Last night I drove more than 120 miles round trip to attend
a fundraiser for Sheena Johnson, a Mother of two, who resorted to living in a
NJ storage unit with her sons because she felt they had no where else to go. Ironically
I was 27 years old, the same age as Ms Johnson, when I was disenchanted and spent
less than one year working in the very system that should provide a safety net for Moms like Ms. Johnson. Even then I was disturbed to be
part of a system that seemed more concerned with destroying families rather
than helping them…
Ms Johnson left an abusive relationship and did what she had
to do to keep her Family together. Did she make a few missteps? Yes, desperate
people often do. She left her boys at the storage unit while she was across
town slashing her boyfriend's tires. Not good judgment. When she got arrested
and realized that she was not going to be released, she immediately told the
cops where her sons were. Why? Because she loves and cares for her 5 and 10
year old children and because she was obviously concerned for their safety, that’s
what Mothers do…
Ms. Johnson has reportedly been drug tested twice since her arrest. She
is NOT a drug user. She works with temporary agencies and despite living in a
storage unit, her boys were not abused or malnourished and they attended
private school. Ms. Johnson is articulate, employable, obviously resourceful
and like many others in this horrible economy, down on her luck. So what does a
system that should be willing to help a young Mother in her condition do? They
arrest her and charge her with a felony punishable by 5 - 10 years
imprisonment, strap her with a $50,000 bail that she cannot afford and take her
children away refusing to let her see them. Her case will be heard in family
court in Mercer County on May 31. Don’t get excited, you
cannot go to show support of her because in NJ, as in most other states, family
court proceedings are closed to the public, NY and FL are the exceptions. At
best, you can rally in her defense on the courthouse steps. I cautioned Ms
Johnson to hope for the best but to prepare for the worse. She wants her
children back.
How sad is it that in times of crisis, Mothers like Sheena
Johnson are so very afraid to turn to social services for help? That is the
purpose of the agency, is it not? I have a Friend whose teenage daughter was
giving her hell, as teenagers do. Fortunately she called me before calling her
local social service agency to ask for a local reference to secure psychological
assistance to help solve her Family problems. She had no idea of the potential for
harm to which she would have subjected the sanctity of her Family had she made that
call. Once the courts and social services become involved in your family life,
they dig for dirt and they are there to stay. Certainly, I would never advise handing
them the invitation and I am an attorney and a former social worker. How sad is
that?
Hats off to The Big Easy Restaurant for coming to the aid of Ms Johnson. The owner, Olugbala Sababu and his friend Dan Toto, heard her story and sprang into action to get her out of jail and then educated and galvanized the community to also support her. I was pleased to see so many who attended the fundraiser, designed to create a trust fund for Ms. Johnson’s sons, show genuine concern and support for the mother of these children. She was visibly appreciative and still overwhelmed with joy when I spoke with her later in the evening. A local church came forward and volunteered use of a home for Ms. Johnson and the boys for at least the next year.
Olugbala Sababu, owner of the Big Easy restaurant, Sheena Johnson and Dan Toto. (Photo Source: The Times)
There is untapped power in the community. Our apathy is overwhelming
and relied on by public agencies like the courts, social service providers, the
police and others who we empower with our silence. It is our apathy that licenses such authorities to be reckless and to do what they will. I am
convinced however, as was evidenced last night, that when we know better, we do
better. It is not that the community does not care, it is more that the
community does not know. When someone has compassion, takes the time to let us
know and provides a means to get involved, the community will show up…
Again, family courts in NJ and most other states are closed
to the public. Although access to courts is a state issue, opening family
courts is a matter that must be addressed nationally. Stipulations on federal
dollars can serve as incentive for states to consider any such revisions. In
the interest of “protecting privacy”, closed courts have created a shield that instead
protects bad lawyering, abhorable social work and all too often a miscarriage
of justice. Because Mothers so desperately want their children returned and don’t
want to get on the wrong side of the courts or the social workers who hold ALL
of the cards, they silently endure what ever happens to them in a closed court setting.
The courts are in full control of the image and impressions projected to the public. The Family is effectively silenced through hopelessness, despair and a lack of power. And we wonder where our children learn to bully...
All too often, Families in need of help are further
victimized behind the closed doors of the court. It will be interesting to see
how the courts and social services react to Ms. Johnson’s story going public. Will
they concede and do what is right and what they are empowered to do, help her
to find suitable housing and offer life skills training and other IN HOME services
to help improve her situation or will they push back, go into greater attack
mode and further punish this family by keeping them separated? It is noteworthy
that states get Title IV federal funding when children are placed in court ordered,
OUT OF HOME placement. This money is not available for services provided while
the child remains in the home. This too, needs to be addressed. It offers the
wrong incentive and is not in concert with family reunification. Our silence around
the country validates a failed and broken system that has no accountability...
Based on my professional experiences enhanced by an occasional
stint as an adjunct professor teaching a class on child welfare policy, I can
tell you that Ms Johnson’s circumstance is not an exception but rather the
rule. But for the compassion of Mr. Sababu and Mr. Toto, she would have languished
in an overcrowded jail, unable to pay an excessive bail, all the while being estranged
from her children. By the time she got out of jail, if she got out of jail, the
state would have argued that it would be disruptive and harmful for the
children to be removed from a “stable and loving” foster home at which they would
have “bonded” after being there for a good part of a year. Moreover, by time of
release from jail, Ms Johnson would have new hurdles to jump, hurdles she did
not have before the awful ordeal began. While I don’t profess to know all the
facts in Ms Johnson’s case, I do profess to know that hers is a Family that,
given proper and unbiased professional attention, is salvageable…
It is a vicious cycle and there are far too many Sheena
Johnson's harshly or wrongfully punished by a broken and ineffective system that
is too overwhelmed, too insensitive and too rarely challenged or held
accountable to stop and heal itself. Ms Johnson and Mothers like her are the
victims of bureaucracy. They are victims of a system that knows no boundaries
when it comes to justifying its existence and upholding its obviously flawed
methods... It is no coincidence that the children who populate the child
welfare systems are often the same children who eventually populate the adult
prison system. Nor is it a coincidence that both are filled with Black and
Brown faces, that is a story to be told on another day… This national pathology however, endorsed by our collective
silence, is called the cradle to prison pipeline.
WHERE does it end?
WHEN do we start to
care enough to challenge the gross abuses of a very broken system?
WHY do we typically
wait until tragedy knocks at our door to be inspired to get involved? By then
it is often too late and our silence has allowed that precedent be set.
WHAT will you do
now that you know?
WHO will step up
and take the lead to challenge your local systems?
There IS Untapped Power In the Community!!!
Again, hats off to the Big Easy Restaurant located at 120 S Warren Street
in Trenton, NJ.
Here is the link to the news coverage:
