I get some strange things in the mail. One large but innocuous envelope mail recently came with a Concord postmark but no return address. Inside was no additional identification, just this T-shirt.

What's that text so proudly displayed in a font small enough to guarantee only nearby people can read it? Here's a close-up:

It was almost unbelievable that this T-shirt came barely a day or two after DCYF had announced a formal, unconstitutional policy on strip-searching children. I confirmed later from DCYF attorney Byry Kennedy that the T-shirt was, as I suspected, paid for by taxpayer dollars. Not willing to let a golden opportunity go, I completed the T-shirt for DCYF's benefit:

For those DCYF workers who do NOT understand why DCYF workers aren't respected, I would tell them that respect cannot be commanded of the citizens through power, it is earned. Unfortunately, despite the fact that there are probably many good-hearted people in the agency, they will never be respected until the agency itself resolves to respect the constitutional rights of the citizens of this state.

I like to tell folks that two kinds of people work at DCYF. (I guess I'll have to add a third category of anonymous T-shirt sender, though.) The ignorant employees have no idea that they are violating parents' rights left and right, and the smart ones, who do know, and don't care. Those who know they're violating rights think that their outrageous behavior is justified by the noble "end" of preventing child abuse. It doesn't. It just shifts who is punished and who covers it up. The state has no reason to expose child abuse in foster care, because it's a liability issue. So parents continue to be hauled into court for behavior that is routinely justified and ignored by the agency in their own foster care system. They say that sunlight is the best disinfectant. Let's get this agency's actions out in the sunlight. Let's resolve to force them to respect parental rights.

I'd like to start by suggesting that we change definitions of abuse and neglect in the Child Protection Act to include ONLY acts perpetrated by caregivers of children, and leave the other perpetrators alone to be dealt with in the criminal or juvenile delinquency system. There is no need for state intervention in cases where parents or other care givers are not responsible for abusing or failing to protect their children. That would immediately put a stop to taking children away from parents who are without fault. It would stop the sick assumption that "only the state can help you." It would take away fear parents have for getting help for problem children, or having a child counseled for sexual assault because they fear state intervention that comes with mandatory reporting statutes. Think about it. Would you take YOUR sexually assaulted child for medical or psychological help if you thought the state would pull him or her away when you weren't at fault? Would you risk having your child-victim interrogated by law enforcement Nazi-style in a room with a one-way mirror, and no parents to help them or comfort them as they disclose sexual abuse to a stranger on video tape? I wouldn't. After parents' rights have been trampled in the investigative process, they get to attend secret court, where they are threatened unconstitutionally that if they tell what happened, they can be convicted of a crime. Many of them believe it, and if they do speak out, they suffer retaliation of social workers.

There are a LOT of sick things about the child protection laws and procedures in New Hampshire. Many people who have only had casual contact are scared to death because they've experienced the Gestapo tactics used by the agency. Others have experienced their rights trampled for years on end without any due process at all. Let's resolve to fix it.

Contact Ric Werme or return to his home page.

Last updated 2001 July 12.