Of all the
journalists who have covered child welfare, few are more keen on pushing a
take-the-child-and-run approach than former Los
Angeles Times reporter Garrett Therolf. The issues with Therolf’s work at the Times were so serious that even an
ideological soulmate found serious problems in story after story. The
crescendo of criticism was such that LA
Observed, a Los Angeles news site that closely tracks area media, took
notice.
Then, just as
he was leaving the Times, Therolf demeaned
the work of Black scholars while cheerleading for those who insist that
child welfare is magically immune from racial bias.
So, on this Giving Tuesday, where
better to turn for a testament to the power and influence of NCCPR – right?
Not that he
offered such a testament on purpose, of course.
I’m sure he didn’t even realize it.
Last month,
Therolf was able to get a sugar-coated version of his L.A. Times-style reporting
into a national magazine. (I’m not going to link to it, but you can use the
quote below to Google it if you are so inclined.) After noting
how horror stories about deaths of children “known to the system” can drive increases
in foster care, he discusses one of the very few cases in which it worked in
reverse:
Logan Marr, a 5-year-old girl
from Maine [had] been removed from her home by the state’s grossly
interventionist child-protective-services agency. In a gruesome twist, Logan
was placed in the custody of a former caseworker, who disciplined her by
gagging her with duct tape and leaving her in the basement, where she died.
The case became the subject of a
PBS documentary, and media attention made Logan a symbol of child-protective
services’ overreach. The pendulum swung, and the United States saw a nearly 25 percent drop in the number of
children in foster care from 2002 to 2012. [Emphasis added.]
Therolf
never mentions which organization drew all that media attention to the case of
Logan Marr. He probably doesn’t know. It
was, of course, NCCPR. We’re the ones
who told producers for Frontline about
the case. You’ll find an NCCPR
op-ed on Frontline’s website for the programs.
It was NCCPR
that focused the discussion of this case, in Maine and nationally, on the fact
that Logan was taken because her family poverty was confused with neglect. And it was NCCPR that shifted the focus from
the usual calls for tougher licensing standards and more visits to foster homes
to the real issue: Maine was taking away far too many children. There’s a detailed discussion of what
we did and how we did it here.
Some caveats:
We didn’t do it alone. It wouldn’t have been possible without activists in
Maine led by a fed-up foster parent. And, although one probably shouldn’t say this
in a fundraising pitch, the attention we drew to the case of Logan Marr was not
solely responsible for that big drop in foster care. But it helped.
There’s more
about our successes across the country here – including testimonials from child
welfare leaders and journalists who actually like our work.
And best of
all, we do it on a shoestring. Now that
the entire staff (that’s me) is volunteer, all we need is a few thousand
dollars a year for things like the phone bill, office supplies, purchasing
overpriced studies from scholarly journals, and – ideally – some travel to meet
with journalists and local advocates.
There are a
lot of places well worth your support on this Giving Tuesday – but very few
where a small donation can get so much done.
Thank you
for your support.
