First priority: children

Thank you for your perceptive editorial on Jan. 11 about the tragic cycle of child abuse, wherein violence begets more violence. Our community needs to know the giant steps backward that are occurring.

In this budget year, December brought the closure of the Early Intervention Program at Spokane Regional Health District, which, for over 20 years, had provided expert public health nurses who helped families with high-risk conditions avert an escalation to abuse of the children.

The governor’s proposed budget dismantles all capacity for family support. Our state is viewed nationally as progressive in this regard – for over 25 years, we have had a Cabinet-level agency devoted solely to the prevention of child abuse, the Council for Children and Families. It would be eliminated, along with the Family Policy Council, the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee and the Continuum of Care in Spokane, which provides funds for Volunteers of America’s Alexandria’s House and Partners with Families and Children.

These programs all stretch the state dollars at least 2-to-1 and interrupt that generational cycle that exacts lifelong costs to individuals, families and our community.

Yes, this is an unprecedented economic crisis, but our first priority has to be our children.

Mary Ann Murphy

Spokane