Kudos to Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell, who is sounding the alarm about the need for additional on-call assistance from the county’s 55 social workers who deal with kids whose welfare is in question. Looks as if he’s getting a response, and that’s great news. This isn’t a matter of inadequate funding, but a matter of resource deployment. Check out what has occurred, according to the sheriff.
The woman who was arrested wasn’t from Johnston County and had no relatives or friends nearby, Bizzell said. Without a social worker to help, he said, the woman finally got in touch with an acquaintance who agreed to care for the baby.”The girl was going to jail when she had to rely on someone she didn’t know very well to take her child,” Bizzell said.He said another incident took place a couple of weeks ago on a Friday night, when deputies learned that a 6-year-old boy had been home alone for seven hours.
I don’t know if it’s legally possible, but I hope there is a way for local churches to help out the sheriff and these kids by responding to these incidents.
