The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow....

Posted by GVT Admin on Feb 10, 2021 1:15:00 PM

child welfare Since 1977 when Annie opened on Broadway, theatrical artists have been portraying endangered youth who have experienced both maltreatment and engaged in delinquent behavior like Oliver Twist and Little Orphan Annie.

Oliver! and Annie, two of Broadway’s most iconic musicals, star two children caught between Juvenile Justice and Child Protective Services. 

Oliver!

A ragtag family of orphaned children pickpockets welcome little Oliver into their criminal family as they sing:

🎵CONSIDER YOURSELF🎵

Consider yourself at home

Consider yourself one of the family

We've taken to you so strong

It's clear we're going to get along… 

If it should chance to be

We should see

Some harder days

Empty larder days

Why grouse?

Always-a-chance we'll meet

Somebody

To foot the bill

Then the drinks are on the house! 

Annie

Annie and the other orphans tap out their up-tempo resilient song of maltreatment:

🎵HARD KNOCK LIFE🎵

It's a hard-knock life for us

It’s a hard-knock life for us

'Stead of treated

We get tricked

'Stead of kisses

We get kicked

It's the hard-knock life… 

Don't it feel like the wind is always howl'n?

 Don't it seem like there's never any light!

Once a day, don't you wanna throw the towel in?

 It's easier than puttin' up a fight

No one's there when your dreams at night get creepy

No one cares if you grow or if you shrink

Empty belly life

Rotten smelly life

Full of sorrow life

No tomorrow life 🎵

 A two-thousand-word scholarly essay on the plight of endangered children who straddle the worlds of Juvenile Justice and Child Protective services could never capture their world like these two Broadway shows.

Today, because of a long-entrenched lack of communication and coordination between the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, case workers still struggle to address the needs of youth who find themselves involved with both agencies.

How Can This Happen?

There are multiple pathways youth can take to move between the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

Examples of scenarios that could result in dual-system involvement include the following:

  • A youth with an open child welfare case faces a delinquency charge.
  • Juvenile justice professionals who come in contact with a youth who has been arrested learn about issues requiring the attention of child welfare.
  • A juvenile justice system case is about to be closed, and professionals discover that a youth has no safe home to return to.

Adding to the trauma that such youth experience is the chaotic, poorly coordinated service they and their families can receive due to the lack of coordination and communication between the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Both systems were developed with the goal of promoting child well-being. However, each system developed its own mission, professional structure, and jargon—one focused on protecting youth while the other focused on punishing youth.

Social Workers Have Recognized “Dual-System Involvement”

Social workers who manage the child welfare and juvenile justice systems are making efforts to boost interagency collaboration. They are focusing on objectives such as increasing interagency cooperation, increasing interagency information sharing, increasing family engagement and voice in decision making, and reducing recidivism.

Tomorrow

It used to feel like there was no way out for endangered children caught between the two systems. But like the orphans in Annie, these children are starting to feel hopeful as social workers attempt to untangle their lives.

 

🎵TOMORROW🎵

The sun'll come out

Tomorrow

Bet your bottom dollar

That tomorrow

There'll be sun!

Just thinkin' about

Tomorrow

Clears away the cobwebs

And the sorrow

Til there's none!

When I'm stuck a day

That's gray

And lonely

I just stick out my chin

And grin

And say

The sun'll come out

Tomorrow

So you gotta hang on

Til tomorrow

Come what may 

Tomorrow!

Tomorrow!

I love ya tomorrow

You’re only a day away

 

If you enjoyed reading this blog, then don't stop here! You can read more about Juvenile Justice/Child Welfare on the FAMCare blog.  

Topics: Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice, Family and Child Welfare

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