Yesterday I went to Court

It was -6 when I walked to the shack this morning. It takes a while to warm up this little room on a day so cold. Yesterday I took one of the dog food bags stuffed with wood scraps I saved from building the shack and split the scrap into burnable pieces. I’m running out of them. As I split the wood I remembered where it came from. That bag contained the short ends of the tongue and groove boards used for inside and outside siding and flooring. Cedar (which splits like butter) on the outside, spruce on the inside, fir for the floor. Perfect kindling. My brother, brother in law, and two nephews helped with the cedar siding. We accomplished so much in one day with that crew. The shack is 11’6” square. Over and over I bought twelve foot lumber, which created these nice 6” scraps. Those bags of scrap are almost gone. Like cobs, I have yet no source to replenish them.

The shack is raised off the ground, which prevents the floor joists from ever being affected by trapped moisture, but makes the floor damned cold. Even with my feet on a rug they’re still cold. But the stove is hot and life is good in here.

Yesterday I went to court. They needed my testimony in a case which I was involved in as director of YSB before I retired. I assumed it was resolved. It lives. The child, now approaching five, has been in the same foster home since he was three days old. The mother? Not an option. The father? Discovered by the miracles of modern science, through a lab, never knowing till the agency informed him by mail of the possibility that he could have a child, he has serious issues. Can he, should he be given the opportunity to parent this child? That is the question that has not been resolved. Recommendations to the court among the parties conflict, resulting in repeated hearings, multiple assessments and evaluations, delays and postponements. No matter what child welfare professionals do to try to move cases quickly, to decide early on where and with whom children will live permanently, some cases drag on without resolution. This is one of those cases.

And so even though I have not been writing about abused, neglected, and dependent children I was reminded Wednesday that the work goes on. It’s such a quiet and secluded world, the world of child welfare, wrapped in privacy and secret from the public. Never a jury, only a judge, with the task of deciding the future of a child who cannot choose, who knows not the possibilities, who lives unknowingly with his or her fate in the hands of child welfare professionals and attorneys, doing the best they can with what they have. It goes on day in and day out without you knowing about it.

I looked at the room when I was on the stand, the judge on my left and a court reporter on my right, a little microphone on a tripod in front of me. In the room were my former staff, the father who glared at me, the attorneys who have known me for so long, the bailiff who was a policeman when I was a crisis worker in 1978, the poor mother, the CASA volunteers; all of us there to decide the future of a young child, probably in pre-school playing as we met to act in his best interests.

I take the stand and am questioned first by an Assistant State’s attorney, then appointed attorney for the father, then the guardian ad litem appointed for the child. They start with my former position at the agency, my responsibilities, my experience, the level of my involvement. I supervised the supervisor of the foster care program. We staffed this case so often; it was of such a concern to her, to me, to her worker, to everyone involved.

Questioning centered on a specific incident, subsequent meetings, my recollection of events, my meetings with the father prior to the incident, my view on switching foster care workers whom parents and families do not like, agency policy on various topics. Lots of issues were of interest to the attorneys. I testified first. A worker, her supervisor, a CASA volunteer, a licensing worker were all on hand ready to provide input, then be cross examined by the parties. I hope a decision was reached, but I would not be surprised if it was continued.

Aside from traffic court, I have managed to keep my life and my family’s life out of the hands of others. I have married, raised children, bought, sold, and inherited property, and executed wills without the specter, the intrusion, of turning any of those events over to the judgment of a neutral party, argued by hired legal agents, to be decided by a jury or a judge. Everyone should be so lucky. I’ve written about court before, in the case of a young father who showed up, stood in front of a judge and surrendered his parental rights, to juveniles receiving harsh sentences at a young age, to children being adopted. In all of those situation there comes a moment when everyone awaits the decision of another, a judge, and knows fully that their life is not in their own control. The life of that four year old is not in his control. Far from it. He depends on the people in that court room to make the best decision for his future. I played only a minor role. I told the truth and provided insight to the best of my ability. The rest of it is up to the child welfare system, the states attorney, the public defenders, the appointed attorneys, and finally the judge. They toil in that room to do the right thing. No one knows how hard they work.

In the months and years to come that system, which is supported by state tax dollars, will be scrutinized and dissected, challenged to save money, criticized for its lack of effectiveness, and possibly crippled by budget cuts. That’s the way it goes in Illinois. No one state funded effort goes unscathed.

There is one way you can help this essential system. Support your local not for profit child welfare agency financially. Every area has one. They are there day in and day out for children who have no one else. If you are in North Central Illinois you have an opportunity to support a good child welfare agency, Youth Service Bureau of Illinois Valley. It has provided service for kids like the one I advocated for since 1976. My appearance in court yesterday may be the last time I am asked, or have the opportunity, to help directly. I am retired and my knowledge of children and their families who need such help grows older by the day. But as I sat on the witness stand and looked at the people in courtroom, all dedicated, I admired most the YSB staff. Their recommendations for that boy’s future may not be followed, but no one can negate what they have given him up to now. Come what might in the future of this young boy they have provided a safe, stable, and solid foundation for the rest of his life during the past four years. You want and need organizations like YSB in that room working in the best interest of children in your community. Their mission, the success of local children and families, is enhanced by the community’s financial support. Consider helping those they serve. They need you.