Rome News-Tribune. April 24, 2021.
Editorial: Get involved: Our children and community’s future depend on it
As a community and as a state we need to get involved with child abuse prevention efforts.
You know how people say “mind your own business?” Well child abuse in this community IS our business because these are OUR children.
Currently Georgia is 38th in the nation for child and family well-being and the state has adopted a plan to improve that ranking over the next 10 years.
How child abuse prevention is not a higher priority is baffling. The personal and economic costs of child abuse are high. Obviously the pain and lifelong trauma caused to individuals and families is immeasurable. But for each victim of abuse and neglect, there is an estimated lifetime financial impact of $226,822 associated with short- and long-term health care costs, child welfare costs, criminal justice costs, special education costs, and work productivity loss.
By becoming aware, and getting involved, rolling up our sleeves and digging into this serious issue, we can not only save funding for our state, but for Rome and Floyd County as well.
No single program, strategy, or approach will be enough to prevent child abuse in our community. Many different services, programs, practices, and strategies need to be put in place at once. There is no time like the present to support families and children and prevent child abuse.
There are plenty of opportunities as Georgia has put together a statewide Child Abuse Prevention Plan — our first since 1993.
The plan was developed over a one-year period in 2019 and incorporated feedback from focus groups held across the state. Those groups included government and nonprofit agencies, individuals, families, school systems, law enforcement, judicial system representatives and business leaders. The final result is a comprehensive plan that seeks to:
Increase family economic stability
Increase family resiliency
Increase access to early childhood care and education
Increase family mental well-being
Increase family physical health
Increase community knowledge and awareness of the societal factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect and the capacity to prevent it.
But a plan is no good without action. The Office of Prevention and Family Support and Prevent Child Abuse-Georgia are partnering with the CDC to help communicate the plan to communities.
This six-county region — Polk, Haralson, Douglas, Floyd, Bartow and Paulding — will soon pull together representatives across multiple sectors to talk about the plan and identify objectives that are important to the region. Family Resource Center Director Tina Bartleson has been asked to help convene these conversations.
Locally, community agencies and partners are working to identify the issues that most impact Rome and Floyd County through monthly collaborative team meetings led by Director LaDonna Collins of the Rome-Floyd County Commission on Children and Youth.
The Floyd County Collaborative Team meets the first Thursday of every month and regularly brings forth a new strategy to work on as a group collectively.
During these meetings, concerned citizens, parents and community partners come together to work on and gain insight on the issues that we face in our community.
While the group has been meeting virtually over the last year, May’s meeting will be in person on Thursday, May 6, at 1:30 p.m. at the Goodwill Career Center, 54 Hicks Drive in Rome. A virtual meeting option will be available for those who want to continue to meet via Zoom.
There is a seat saved at the table for you, your church, your club, your business and your family to participate in this process. YOU can make a difference.
To join in on local work on the child abuse prevention plan, email LaDonna Collins at lcollins@rfcccy.org with your email address. You’ll be added to the newsletter list. To join in on the regional work, email tina@exchangeclubfrc.org.
Despite the complex factors that can lead to child abuse, child abuse can be prevented.
Most people are already participating in prevention activities without realizing it. All of Georgia’s children and families should have opportunities and the necessary support to thrive in safe, stable, connected and nurturing communities where they live, work and play.
Let’s do our part to ensure that our children and families have this and much more.
To learn more about the State Child Abuse Prevention Plan visit https://abuse.publichealth.gsu.edu/canpp/
Get involved now. There is no time to waste. Our children are counting on us.
Thank you for reading.
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Dalton Daily Citizen. April 27, 2021.
Editorial: Another opportunity for COVID-19 vaccination is Saturday
This area has been blessed by many opportunities to receive the COVID-19 vaccines, and we are thankful for all of those who have made these opportunities available, from the North Georgia Health District to Dalton High School and Whitfield County Schools to Grace Medical Outreach Ministry to AdventHealth Murray to Hamilton Medical Center to the Mack Gaston Community Center, the DEO Clinic housed there and the city of Dalton, to Whitfield County government to the Coalicion de Lideres Latinos (CLILA), and we apologize if we have missed others.
For drive-thru clinics at the Dalton Convention Center, local officials said three volunteers were key to making the clinics run smoothly. Retired physicians James Blackwell and Luis Viamonte administered the vaccine while Annalee Harlan, a member of the Dalton City Council, helped organize those clinics.
This extensive list shows the outstanding response that has occurred here from the health sector, local governments and others to see that local residents have the opportunity to be vaccinated.
Another such opportunity is this Saturday through the North Georgia Health District. A no-appointment, walk-in COVID-19 vaccine clinic will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Mack Gaston Community Center at 218 N. Fredrick St. Georgians 16 and older are welcome. No identification is required, and the COVID-19 vaccine is free.
Whitfield County Health Department staff will administer the Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, as available. Teens ages 16 to 18 are only permitted the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.
The Georgia Department of Public Health reminds us that vaccination remains one of the best tools for stopping the spread of COVID-19, along with basic prevention measures such as wearing a mask, distancing from others, avoiding large gatherings and washing hands frequently.
We urge those who have not been vaccinated to take advantage of this new opportunity as we try to transition toward “normalcy” and away from the dreaded pandemic we have endured for more than a year now.
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Valdosta Daily Times. April 25, 2021.
Editorial: Police accountability hinges on transparency
The majority of Americans believe police must be held accountable for any mistreatment of Black people.
The murder of George Floyd shocked the nation.
But what happened to George Floyd has happened over and over and over again.
This time, in the prosecution of Derek Chauvin, something different happened.
The former police officer who killed Floyd in the streets was investigated, charged, prosecuted and convicted of murder.
The blue wall of support crumbled as fellow police officers, and even the chief of police, testified against Chauvin.
That made this different.
Now in a Washington Post-ABC News poll, six in 10 Americans say more should be done to hold police accountable.
According to the Post, the nationwide survey shows more Americans are calling for some type of policing reform than at anytime since 1988.
The Post reported that in 2014, 54% said they were confident police were adequately trained to avoid the use of excessive force, but that dropped to 47% last July and 44% this month, with 55% of respondents now saying they lack confidence in police on this question.
Many police officers and leaders across the nation were just as shocked and outraged by the actions of Chauvin as the general public. Bad cops doing bad things are bad for all police everywhere.
No one is saying all police officers are bad or that there are not any very positive interactions between police and people of color.
But when those interactions go bad, they go real bad and that must stop.
Improved training with an emphasis on de-escalation must be prioritized and there must also be absolute transparency around all use of force incidents.
There can be no exceptions.
All dash camera and body camera videos must be regarded as open public records and disclosed without condition.
Whether the footage exposes misconduct or exonerates an officer, it must be made public without delay.
The footage shows what it shows, and that will not change by waiting for disclosure.
In Georgia, all initial incident and arrest reports — including the full police narrative and supplements — are legally regarded as open, public records in the Open Records Act. There is no legitimate reason not to regard body camera footage in exactly the same way.
Transparency breeds trusts.
The unedited body camera footage shows the truth.
And the truth must always be disclosed.
END