They obviously feel strongly about this, but I think he is wrong about the taking away kids part. CPS reviews cases with abuse and neglect, and anyone who has gone through mandated reporter training should know that the poverty is NOT a reason to report someone/is not held against parents.
I think you're misunderstanding what they mean.
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CPS isn't intervening because the people are "poor." They're intervening because a lack of running water is a cause for them to investigate and potentially find a home neglectful. Since the stress, forced poverty, and health issues caused by the price-gouging (Detroit experienced one of the largest spikes in hepatitis, among other issues), the homes without running water are often found to be unsafe for the children in question.
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And from the sounds of it CPS can find a lot of excuses to take a child away. This isn't even the first time or place this has happened - lawsuits were at one time being filed in Washington over something very similar.
As a result the parents were living in absolute terror this would happen to them. It got to the point parents were keeping their kids at home from school because they did not want their kids to let slip the water had been shut off. These same people were absolutely terrified to speak to reporters.
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Considering publicity is the last thing Detroit would want on the subject, I can only assume the assholes behind this were entirely too happy with that particular result
Ha, I think you misunderstood what I meant. Apparently communicating is not going that well today lol.
I totally get what you are saying - that it happened because they couldn't provide water, NOT just because they are poor. But that is actually what I am saying. When it says that you can't remove a child because of poverty, it means that you can't remove a child because the parents can't afford necessities. So refusing to give a child food and water = neglect = removal. But being too poor to provide food and water = poverty = help from other services.
At least this is how I've been trained and the experiences I've had. Perhaps it depends on the state?
Possibly that's the way it's supposed to go, but considering the abject terror these people are living with, I'd say the system is either being abused or misused. The impression I was left with was that these people don't seem to be able to get access to any of the aid necessary - assuming it's being provided at all
So, water bills in Detroit are around $350/month. 30,000 people got their water turned off in 2014. In 2017, the number was 24,000. In these rounds of shutoffs, diseases surge and people die. Nice move, Detroit.
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The ACLU sued them and lost, and filed again. The $25/month plan actually only defers the real payment until after the crisis, so they're expecting a record number of shutoffs when this is over, when people are presented with gigantic bills from all the reduced months.
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Here's the story I found:
michiganradio.*org/post/detroit-unveils-water-restart-plan-because-coronavirus-threat
Just because they turned all the water on does not mean that the price is fake. If McDonald's gave away free meals during the pandemic it would not mean all the food is supposed to be free. same thing with car companies giving extended loans during the pandemic. The problem is that every time rich people try to make a nice gesture you guys ostracize them and say it is not enough and wonder why they don't do it as often smh
Rich people: unnecessarily overcharge people to the point they live in terror their children will be taken from them
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Rich people: deny the problem exists (but if it DOES exist, it's the poor peoples' fault)
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Rich people: demonstrates the problem was entirely fabricated by offering a MUCH lower water price.....
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Rich people: ....And then tells people (who are all out of work atm most likely) that if they're foolish enough to take them up on this offer, they WILL have to make up for the lowered water rate later, despite the fact that access to clean water is one of the only ways to actually combat a pandemic that currently has shut down almost the entire world
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Why can't the poor just appreciate their efforts??
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Let them eat cake ffs
There's a difference between actual acts of good will from people better off than you, and your abuser throwing you a whipping stick disguised as a bone - all while it's actually for their own good anyway.
Nestle is the evil extreme, and while I do wish water wasn't as expensive as it is, it's not simple to make water "free" for all. Who cleans and filters it? Deliver it, construct and repair and maintain the system that delivers the water? Declaring a resource a human right doesn't magically erase the labor required to grant access to the resource declared a human right. Until the steps to do all this can be done without needing to be repeated to assure access to it, people will want money for resources.
Maybe the difference is that a person/company can't own ALL the water or ALL the access points, but people should still be paid for services for the things that @tarotnathers13th said.
Access to free running water isn't a human right, but access to CLEAN water - enough for hydration and basic hygiene - absolutely should be. And I honestly think running water is one of the few things that should be price regulated so people don't get gouged into non-existence. Iirc there have been several studies done on this that found Detroit to be drastically overcharging people by millions of dollars. And it doesnt sound like the government was doing much at all to help the people truly suffering
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Hell, if we're going with the bat soup theory, a lack of basic hygiene is a huge part of why the entire world is on lockdown right now. Even if people want to be completely selfish and only think of themselves, keeping the spread of disease and stress lower when possible benefits everyone
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CPS isn't intervening because the people are "poor." They're intervening because a lack of running water is a cause for them to investigate and potentially find a home neglectful. Since the stress, forced poverty, and health issues caused by the price-gouging (Detroit experienced one of the largest spikes in hepatitis, among other issues), the homes without running water are often found to be unsafe for the children in question.
.
And from the sounds of it CPS can find a lot of excuses to take a child away. This isn't even the first time or place this has happened - lawsuits were at one time being filed in Washington over something very similar.
.
Considering publicity is the last thing Detroit would want on the subject, I can only assume the assholes behind this were entirely too happy with that particular result
I totally get what you are saying - that it happened because they couldn't provide water, NOT just because they are poor. But that is actually what I am saying. When it says that you can't remove a child because of poverty, it means that you can't remove a child because the parents can't afford necessities. So refusing to give a child food and water = neglect = removal. But being too poor to provide food and water = poverty = help from other services.
At least this is how I've been trained and the experiences I've had. Perhaps it depends on the state?
,
The ACLU sued them and lost, and filed again. The $25/month plan actually only defers the real payment until after the crisis, so they're expecting a record number of shutoffs when this is over, when people are presented with gigantic bills from all the reduced months.
,
Here's the story I found:
michiganradio.*org/post/detroit-unveils-water-restart-plan-because-coronavirus-threat
.
Rich people: deny the problem exists (but if it DOES exist, it's the poor peoples' fault)
.
Rich people: demonstrates the problem was entirely fabricated by offering a MUCH lower water price.....
.
Rich people: ....And then tells people (who are all out of work atm most likely) that if they're foolish enough to take them up on this offer, they WILL have to make up for the lowered water rate later, despite the fact that access to clean water is one of the only ways to actually combat a pandemic that currently has shut down almost the entire world
.
.
Why can't the poor just appreciate their efforts??
.
Let them eat cake ffs
.
Hell, if we're going with the bat soup theory, a lack of basic hygiene is a huge part of why the entire world is on lockdown right now. Even if people want to be completely selfish and only think of themselves, keeping the spread of disease and stress lower when possible benefits everyone