Relisha Rudd

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This story has shed so much awareness that DCUM readers have no clue about. Kudos to Payne elementary for following the protocol for absent children. I still find it alarming that this little girl missed 30 days of school. While some were excused, I think those needed to be investigated as well. Maybe some laws will be changed because of this.

I'm not sure where the kudos come from. It sounds like they didn't even know which day she was last at school. They knew where she lived because of her address - they knew she had missed many, many days of school. Yes, they finally reported it, but they accepted the lame excuse about "Dr. Tatum," without demanding a written note. It's not their fault, but it's too bad so much time had gone by before they called it in. At any rate, I wouldn't be giving them a pat on the back.

[Anonymous]

Do all the homeless children in that shelter attend the same school?

[Anonymous]

This is the reason we need to support planned parenthood and provide free birth control. Stop the cycle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the reason we need to support planned parenthood and provide free birth control. Stop the cycle.

I love that you guys mean well and are trying to think of ways to solve the problems, but do you understand that plenty of the people who are homeless have mental health and trauma issues? A lot of people who get pregnant had nothing to do with voluntarily having sex or getting pregnant. They are impregnated by men or boys who don't care whether they consent or use birth control. In those situations, as important as Planned Parenthood and birth control is, the existence and availability doesn't help.

But Planned Parenthood and birth control DOES help a ton of other women and girls, so it's totally worth doing. I just think in this case, when you hear the mom speak on the news, Relisha's mom isn't all there, and what if this homeless mom with the newborn we're talking about is also not all there? Or what if she's fleeing an abusive relationship and has nowhere to go? There are so many deeper root issues that need to be better addressed than just the availability of birth control.

Oh, and boys need to be raised to turn into men who ALSO take responsibility for not making babies they can't or won't provide for. Much easier said than done, but let's stop always focusing on the girls or the women as being the only irresponsible ones in that equation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to DC where we're number 4 in the country for the levels of income inequality!

The top fifth earn 29 times more than the bottom fifth.

It really puts those "I'm poor with a 250k HHI" posts into perspective

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:look at the Post today, there is the story of a homeless woman with a two weeks old baby girl. the city provided shelter when it was cold. because now the temperature is above freezing, she was told she needs to find a place to stay on her own because shelters are full. she is a new mom, the baby is two weeks and on the streets. the reality is that a new mother on her own with a newborn cannot find a job (where is she going to leave the baby while she works?), so DC services should either take the baby away from her, or give the mother a shelter and help her get back on her feet (I think they should do the second, BTW). after the baby is dead that would be an outpouring of grief. what about doing something when she is still alive.

as for Relisha's mother, I pity her for the way she herself had to grow up, but cannot really have sympathy for her. she gave her daughter away to a stranger, lied for weeks to her family, lied to the school, provided the school with fake certificates excusing the absences. her child was with 50 yr old male stranger, missing school for weeks and that was OK for her? she lied to the social worker. she knew very well that what she had done was wrong, otherwise why lying to everybody including her family. clearly the guy prayed on very fragile and vulnerable people, but this does not excuse the mother for her outrageous behavior, which most likely cost that little girl her life.

No the reality is that one should not have a baby until they can provide for and take care of themself.

Ooooh, that's how simple it is! So glad you explained that! So basically, sexual abuse histories and exploitation histories of the moms aside, we should just punish the baby with homelessness, no healthcare and a life sentence to poverty and hopelessness because his or her mom "chose" to have a baby before she was really ready. Thanks for eplaining that, so helpful an dproductive!

Take a step further back than that. There's a strong "don't snitch" culture woven through these communities - which just propagates and perpetuates a culture of violence and abuse rather than ever stopping it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the reason we need to support planned parenthood and provide free birth control. Stop the cycle.

I love that you guys mean well and are trying to think of ways to solve the problems, but do you understand that plenty of the people who are homeless have mental health and trauma issues? A lot of people who get pregnant had nothing to do with voluntarily having sex or getting pregnant. They are impregnated by men or boys who don't care whether they consent or use birth control. In those situations, as important as Planned Parenthood and birth control is, the existence and availability doesn't help.

But Planned Parenthood and birth control DOES help a ton of other women and girls, so it's totally worth doing. I just think in this case, when you hear the mom speak on the news, Relisha's mom isn't all there, and what if this homeless mom with the newborn we're talking about is also not all there? Or what if she's fleeing an abusive relationship and has nowhere to go? There are so many deeper root issues that need to be better addressed than just the availability of birth control.

Oh, and boys need to be raised to turn into men who ALSO take responsibility for not making babies they can't or won't provide for. Much easier said than done, but let's stop always focusing on the girls or the women as being the only irresponsible ones in that equation.

If you are mentally ill, homeless, on the street and incapable of keeping yourself from getting pregnant then all the more reason they should consider an implant or other mechanism to help avoid unplanned pregnancies. That, and counseling and points of contact so they have someone to go to if they are victims of sexual abusers and predators. That's a whole lot better than people just standing around, throwing their hands in the air and saying "you don't understand" and doing nothing in the meanwhile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the reason we need to support planned parenthood and provide free birth control. Stop the cycle.

I love that you guys mean well and are trying to think of ways to solve the problems, but do you understand that plenty of the people who are homeless have mental health and trauma issues? A lot of people who get pregnant had nothing to do with voluntarily having sex or getting pregnant. They are impregnated by men or boys who don't care whether they consent or use birth control. In those situations, as important as Planned Parenthood and birth control is, the existence and availability doesn't help.

But Planned Parenthood and birth control DOES help a ton of other women and girls, so it's totally worth doing. I just think in this case, when you hear the mom speak on the news, Relisha's mom isn't all there, and what if this homeless mom with the newborn we're talking about is also not all there? Or what if she's fleeing an abusive relationship and has nowhere to go? There are so many deeper root issues that need to be better addressed than just the availability of birth control.

Oh, and boys need to be raised to turn into men who ALSO take responsibility for not making babies they can't or won't provide for. Much easier said than done, but let's stop always focusing on the girls or the women as being the only irresponsible ones in that equation.

If you are mentally ill, homeless, on the street and incapable of keeping yourself from getting pregnant then all the more reason they should consider an implant or other mechanism to help avoid unplanned pregnancies. That, and counseling and points of contact so they have someone to go to if they are victims of sexual abusers and predators. That's a whole lot better than people just standing around, throwing their hands in the air and saying "you don't understand" and doing nothing in the meanwhile.

That's your solution; I disagree but applaud you if you're actively pursuing implants. The solutions I believe in are dealing with the root causes by increasing the quality services that exist. More and better dating violence supports, mental health treatment, child abuse and neglect services. Oh yeah, better schools too. Those are the resources that better prevent unplanned pregnancies than advocating for more implants.

[Anonymous]

I was shocked to read the number of children at that facility. And by the coverage I've read, these are single-mom families for the most part. This, to me, is a significant part of the tragedy - where are the fathers in all this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was shocked to read the number of children at that facility. And by the coverage I've read, these are single-mom families for the most part. This, to me, is a significant part of the tragedy - where are the fathers in all this?

In jail or with their other baby mammas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was shocked to read the number of children at that facility. And by the coverage I've read, these are single-mom families for the most part. This, to me, is a significant part of the tragedy - where are the fathers in all this?

In jail or with their other baby mammas.

Or neither, but abusive, so these moms were running from them. And sadly, in some cases, the "dad" is someone who had no business having sex with the girl/woman, i.e. an adult when she was too young, or a relative, in which case no one in the family is really going to step up. But mostly it's what the PP said.

[Anonymous]

It's a tragedy in so many ways. I can't help but think CPS should automatically take custody of homeless kids and find them foster care. I have read too much about the mom and grandma to have sympathy. She was horrible and abusive. We have got to stop making reunification the goal and start cutting parental rights. Is you read the moms FB page you will be furious, bragging about the jelly Hanson jackets and Jordan's on her kids fit while living in a shelter. Where did she get that money? Drugs or sex? And what did she sell her daughter for and why is she protecting the abductor. No children should be allowed in a shelter. And relisha should have been taken from her mom permanently five years ago. I worked in social services for one year and I never saw one mom come close to being rehabilitated but the kids always go,back. It's horrible.

[Anonymous]

You do realize that some of these parents "choose" to be in a homeless shelter or considered homeless so they can be bumped to the top of a list to get housing. I don't doubt that there are some parents who are truly in need and are struggling, but in this case the "mother in law" the sister and plenty other people seem to have a "safe" place to stay and yet the mother chose to live in a homeless shelter and leave her child with a stranger... a grown man with no children. It is very saddening that a child has to deal with the choices the mother makes.... but this happens far too often. Hoping that the baby makes it home safe....

[Anonymous]

Once again DCUM never let's me down. While I think the mother sold her child (why else would she lie?), many of these comments regarding "those people" are disgusting and full of assumptions about peoe with whom you've probably had little to no contact.

We need to find some solutions to these issues so that they continue to grow. All of our children deserve better

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure if their is a class on how to distinguish bribes from being nice. I think she put her trust into this guy and it back fired. My question is why did the "step father" allow this to happen? Guess he was benefitting too. Just said no matter which scenario you come up with.