|
‘No Place for a Child’ Documentary
December 20, 2006
Click here for documentary
“No Place for a Child” is a
documentary that follows five children through the Indiana Child
Welfare system for seven years.
Karen Grau wrote letters asking the
Indiana Supreme Court to allow cameras in the courtroom to document
what she says is a system in need of reform. Her efforts paid off.
“No Place for a Child” is the third documentary MSNBC has produced
with Grau on the workings of the child welfare system in the
heartland of America.
Below, Karen Grau shares her
experience producing the film.
 Juvenile
courts are a processing point for more than 800,000 children each
year who are confirmed victims of abuse and neglect. With more than
a half million children in foster care, 65,000 parents terminated of
their parental rights each year and more than 2.4 million
grandparents raising their grandchildren, many adults offer visceral
opinions about how to fix America’s troubled families. But answers
are hard to come by when trying to determine what’s in “a child’s
best interest.” In the closed-door world of America’s juvenile
courts, the public knows little about how laws and policies direct
the futures of millions of at-risk kids.
In 1995, after leaving my job as a
local television reporter, I assisted in a study of Indiana’s foster
care system. I wasn’t working as a reporter at the time, but the
project allowed me to observe juvenile courts and child welfare
cases around the state of Indiana. Despite my years in journalism, I
was floored by the first case I witnessed – a hearing on termination
of parental rights. And I was hooked on the magnitude of these
stories. Three children, all under the age of 10, sobbed as their
mom readily let the judge relinquish her parental rights. She simply
was not willing to give up the drugs or continue in counseling in
order to get her children back. The hearing adjourned and, without
ever saying goodbye to her children, she waltzed out of court. Her
children stood by in shock. I went into the bathroom and cried.
And I’ll never forget the faces of
those kids.
Nearly three years passed before I
acted upon my professional instincts as a result of that experience.
I knew full well that Indiana law strictly prohibited cameras inside
any courtroom, let alone juvenile court. But I couldn’t let go the
idea of producing documentary programming on what I had witnessed in
these courtrooms. I contacted the counsel to the chief justice of
the Indiana Supreme Court and sought his advice. He said it would be
nearly impossible to get permission for TV access to child welfare
hearings, but I was welcome to make my case to the chief justice.
And that’s exactly what I did.
My letter to the five justices of
the Indiana Supreme Court argued that if the Court truly wanted to
advocate for abused and neglected children, there was only one way
to reach the public: show them the real workings of juvenile court.
In a "be careful what you wish for" moment, my appeal worked. In
December 1998, Chief Justice Randall Shepard and the justices of the
Indiana Supreme Court approved my request. Now it was time for the
real work to begin.
My experience of observing juvenile
courts in the past enabled me to quickly identify juvenile judges
whom I believed would be willing to participate in my documentary
project. And sure enough, the first three judges I approached -- one
rural judge and two urban judges -- agreed to my request to film
inside their courtrooms. Our cameras began rolling in early 1999. It
was in these three courts that I met DeLena, Chelsea, Conni, Joshua
and Raymond. I had little idea at the time that I would continue to
film them today.
I often say that working
side-by-side with juvenile judges and child welfare officials is an
education all its own, but it pales in comparison to what I learn
from the children I follow. Their lives are filled with pain and
desperation, yet they possess a will and determination unmatched by
most adults. This is especially true in a case like DeLena’s.
DeLena was 17 years old when I met
her in 2000 and already had been in 15 foster homes. She was 14 when
she had her first child, but despite the odds was a role model in
her community. Her foster mom at the time I met her was a professor
at a local state university. She, DeLena and DeLena’s son seemed to
be a picture-perfect blended family. But as I have learned over the
past eight years covering this subject matter, there is no "perfect
picture" for kids who spend a lifetime in the child welfare system.
The closer a child comes to the age of 18 and aging out of a system
that has provided at least a partial safety net, the more likely
they are to falter. And that’s exactly what happened to DeLena and
Conni and Chelsea too. Sadly, they are but three of hundreds of
thousands of kids who struggle daily just to survive.
Admittedly, following kids like
DeLena, Joshua, Conni and Chelsea can be both rewarding and
wrenching. For me personally, it’s nearly impossible to immerse
myself in the lives of these kids for years on end without also
becoming intricately involved in their daily existence. I watch them
find jobs, lose jobs, move often and still keep their sense of hope.
Have I received late night phone calls asking for help with utility
bills and groceries? You bet. To fully understand their experience
with the child welfare system I also have to understand their time
OUT of it. If I’m a sounding board or an occasional lifeline for a
week’s worth of food, I’m glad it’s me they trust. Therefore, in
addition to filming, I have become an official mentor to several of
the kids I’ve met over the years. I’m often asked how I justify this
as a working journalist. I don’t apologize for it and have a fairly
straightforward answer: Because I give a damn, and I want to give
back.
Child welfare is an ever-changing
field of scientific research and public opinion. Vast policy shifts
from “family preservation” to moving children into foster care can
occur subtly, and they are almost always out of view. But that is
what makes these stories worth telling, and that is what has kept us
motivated to keep reporting from inside juvenile courtrooms.
|
