Oh no! OK worst ranked of all states in child abuse! I knew it!

[vickitulsa]

I just heard this reported on the local (Channel 6 in Tulsa) news, then found the Tulsa World article on it (link and excerpt below).

Anyone who reads or listens to OK news could have guessed this was true, as incidents and court cases appear so often in Tulsa, OKC and local/regional news sources. It's so disappointing and discouraging to have this confirmed, however, and I'm just sick about it!

http://tinyurl.com/33hn2f


OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma ranks as the worst state in the nation for child abuse deaths per capita and among the bottom five states for overall child well-being, according to a new national report.

Oklahoma ranks 47th in overall child vulnerability in the report released Wednesday by the Every Child Matters Education Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group. The report, titled "Geography Matters -- Child Well-being in the States," ranked all the states on 10 indicators, including infant and teen mortality, access to prenatal care, poverty levels and welfare expenditures.

The bottom three states were New Mexico, Mississippi and Louisiana.

Oklahoma ranked as the worst state in the nation for child abuse deaths, with 4.8 fatalities for every 100,000 children.

Oklahoma children are 10 times more likely to be killed by child abuse than the typical child in the 10 safest states, the report indicates.

Oklahoma children also are twice as likely to live in poverty, nearly twice as likely to die from age 15 through 19, and more than twice as likely to be born to a mother who received late or no prenatal care, the report says.

(More at link)


As most Okies recognize and this report's author notes, this has more to do with POVERTY here than anything else, and it's just so wrong! OK also incarcerates more WOMEN per capita than any other state in the union, which is an outright disgrace. What do "authorities" expect to happen when they imprison mothers by the thousands and their children are left to whatever family/friend support and care these women have??

The hardline conservative (non-compassionate, of course) tack my state has taken in recent years has only worsened the situation, not improved it, and I hope citizens here begin to understand that and reverse the trends in policy and practice. As the Tulsa World article points out, the programs here to help Oklahomans living in poverty are terribly underfunded, and assistance of any kind is harder to get here than anywhere else. The state and local TAXES in OK -- even on food! -- are more burdensome, too, and of course hit the poor the hardest.

Yet OK legislators just approved huge tax breaks trying to provide "incentives" for the Seattle Supersonics (NBA) team to relocate here! More welfare for the uber-rich, while families living well below the poverty level have to depend on local food banks (which are nearly bare these days) and paltry assistance amounts. It's beyond reprehensible, and I sure hope residents see the light on these issues at last and start changing things!

I was encouraged when Tulsans recently turned out in good numbers to vote NO on that ridiculous Riverparks expansion plan (for lavish playgrounds including an amusement park), and told legislators in a survey to FIX THE STREETS and deal with crime instead! Still, the streets and crime they want to work most on are in the well-off parts of the city, while poorer areas wait, always at the bottom of the list. This is the sort of corruption you get in a state where Big Oil has long been "king."

Our "leaders" ought to be ridden out of town on a rail! Their "get tough" policies are NOT WORKING!

WE MUST DO BETTER THAN THIS! There are ways, and other states have found and implemented them. It's long past time to learn from smarter, kinder people and adopt more effective methods. How can people lift themselves up by their bootstraps when they don't even have boots???

As the American economic picture continues to worsen, the poor who suffer most will face even bleaker futures, and more children will die. I am bitterly ashamed of my state over this.

Our longstanding "good ol' boys club" of corruption and reverse welfare for the rich needs to GO!