Christy Lawton

In the last couple of weeks, our community has heard about the horrific allegations being made against an adoptive mother who is also a former foster parent. It is weeks like these that make me wonder why I've stayed working in child welfare so long.

April marks the annual recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month around the country. Sadly, Alaska is ranked third in the country as having the highest rates of child maltreatment per capita by the Federal Children's Bureau 2009 report.