Bill Shore’s Letters
Letter From September 10th
Originally published: November 2001
Dear Friend,
It's been said that the world changed on September 11. But for 229 kids who lived in the town where I work, the world didn't even last that long.
Like a lot of people I know, I saved the newspapers in those days immediately after September 11. They're still piled high on a shelf in my closet. But I also saved the newspapers during the days just before September 11. I'm not sure which stack's headlines shock me more.
On September 9th, 10th, and 11th, the Washington Post published the results of a year-long investigation into the deaths of 229 children in Washington, DC, "who perished from 1992 through 2000 after their families had come to the attention of the District's child protection system." Some died of accidents, abuse or shootings on the streets, others succumbed to disease and even dehydration. The front-page series documented that:
- One in five -- 40 boys and girls, most of them infants and toddlers -- lost their lives after government workers failed to take key preventive action or placed children in unsafe homes or institutions.
- 11 babies died after social workers sent infants born with serious medical problems to homes where parents were drug abusers, mentally ill, or otherwise unfit - without follow-up services.
- One eight-year-old, Sylvester Brown, was slain by his mentally ill mother despite four separate calls for help.
- The DC Child and Family Services Agency is short 90 social workers, nearly one-third of its budgeted workforce. Some social workers currently on staff are responsible for monitoring the welfare of more than 100 children at a time. Required to visit children living with foster parents every two weeks, sometimes their workload requires them to go more than 6 months without seeing the children under their care. Some of the agency's best have resigned as a result.
The Washington Post listed the names of 180 of the 229 children who had died. But by September 12, the Post would be publishing another list of names, those forever linked to national tragedy: the 189 victims of the terrorist attack at the Pentagon.
That's where any similarity between the two stories ends. There's been no fund established for their families of the 229 children who died from neglect. No rock concerts planned either. Unlike the victims of the terrorist attacks, their deaths were preceded by warnings specific enough to act upon. And unlike the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, little has been done to improve the safety or security of the thousands more still at risk. They can't be saved by fireman or special forces commandos. They can only be saved by us -- by our caring, our generosity, our ingenuity and our insistence.
Such suffering is not unique to the children of Washington, DC. Too many American children die from neglect in communities across this country. Many of those who survive never fulfill their true potential. The aid and advocacy organizations that Share Our Strength works to build focus their resources on helping, and often saving, these kids. There are no easy answers. But there are some obvious questions: How can we leverage technology to monitor the needs of children in crisis and manage caseloads?
How can we help recruit the human talent that is so vital? How can we tap into the heartfelt desire of so many Americans to make a difference?
Rescuers on September 11 showed that Americans are capable of extraordinary acts of courage and compassion. But it doesn't take away from the extraordinary courage of those who run into burning buildings to suggest another kind of courage is needed in America today. It is the courage to volunteer in a community where we've frankly feared to tread. It is the courage to contribute even more than we had budgeted for charitable contributions. It is the courage to comprehend events across town with the same curiosity and diligence we bring to trying to understand events around the world. It will take more than acts of courage to rescue the victims I read about on September 10. It will take dedicating our lives to making real the principles of equality and opportunity that have always made America worth fighting for.
For nearly two decades Share Our Strength has worked at the cutting edge of that battle by investing in innovative programs like Children's Health Fund, which offers mobile pediatric services to homeless and low-income children, many of whom suffer from malnutrition. Share Our Strength has helped Children's Health Fund grow from serving kids in New York City to serving more than 300,000 children in 16 cities. The children of parents with access to safe housing and healthy food, employment training and assistance, quality maternal and child health care don't end up being memorialized by the hundreds in The Washington Post.
If there was a shortage of American heroes before September 11, it was in perception only. An entire industry devoted to saving lives is coming to maturity in communities across the country. It can be found not just in firehouses but in foodbanks and foster homes, not just at the United Way but in the way mentors, tutors, teachers, and others have cared for those left behind during the years of prosperity that made many Americans feel invincible. We need not wait for a cataclysmic event to appreciate what these other heroes do. We can do more than salute and sing their praises from the sidelines. We can roll up our sleeves, join them, be them.
It may seem like the term hero has been overused these past few months. That's okay. It's been underutilized for far too long before now.
Reader Comments
1 reader comment so far | Add yours
#1 | Posted by lynd on Wednesday, June 21 at 11:06am
Very needed information found here, thank you for your workPost a comment
All fields are required (your e-mail address will not be displayed)