Monday, May 12, 2008

Standard operating procedure

You hear it over and over again from the authorities in Texas. When it comes to how they're treating the children of Eldorado and their families, there is nothing unusual at all. Taking children from mothers who have been accused of nothing? Standard operating procedure, they say. And so is every other harm inflicted on the children. And you know what? They're right.

The way these children have been treated is, in fact, how most children are treated most of the time by most child welfare agencies. Same with the lack of evidence against the mothers and just about everything else that has happened. And that is worth keeping in mind as you read this story from the San Antonio Express News and this one from The Salt Lake Tribune.