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Children’s Initiative is
I
a Giant Step
The
Portland
New commitment to youth should now grow statewide
by
Observer
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, — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —■ — — — — — —
K ay T oran —
I was very
pleased to see the
Portland Children’ s
Initiative pass. It’s
a giant step for the
City of Portland
and a first step for
Oregon overall. So,
let’s not stop at the
city limits in our
quest to ensure that all of
O regon’s children have a
chance to be successful. We
continue to need a statewide
commitment to youth and ev­
ery citizen can demonstrate that
commitment with his or her
actions in becoming an advo­
cate for our children.
By passing Measure 26-33,
Portland voters supported the
creation of the Portland
Children’s Investment Fund,
which will fund proven pro­
grams to address child abuse
prevention and early interven­
tion, early childhood develop­
ment programs and after school
and mentoring programs. Prob­
ably half of those eligible to
vote on this issue did. That
doesn’t mean that the balance
of potential voters are callous
to the issue of at-risk kids. Or
that the rest of Oregon’s 3
million citizens are not aware
of the problem of children who
are victims of abuse and ne­
glect.
But in my 25 plus years of
serving this state and the needs
of our children, I have been
aware of a general public numb­
ness to this issue. Certainly,
most people are stunned to hear
about the severity of the prob­
lem, and they either don’t know
what they personally can do
about it, or they don’t know
what needs to be done. A step
you can take as part of your
role in your community is to
take responsibility to become
educated, to inform and then to
advocate.
We know that far too many
children and youth are dam­
aged because of negative and
hurtful behaviors. These are
the children who come from
troubled families. The ones
who are victims of abuse and
neglect. They have poor op­
tions for childcare and inad­
equate healthcare. They’re the
children who are exposed to
alcohol and drugs. The ones
who become teen parents and
are harmed by poverty and
discriminatory practices.
It continues to be a sad para­
dox that in one of the richest
countries on earth,
we have children go­
ing to bed hungry;
living in crime-in­
fested neighbor­
hoods; and living
with fear in their own
homes, their own
neighborhoods and in
their schools. Did
you know that the
majority of the victims of child
abuse and neglect are between
the ages of 0-5, and that infants
make up the single largest age
group of victims in Oregon?
We can no longer tolerate
Oregon’s children paying the
price of our neglectful behav­
iors. For to not intervene and
treat will only ensure higher
cost to society later in terms of
non or under employment, low
wages, mental and physical
health treatment, teen pregnan-
We can no longer
tolerate Oregon’s
children paying the
price o f our
neglectful behaviors.
—by Kay Toran, president and
chief executive officer of
Volunteers of American
Oregon
cies, juvenile delinquency and
adult incarceration.
Here’s what you and I can
do to support children’s ini­
tiatives in our communities:
We can be vocal advocates
for a strong child welfare
system - one that the com­
munity accepts as its respon­
sibility to ensure child safety.
I am talking about a child
welfare system that includes
high quality child-care pro­
grams, available relief nurs­
eries, a seamless child pro­
tective services system and
parental support programs to
ensure child safety.
We desperately need a
childcare system that low and
moderate-income parents can
afford. Most often, the quality
of childcare is directly related
to a parent’s ability to pay. Did
you know the typical charge
for infant childcare is $700 a
month? And that for 4-5 year
olds it can cost $400 a month?
High quality childcare is expen­
sive and almost cost prohibi­
tive for minimum or low wage
employed parents.
The lack of high quality care
means that a child’s health,
safety and developmental needs
may not be met. In all probabil­
ity, that child will not be school
ready when he turns six. Right
from the beginning, this child
will be disadvantaged. We can
combat this situation by advo­
cating for high quality, tuition-
assisted programs for children
ages six weeks to six years old.
Another area of concern
where community members
can do their part is to advocate
for additional relief nursery ser­
vices. The relief nursery is an
intervention/prevention pro­
gram for families with children
at the most vulnerable age (six
weeks to six years old) who are
at serious risk of abuse and
neglect. We can’t solve the is­
sues of child neglect without
looking at the state of at-risk
families in each of our commu­
nities. More and more of our
children are born into single
parent homes and are being
raised in divorced or single par­
ent hom es. And to d ay ’s
economy often dictates that
two parents are required to
work outside of the home. With
this as our social and economic
realities, there is a growing need
to help families struggling to
cope.
Family Relief Nurseries are
places where high risk/low ben­
efit children can receive nur­
turing attention while their par­
ents find the education, job
training and support they need.
The goal is to impact the
intergenerational cycle of child
abuse and neglect and to assist
parents in retaining their chil­
dren in their own homes in a
safe and supportive environ­
ment.
The future of our youth is
dependent upon initiatives that
are supported in local com­
munities, such as the Port­
land Children’s Initiative. You
can do something about the
safety and care of Oregon’s
children. First, make it your
personal vision that all our
children are important, that
they deserve a safe, pro­
tected, nurtured, well edu­
cated and respectful environ­
ment in which to grow up.
And then work to support ini­
tiatives that educate, inform
and advocate for our children
- in Portland, your city and
our state.
Kay Toran is the ch ief execu­
tive officer and president o f
Volunteers o f America Oregon
and the fo rm e r d irector o f
Oregon-s Office fo r Services
to Children and Families.
— — — —
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Support for Libraries Appreciated
The Board of Multnomah
County Commissioners along
with library supporters are
pleased after last week’s suc­
cessful passage of Measure 26-
36, the five-year renewal of the
library levy.
“This vote is an affirmation
of the value the community
places on our library services.
In tough economic times, li­
braries matter more than ever,”
said Multnomah County Chair
Diane Linn.“The passage of the
library levy restores Monday
hours at Central and the four
busiest neighborhood libraries,
and increase the book budget.”
Library Board chair Terry
M cCall
com m ented,
“Multnomah County voters
have said “yes" to maintain­
ing library funding and we
are looking forward to work­
ing with the Board of Com­
missioners to provide the level
of library services our pa­
trons value and most defi­
nitely use.”
The Board placed the levy on
the ballot after the measure
passed but failed in May due to
the “double majority rule.”
“The passage of the levy was
a group effort. I want to thank
the library’s many supporters
and especially library staff,
whose good work every day
delivers a library people are
willing to support in this," said
Director of Libraries Ginnie
Cooper.
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