Re: “Our View: Reforming child protection just part of the answer” (Oct. 31):

Thank you for your recent editorial acknowledging that the shortcomings in Maine’s child welfare system aren’t simply the fault of overworked caseworkers and an underresourced agency. The welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. Parenting done well is the toughest job any of us will do, yet without support from family and a larger community, parents often struggle.

When extended families living together was the norm, there was built-in support for the day-to-day tasks of raising children. That’s no longer the norm, though, leaving many parents to deal with all that raising a child entails in isolation.

In the new book “What Happened to You?” Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D., writes, “When we look a little deeper into the timing of developmental risk, a powerful observation emerges. The basic finding is that the experiences of the first two months of life have a disproportionately important impact on your long-term health and development. This has to do with the remarkably rapid growth of the brain early in life … .”

At the very least, as a society we need to be sure every infant gets a good start in life.

Maybe we need a hotline for parents who are stretched to the limit, or a team of volunteers who can provide some respite for new parents who are exhausted and struggling to get through another day.

Children are our future. We must do better.

Mary Ann Larson
Cumberland

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