Report on children good and bad

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KCNC Director Tom Corson told the crowd, “Children are one-third of Kern’s population, but 100 percent of the Network for Children’s mission.”

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Showing a united effort at the news conference were Department of Human Service’s Jennifer Mason, KCNC’s Stefanie Blythe and Kern High School District’s Ashlie Meyer.

"Eleven years ago, we saw how children with empty bellies were not learning, and we put all our community resources to work to see how we could prevent that from happening. That is how the annual ‘Conditions of Children Report Card’ came about — because we needed to know where we were at to know how far we needed to go."

Those were the words of Kern County Network for Children (KCNC) Director Tom Corson at an April 14 news conference unveiling the "2009 Conditions of Children Report Card." Held outside the Dream Center & Coffee House in Bakersfield, it was an appropriate place for such an event to take place. Since KCNC, a part of the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office, took over Foster Youth Services, the county has seen a decline in the number of children entering foster care and a rise in the number being reunited with their immediate families. The Dream Center was KCNC’s idea to provide emancipated foster youth with a place where they could earn money, find resources to help them transition into adulthood without foster care and network with their peers.

The news conference to bring attention to April as National Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Month, was a three-fold effort of KCNC, Kern County Department of Human Services and Kern Child Abuse Prevention Council. One of those who spoke was Stephen Pelz, KCNC governing board president. And not all the news off the report card was good.

"See all the adults (about 50) in the parking lot for this news conference — well they represent in numbers about the same amount of child abuse that will take place in the county in a week." Pelz said. "In many ways, the report card is disturbing, but it also shows where we are making improvements, such as with this Dream Center that is making life better for kids in our community."

Department of Human Services Director Pat Cheadle led off the conference with a sense of urgency telling those present, "We need your help, now more than ever. I ask you to ask yourselves, ‘what can I do to help a child by making sure that child is safe? Maybe it can be as simple as knowing the children in your neighborhood and watching out for them. Or maybe it is providing support to a young parent who doesn’t know the first thing about raising a baby. I ask you to help us keep our community and children safe."

Another glaring statistic in the report card was one showing juvenile felony arrests for violent crimes increased 44 percent since 2005. Doing his part to help is Kern County Superior Court Judge Jon Stuebbe, a member of the KCNC governing board. Stuebbe was honored by the Child Abuse Prevention Council as its Child Advocate of the Year, during the news conference.

Others who received awards were Opal Morland and Gayla Gibson, honored as Community Partners for their work with the Foster Parent Association. Volunteer of the Year recipients were Foothill High teacher Rebecca Farley and students in her International Baccalaureate Program, who tutor and offer staff activities for families raising children of family and friends at the Haven Counseling Center.

HEARTS Connection was recognized as Community Agency of the Year and Yu Truong, who helped expand Child Advocacy Network programs, as Social Worker of the Year. Yvonne Muñoz and Margaret Ramirez were honored as Community Advocates of the Year. Muñoz was a founder of Shafter Healthy Start and Ramirez teaches parenting classes in both English and Spanish. Edmund Charles Crosby, past president of the Kern Child Abuse Prevention Council, received the Lifetime Achievement Award, posthumously.

All of the speakers agreed there has been a lot done to improve conditions for children but a long ways yet to go. As Corson summed it up, "Children are one-third of Kern’s population, but 100 percent of the Network for Children’s mission."

Those wishing to view the complete 2009 Conditions of Children Report Card can do so by visiting the KCNC Web site, http://www.kcnc.org.


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