Every Child Deserve Unconditional Love
The month of April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. This is an issue that is very special to me. Early in my life I worked at Butterfield Youth Services in Marshall, Mo. and I saw firsthand the results that physical, emotional and sexual abuse caused young children. I saw a young boy with burn marks all over his body given to him by his drunken mother.
Later in life I was privileged to serve as the Director of the Missouri Department of Social Services and in this role I was responsible for the care and custody of over 10,000 children who were in foster care. Most of these children had been subject to some form of child abuse but they all had the potential for a bright future. These children simply need what many of us take for granted --- someone to love them unconditionally. If you have time in your life I encourage you to contact a local child welfare agency or the state Department of Social Services and volunteer to spend time with these young people or become a foster parent or adoptive parent. I assure you that this experience will change your life.
Even in the best of times the pressures of being a parent can be overwhelming. So in these difficult financial times when so many people are out of work and without health insurance, we must be more diligent than ever to make sure that all children are safe from abuse or neglect. If you have reason to believe that a child is not safe, you have the responsibility to call the child abuse hotline. In Missouri the number is: 800-392-3738; in Kansas the number is 800-922-5330
Every child deserves to be loved unconditionally by someone…is that someone you?
Later in life I was privileged to serve as the Director of the Missouri Department of Social Services and in this role I was responsible for the care and custody of over 10,000 children who were in foster care. Most of these children had been subject to some form of child abuse but they all had the potential for a bright future. These children simply need what many of us take for granted --- someone to love them unconditionally. If you have time in your life I encourage you to contact a local child welfare agency or the state Department of Social Services and volunteer to spend time with these young people or become a foster parent or adoptive parent. I assure you that this experience will change your life.
Even in the best of times the pressures of being a parent can be overwhelming. So in these difficult financial times when so many people are out of work and without health insurance, we must be more diligent than ever to make sure that all children are safe from abuse or neglect. If you have reason to believe that a child is not safe, you have the responsibility to call the child abuse hotline. In Missouri the number is: 800-392-3738; in Kansas the number is 800-922-5330
Every child deserves to be loved unconditionally by someone…is that someone you?
About Me
Steve Roling
President/CEO
Steve Roling is the President/CEO of the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City. Each week he blogs about issues that inspire him as we work toward eliminating barriers to quality health.
Comments
Steve, I couldn’t agree with you more. It is not too much for us to ask to have one person unconditionally love a child. This is the missing link that supportive social services can’t provide, and we don't yet have the magic wand to wave to teach people how to unconditionally love their children. I am currently a community social worker and I can’t take home every kid and love them even though that is what EVERY child deserves. So many of us who grew up in a healthy household with unconditional love take it for granted...so many people assume that every child is born into a family that is able to love and care for their needs, which is unfortunately not the case. It is not any child’s fault that they were born into poverty or an abusive home or into a home where substances are abused. It is not my fault nor is it my right to be born into a 2 parent middle to upper class home who loved me unconditionally every day of my life. These are things that are beyond anyone's control...what IS in our control, however, is the ability of those who grew up with unconditionally love to not only pass that love onto our children, but to reach out to other kids who aren't born into unconditional love. To connect with an abused kid, to mentor, to be a foster parent...to somehow make a difference in these kids' lives. THAT is what more people NEED to be doing...thank you for reminding us of that Steve!!! This blog is awesome!
Horsepower Experiential Learning Program (HELP) shares your deep concern for these at-risk abused children. HELP has been working with these children through our equine learning program. Starting our 6th year, we have seen children develop a successful relationship for the first time in their lives, if only through the care of and respect received from a horse.
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