Re: legislation

[<AJack10970@xxxxxxx>]

I agree that focus on sex abuse is too narrow.   My observation after years on a Child Fatality Review Committee is that educational neglect, specifically absenteeism, is like the canary in the mine shaft.   

It masks other forms of maltreatment and social dysfunction, such as children being kept out of school to baby-sit or to allow time for physical abuse scars to heal. Though teachers may be mandated reporters, they may be pressured to screen indicated abuse through school administrators.

Also, the responsibilities of the proliferating charter schools (which are publicly funded) need to be spelled out in legislation.   What happens when a child drops out of a charter school and his existence is unknown to the public system?

Aeolian M. Jackson, DSW