***Very Discouraged Grandmother and Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Over the past year in dealing with the Division of Family Services (DFS) and the Jefferson County Court System I have learned you are better off as an abused animal in Jefferson County than an abused child.  At least as an abused animal you can count on attaining some assistance out of the problem.  As an abused child in Jefferson County even sexual abuse of a 2 year old doesn’t appear enough for them to protect the child! 

I have been a mandated reporter as a social worker (LCSW) in the state of Missouri for over 31 years.  Throughout my career I have had to report abuse on several occasions during the years and found that DFS used to take complaints seriously.  But with my own grandchild in distress at the tender age of 2 currently ‘nothing’ has been taken seriously including sexual abuse reported within the week.    I not only hot-lined this abuse to DFS but I also took my grandson to Children’s Hospital for evaluation where their social worker took the situation seriously and hot-lined the abuse for a second time.  But Jefferson County DFS allowed the defenseless toddler to return into the abusive environment!

Jefferson County Family Court System appears to be nothing more than a ‘good ole boys’ club frankly.  It doesn’t matter to them if a parent has 1, 2, or even 3 drug tests return positive for drug abuse.  It doesn’t matter to them that the same individual was on probation for a DUI at the time of those very same drug testing results.  There are no consequences for illegal behavior in Jefferson County.  (In fact if you are a criminal I would personally recommend that if you commit a crime and are apprehended make sure it is in Jefferson County where some judges appear to respect their prestige far more than their positions).  Legality appears frivolous in Jefferson County.

Additionally, there is at least one Guardian ad Litem (GAL) for Jefferson County who passes a home study without beds in the home for the children.  Apparently neither the Division of Family Services (DFS) nor the GAL/Court System feels children need beds - after all Jefferson County lives by different rules I discovered.   Other issues that Jefferson County sees as petty include neglect, physical altercations between the adults involving a gun and knife in front of the children, violations of restraining orders  and the lack of appropriate medical care as needed.     

So once again I reiterate frankly I would prefer to be an abused animal in Jefferson County than an abused child.  I can only assume that animal’s lives are more valuable than children’s lives to the people who work for that county.   I’m pretty sure I am not the only person to have learned this distressing lesson.   Don’t fool yourself – young children are at risk of abuse and neglect from the entire system in Jefferson County.  There isn’t a thing you can do about it either.   Their hot-line appears to be a farce – they allow sexual abuse, neglect and trauma.  And the family court system is quite the sick system as well.  Just keep in mind, you probably elected some of these people into positions to fail the innocent children.  And I’ll bet not one of them hold volunteer positions either!

A Very Discouraged Grandmother and Licensed Clinical Social Worker,

Deborah Kuehnel, LCSW