Dear Sir,

In all of the articles about at-risk children, in all of the quotations from people over the past year, I don’t ever remember seeing the word “parents”.

Why did the parents not take the primary position regarding their children? Where were the schools — oh, that’s right, the schools had given up on these children.

Where were the churches and other social groups who purport to be so concerned? These are the people who should be ashamed for abandoning the children.

The primary people who should be caring for these children are completely Awol.

It is easy to blame a government agency. It is easy to call for change without listing what these changes should be. It is easy to spend money on commissions whose recommendations are then ignored.

But at least the box “Commission Appointed” can be checked off. And then the box “White Paper Delivered”. And then the box for the cheque sent to those “independent” authorities.

I don’t know what responsibility the Department of Child and Family Services has for failing these children, but Bermuda certainly has responsibility for not having the resources necessary, which is why the children are sent away in the first place.

If there is a better solution, then these critics need to come forward with them. I expect that the people responsible for implementation within the DCFS would be very happy with rational alternatives.

It seems that the only safety net out there is the DCFS. If there are tears in the net, fix them. But stop playing political games with the children and criticising those who at least are trying to do something to help them.

Actually, the word “parents” was used once in discussing confidentiality in three articles in today’s newspaper (April 8, 2019).

Shame.

HENRY ZIEGLER

Columbia, Maryland