Ah. I just looked up Dr. Lieberman. She’s an on air personality. That explains why she filed a report.

Social Workers across the country are drowning under their caseload. I have seen firsthand how a complaint of neglect was reported to CPS yet nothing was done, no home visit, not even a phone call. And the complaint was solid, as in “there’s no electricity in the home, there is drug paraphanelia out where babies can get to it, the kids are dirty and have no food in the house come mid-month”. I certainly hope that the social worker(s) in the hospital where these octuplets are has their files at the top of the stack. I know that having just two babies at the same time can be overwhelming, (I have twins! They are 10 now! We survived!) I can’t imagine trying to take care of 8 at once, along with their special-needs older siblings. Insane. I pray for this mom and all those babies.

There is a huge difference between an “on-air personality” who is affiliated with a major neuropsych university and one who is not. I agree, case workers ARE overloaded and I cringe at the thought of social work funds being further reduced in CA, as they might well be. However, the Suleman story has received great notoriety; because it potentially involves 14 kids and not just one or two, its priority might be pushed up. [I’m not saying that’s right, but we’ve all seen how the public’s outrage can push an agency to work on something that might not be on their radar screen.] I don’t believe there is a soul who doesn’t wish for the best for the children. And I’m sure that the vast majority of people wish the mother well, too. [Please give her a hysterectomy first!] But right now she’s a loose cannon with legal control over the well-being [or not] of the children. That’s the scary part. There’s no magical solution; this is such a catch-22 from all angles. One wonders if the children were taken away from the mother if they would find really good homes. And then there’s the unmistakably high odds in favor of some of the children being diagnoses wit medical problems somewhere down the road. Will this cause people to refrain from adopting? But one step at a time. Having been the older sibling of a child with Cerebral Palsy I can’t begin to tell you how life as a family was turned upside down. My mother’s life was completely devoted to taking care of my brother. Can you imagine the chaos in the Suleman home? While the “older” kids more than likely have no frame of reference as to what a normal family life is like at this time, when they begin to understand how chaotic their lives are compared to other kids they stand an excellent chance of becoming resentful and acting out. The whole thing is a pathetic situation made worse when you consider that it never should have happened.

There is no question that the mother needs mental help. The doctor needs to loose his license, and perhaps face charges. Those children need to be placed with families who can provide them with the care & needs that they will have. I want to know where a social worker makes enough to take care of 14 kids. I need to switch jobs if that’s the case.