All the RAve - the RAnts of RA

In reviewing the newly released Child Maltreatment 2004 Report, issued by the U.S. Administration for Children and Families, it becomes glaringly clear that this agency has some serious issues that need addressed.

It will take weeks to really get a handle on the magnitude of this report but I'd like to give you a few highlights of some of the problems I've already noticed within this document.

The dispositions chart is a total joke for starters. While the chart shows that 60.7% of all reports are "unsubstantiated", it also notes that 0.0% of all reports were "intentionally false." Yeah, right! We are supposed to believe that in the 50 United States there were no instances of an ex-spouse turning the other parent in for abuse, just so they could have something to present in court? Not a chance. Heck, I know of several cases of intentially false reports personally.

The chart entitled, "Dispositions by Professional and Nonprofessional report Sources, 2004" proves my point. It shows that of all the "Intentionally False" reports 81% were made by non-professionals and 19% were made by the professionals themselves. But I thought there weren't any?

In 2004, Professionals submitted more than half (56.0%) of all reports. The three most common sources of reports in 2004 were all made by professionals -- educational personnel (16.5%), legal or law enforcement personnel (15.6%), and social services personnel (10.5%). Nonprofessional report sources submitted the remaining 44 percent of reports. These included parents, other relatives, friends and neighbors, alleged victims, alleged perpetrators, anonymous callers, and "other" sources. Anonymous callers (9.4%), "other" sources (8.4%), and other relatives (7.9%) accounted for the largest groups of nonprofessional reporters.

In the next few weeks I will be examining the data and making comparisons to the data that was published last year. The sad part is Health and Human Services workers will attempt to use these numbers to justify the actions that they take. A lot of dirty deeds are being hid behind these figures, you can count on that.

I hope that you will take the time to review this report, posting your comments and information regarding any discrepancies you may find, so that others may be educated on this issue.

It's a terrible thing not to be able to trust ones own government but from where I'm sitting, anyone who does is a fool - plain and simple.