Baby tests positive for illegal drugs? Arrest the mom.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by als463

See. When you say the above things regarding volunteering with non-profits, you appear to be a pretty okay guy who many of us would really like and respect. I completely love that you volunteer and I respect that. I think that's great. When you say things where you come off as pretentious by telling people about all your knowledge and how much more you know than them or how much more educated than them you are (or think you are), it's hard to say, "Wow. That Kevin is pretty awesome." I applaud you always taking on the title of "that guy" who will say something that is unpopular because you believe it. I truly like that about you. You just need to work on going out and assuming you know way more than other people. When you do that, it's hard to really appreciate you for the person you are. Just think about it.

The thing is though with these families, I work for them pro bono, I see where they live and how they live and really do get to know them a lot of the time. Sometimes, I just get a 15 minute report from a caseworker and then have to do something with it. Other interactions are more in depth.

When I state that I have a lot of experience with poverty and child neglect and abuse, I'm just stating facts. And my experience is vast compared to your average individual.

Education... I wouldn't exactly claim that. I've gone to plenty of juvenile CLEs and as you know, poverty is often a contributing factor to abuse and neglect.. and back to the main topic, in some situations, it is absolutely needed to give law enforcement the power to charge mothers who harm their children in utero criminally.

Keep in mind that for most criminal offenses, especially for females, especially for non-violent offenses, incarceration is not what the prosecutor is going for. There are many wonderful programs like drug court which can provide extra incentive for parents to shake up. I've seen too many times where mothers who really love their kids just can't seem to shake their drug habits. I had one mother who I really went the extra mile for her and got her placed on the state's dime in two different inpatient facilities. She checked herself out both times.

Had she been facing serious time, we might have had better luck.