Spare the Rod?
Divorcee Cylenthia Clark and her four daughters came to Georgia with the hopes of beginning a new life. As former second-in-charge of Fulton County, Georgia’s Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS), Clark never imagined she’d one day be fighting against the very system she went to work for. That was until one night in March 2007, when she was awakened and arrested on charges of child cruelty by Fulton County police for allegedly striking her 9-year-old daughter 34 times with a leather belt. Since that time, Clark’s children have been shuttled through the foster-care system, to family members and are currently in the care of her ex-husband who lives in Chicago. Clark, who does admit to spanking her daughter, but not to the extent that has been reported, says she only went to such lengths because her daughter had earlier been accused of fighting an adult. Is Clark’s case an authentic case of abuse, or is there something far more sinister at work? Clark seems to think the latter, and she’s created a Web site to share her side of the story. “The subjectivity of child welfare allows social workers to make decisions about a family’s welfare based on their mood for the day, and sometimes their incompetence,” reads a quote from her site, Unseen Scars. She adds, “The worker in this case has past performance evaluations that support not only the fact that there were problems with her performance in the past, but she had been demoted at least once . . . and [had] continued recommendations for more training. So, why is she still allowed to do a job her record clearly indicates she cannot?” Clark considers the child welfare system to be one of genocide—at least, in the case of the Fulton County DFCS. “The children of minorities are taken away in this county for the most outrageous reasons: caseworkers don't agree with what you feed a child . . . fecal matter is found in your toilet (where else should it be?) . . . your child looks too little!!! I have spoken to other parents and I am outraged that anyone's children can be taken so easily.” On her Web site, Clark notes a May 2007 study conducted by National Coalition for Child Protection Reform Executive Director Richard Wexler that concludes Fulton County has the highest home-removal rate (70 percent) of “minorities” and impoverished children than any other county in the United States. “There are many other cases such as mine where parents are erroneously accused and those allegations turn into arrests, and those arrests turn into convictions,” she writes, adding, “all of which destroys the families they affect. These are the unseen scars.” Clark sees her actions as stepping up to the plate when it comes to parenting and writes, "No parent ever wants to hurt their child, and a parent does have the right to discipline a child for misbehaving. “Would you rather I not spank her and the next time she slaps your wife or husband (because she fought an adult this particular day), [. . .] the system will want to charge my child with assault and she ends up in the Juvenile Justice System?” Clark’s case begs the question: When and in what ways should government be allowed to intervene? And further, how much control over our families should we allow government to have? Additional Information: Clark’s site: Unseen Scars
