I spent my summer working at the Office of the Child Advocates in Fulton County. My previous work with children had involved working as a substitute teacher for Head Start and tutoring grade school children in the area of reading. These experiences made me aware of the great need for child advocacy. There are so many children that do not have the privileges that I and so many other people had growing up, such as a loving family, food, shelter, attention, and care. However, it was not until my internship at the Office of the Child Advocates that I realized exactly how great this need truly is. I had no idea of the sheer number of children who are abused and neglected. In a way, it was rather daunting, if not discouraging at times. How do you tackle such a huge problem? You tackle it one case at a time. The victories may be small, but it's a start. Of course, the more people that we have tackling one case at a time, the better. I became very grateful for the hard-working Court Appointed Special Advocates, who volunteered their time to help children. If more people could just contribute a couple hours a week of their time, and of course, if we could just set aside a few more tax dollars to hire another attorney, case worker, etc. I think we would see mass improvements with "the system."

Child abuse and neglect will never go away, but the damage can be lessened. I think the "chain of violence" can be broken, but parents need to be educated. Chances are, the parents were also abused as children. In England, Parliament tried to pass a law making all forms of corporal punishment illegal. I don't know if the bill became law, but it's shocking to us in America that such a piece of legislation would even be considered. But Britain is different than the United States. Violence is not as ingrained in their culture as it is in ours. The police in the United Kingdom don't even carry guns. Perhaps the United States will never get to the point where all forms of physical discipline are considered unacceptable, but that does not mean there isn't room for vast improvement. When a parent hits a child, that child thinks that violence is a good way to solve problems. If parents would just utilize alternative methods of disciplining their children, such as time out, chances are we would see these children having less behavioral problems and would not go on to hit their own children. The ripple effect would be tremendous.

It can be frustrating working with parents because it often seems that what they have to do is so simple: go to parenting classes, enroll in drug treatment, get a job, maintain stable housing, etc. While all this seems rather basic to a lot of people, it's important to remember that many of these parents are facing serious obstacles. The number one obstacle being poverty. Everything these people do is more difficult. They don't have a car, so they need to take MARTA to court hearings. The Division of Family and Children Services wants them to stay in better touch with the caseworker, but they don't have a phone. They were brought up by a family that abused them. They live in a drug infested area, and so forth. These seemingly endless obstacles do not mean that we can give up on parents. Some people are able to completely turn their lives around. These were probably the most rewarding cases I worked on. It's incredible to see a mother completely clean up her act and be reunited with her children.

It's tempting to see removal from the home as the easiest solution to all deprivation cases. Sometimes, this is the best solution, but it must be done with care. Too often people assume that children will be removed and put in a better place. This is not always the case. Children die in foster care. Children are placed with uncles that lock the children in the bathroom of a motel for hours while they have a "crack party." Removal is not always the perfect solution. Oftentimes, services can be placed in the home that will alleviate the problem and make removal unnecessary. When a child is removed from their parent's home, I think it is crucial that the child advocate and the caseworker explain to the child what is happening and why. Children have a tendency to blame themselves. Placement in foster care will often seem like a punishment for something they did. They will wonder, what did I do wrong to be put in this place? Is it my fault that I was abused or neglected? I liked Mary Herman's explanation to children that sometimes families get sick, and they need to take some time to get better.

Another realization I had this summer was the incredible problem of drugs in our society. The saddest aspect of the drug epidemic is that so many children feel the effects of their parents' drug use. I don't know what would be the best way to implement this, but I truly feel that a program should be started to educate drug addicts about birth control. Many drug addicts can get clean and stay clean, but they should reach this status before they have a child. It is unacceptable that a woman in Fulton County literally had thirty-two children, all of which were taken by the state because they were born positive for cocaine. Many problems could be prevented with greater advocacy and education.

There is so much work to be done in the area of child advocacy. The amount of work should only encourage all those involved to work that much harder and for those who aren't involved to become involved. Communication needs to be improved. More people need to be hired. More people need to take notice of the world around them. The caseloads might be huge, but society has an obligation to help children one case at a time. That one case makes a difference.