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Judge Hatchett: Martin Luther King Jr. Would Want Us to Fight for Kids in Foster Care
It's not unusual to see Judge Glenda Hatchett advocating for children on her long-running court show. She hasn't hesitated to take a teen mother in to her chambers for a heart-to heart chat about responsibility before setting up some mentoring. She's also sent young men who were spiraling toward a violent existence to visit prison, the morgue or to meet with celebrity role models in an effort to alter their path.But Judge Hatchett's advocacy doesn't stop when the cameras cease filming. Hatchett is a spokesperson for Court Appointed Special Advocates. The group, which is located in all 50 states, provides volunteers to help the court monitor children who are abused, neglected and in foster care.
Volunteers research case records, speak to the people in a child's life and write written reports that give the judge recommendations about where the child should be placed. Judges often assign the CASA volunteers to the most difficult cases involving neglect and sexual or physical abuse. Last year, more than 68,000 CASA volunteers helped more than 240,000 children in foster care.
On Martin Luther King, Jr. day, Hatchett, the Mother of two sons, urged adults--especially African Americans and African-American men-- to join CASA in the effort to advocate for foster children. When Hatchett first started working with CASA in 2008, there were about 500,000 children in foster care. Today, there are more than 700,000 children in foster care in the United States and almost 50 percent are African American, Hatchett said.
"Dr. King's concern was for us to create a beloved community. He would want us to put our shoulder to the wheel on the issue of children suffering," Hatchett said during an interview with Aol. Black Voices.
"I am concerned about all of our children, but I am particularly concerned about African-American children because we are so disproportionately represented in the foster care system. Our children make up less than 20 percent of population but we make up almost half of the population in foster care."Children who wind up in foster care also face a variety of problems, said Hatchett. According to Covenant House, a quarter of the children who leave foster care will be homeless within two to four years. They have a high dropout rate due to the transient nature of their housing situation. When foster children "age out" of the system, half will be homeless within six months, because they are unprepared to live independently. Many homeless young people turn to, or are forced in to, prostitution to provide for themselves.
"I'm hoping we can raise the level of consciousness, because this issue has been exasperated as a result of the downturn in the economy. Parents have had their homes foreclosed, lost their jobs and are sleeping in their cars. These are not children who are ordinarily at risk," said Hatchett. "We just need caring, committed adults who will be the extra eyes and ears."
CASA has helped to make a difference in the lives of children, who when involved with the program are less likely to spend time in long-term foster care, defined as three years or longer, and more likely to be permanently placed. Parents and children of CASA cases receive more court-ordered services. CASA cases also are less likely to re-enter the child welfare system.
Hatchett has witnessed the difference CASA volunteers can make. One volunteer in Atlanta made sure that three siblings-- ages 9, 7, and 5--who were in separate foster homes, got together at least once a month for pizza.
"If you've been abandoned by your mother that's huge," said Hatchett.
In another instance, a volunteer drove from Atlanta to a more rural part of Georgia every day for a week searching for a relative of three kids who ended up in foster care after their grandmother could no longer support them. The kids only knew their aunt's first name so the volunteer spent his days traveling through the barbershops, beauty salons, churches and restaurants of the town looking for her. After four days, he found the relative who was unaware of the situation. She was able to help remove the children from foster care.
"A social worker would never have the time to be able to do that. Never in a thousand years," said Hatchett. "These three kids may have ended up in foster care if not for that volunteer. We need people and we need them now."
And there are many ways to contribute. Those who don't feel like they are good with kids can help in other ways like writing articles or helping to plan CASA events. Being a retiree with a lot of time on your hands is not a requirement either. The average commitment is about four hours per month, said Hatchett:
"Volunteers commit to one child and training, but once they come in and see the difference they can make in child's life, they stay. It's a very small amount of time that can make an enormous difference. What are we doing if we are not investing in a child's life. We can't throw them away; We have to support them."
With her show in syndication and entering its eighth season, Hatchett said she's due to release her second book, "Dare to Take Charge." She is also launching her own production company and starting a web network for parents called "PartnerPowerNow.com" to connect parents around the world.
"This is my way of helping parents create a community to support each other," Hatchett said. "This is an exciting time for me."
Hatchette said friends called her crazy when she left her position as the highest-ranking African-American woman at Delta Airlines to be a juvenile court judge. Whatever ventures she heads in to, Hatchett said working to protect and uplift children will always be a major part of her agenda.
"If Dr. King was here today, he would counsel us that when we give up hope, we have given up as a people," said Hatchett.
To learn more about Court Appointed Special Advocates or how to volunteer for your local chapter, call 1-888-805-8457 or visit CASA's website.
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By: Sandi on 2/01/2010 6:48PM
I watch Judge Hatchette all the time and sure wish she had been my Judge during my divorce! Most Judges, in my opinion, are like Judge Judy. They sneer down their pointed and arrogant noses at people like they are garbage but Judge Hatchett is a true example of being "fair and balanced" and her love for people, all people, and her dedication to young people, all young people, is very heart warming in this cold world!
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By: Glee A. Burt on 2/01/2010 6:57PM
CASA is a joke in the state of Arkansas. It was non-existent in our grandchildren's case. When you have a bias judge training these volunteers for advocacy and then ignores what they have to say, then CASA is useless. Not once did were we interviewed by DCFS or CASA. No investigation as to our involvement in our grandchidlren's lives or mention of the fact that we had raised 3 out of the six on our own. So don't even begin to tell me that CASA should be supported. It is a JOKE with a capital J. Trained and run by judges who wouldn't know clear and convincing testimony if it ran up their robes and bit them on their brains!!!!
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By: Angiebaby on 2/01/2010 7:20PM
Robyn, Your anger is evident, and I don't believe it is possible for angry people to move forward... together. Some points you made were racist and antagonistic, and short-sighted at the very least.
"Also, nothing happens overnight. Keep in mind, African-Americans have the youngest history, I believe, in the world. Even Israelis know where they come from beyond 60 years ago."
I must respectfully disagree with your claim of African-Americans having the youngest history in the world. You cannot simply dismiss Israel because they were located there in Biblical times. India was under British subjugation until 1948, and they established what is the youngest democracy in the free world.
"But when you are torn from the people who speak your language, treated and taught to believe that you were an animal, that doesn't go away in 200 years."
How long does it take for a person to say "This is what happened to my ancestors, it was atrocious, but I need to stop looking back in order to move forward."? This is not to say a person could, or should, ever forget the past, but there comes a point in time when being angry, defensive and hostile about what happened to them 200 years ago is neither healthy, nor productive.
"Unless you have a lot of money and a lot of time, an American descended from slavery would NEVER know who they really come from. Africa IS the largest continent. It's not enough to say, "I come from Africa." It's hurtful and shaming to think of the majority of the history that I know to be mine."
You can research your family line to a great extent, and even if you find your way back to your original tribe, they did not keep written records and just because you find a particular geographic area from which your ancestors might have come from, that is no guarantee that their history is yours. As for the Irish and many other European immigrants, yes, their history is lost beyond what they know and can prove, too. The circumstances are absolutely different, but if your name was hard to spell or the person taking your name was hard of hearing, you could have left Ireland a McPheeny and since your arrival your family name has been legally McInerny. What I'm saying is it isn't fair to put down every other race or people's experience because of slavery.
This judge is trying to sound fair minded, but she is essentially calling attention to the plight of Black kids in foster care, even though less than half are Black. She is calling on Blacks to sponsor them, not just to sponsor kids in need, but Black kids. I don't mind so much her calling her community to help those in need, but I do take issue with her calling on her community to help their own kind. I also take issue with the FACT that if I put out a call for White people to take an active interest in White kids in foster care, and beseech them to volunteer with CASA because over half of all kids in foster care are White, THAT'S ILLEGAL, and I will come under such intense public and media backlash I would most likely have to enter some type of protection program. Don't get me wrong, I have no desire to do this, but it bothers me that GLENDA HATCHETT CAN, but I CAN'T. Rest assured the day I call on people to take a stand and stand in the gap for kids, IT WILL BE A CALL TO ALL PEOPLE, TO STAND IN THE GAP FOR ALL OF OUR KIDS. If you're Black and want to sponsor a Black kid, fine. But if you're White and want to only sponsor a White kid, that's fine, too. Just don't choose to do nothing when you can help it.
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By: justthefacts on 2/01/2010 7:42PM
http://www.martinlutherking.org/thebeast.html
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By: Cynthia on 2/01/2010 8:17PM
I agreed with her efforts all the way up to the racist remark about how she wants "African Americans" especially. For "African American" children especially. How many times I have seen good things done by bigots. To me this is no difference than a white bigot doing 'good things' for his people. How can we end racism when it is only handled on one side of the race line.
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By: Walter H. Mosby II on 2/01/2010 7:56PM
Thank you Bill for proving my belief that White people are basically evil from their creation. If as you say King was a fraud (and what is your reason for saying so?) then Rosevelt, Patton, Eisenehower, The Kennedy brothers, J.Edgar Hoover, Nixon, LBJ, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Bush I and II, Obama are ALL frauds as well as ALL white people who feel like they are entitled and superior to everyone. King was not a fraud. He was a REAL MAN who saw a need and helped meet that need. You sir are as racist and evil as Hitler and may God judge you for the hatred that is in your evil and racist heart!
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By: Juanita on 2/01/2010 9:37PM
I concur with everthing Judge Hatchett stated in her article and admire her for her actions on her court TV program. She is to be admired for all she does and says. Let's hope this article opens lots of eyes eough for people to step up and take a stand.
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By: Alex on 2/01/2010 8:04PM
Hi everyone, I found an interesting video with young Angelina Jolie. Angelina poses nude in this video. Video is here: Http://2url.org?Angelina_Jolie
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By: Chuckie on 2/01/2010 8:03PM
I have sat here for about an hour reading all of the comments posted thusfar and most of you have some viable points and some not so viable.
I have been around for quite a few years and was brought up in a southern family in the 40's and 50's. I have seen raceism when I was young when blacks had their own restrooms,waterfountains,schools and everything else that you can think of. Yes, it was wrong and think God that most things have been corrected and the ones that haven't, we as a human beeing are working on.
What I have to say is going to piss some of you off but I say it because that is how things are seen now a days. America has bent over backwards trying to make up for it's mistakes 200 years ago. Blacks in this country have more rights than whites. There are lots of examples which I could use but just to name a few, there can be a Black (only) Miss America but not a White (only)Miss America. Blacks are allowed to have Black Only schools, night clubs, ect without being called racest but let a white man exclude a black person from joining anything then we are automatically RACEST. Most (not all by any means) welfare is spent for blacks. The school systems in the U.S. have been segrated for 50 years now but blacks (for the most part) don't seem like the want to apply thems to get a good education and suceed in life. After all, why work when somebody else will give it to you. Even black men don't want to step up and take their responsibility for their own children that are born out of wedlock. I could go on and on but I think that I have gotten my point across.
In order for the black community to further itself and get the respect they want, they are going to have to step up as a community and teach their kids the difference between right and wrong and show them that it's much better to get an education and work for what you want than sell drugs or pimp out a bunch of women and girls. Please don't get me wrong. Most of the black people that I know (and yes, I do have black friends)are decient, hard working people but there are FAR too many that are looking for a hand out or an "easy" way out.
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By: Cynthia on 2/01/2010 8:20PM
Most of the people that came to this country and the people who were already here had it hard. Most had to work off loans that would never be paid back. So the"African Americans" had it hard. They wouldn't be here (and some never born) if tribal rivals didn't sell them. By the way, anyone look at Africa today? Everyone had to pay their way and put up with some sort of prejudice (pay their dues)before joining the melting pot. My point is, don't cry racist when you're the on segregating yourselves.
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