Category: Children and Families
-
Fighting Child Abuse with Predictive Analytics
by Stephen D. Haner As a pediatric anesthesiologist in Texas, Dr. Dyann Daley saw far too many victims of child abuse in the OR. One horrible case in particular spurred her to move beyond treatment to thoughts of prevention, with a data-driven approach that should fascinate all Baconistas. Preventing child abuse is not as simple…
-
When the State Feeds Children, Children Go Hungry
I can’t say anything bad about Virginia’s first lady, Dorothy McAuliffe. Her cause is admirable: ending childhood hunger. Her compassion seems entirely genuine. And it appears that she had been very effective, if effectiveness can be measured by the resources she has mobilized to advance her goals. Writing in a Richmond Times-Dispatch op-ed today, McAuliffe…
-
One of Three Virginia Children Unready for Kindergarten
Roughly one third of Virginia children lack the social, self-regulation, literacy or math skills needed for kindergarten, finds a study on early childhood development released by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC). (That estimate was derived from a representative sampling from 63 of Virginia’s 132 school systems, so a comprehensive statewide survey might…
-
Marriage, Fertility and Male Earnings
One of the great debates in the social science of poverty asks what accounts for the decline in marriage and the increase in out-of-wedlock births. There is a broad consensus among scholars of diverse ideological persuasions that children born into stable marriages tend to fare better in life than those raised by single mothers. The question…
-
Falling Apart: Rockbridge County Edition
Here’s a story where America’s fraying social fabric intersects with near-criminal bureaucratic indifference. For context, read about the social breakdown of white America as described by sociologist Charles Murray in “Falling Apart.” After seven months of investigation, a special grand jury has found dysfunction and incompetence “from top to bottom” at the Rockbridge Area Department of…
-
The Weiner-ification of America
by James A. Bacon When I was raising my oldest offspring, now about 30 years old, a public awareness campaign would ask, “It’s 11 o’clock. Do you know where your children are?” Parents don’t seem nearly as worried where their children are these days — odds are, they’re at home. A better picture is, what are…
-
Time to Reform Juvenile Justice
by Chris Braunlich If the evidence showed that taking a particular medication actually made the disease worse, would you keep on taking it? Of course not. But a recent paper, Juvenile Justice Reform, co-issued by Justice Fellowship, Right On Crime, and the Thomas Jefferson Institute makes the case that, when it comes to Virginia’s juvenile…
-
Speaking of Gay Rights…
Like a lot of other Americans, I have been slow to embrace the right of gays to marry. That’s because I respect the sanctity of an institution — marriage as the union between a man and a woman — that evolved over thousands of years. But, ultimately, my libertarian instincts prevailed. As a libertarian/conservative, I…
-
Why Doesn’t Heather Have Two Daddies?
News from Attorney General Mark R. Herring: Virginia has issued 2,670 marriage licenses and 70 birth certificates to same-sex couples since gay marriage became legal in Virginia a year ago. So reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The figure that startles me is the 70 birth certificates. Presumably, male same-sex couples are not giving birth (although I…
-
Why Must Hundreds of Richmond Children Seek Medical Care Outside Richmond?
by James A. Bacon An excellent article in Style Weekly asks an important question: “Hundreds of local children have illnesses that send them beyond Richmond to seek pediatric care. Why can’t we treat them here?” The answer: Because the Richmond region is one of the few in the country not to have a dedicated, free-standing…
-
Beware the Cultural Totalitarians
by James A. Bacon Among my less useful accomplishments in life, I earned a Masters degree in African history at the Johns Hopkins University, an interdisciplinary program merging history and anthropology. Among the few useful perspectives I gained was an appreciation of the extraordinary plasticity of family forms throughout history and across the world. There are…
-
Richmond's Pathetic Leadership
By Peter Galuszka Richmond is going through an existential crisis. Its “leadership” can’t get anything done after wasting the public’s time and attention on the supposed possibilities of this so-called “Capital of Creativity.” Two examples come to mind. One is the city’s and region’s utter failure to do anything about its crumbling ballpark. The other…
-
Richmond’s Pathetic Leadership
By Peter Galuszka Richmond is going through an existential crisis. Its “leadership” can’t get anything done after wasting the public’s time and attention on the supposed possibilities of this so-called “Capital of Creativity.” Two examples come to mind. One is the city’s and region’s utter failure to do anything about its crumbling ballpark. The other…
-
Is SEAL Team 6 Out of Control?
By Peter Galuszka Dam Neck Annex is a forgettable piece of beachfront landscape amidst the strip malls of Virginia Beach. F-18s Hornet jets roar past from nearby Oceana Naval Air Station and the traffic is typical for the area: vans with soccer moms, bikers’ choppers and sedans with families headed for the sand. Surrounded by…
-
Richmond Childrens Hospital Deal Collapses
by James A. Bacon To be sure, building a new, free-standing childrens’ hospital for the Richmond region would be an expensive proposition — on the order of $600 million. But when mega-philanthropists Alice and William H. Goodwin are willing to kick in $150 million, a fund-raising campaign has been organized to raise another $100 million to $150…