Chez Chesler

DSS chief says state must balance children's needs and risks - Boston.com

In a January 25 article, Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi opened the testimony before the House Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect, which he forme dafter Haleigh Poutre allegedly was beaten into a coma by her adoptive parents in 2005 after the Department of Social Services decided against taking her away from the couple despite the girl's history of previous injuries by saying, "The number of children confirmed as abused and neglected in 2005-- 35,214 children -- would fill Fenway Park. Half were aged 7 and younger." He said said Massachusetts has the nation's third-highest rate of child abuse and neglect cases. DSS received court permission to remove Haleigh from life support, but when doctors said she showed signs of improvement she was moved to a rehabilitation hospital, where she remains. The state was criticized for moving too quickly to end life support. But then embattled DSS Commissioner Harry Spence acknowledged that cases such as Haleigh's grab public attention. But he said only about 100 of the 28,000 families DSS works with involve cases of grave danger to a child. He said Massachusetts has the second-lowest rate of death among child abuse victims, behind only New Hampshire, and the vast majority of cases his agency handles involve neglect such as failure to ensure a child is properly fed, bathed or supervised.

So it seems to me that DSS is inflating its numbers by calling more situations abuse and neglect than other states, and than commonly accepted meanings of the term. The overwhelming majority of the 28,000 families they work with do not involve grave danger at all.

Labels: DSS

Harvard has announced that Drew G. Faust will be the University's 28th President. Although most news accounts have noted that she is first holder of that office not to have been born with a penis, I find it more newsworthy that Dr. Faustus has superseded Leonard Hoar (President from 1672 to 1675, for whom neither Cabot House [formerly South House] nor Pforzheimer House [formerly North House, the last house with direction] could be named) as the President with the coolest name. (It takes me several days, after I get back to Boston, to realize that the reference "the president" refers to the president of Harvard and not to a minor official in Washington. - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.)

Barbara is dead, 8 months after breaking his leg. Why was this news for so long? It's sad news, but come on, a horse is a horse, of course of course.