Wasted: The Plight of America's Unwanted Children

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Patrick T. Murphy is an attorney who has spent much of his career defending abused and neglected children in the Juvenile Courts of Chicago. As he says in his Foreward, "my story is a bleak one, and it does not have a happy ending."

Wasted tells stories that many CASA Volunteers will find familiar, stories of families ravaged by drugs, of children who do not get good enough care, of parents who love their children but do not have the skills nor the resources to care for them. Murphy says that “the hardest part of my job is coming to court in the morning and seeing kids the same age as my own two boys, with the same potential, but whom I know will end up in jail, drop out of school ... and ultimately become nonproductive broken men and women before they are my age." (pg.83) He describes the circumstances of what he calls the "Underclass." He also describes the policies, services, and programs that are in place to try to help. Many of his stories are shocking; some of his ideas and proposals are radical.

If you are interested in the provocative and well-informed opinions of a man who has worked for decades with "the system" trying to improve the lives of abused and neglected children, you should read this book.

—Libby Colman, Ph.D.