In 2019 there were 636 hotline reports of abuse affecting 840 Cole County children. As a result 98 children were removed from the only home they’ve ever known. Given only minutes to pack their lives, these children had to leave behind most of their material possessions, but most painfully, they left behind their parents, siblings, pets and all that was normal to them, bad as it may have been.
We challenge each of you to consider the pain and anxiety of leaving your family and home at a moment’s notice. Take a moment to think about the impact it would have at that moment and in the future. If you had to leave in a moment’s notice, what would you pack?
The Challenge:
The CASA Trash Bag Challenge was created to help challengers contemplate the choices children must make when the state removes them from an unsafe home. More importantly, though, the challenge is about recognizing the trauma these children face when they leave there home and family.
Challenge Instructions:
- Fill a black trash bag with a few personal items you would take with you if you were being removed from your home, keeping in mind that you may never return your home and family.
- Take a picture of yourself with the trash bag.
- Post the picture on Facebook using the hashtag #StopTheCycleJCMO.
- Tag three friends to challenge them to do the same. Make sure to include the link Capitalcitycasa.org/stop in your post.
Why a trash bag? Up until recently, children in Cole County were removed from their homes in whatever was available, which all too often was a trash bag. The trash bag remains the symbol of the pain and impermanence of being removed from your home and family.
Hope:
Despite the prevalence and impact child abuse and neglect have in our community, there are stories of hope. Stories of children adopted into loving families or of families safely reuniting, stories of children who defy the odds by succeeding in school, forming healthy peer relationships and building a brighter future for themselves and their communities. But these stories don’t happen in isolation, they are the result of intervention; the dedication and compassion of community members who help victimized children and broken families heal and thrive. See below for ways you can help take action and stop the cycle of abuse and neglect against children. Help us change a child’s story.
The CASA Difference. Children with a CASA Volunteer are:
- More likely to find a permanent, safe, and nurturing home
- Less likely to re-enter foster care
- Less likely to move foster homes
- More likely to receive court ordered services
Not from Cole County? Visit Missouri’s CASA website to find a CASA program near you
Suspect child abuse or neglect? Contact the Missouri Child Abuse & Neglect Hotline immediately: 1-800-392-3738
