Many so-called "leaders in government" are saying that we must cut programs and government support of programs. At the same time, they say, "we are not putting people at risk by these cuts." RIDICULOUS! Of course these cuts make the lives of everyone riskier, especially children. How?
1) There is more and more research that proves that in homes where there is domestic violence and/or substance abuse, there is also a much higher risk of children suffering sexual abuse. Some of the first programs being cut by states and cities are programs for mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence. As the rates of stress and frustration in households increase, so do dangerous behaviors. These dangerous behaviors often result in children being victims. If government were REALLY concerned about keeping children safe, the programs addressing domestic violence, mental health, and substance abuse would be the LAST programs cut, not the first!
2) The states owe huge amounts of money to school districts. School districts try to look for ways to reduce their costs. One way is to put many different children on the same school busses and, at times, cut the number of adults supervising on the busses. So, you sometimes have older children riding with much younger, unprotected children. Worse, you have older, sometimes aggressive students riding with special education children who are vulnerable, "easy targets" of abuse: physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
Parents of children in Special Education have to watch VERY closely who is riding on school busses with their children. Parents have a right to know who the adults are who are on the bus with their children. In addition, parents have to notice any changes in behaviors of their children: the child "gets sick" each morning before riding the bus; the child starts to cry or become upset when the bus is coming; the child comes home after school and immediately goes to his/her room and does not want to talk about what happened that day. If these occur, the parents must immediately ask for a meeting with the school staff to question what is going on with their child.
In the end, cuts in government spending on programs that protect children guarantee that we will continue to have many "wounded" (emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually) young people who grow up to be troubled adults. Then, the "cost" to all of us will be much worse!