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Make Iowa ‘worthy of its children’

I started public school in 1957 in Weldon. It was 12 years after the end of World War II and many of the boys played war during recess. They often wore their fathers’ hats from military service. Once I asked my father why he never told any war stories or shared his uniform so that we could play with them during recess.

That was a mistake. In no uncertain terms, my father let me know that anyone who has seen any part of war did not want to talk about it or be reminded of it. And he never did discuss war with my siblings or me. However, he told a story to my daughter and the tears fell down his cheeks as he did.

My father served on a destroyer escort called the USS Kretchmer. They were the closest ship to the island of Formosa when World War II ended and they were ordered to enter the island and remove the American prisoners of war. As they entered the bay, a Japanese soldier was still marching back and forth on the dock. The closer they came, the more frightened my father became. Finally, the soldier laid down his gun and motioned for my father to toss him the rope and the soldier moored them.

After the prisoners were safely on the ship, my father and others took tongs and buckets of bread to hand out to these starving men. One former POW placed a small amount of bread in his mouth and said, “it tastes like cake.” As my father told that to my daughter, the tears increased greatly.

I am reminded of Maya Angelou’s poetic line: “History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”

Two Iowa children have died this past year from starvation. Reading about starvation is not pleasant. It is a horrible way for anyone to die, let alone an Iowa child; a child living in the bread basket of the world.

I was a 22-year-old social worker when I investigated my first case of child abuse. Maybe that is why I have been following the Government Oversight Committee’s review of what happened to these children. Maybe it is because my father was always devoted to, even when times were tough, ensuring we had enough to eat.

Due to confidentiality, I cannot relay some of things said by children who have suffered abuse. I can tell you that some of the simplest questions are the most difficult to answer, such as why adults abuse children.

There was one emotional day of testimony before the Government Oversight Committee earlier this month about the starvation deaths of these two Iowa children. House Democrats don’t want this to ever happen again and that’s why we’ve proposed several steps that must be taken to protect Iowa’s children:

• Monthly Government Oversight meetings during the interim to review the progress of the Department of Human Services (DHS) and to hear from the DHS review team, parent groups, frontline DHS workers, Department of Education, home schooling coordinators, patrol officers, Child Welfare Advisory Committee, Iowa Child Death Review Team and current and future vendors who hold contracts with DHS.

• A complete review and in-person follow up with every DHS case in which a child was fostered, adopted and now home schooled.

• Require parents who receives a state subsidy for an adopted or fostered child to have that child meet with a medical professional once a year and a representative of DHS.

• The immediate hiring of 25 new social workers statewide to help with the burdensome caseload.

• Begin educating Iowans about the Department of Human Service’s 24-hour child abuse hotline where tips can be left anonymously. If you see something, Iowans should call (800) 362-2178 or if they believe a child is in immediate danger, call 911.

While thousands of Iowa children are homeschooled in loving environments, while many children are adopted by foster parents, and while child protective workers are in short supply; we have a duty to insure all children in Iowa grow up in a safe environment. As Iowans, we are a scattering of villages that stand ready to raise a child.

History has taught us that whenever a person or a group of people are allowed to be banished from the public eye, horrible things can be done to them. POWs can be in ill health and denied basic needs. Children can be starved. The list goes on.

“You must work-we must work to make this world worthy of its children” stated Pablo Casals. What better place for this to occur than in Iowa.

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State Rep. Mark Smith of Marshalltown serves the 71st District in the Iowa House and is the Iowa House Democratic Leader. He can reached at mark.smith@legis.iowa.gov or at 641-750-9278.

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