Try our "Mad Libs
version" of the commission's
latest blog post
I thought of that as I
read the collection of strung-together platitudes that constitutes the latest blog post from the so-called Commission to Eliminate Child
Abuse and Neglect fatalities. Just
how devoid of content is this thing?
Well, you can read
the original here.
Or, make it a little
less painful by just looking below at what I call the Mad Libs version. I’ve removed all references specific to child
welfare and child abuse fatalities. But
other than that, it’s exactly what Comission Chair David Sanders allegedly wrote. Try filling in the blanks with just about any
other pressing problem – race relations, the global economy, education,
poverty, environmental protection. I
particularly like the fact that item #1 on the list of “three major problems”
can be used for almost anything without changing even one word.
So, for anyone out
there who might someday chair a “blue-ribbon commission” file this away. You never know when you might need it:
THE "MAD-LIBS VERSION" OF AN ACTUAL POST TO THE BLOG FOR THE COMMISSION
TO ELIMINATE CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT FATALITIES
_______ Today and Envisioning a Stronger ___________ System
for the Future
As the Commission nears the end of its work on the issue of
____________, it is clear that there are no simple answers to this complex
challenge.
There have been promising findings from a few communities
that have come together in ways that appear to be reducing _______________.
These approaches are hopeful, and the Commission will build its recommendations
off of what we’ve learned about what works and what does not and what
approaches appear to hold promise. Unfortunately, we found only a few
well-researched programs that are demonstrated to ______________ and only a
handful of communities that had chosen to attempt to _______________.
Furthermore, we found that a coordinated national response that reflects and
responds to the urgency of the present crisis is lacking.
Based on the promising efforts we observed, we identified
three major challenges facing communities that hindered efforts to reform
_____________:
First, there is a lack of sustained leadership and
accountability at the federal, state, and local levels. Leadership on this
issue will require strategic planning, coordination across multiple agencies,
sustained focus, and a level of resources to bring about significant change.
There is also a lack of evidence-based research and clear
data about _________________. There is no standard mandated reporting system _______________,
and definitions, investigative procedures, and reporting requirements vary from
state to state.
And finally, a lack of cross-system collaboration places too
much of the onus on ______ for __________________.
As we have heard from agencies across the spectrum, in order
for any strategy to succeed, it will need to include a multidisciplinary model
that features meaningful and mutually accountable partnerships among ________________,
and more. We recognize that this kind of deeply rooted collaboration, while
necessary to generate real and lasting solutions, takes time.
Yet we know that there is no time to waste if we are to ______________right
now, today. As we completed this work, we read hundreds of headlines about
____________________. Not a day has gone by that we haven’t thought about _____________.
That is why, as we near the release of our final report, our
Commission is reviewing options for both immediate recommendations that will
begin to ____________ right away and comprehensive changes to create a
redefined _______________ of the 21st century.
Solving the issue of _____________________is within our
reach, if we can apply the lessons of the past, act with urgency to
_______________, and create a new vision for a more effective ____________
system of the future.
There is, however, a
very serious side to all this. Whatever
problem you used to fill in the blanks, odds are it was an issue with serious
consequences for a lot of people. The
issue of child abuse fatalities is among the most serious imaginable. But it is
throwing platitudes at the problem that trivializes it, not pointing out that those platitudes and recycled bad ideas are all this commission has got.
