As the leader of a non-profit organization it's easy to get wrapped up in the numbers. I could write an entire message to you sharing statistics about child abuse & neglect such as...
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today there are approximately 780,000 children in the United States who are caught up in the court and child welfare maze because it's unsafe for them to live at home.
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last year more than 68,000 CASA Volunteers in the United States served more than 240,000 abused & neglected children.
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currently in Minnehaha and Lincoln Counties of South Dakota over 170 children are the "subjects" in open abuse & neglect cases.
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last year CASA Volunteers in Minnehaha and Lincoln Counties of South Dakota donated over 9,600 hours in advocacy services to abused and neglected children.
However, if I ended my message with only the numbers or led the organization consuming my time with numbers and not thinking about the lives; it would be a great injustice to the children whom these numbers are comprised of. So allow me to take it one step further and share one story giving one child represented in these statistics a name.
CHILD #1,073...Jack, age 8, along with his siblings, were victimized by their birth parents. The ongoing trauma experienced including being kicked by adults while being forced to sit on the floor; punched/hit with a closed fist; slapped hard enough to leave marks and; being "sprayed" in the face and eyes with a "stinky" liquid. Additionally, emotional abuse occurred in many forms include name calling using profanity.
Likely reading the statistics about child abuse and neglect was enough to open your eyes to the crisis of child abuse & neglect. But hopefully hearing one story about a child who is a victim will call you to ACTION. I invite you to consider becoming a Court Appointed Special Advocate or perhaps you would like to give of your time and talent in other ways or maybe you feel inclined to financially support the CASA Program. Whatever your calling...I guarantee it will make a powerful impact in a child's life. It's not our fault that so many children are victims of abuse & neglect, but it is our responsibility to do something about it. These precious human beings, like Jack, created in God's image deserve better and need you!
For the Children,