The Butterfly Garden: A Memoir is the autobiography of Chip St. Clair, who survived an abusive childhood, constantly menaced by a physically abusive father who he learned was a fugitive child killer for over two decades, and one of America's Most Wanted.Chip St. Clair turned in his father rather than risk allowing him to harm any more children. He has dedicated himself to protecting children from predators, hoping to turn his years of abuse into something of great value.
Chip St. Clair is the regional director of the Michigan Chapter of Justice for Children.
Justice For Children (JFC) intervenes on behalf of abused children when child protection agencies and courts fail to protect them.
JFC advocates on behalf of children who are known to be victims of abuse yet are forced to live or visit their offender.
JFC obtains therapy resources for abused children who are recovering from abuse and/or are at risk of further abuse and no other resources exist.
Justice For Children advocates in specific cases of documented abuse.
JFC works within all systems and at anytime warranted to protect children. These systems include child protective services, law enforcement, district attorney's office, and family/criminal courts.
Points at which JFC can step in to advocate for a child may be at the initial report of abuse, when a child requires a safe permanent placement or when a child crime victim needs an advocate in the criminal justice system.
Justice For Children can assist int eh following situations:
When the state agency responsible for protecting children fails to take a report or fails to fully comply with state and federal standards and policy during investigations.
When an abused child is left in an abusive home under the guise of Family Preservation/Reunification.
When an abused child is at risk of being returned to the care of an offender.
When an abused child needs therapy and other resources have been exhausted.
If you have questions about criminal child abuse or are unsure about how to proceed, call 1.800.733.0059 or contact by e-mail at mailto:info@justiceforchildren.org.
5 comments:
While it may be a tough decision to turn in your own father to a government, I want to know whether there was parental alienation involved in the household of his childhood, inculcated into him by his mother's words and actions against his father? What kind of mother would have been attracted to such a father? I want to know what Mr. St. Clair's relationship with women and men is today. How is it today for him?
These are critical questions when one but peruses the web site of Justice for Children (JFC), or learns with which and with whom it is affiliated, e.g. Couargeous Kids, National Organization of Women, the Mary Kay Foundation, et al, or reads about thier conscriptees such as Alene Levy, attorney on loan from Haynes and Boone,Llp, to work for JFC in Houston Texas. Just read what she said to the Houston Chronicle on May 2, 2007! She says child sexual abuse occurs when the mother says it does! She says that a father "will retaliate" by claiming Parental Alienation (NOTE: something JFC collectively and profoundly rejects outright!) when that father is seeking the children in a contested divorce!
Thus the person considering JFC should be very careful about them. It seems to me that JFC is little other than a predator itself and a sexist one at that. I would love to see a breakdown on all the man haters (misandrists) JFC has represented and who are its Board!
Justice for Children has also been deeply associated with the film Breaking Silence: Children's Stories which purported itsdelf to be an objective film and hence was briefly shown on some PBS stations unitl the light was shown on it and it was pulled. Read the many assessments and revelations made by Glenn Sacks about this film and the people portrayed in it at www.glennsacks.com.
Thank you for your comments. This site does not intent to promote JFC or St. Clair's book.
Students looking into the ethical concerns surrounding the abuse of children will find your comments useful.
Very kind of you to say that Ms. Linsley. I realize it can be easy to forget one's ethics, when just certain words are mentioned, like 'child abuse'. I have thought that when the loudest, or perhaps the largest matter is before one, there seems to be a greater, more careful need in those times for sensitivity of ethics. For decades now there has been a wave of speak about women's rights. And suddenly there is the deadbeat dad. How easily we have commodified human life of late.
I have learned as a victim of Justice for Children, that even passionate, self-professed saviours of children, even toting law degrees, as zealots, may be very confused and destructive, hence unethical.
One would imagine that such a group might begin to behave more functionally over time and in the face of such mistakes. For me, should such behavior occur, and especially when it continues, its time to look to see if the system is surviving under addictive symptomology, as per Anne Wilson Schaef's "When Society Becomes An Addict", Harper and Row, 1986.
I do wonder what Mr. St. Clair knows about all this, since I have not made the particular acquaintance of himself.
Thanks for your candid comments.
Ethics Forum is committed to keeping words capable of telling the truth.
Post a Comment