In a recent VTDigger article describing the pathetic state of the Department for Children and Families’ Family Services Division’s electronic records, Deputy Commissioner Aryka Radke absurdly denies that the unavailability of critical information puts children at risk. In an opinion column, Secretary of Human Services Jenney Samuelson and Secretary of Commerce Lindsay Kurrle make the Orwellian claim of having transitioned “an unprecedented number of Vermonters out of homelessness.” A lot of Vermonters would like a word with Ms. Samuelson and Ms. Kurrle about that, I suspect — but it’s hard to make political noise when you don’t have a place to live and have to spend all your time scrounging for necessities.
As for the database mess, Radke said, “I think it impacts my team and that they have to go the extra mile to make sure that we have the level of care that we need,” she said. Oh, good. Nothing to worry about then — until the kiddo mentioned in the article doesn’t have an EpiPen and eats some shellfish.
DCF workers can’t go the extra mile when they have excessive caseloads, the predictable result of our failure to address the key underlying causes of child neglect: poverty and homelessness, with their inevitable henchmen, substance abuse and domestic violence. Radke is aware of the high turnover among her staff, which makes the “extra mile” comment odd.
It is not surprising that officials in the Scott administration like Radke, Samuelson and Kurrle would make comments consistent with that administration’s priorities. Unfortunately, those priorities are centered around two core values: low taxes at all costs and trickle-down economics. Neither of these will ever lead to better outcomes for children or families.
“The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this may be incapable of morality.” – James Baldwin
Nate Hine
Strafford
