No Place For Children

"This work of photojournalism goes inside the system to offer an intimate, often disturbing view of children's experiences in juvenile detention. Steve Liss photographed and interviewed young detainees, their parents, and detention and probation officers in Laredo, Texas. His photographs reveal that these are vulnerable children - sometimes as young as ten - coping with a detention environment that most adults would find harsh. In the accompanying text, he brings in the voices of the young people who describe their already fractured lives and fragile dreams, as well as the words of their parents and juvenile justice workers who express frustration at not having more resources with which to help these kids."--BOOK JACKET.

Sisters Jennifer and Sarah were once part of a happy, stable family, but their idyllic life comes to an abrupt halt with the death of their mother. Unable to cope with his grief and the needs of his two young daughters, their father finds comfort in alcohol, gets fired from his job, and loses his grip on his family. As twelve-year-old Jennifer approaches maturity, she starts to develop a tough exterior, especially when she attracts unwelcome attention from one of her father’s friends. With nothing left to lose, the two sisters decide run away to their mother’s sister in Vancouver, setting out with very little money and no clear plan. Along the way, they must overcome fear, loneliness, illness, and the conflict inherent in their sibling relationship. This emotional story deals with mature themes, but is ultimately about the enduring bonds of family. Suitable for readers aged nine to eleven.

Abstract: This publication reports the conclusions of a series of hearing concerning support and services for children in troubled families. The Congress has made a commitment to guarantee support in the form of out of home placement when necessary and reunification with their families when possible. This report sought to answer several questions including: are there fewer unnecessary placements of children out of their homes than previously occurred? When children must be placed, are there more effective permanent placements than there were ten years ago? Are children receiving quality services when they are entrusted to the child welfare system? Several failings of the systen are revealed while some promising policies, innovative strategies, and effective programs were found.

A generation ago, the Joint Commission on the Mental Health of Children concluded that "there is not a single community in this country which provides an acceptable standard of services for its mentally ill children." Since then, many states have acknowledged the need to develop a system of care for such children, yet few adequate solutions have been implemented. Parents and other decision makers often face two unsatisfactory choices: coping as well as they can by themselves or turning the child over to someone else. This book surveys issues related to the care and civil commitment of children with emotional disturbance. The authors examine research on the residential treatment system for children and youths, then analyze the prevailing legal framework for the commitment of minors to such treatment. They systematically address the question of what child mental health policy should be and conclude by proposing a policy that emphasizes privacy, autonomy, and family integrity. No Place to Go is both a major scholarly statement on the treatment of children with emotional disturbance and a rallying cry for principled change. Gary B. Melton is the director of the Institute for Families in Society and a professor of neuropsychiatry and behavioral science, and adjunct professor of law, pediatrics, and psychology at the University of South Carolina. Phillip M. Lyons Jr. is an assistant professor at the College of Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University. Willis J. Spaulding is an attorney in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Donna Seto investigates why children born of wartime sexual violence are rarely included in post-conflict processes of reconciliation and recovery. The focus on children born of wartime sexual violence questions the framework of understanding war and recognizes that certain individuals are often forgotten or neglected. This book considers how children are neglected sites for the reproduction of global norms. It approaches this topic through an interdisciplinary perspective that questions how silence surrounding the issue of wartime sexual violence has prevented justice for children born of war from being achieved. In considering this, Seto examines how the theories and practices of mainstream International Relations (IR) can silence the experiences of war rape survivors and children born of wartime sexual violence and explores the theoretical frameworks within IR and the institutional structures that uphold protection regimes for children and women.

Details the grave situation facing homeless children and their parents who live in shelters and welfare hotels.