Angelia Anthony and her son, Delkisse Anthony attended the National Crime Victim’s Rights Week dinner and ceremony at Lansing City Hall sponsored by The New Citizens Press Community Action Network (TNCPCAN).
She was there to support her son, who is a survivor of child abuse.
Photo by Toy Branklin
By Deborah M. Walker
At a child the child abuse rally held on April 23, 2015 on the steps of the Capitol in Lansing MI, dozens gathered to be the voices of youths who often do not have one.
“I’ve been here the last couple of years trying to get an alcohol prevention program for pregnant women and support for children affected by fetal alcohol spectrum disorder,” said Jim Casha, who attended the event.
Casha battled freezing temperatures and gusty winds to speak up for victims too young to speak up for themselves, like Delkisse Anthony, who was beaten, shaken and thrown down the stairs by his father, Matthew Geller, when he was just 15 months old. His mother, Angelia Anthony, said she knew something was wrong when the police was reluctant to give out any information.
“I was over my sister’s house. He had him for the weekend and they had called me and said that he had been in an accident,” said Anthony.
Anthony was taken to the hospital by police officers. Once there, she was told her son had been moved to another hospital.
“The police officers took me to the hospital, I saw more police officers and they kept giving me the run around… and my sister went with me. I felt that something was wrong and so we just took off running. They wouldn’t tell me where my son was at and I found him outside of a CAT scanning room,” said Anthony.
Anthony believes this was not the first time Geller had hit her son. In the past, she had noticed bruises on her son but thought nothing of it.
“He said he had got stung by a bee, which when you get stung by a bee your feet is kind of swollen so I didn’t know exactly what happened. Once he had a little bite mark on him, but he had a little sister… so kids do bite each other,” said Anthony.
According to Anthony, Child Protective Services did get involved. They put in a request for Geller’s rights to be terminated, however, Anthony learned years later that the judge presiding over the case never honored the request and Geller’s rights were never taken away.
“It has affected me a great deal,” said Anthony. “Probably like 5 years ago, I just had to say to myself that God gave up his only son so I had to give up mine, because you never know who it might touch, or who it might reach out to.”
Anthony said she was not dating Geller at the time of the incident. She has two older daughters who have been impacted by the situation as well.
“When this happened they were not able to see him because he was in the hospital. I took the televisions out of the house so they wouldn’t know what happened to him until I could explain, but someone told them and they seen it in the paper,” said Anthony.
Anthony said she does not particularly have a support system. She has a difficult time because she takes care of her son alone.
“I took care of him by myself for a long time then he got into respite, because in 2009, he came close to dying,” said Anthony.
Respite is a home where he can go on the weekend once a month. This helps with the attachment and separation issues her son has and introduces him to a new environment explained Anthony.
Anthony said her son now suffers from shaken baby syndrome, cerebral palsy, he is paralyzed and in a wheelchair, he cannot chew, and is legally blind and deaf. Her son was a normal baby before the incident she added.
“No one thinks that it could happen to them. It could happen to them and it doesn’t have to be a stranger. With most children, it’s by somebody that knows them because we don’t leave them with a complete stranger,” said Anthony.
Unfortunately, Anthony’s story is far too common. According to Michael Foley, Executive Director for the Children’s Trust Fund, in 2014 there were 80,000 child abuse and neglect investigations with 21,000 confirmed cases representing over 30,000 youths.
According to Foley, child abuse must first be acknowledged and people need to be aware that abuse and neglect does go on. The rally helps to educate people with child abuse and its surrounding issues said Foley. It informs the public of the statistics and numbers of abused children, investigations, and confirmed cases.
There is help available said Foley. The Children’s Trust Fund, established in 1982 by pediatrician Dr. Ray Helfer from Lansing MI, helps to allocate funds to prevent child abuse and neglect, as well as, deal with the consequences.
According to Foley, while practicing Dr. Helfer and would see adolescents going to court to testify, because they had been abused or neglected, and then in a few short years some were back at the hospital giving birth.
“It was a feeling that a young woman might have risk factors in her circumstances and so that in order to truly prevent ongoing child abuse and neglect… we’ve got to have resources in the state of Michigan that allows us to do that true front end work,” said Foley.
Wanting to help, Dr. Helfer pushed the state legislature to create a trust fund said Foley. The legislature established a board of directors, created the mission and purpose, and also created a trust fund which was a way to get money for resources.
Since 1982, the fund has grown mainly from citizens checking a box on their tax refund that makes a contribution at tax time. For those who opt not to give at tax time, there is a signature auction event that takes place every year called the Pam Posthumus Auction. This year the event was held on May 13, 2015. According to Foley hundreds came together to support the event.
“It’s a fun evening for people to come and get into the spirit of the auction and see what they can win and support the work of the Children’s Trust Fund,” said Foley.
Donors can also go to the Children’s Trust Fund website and make a contribution. License plates can also be purchased through the Michigan Secretary of State. The licenses provide ongoing resources said Foley. The cost of the plate is $25 and a yearly fee of $10 when plates are renewed.
Foley said that the trust fund operates on grants. According to Foley, the grants put in place mechanisms to identify families that have risk factors. The grants provide services including home visitation and respite care. There are also programs geared at families that have an incarcerated parent to name a few.
There is also a local council said Foley. Currently there are 73 local councils throughout the state of Michigan. The councils do the front end work such as community education. Through the resources they provide regarding infant safe sleep, interested parties can learn about how to put a baby to sleep safely, tips for keeping yourself and the baby calm and crib safety. In the state of Michigan a baby dies every three days from 100% preventable accidents. They have much more information available to assist with their prevention efforts.
Foley warns risk factors are not an indicator of abuse, but they do put some people at risk and compromise their ability to be the best parent they can be.
“If somebody has a risk or a challenge in their circumstances that doesn’t mean they are going to abuse or neglect their children,” said Foley. “But somebody who has been raised in a situation where there’s been domestic or physical violence or if they have been abused or neglected themselves issues may arise. Often times there are issues that come with stresses and not so much abuse, but neglect issues are connected to that.”
“What our approach is, and I think what everybody’s approach is, that we recognize that everybody can benefit from what we call protective factors. To know about good parenting, to be able to be connected in the community and to address the concrete support issues that somebody has can add to or create a support system ,” said Foley.
Foley said there are many consequences to child abuse. In addition to the physical affects, there are cognitive affects as well. In the worst case scenario, the victim suffers from toxic stress. Toxic stress compromises youths in a variety of ways. It affects cognitive development and the ability to connect with people.
“We hear soldiers coming back from the war that suffer from post-traumatic stress issues, children who have been severely abused can have the same kind of phenomenon,” said Foley.
There are ways to help prevent child abuse. One way to do this is to connect with families early on and provide them with support. Identifying stress factors is another way, as well as, home visits Foley explains. He states this direct action approach is working.
“We’re not seeing huge monumental changes in the numbers of kids being abused or neglected, but we are seeing differences.”
Foley said there is a big difference between child abuse and discipline.
“A child needs guidance and parameters within which their behavior needs to develop. Good parenting provides that in a consistent way. When you start talking about abuse, those are the kinds of things when kids are slapped or hit in an ongoing way inappropriately and children are hurt. There are fundamental differences between guidance, discipline and abuse,” said Foley.
To find out more about child abuse and neglect prevention, visit the Children’s Trust Fund website at www.michigan.gov/ctf. If you suspect abuse or neglect of a child or adult in Michigan, call the abuse hotline at 855-444-3911.
This article was printed in the May 31, 2015 – June 13, 2015 edition.
