BY PAT GILLEY • Contributing Columnist
We have a serious problem right here in our midst. Most of you probably have no idea of the issue. But there are many in our community who do know, but are too embarrassed to talk about it. Like the proverbial "elephant in the room," no one dared to mention it. When I first heard the rumor about its existence several weeks ago, I began to pull the loose ends until I could find out whether it was truth or fiction..
I ask you to turn back to the cover of this Focus SB. That blighted, old building pictured is officially called the "Louisiana State Office Building" To me, it looks like a dilapidated warehouse soon destined to be demolished.
It began life as the fancy headquarters of a big oil company. The marble floors and brass elevator doors reflect its former prominence in our community. After the oil bust some decades ago, the State of Louisiana took ownership of the building. It became the official building where citizens of northwest Louisiana could go to take care of their "state" business rather than having to trek down to Baton Rouge. I suspect that most of us have been in there at least once for one reason or another.
My first interaction with state workers who labored in this building made me think of going inside a grotesque beast where mostly scary things happened. For 35 years my journeys were usually prompted by my career as an attorney handling cases assigned by judges of the Caddo Juvenile Court.
The Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS) personnel and their attorney would be present at the court hearings along with an Assistant District Attorney and an attorney for the child/ children and parent–sometimes one for each parent of claims were in conflict. These were usually "pro bono" cases for me which meant I worked for free. Most attorneys were expected to take a certain number of those cases each year as a professional duty.
It is important that you understand, for purposes of this article, that Juvenile Court handles a large variety of cases involving children/juveniles and their families. From birth to the time, they turn eighteen, children are "served" by this court. I venture to say that the majority of the cases involve civil rather than criminal/delinquency matters.
During the years I practiced law, I watched the workings of our Juvenile Court change. More and more families and children were coming to the court for hearings. Of those cases some were minor issues dealing with child support or visitation or custody schedules. Others were life changing.
The worst were cases in which the State was asking the court to take custody away from parents and place the children in the care of the State. At times the court would terminate parents’ rights and put the children up for adoption.
Limitation of space requires me to give you only a very brief explanation of how the Juvenile Court works. These proceedings sometimes require the DCFS to remove children from their homes during the duration of court proceedings.
This can happen any day of the week at any house.
When DCFS personnel remove a child from her home, an entire team gears up for action. Some investigate the alleged issues of neglect or abuse while others work with the judge to determine if the child should be taken out of the home and held until a "72-hour could be held. Others begin exploring placement possibilities with other family members or friends. This more frequently works with infants and toddlers. Others look for potential foster care placement if it is an older child (teenager) Sometimes the child is returned home after the 72-hour hearing. Other times children remain in State care for days, weeks, months or even years.
Many parents were not bad people. Poverty is a big blame for many issues. Some were loving and caring parents who were in dire straits with no place to turn. Even with two jobs they weren’t able to make ends meet. Grandparents became primary care givers for their grandchildren.
"Neglect" was not always caused or brought on by lack of care or effort. A human being can do only so much. The price of good daycare is skyrocketing. Food stamps are being cut. Medical care is being cut. Shreveport is blessed with a bus system that is the envy of many cities its size, but it’s hard to meet a family’s needs by using by busses alone.
During the last several weeks I spent three or four hours over in "Grotesque Beast" speaking with State DCFS workers. I was trying to discover the truth about a rumor that innocent children removed from their homes and families were being housed in the "Grotesque Beast" – the old office building...the rumor was that the children were placed in vacant offices where a blow-up mattress would be brought in "for bedtime."
Case workers would pick up the children to get them to school the next morning (assuming they were of school age) and then return them to "the Beast" after school.
Sitters of one sort or another were with the children at night. No one knew (or was willing to share with me) exactly how this all worked out. I was told that this situation began during the previous governor’s term and continues today. At one point there had been plenty of foster parents eager to accept those innocent, sad children plucked from their homes with not even a moment’s notice. But those people grew older and could no longer accept such responsibilities.
The State appropriated money for a while to house the removed children in hotels with sitters. But then those funds dried up. Now, DCFS workers are desperate. Foster care recruiters are desperate.
A stalwart of the DCFS who has been there in various capacities for many years told me "We are at a critical place and time." Readers, these are our children I’m talking about. These children are the future of our country.
Imagine with me for a minute, the fear, the panic, the trauma a child may feel as she’s driven up to the building pictured on the front of this paper.
Sometimes things work out well at the 72-hour hearing and she can return home. Other times this daily scenario is replayed for days or weeks.
Remember that she is not a juvenile delinquent. She’s just a child whose parents don’t have their acts together.
The truth is now out.
No more "hush, hush" chats at council meetings or commission meetings or with state government people.....no more requests to church groups to come and volunteer to take these children for a few hours of family togetherness– or maybe to let a young child or teenager take a real bath or shower, or even spend the night in a real bed. So, I pose the question, "What are we going to do about this disgraceful situation?"
For the most part, DCFS personnel really are doing God’s work. They will tell you they are just doing their jobs. Perhaps some of you might decide during these post-Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious days of prayer and reflection. that now is the time for you to step forward and volunteer your time and talent and love on these, the least of all, our precious children.
For more information on foster parenting, go to dcfs.louisiana.gov or cortney.sanders.dcfs.la.gov.