[Rolling Bones]

Eleven children have been removed from a home in the US state of Ohio where they were apparently locked up in small cages, the authorities have said.
The children, aged one to 14, said they slept in 40-sq-in (100-sq-cm) cells. They had no pillows or blankets, according to a Huron County sheriff.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4241536.stm

[wdlove]

Such a heinous crime. Man's inhumanity to man, young children. Don't understand why no charges have been filed, seems very obvious.

[budster101]

Disgusting. Put those people in a cages now. I'm not going to read the article, the day is already starting out bad.

[andi*pandi]

What the

[davesimondotcom]

When there are people like my wife and I and two other couples we are close friends with want children and can't have them, it really pisses me off when people treat their children like this. Hell, even if I didn't want children it would piss me off.

These were adoptive/foster parents. Where the hell was the government on this one?

[badidea]

Originally Posted by BBC article

100-sq-cm cells.

That's about the size of my hand!

[TETENAL]

They were bonsai children.

[Thorin]

Originally Posted by badidea

That's about the size of my hand!

Your hands are a metre square!?

[TETENAL]

Originally Posted by Thorin

Your hands are a metre square!?

1 m² is 10000 cm².

100 cm² is 10 by 10 cm. That's too small for any born child. I see that the BBC has corrected the article by now however, but how can we trust the new numbers now at all? The credibility is destroyed.

[Mastrap]

Originally Posted by TETENAL

The credibility is destroyed.

Because somebody made a numerical mistake? The story stands.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Rolling Bones

40-sq-in (100-sq-cm) cells.

The math is totaly screwed up.

40 sqin is 6.32 x 6.32 inch, which would be equal of 16.06 cm x 16.06 cm or 258.06 sqcm.

These idiots just multiplied the 40 sqin by 2.54 to get the sqcm

-t

[TETENAL]

Originally Posted by turtle777

The math is totaly screwed up.

40 sqin is 6.32 x 6.32 inch, which would be equal of 16.06 cm x 16.06 cm or 258.06 sqcm.

These idiots just multiplied the 40 sqin by 2.54 to get the sqcm

A 40 square inch cage hardly fits a guinea pig in it. The story is totally unbelievable.

[Rolling Bones]

I'm happy to see you're all concerned about the "lost in translation" size of the cages instead of the children.

Somebody have the only in America pic.?

Who the fekk uses archaic inches anymore.

Somebody have the only in America pic.?

[andi*pandi]

so somebody meant to say 40 by 40 and didn't. still awful.

[ThinkInsane]

Only in America indeed

[Scandalous Ion Cannon]

Originally Posted by ThinkInsane

Only in America indeed

You consider the US to be on the same level as this country?

[OB1]

Just the title of this thread took my breath away. There isn't much you can say about how hideous this is.

[budster101]

10 kids being caged in America does not reflect on all Americans you idiot.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Rolling Bones

Somebody have the only in America pic.?

I have it, I made it !

But I on purpose didn't post it. This DOES happen everywhere. We just had a case in Germany were a girl was locked in her room for many years.
It's NOT only in America.

-t

[Millennium]

Originally Posted by davesimondotcom

These were adoptive/foster parents. Where the hell was the government on this one?

Sadly, cases of corrupt foster parents like this are depressingly common. In the US (and I'd imagine most other companies with similar concepts), foster parents receive a modest check from the government periodically, to help compensate them for the expenses involved in raising a foster child. Far too often, though, you see people who take on one or several (or in cases like this, large numbers of) foster children just to get the checks, and then neglect or outright abuse the children. The idea of people "taking in" but then neglecting children not their own isn't a new one; references abound in literature. The Thenardiers' treatment of young Cosette in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables is particularly noteworthy; the novel predates the foster care system as we know it but the characters had entered into a private arrangement very similar to the modern idea of foster care. For a more modern example, one need only look as far as J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series; the Dursleys are not part of the foster care system, but their treatment of Harry (especially in the first book) is still fairly typical for corrupt foster parents. It's entirely possible that Rowling got some of her ideas from the stories of abused students she'd had.

In other words, this is Really, Really Nasty Stuff we're dealing with here. And contrary to popular sentiment on these boards, it is not 'Only in America' that we find such things. This case was very much an extreme, of a sort which could have happened anywhere, but more typical cases can be found worldwide.

When the government finds such corrupt foster parents, it prosecutes them and takes back the children (a traumatic experience in its own right, but a far lesser evil by almost any standard). But there is only so much the government can do until it finds probable cause to run a thorough search, and the people who become corrupt foster parents get very good at hiding or suppressing evidence. The situation is made worse by the fact that the foster care program in the US faces chronic shortages of parents, creating an environment where it's fairly common for someone to take on more than one child. That, in turn makes the corrupt foster parents less conspicuous and thus harder to root out.

It's times like this that I really wish there were some fair way to predictively test for whether or not someone would make a good parent, so that a system of parental licensing could be instituted. However, I don't think a fair way to test for that is ever going to be found, and unfair licensing would be worse than no licensing at all.

[Scandalous Ion Cannon]

Originally Posted by budster101

10 kids being caged in America does not reflect on all Americans you idiot.

When in the hell did anyone say that?

[budster101]

"Only in America".

- rolling bones (bonehead is more like it).

[TETENAL]

Originally Posted by turtle777

But I on purpose didn't post it. This DOES happen everywhere. We just had a case in Germany were a girl was locked in her room for many years.

Actually it was a boy. Allegedly the Prince of Baden.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by TETENAL

Actually it was a boy. Allegedly the Prince of Baden.

Actually, I was refering to the case of Jessica. Just happened recently.

http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/0,1518,372232,00.html

-t

[baw]

and why hasn't FEMA mobilized to Ohio yet?

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by baw

and why hasn't FEMA mobilized to Ohio yet?

What the F*CK does that have to do with this???

[placebo1969]

Originally Posted by Millennium

Sadly, cases of corrupt foster parents like this are depressingly common. In the US (and I'd imagine most other companies with similar concepts), foster parents receive a modest check from the government periodically, to help compensate them for the expenses involved in raising a foster child. Far too often, though, you see people who take on one or several (or in cases like this, large numbers of) foster children just to get the checks, and then neglect or outright abuse the children. The idea of people "taking in" but then neglecting children not their own isn't a new one; references abound in literature. The Thenardiers' treatment of young Cosette in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables is particularly noteworthy; the novel predates the foster care system as we know it but the characters had entered into a private arrangement very similar to the modern idea of foster care. For a more modern example, one need only look as far as J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series; the Dursleys are not part of the foster care system, but their treatment of Harry (especially in the first book) is still fairly typical for corrupt foster parents. It's entirely possible that Rowling got some of her ideas from the stories of abused students she'd had.

In other words, this is Really, Really Nasty Stuff we're dealing with here. And contrary to popular sentiment on these boards, it is not 'Only in America' that we find such things. This case was very much an extreme, of a sort which could have happened anywhere, but more typical cases can be found worldwide.

When the government finds such corrupt foster parents, it prosecutes them and takes back the children (a traumatic experience in its own right, but a far lesser evil by almost any standard). But there is only so much the government can do until it finds probable cause to run a thorough search, and the people who become corrupt foster parents get very good at hiding or suppressing evidence. The situation is made worse by the fact that the foster care program in the US faces chronic shortages of parents, creating an environment where it's fairly common for someone to take on more than one child. That, in turn makes the corrupt foster parents less conspicuous and thus harder to root out.

It's times like this that I really wish there were some fair way to predictively test for whether or not someone would make a good parent, so that a system of parental licensing could be instituted. However, I don't think a fair way to test for that is ever going to be found, and unfair licensing would be worse than no licensing at all.

I'm not sure about "depressingly common" regarding cases of abuse in foster homes. I actually investigate foster homes (and daycares) again (I worked in a different unit for 2 years and recently transferred back). I have conducted literally 100s of investigations. 90% of my (and the rest of our unit's) cases don't have child abuse and/or neglect. Of course, that doesn't stop some really bad crap from happening in the homes.

In my state (and I'm sure all others), foster parents have to be licensed. They go through a process that involves a criminal history check, extensive education and training and then monitoring by a Licensor. If there are allegations of abuse/neglect, I investigate them.

Yes, there are marginal foster parents who just meet the requirements. Yes, there are some who are doing it for the money. Some kids, depending on their behaviors can warrant quite a bit of money. The are usually sexually aggressive children who no one else wants to take.

It takes a special person to be a foster parent. It takes a certain type of person to abuse children. Luckily they aren't the same person for the most part.

[Rolling Bones]

Originally Posted by turtle777

I have it, I made it !

But I on purpose didn't post it. This DOES happen everywhere. We just had a case in Germany were a girl was locked in her room for many years.
It's NOT only in America.

-t

I meant only in America because people were more concerned about math than about the children.

I wish people in this forum would read more carefully.

[Rolling Bones]

Originally Posted by budster101

10 kids being caged in America does not reflect on all Americans you idiot.

Eleven.

[budster101]

Bs.

[Rolling Bones]

Originally Posted by budster101

Bs.

Yeah, what's one child give or take.

[Cubeoid]

Originally Posted by TETENAL

They were bonsai children.

[ThinkInsane]

Originally Posted by Rolling Bones

I meant only in America because people were more concerned about math than about the children.

I wish people in this forum would read more carefully.

You might notice though that it was a couple of Germans that pointed out the math problem...

If I took your intent wrong, I apologize. I just googled 'caged children' and the first thing to come up was the link I posted above.

[baw]

Originally Posted by Person Man

What the F*CK does that have to do with this???

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by BBC

The children, aged one to 14, said they slept in cells only one metre (40in) high.

It's been corrected. However, now they only give the height of the cell, not the sqft'age.

Make of it what you want. But that 'fact' alone doesn't say much. A bunk bed has less space than that.

-t