 Notice to parent, guardian or custodian (Davisson, Reicken) - 2/10 Committee report; amend do pass; adopted.

February’s Everyday Champion is Rob Thomson, YMCA

MCCOY’s Everyday Champion this month, Rob Thomson, the Youth Enrichment School Age Program Director at the South Branch YMCA, was nominated by Rebecca Linehan our January award winner.

“Rob was a Journey Fellow with me in 2009, and we’ve stayed in touch ever since. I nominated Rob as an Everyday Champion because he has worked on behalf of youth for many years and has a passion for providing youth with fun and influential activities. He is respected by his employees and is a team leader. His staff enjoys working for him which fosters a healthy environment for youth to succeed.” said Rebecca.

Rob, who worked at Boys & Girls Clubs of Indianapolis before beginning at YMCA in December of 2006, regularly asks how his old staff and co-workers at Boys & Girls Clubs of Indianapolis are doing. According to Rebecca, he also often inquires about how certain kids that he worked with while at Boys and Girls Clubs are doing. He shares stories about those kids that are still connected to our organization and continuously hopes for their futures to be bright.

Rob recently sat down to answer some questions about what makes him February’s Everyday Champion.


1. What is your profession?
I am the Youth Enrichment School Age Program Director at the South Branch YMCA. Our branch provides before and after school programming for students from Beech Grove, Center Grove, Clark Pleasant, Edinburgh, Franklin Township, Greenwood, Perry Township and Southport Presbyterian Christian schools. It is my duty to manage our before and after school programs, staff, fiscal budgets and grant writing.


2. How are you an Everyday Champion for Youth?


In my role, it’s a joy to help parents with their children and to be able to give them hope that we are here to help. That’s my favorite part of my job, to encourage parents and help families in need by reassuring them that their children are taken care of when they are in our services and beyond. When a parent calls me or needs help, I drop what I am doing to help them out with their problem and connect them with the resources they need to help with children succeed


3. What impact do you hope to make on youth?


I hope to provide the best programming for youth that’s available before and after school. I support and encourage my wonderful staff that comes up with the programming ideas and help them implement them. I also work with all eight of our school corporation partnerships to work with their unique needs. I spend a lot of time developing positive relationships with principals so that together we can identify student needs and supply solutions for all.

4. What’s one thing that you wish an adult had told you when you were a young person?


As a youngster, I grew up with a strong single mom supporting me. Even though I had a strong value system, and treated people well, I got into a little mischief as a teenager and college student. I wish an adult would have told me to stop being so stubborn and to realize my future potential and to utilize my skills to better myself and others. I also wish that I had found faith and spirituality at an earlier age. I have been blessed in my life, and it took me a while to realize that.


5. What do you want to do next to support youth?


Like any young professional in a middle management position, I hope to one day lead an organization that is doing good for our communities children. I want and enjoy leading people in service to our community and to our communities’ most vulnerable individuals.


6. Do you work directly with youth or families?


In my position, I work with parents in “putting out fires” and listening to their needs for their children. We serve parents and youth, and look through their eyes in a non-biased way to understand their needs.


Do you know an Everyday Champion? Nominate them here!

Legislative Update 2/7/11

Due to "Icemaggeddon 2011" last week, the legislative update was not available on Friday. We are sliding into this week, digging out from last and are looking oh-so forward to spring. Really. But, in the meantime, we have a lot of work to do. Here is a list of bills that have had recent movement:

SB4 Suicide Prevention Training for School Personnel (Miller, et al) - 1/24 Third reading: passed 46 to 4. Rep. Noe is sponsor in the House.

SB43 GPS Monitoring & parole (Steele, Wyss) - 1/24 Third reading: passed 42 to 6. Rep. Foley is sponsor in the House.

SB56 Child Care Regulation (Holdman, Grooms) - 1/24 Sen. Simpson added as second author; 1/25 Sens. Rogers and Becker added as coauthors. Still has not been scheduled for a committee hearing. MCCOY is working with the Indiana Association of United Ways to advocate for a hearing. Contact Mindi Goodpaster mindi.goodpastermccoyouth.org to get involved.

SB85 Study of Schools with Low Graduation Rates (Leising et al) - 1/25 Third reading: passed 40 to 0. Rep. Behning is sponsor in the House.

SB101 Driver Education Issues (Holdman et al) - 1/27 Third reading; 2/3 placed back on second reading.

SB171 School Start Date and Calendar (Delph et al) - 2/3 Third reading: failed for lack of constitutional majority 23 to 25. Sen. Delph may reintroduce.

SB245 Prenatal Substance Abuse Commission (Kruse, Breaux) - 1/31 Third reading: passed 26 to 23. Rep. Noe is sponsor in the House.

SB 406 Use of School Bus Safety Belts (Rogers, Kruse) - 1/31 Committee report: amend do pass, adopted. 2/3 Second reading: ordered engrossed.

SB 446 Use of Public School Property by Charter Schools (Schneider et al) - 1/31 Committee report: amend do pass, adopted.

SB465 Department of Child Services (Lawson) - 2/11 Hearing scheduled Judiciary 9:00 a.m.

SB482 Adult Education (Kruse) - 2/2 hearing was scheduled - don't yet know outcome.

SB538 Bullying Prevention (Wyss) - 2/9 hearing scheduled 1:30 p.m. Rm. 233 Education & Career Development.

HB1002 Charter Schools (Bosma et al) - 1/25 Committee report: amend do pass, adopted.

HB1019 Training for Child Suicide Prevention (C. Brown) - 1/31 Third reading: passed 97 to 1. Sens. Lawson & Simpson are sponsors in the Sentate.

HB1083 Child Solicitation (Crouch, Lawson) - 2/3 Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed; Amendment 1 (DeLaney), prevailed; voice vote.

HB1107 Preventative Programs for At-Risk Children (Richardson) - 1/31 Third reading: passed 97 to 1. Sens. Buck and Lanane are sponsors in the Sentate.

HB1340 Adult Education (Behning) - 1/25 Committee report: do pass, adopted.

HB1341 Special Education Grants (Behning, Frizzell) - 1/31 Committee report; amend do pass, adopted.

HB1369 Pay to Performance Program for School Administrators (Soliday) - 1/31 Hearing scheduled - do not yet know outcome.

HB1418 Child Protection Registry (McNamara et al) - 1/27 Committee report: do pass, adopted.

This represents a small portion of the bills that have had recent activity and MCCOY continues to monitor others. If you have any suggestions for bills not mentioned here, please let us know!

Student Success Centered around Solutions

Written by: Stephanie Freeman, Communications Director at MCCOY

The declining state of our public education system has recently taken a spotlight nationally and locally through both President Obama’s State of the Union and Governor Mitch Daniels’ State of the State addresses. This should not be a surprise to anyone working or living within the Indianapolis metro area. Educators, business leaders, nonprofit organizations, faith communities, policy-makers, parents and other caring adults have been collaborating around central Indiana to address the high school drop out crisis in Marion County. In fact, we have seen an increase in the graduation rates to just over 80% because of these successful collaborations. Within these discussions it is easy to point blame and list the many problems that exist. However, what is needed to make increasing graduation rates a trend in central Indiana is to share best practices in policies, recognize programs and individuals that make a difference, and continue to implement solutions that are geared to help students succeed in school and in life.

A solution that many schools, organizations and business have been adopting is to utilize resources that already exist in the community – caring adults. These caring adults are the parents, guardians, mentors and teachers that are in our students lives on a consistent basis and have the potential to have a huge positive impact on the way the student perceives school and the goal to graduate and continue on to higher education.

According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, there are three key areas that families and caring adults should focus on to help their students succeed in school and go on to enter and graduate from higher educational institutes. These focus areas are: attendance, achievement and attainment.

Parents, guardians, family members and close caring adults should be aware of their student’s attendance records at school. Students may not feel compelled to attend school because of a lack of motivation and low engagement in school activities. However, adults can change these attitudes by motivating students to get involved with school activities such as clubs and sports, participate in after-school programming with their peers, and helping students increase school success by helping with homework and engaging tutors when appropriate. Adults must realize and commit to the idea that attendance counts. No matter if the absence is excused or unexcused, it’s still time that the student is not in class and is therefore missing out and not learning.

Achievement in school has many positive affects on the lives of students. When a student achieves in their classes they are motivated to try even harder, attend school, get involved in extracurricular activities, and go on to further their education after graduation. Caring adults and family members should keep track their students’ progress in school and help them out when need with homework assistance, test prep and tutoring support.

Attainment of a high school and college diploma is only possible when a student has a dream and a goal to reach for. Caring adults have an obligation to talk about graduating from high school and enrollment and success in college. With out planning and guidance from adults, most students will never reach their full potential.

As caring adults, we all can be mentors, advisors, teachers, and good role models for younger generations. Lets all continue to seek solutions to help students succeed in school and in life.

Breaking Down Barriers So You Can Serve Kids

I am grateful to MCCOY for the invitation to serve as a guest blogger in 2011. My blog posts will focus on breaking down barriers.

In youth-serving nonprofits, we want the very best for the kids we help. Yet and still, we run into significant barriers for achieving positive impact in the lives of children.

It's our job to break down those barriers. We are the adults - capable of creating opportunities, cultivating support, and addressing challenges.

The kids? They are often stuck in circumstances, outside of their control. They are faced with challenges, well beyond their years.

It's our responsibility to help kids. Get the tools you need to serve kids both effectively and efficiently. Take advantage of the local resources available:
Indiana Nonprofit Resource Network
Indiana YouthPRO Association
Indiana Youth Institute
Marion County Commission on Youth
United Way's Nonprofit Training Center

What other resources can help you break down barriers to help kids? Please leave a comment with your favorite resource!

Read more from Guest Blogger Jessica Journey on her blog about nonprofits, fundraising, and marketing: www.jessicajourney.com

Preventing Child Abuse at Birth

On Wednesday, January 12, 2011 I gave birth to a handsome and healthy baby boy. I delivered at Clarian’s Methodist Hospital near downtown Indianapolis. Although I was supposed to be focused on being a new mother, I couldn’t help but think about the work I am so passionate about- preventing child abuse and neglect- and the efforts Clarian is making to keep kids safe in our community.

Upon checking in at the hospital and several times thereafter I was asked if I felt safe in my current relationship and that resources would be provided if I did not. Number 1 opportunity for Clarian to prevent child abuse, as children are often physically and emotionally victimized or become placed in foster care as a result of domestic violence in the home.

Upon giving birth several nurses and my OBGYN talked to me about postpartum depression. I was provided with information about the warning signs of postpartum depression and was also given a brief quiz regarding possible symptoms I might already have. Number 2 opportunity to prevent child abuse and neglect, as we all know the horror stories of mothers killing their children as a result of suffering from untreated postpartum depression.

My son’s father and I had to watch a video about Shaken Baby Syndrome prior to leaving the hospital. The nurse asked if we watched the video, asked if we had any questions, and then offered suggestions for what to do if we became stressed or overwhelmed while caring for our son. Number 3 opportunity to prevent child abuse, as we know the devastating effects of shaking a baby- blindness, paralysis, etc., and death.

Kudos to Clarian for the great job they are doing to prevent child abuse and neglect at the earliest possible time- when a woman/man first becomes a new parent.