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Invisible Children
(The American cycle of abuse and its cost)
KIds At Risk Action (KARA) is a non-profit advocacy network focusing on issues related to neglected and abused children. Founded by Mike Tikkanen, a businessman turned socially-concerned citizen, KARA works to educate individuals and communities about the need to protect the rights of children. More on our About Us page. |
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KARA (Kids At Risk Action) Documentary Project
by Mike Tikkanen ---- 2 minute movie trailer
MN Public TV is partnering with us for a once in a lifetime opportunity to make a difference in the lives of abused and neglected children. To do this we need your help.
KIDS AT RISK ACTION is partnering with Minnesota Public Television (TPT) to tell the INVISIBLE CHILDREN's story through compelling interviews with children and adults within the world of child protection. KARA needs your support and asks for your gift to help make this project happen.
Larger donors will be featured on the program , invited to the pre-screening party at TPT (St. Paul), and receive priority consideration for all new projects as they develop. This project will be a big part of our ongoing efforts at KARA.
Donate Button or Contact me directly to help KARA complete this project mike@invisiblechildren.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Program purpose; Create awareness of the critical issues impacting at risk children & identifying how to break the cycle of child abuse and neglect.
- Program themes; Mental health and coping skills, and the basic rights of children to safety, healthcare, and education.
- Program production; Experts and personal stories of children and adults within the child protection system.
- Program look and sound; Serious and inspiring
- Target audience; General public with attention to legislators, and everyone touched by our child protection system
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Creating awareness that builds action to address the epidemic of child abuse and mental health issues in our communities.
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July 21, 2014
Mike:
It is with great pleasure that I provide this letter of support on behalf of Twin Cities Public Television
(TPT) for the work you are doing to create a high-impact, community leadership initiative focused
stopping the cycles of neglect and abuse of children. We are honored to partner with Kids At Risk
Action (KARA) and those committed to the prevention of child abuse the Twin Cities to create an
awareness effort that builds adequate understanding of the key issues and encourages positive action.
The impact of the KARA partnership with TPT will have many dimensions. First and foremost is TPT's
support in telling the powerful real-life stories that will support KARA's community engagement efforts.
The story telling will be designed to reach both the general public and service providers. Themes for
the personal stories and expert interviews will include mental health and coping skills, children's rights,
and providing best practice services.
Importantly, partnership also will involve creating local community awareness and multi -media tools.
The current vision is to create a set of multi-media stories so that they are viewable on the web and
over-the-air across Minnesota through TPT's statewide channel TPT MN. We will co-produce a 30-
minute documentary and short-form web-only clips. In addition, KARA and TPT will coordinate a social
media and outreach campaign
Sincerely
Lucy Swift
Vice President
Minnesota Productions and Partnerships |
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Core issues:
• Mental health and coping skills – if not delivered in the home they must come from the community or crime and prisons build, and schools and our communities will continue to struggle. Instead of facing the core issues troubling abused and neglected children, “Our institutions today are creating exactly what they were designed to stop”*. Child protection services we are seeing the fourth, fifth, and sixth generation of abused and neglected children re-entering the system with their own dysfunctional families (because they don't have the mental health* or parenting skills to do otherwise).
*Dr Read Sulik's definition of Mental health is “the ability to cope in one's own environment”.
• Children's Civil Rights and protection under the law. Child abuse and neglect are underreported and euphemized in the media and in child protection services. County and state record keeping is insufficient leading to a lack of understanding, support, training, and achievement at all levels. There is almost no public discourse and lawmakers pay little attention to the needs of abused and neglected children.
• The committed and hardworking people doing the work cannot meet the existing needs of the children they serve (only the worst cases get in to the system) and the privations of these children regularly exceed the training, resources, and capacity of our institutions and the foster and adoptive parents that love and care for them. Political neglect and lack of public awareness keep things the same.
The documentary will blend experts and personal stories in a 30-min documentary done in 3 parts. Those “parts” will be useful as separate pieces to use in community work.
Kids At Risk Action believes that once more people know how our institutions are failing our children, change will happen, and the cycle of abused and neglected children having their own families of abused children will be broken and all children can grow up to lead productive lives. Schools will graduate more students, prisons will become empty, and streets will become safer.
KARA seeks your help in funding this project. The cost breakdown appears at our site under “About Us”
Help KARA make this happen
KARA believes that once more people know how our institutions are failing our children, change will happen, and the cycle of abused and neglected children having their own families of abused children will be broken and all children can grow up to lead productive lives. Schools will graduate more students, prisons will become empty, and streets will become safer.
KARA is raising one hundred and eleven thousand dollars to fund this project. The cost breakdown appear under “About Us”
Share this with your friends, contact us and consider inviting us to speak at your next event.
Donate Now
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http://www.invisiblechildren.org/home/
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See also:
Petition for Children's Civil, Human, and Constitutional Rights - Petition by KARA (Kids At Risk Action)
And:
Please listen to Mike Tikkanen's recent interview on NAASCA's "Stop Child Abuse Now" talk show:
Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 945 -- Special guest Mike Tikkanen -- October 17, 2014
Tonight's special guest is Mike Tikkanen from Minnesota, Founder of KARA (Kids at Risk Action) at InvisibleChildren.org. Kids At Risk Action is partnering with Minnesota Public Television to demonstrate why it is in our community's interest to stop the repeated failures throughout our child protection system and make children healthy. Brandon Stahl's reporting on the tortured death of four year old Eric Dean after 14 ignored reports of child abuse by mandated reporters caused Governor Dayton to remark on the colossal failure of child protection and order a review of Minnesota's child welfare system. Mike hopes changes will be made to the reporting, recording, and accountability as to how counties manage reports of child abuse and some effort will be made to change the dismal fact that Minnesota screens out 70% of child abuse calls and ranks 47th among the states in providing resources to children in child protection. 29% of children are sent back to the abusive conditions they were rescued from, and the average child is placed in four different foster homes. Mike asks, "Please support KARA's effort to create the change to reach the tipping point to save children from the toxic homes and dysfunctional lives that hurt our schools, make our streets unsafe, and fill our prisons." Mike is passionate about improving the treatment of abused and neglected children and has formed his non-profit, Kid's At Risk Action (KARA), to bring public awareness to children's rights and form action groups to improve public policy towards at-risk children. Contact him at: Mike@Invisiblechildren.org |
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