Cyber-Bullying Hits Close to Home

A Wake-Up Call for Fort Bend County

I can understand that cyber-bullying is new age, a monstrous phenomenon, often limitless in its reach, and conceivably boundless to authorities and lawmakers when trying to form, pass, and enforce legislation. I truly get all the overwhelming challenges of this growing eye sore that is plaguing the social media industry. What is quite unsettling and disturbing is when these challenges become the continuous excuses as to how a teenage girl who is allegedly raped in the state of Texas while unconscious leaving her unable to consent, how the alleged teenage rapist himself with possible accomplices is so highly amused by the limp naked body of the unconscious teenage victim that he posts a picture of her exposed body on social media outlets which is nothing short of child pornography, and how her unconscious mind and naked body goes “viral” and receives a dehumanizing response from viewers everywhere, yet our leaders are not convinced that we no longer have time for excuses. It is time to act!

Seemingly our call for action to respond to the repeated victimization and exploitation of this young girl through social media has fallen on deaf ears, yet the impact of this incident will cause a lifetime of psychological damage to this teenage victim, her family and all who encountered or will encounter the pictures of her unconscious mind and limp naked body on social media websites for many years to come.

This alleged incident of rape, a crime, happened in Harris County, Texas and the alleged victim resided in Fort Bend County, Texas at the time of incident. We have to start holding legislators and local authorities accountable for the shortcoming in legislation to address the cyber-bullying of children who are sexually assaulted, abused, and raped in their state and local jurisdiction. Help us hold newly elected Governor Greg Abbott, Senator Rodney Ellis, Representative Ron Reynolds, and Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson accountable for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of children who are victimized in the state of Texas. Let’s call out the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to develop cooperative agreements with local authorities and social media giants to address the madness of cyber-bullying of alleged child victims of sexual assault, abuse, and rape. Let’s hold the social media industry to strict laws, regulations, and statues that protect the identity, safety, and emotional wellbeing of children who are raped, sexually assaulted, or abused.

Vanesia R. Johnson, Chairperson

The Faces of CASE

Here are some snapshots of the phenomenal individuals who are the hands and feet of CASE.

FBISD Attends Keeping Kids in School Community Event

CASE leadership and members would like to acknowledge FBISD for responding to their request of FBISD leaders to attend the “Keeping Kids in School” forum at United Way Houston on September 22, 2014. FBISD leaders filled two tables at the event. They were undoubtedly present and accounted for at the forum. Panel speakers shared their views about their efforts to change the punitive learning environment within their school or school districts, the impact of zero tolerance disciplinary practices and excessive school suspensions, and the challenges with getting administrators and teachers on board with implementing an “educational system of care” that support students to change behaviors through strategies and team intervention. Key findings of the “Breaking School Rules: A Statewide Study of How School Discipline Relates to Students’ Success and Juvenile Justice Involvement” were also discussed.

CASE Meets with Harris County Grants Management Team

CASE leadership met with Grants Management team of the Harris County Judges office on Thursday, December 18, 2014 and received a status update on the utilization of allocated funds from Senate Bill 1185 which aims to address the alarmingly high incarceration rate of persons with mental illness in Harris County.

CASE Partners with Earl Carl Institute for Legal & Social Policy, Inc. to Host Forum

Many stakeholders and community partners attended “The Shooting of Michael Brown: Now What? Systemic Maltreatment: Dismantling Disproportionality through Strategic Partnerships”, which was held on Thursday, October 9, 2014 at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University. The program featured presentations from elected officials, experts in the field of child welfare, criminal justice, mental health and health care and persons affected by harmful policies and practices of government institutions. The forum was declared a huge success by those in attendance.

CASE Leaders Attend NAACP Missouri City and Vicinity Freedom Fund Banquet

Vanesia R. Johnson, Keciana Enaohwo, Lynette Reddix and Cynthia Allen attended the Freedom Fund Banquet held on Saturday, October 11, 2014. Texas House of Representative, Sylvester Turner, was the featured presenter and he gave a compelling message about being “ALL IN for Justice and Equality”. See more photos >

Fort Bend County Behavioral Health Responds to the Cultural Relevance Question

Vanesia R. Johnson, Chairperson of CASE, appointed to lead the committee in 2015

On Thursday, October 16, 2014 a diverse group of stakeholders held it’s first ever meeting to discuss culture and language relevance as an access barrier to health and mental health services in the county. Fort Bend County leadership did a wonderful job facilitating the discussion and challenging those in attendance to speak courageously about whether a need for health care providers to prioritize these issues exist in order for the county to improve its system of care. It was unanimously agreed that there is a legitimate need for a committee to be convened to address cultural competence and linguistic services needs. The 1st official Fort Bend County Cultural Diversity Committee meeting was held on Thursday, January 8, 2015.

1115 Waiver Steering Committee Embraces CLAS

CASE met with representatives of Southeast Texas Regional Heath Care Partnership, the Region 3 Anchor Hospital, during the summer of 2014 to discuss the importance of Culturally Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) is to the 1115 Waiver initiative. CASE was notified in early fall 2014 that the Steering Committee embraced its recommendation for the inclusion of cultural and linguistic quality improvement training to health care providers in the 9 county region through the Regional Learning Collaborative. Efforts to implement cultural and linguistics technical assistance to providers were projected to begin as early as December 2014. The segment on Cultural Competence was held on Day Two of the Region 3 Regional Healthcare Partnership Learning Collaborative event hosted from December 10-11, 2014 at University of Houston Hilton.

Texas Children’s Protective Services (CPS): A System Undergoing Transformation

It was sweet music to our ears to hear that Tanya Rollins, Disproportionality Manager for the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), shared with disproportionality stakeholders across the state that CPS is currently undergoing transformation. In October 2014, CASE presented 20 principle driven statements called, “Statements of Commitment to Equitable Practices for Children Protective Services Case Workers and Supervisor” to Ms. Roland in an effort to positively influence the policies and practices of CPS and contribute to the transformation process. With African Americans and Hispanics families having the worst outcomes when interfacing with this system, CASE anxiously awaits the new and improved CPS system.

CASE CALLS to Launch This Spring!

The bounds of CASE seems to be limitless! To respond to overwhelming community interest CASE is planning to launch CASE CALLS in the Spring of 2015. If you are interested in participating on these calls please email caseonthemove@gmail.com to receive conference call information. The calls will focus on providing information and support to progress disproportionality efforts near you.