KILLING AND SELLING OUR CHILDREN

HALL OF SHAME: a failure to meet your own standards of behavior

KILLING AND SELLING OUR CHILDREN
Johann Wagener 3-22-13

The United States is not only becoming infamous for putting the gun industry ahead of the safety of its children, it is also putting the interests of the prison industry ahead of the care of their children by literally  allowing them to be sold into slavery. Corrupt Juvenile Justice Leaves Mark On Pa. Kids

By “privatizing” our prison system we have literally transformed it into a “slave market” where humans are bought and sold for profit. This in turn has turned the judicial system into a slave market which is now a breeding ground for corrupt individuals like those who were recently convicted in PA;

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist William Ecenbarger tells a story that seems to be pulled right from Charles Dickens: a judge sends young people to a detention center, in exchange for kickbacks from the facility’s owner.

The judge was Mark Ciavarella and he presided over a courtroom in Luzerne County, Pa. He sent thousands of kids to detention centers for minor offenses – things that used to result in a three-day suspension from class.

William Ecenbarger is author of “Kids for Cash.” (Susan Ecenbarger)

Luzerne County’s president judge, Michael Conahan, was also implicated in the “Kids for Cash” scandal, for using his budgetary discretion to stop funding the county’s public youth detention facility. He also agreed to generate costs that could be billed to taxpayers in exchange for kickbacks.

Prosecutors say the two judges secretly received more than $2.6 million in kickbacks. In 2011, Ciavarella was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison and Conahan was sentenced to 17.5 years.

Some might say, justice was served, but they are sorely mistaken. These judges were nothing more than “scapegoats” used to distract us from the real problem; The “for-profit” private prison industry. 

Click on this site: Mid-Atlantic Youth Services, Corp

Here’s a little taste of how they pedal their services;

Our Mission The mission of Mid-Atlantic Youth Services, Corp. (MAYS) is to provide high-quality healthcare, education, and treatment services to our youth through supportive partnerships with those we serve (courts, families, youth, and the community). We accomplish our mission by providing a safe, nurturing, and structured environment that promotes positive changes in the health and well-being of youth, allowing them to return to their communities while remaining alcohol, drug, and crime free.  The MAYS Difference A defining difference with MAYS is that we have the ability to house, care for, and treat nearly any juvenile. Our multiple-licensed facilities allow us to serve kids across a wide range of offenses and disorders, unlike the unidimensional focus common among most providers. We know you have high concerns and expectations. After all, these are youths with special demands who require a disciplined and all-encompassing treatment plan to make them well. We address the "whole" child, with services that expressly target the uniqueness of their conduct, character and condition. We understand who influences the youth in our care, so we focus on constant relationship building with anyone who can affect their futures - judges, courts, families, communities, affiliate providers and influencers...all will find us very accommodating. Our programs and services are all done with master level therapists and educators, concentrating on the same, very real, very reachable goals; family reunification and a return as productive members of the community, as well as a fresh start on life. Long or short, all roads to recovery start with a single, life altering step. Let us lead the way.

 What this institution and the many more like it don’t say is that their real mission is to fill the beds and keep them full. The true incentive not rehabilitation, but long-term incarceration very similar to our healthcare industry that focuses on intervention rather than prevention. It boils down to simply making a “profit.”

That is the core of the problem with any service-oriented organization that has to maintain a “captive” clientele in order to survive. 

The healthcare system is beginning to address this by rewarding those who keep people healthy rather than those who just step in when things are bad. The profit then is on health, not disease. 

The same holds true with the criminal justice industry which is why there should not be any incentive to keep people incarcerated but rather to reward those that are actually rehabilitated and/or habituated  in order to diminish criminal behavior.