a fight for justice

Not long ago I heard on the morning radio about a 4 year old panhandler (Gavin), a resident of the streets of San Francisco and the difficultly city officials are having in their outreach to help the boy and his family.
It's easy to make the presumption that this is NOT a safe environment for a four year old, or any child for that matter. However, the public might not be aware of the many "catch 22's" of our welfare system, that many social workers like myself, face on a daily basis (if they had a social work job!). Since Gavin shows no signs of abuse or neglect (appearing well-fed and healthy) it causes a dilemma for Child Protective Services to intervene in removing the child from his parents to temporary placement. There's speculation that the parents are forcing Gavin to panhandle to obtain increased donations. Attempts have been made to offer services to this family like shelter, place Gavin in school or day care, living with other family, etc..., but they seem to refuse showing that this is how they choose to live.

I got to thinking about Gavin and social services wanting to get him into school. Perhaps it's wrong of me, or I'm just thinking more "outside the box," but I would feel sorry for the teacher. Can you imagine having a student who has been psychologically brainwashed into believing panhandling is appropriate and possibly a child trained to be aggressive or manipulative. Granted there might be times this is appropriate as a means of survival, if there was no alternative help available. However, in a scenario such as this, I would fear for the other parents with children in the same classroom. I would hope that before placing a panhandling child in school, that he/she receives psychotherapy!

To read further details about Gavin check out these articles below:

Dilemma: How to help a 4-year old panhandler

A better plan needed for 4-year old panhandler

Any creative or intelligent suggestions to help solve this dilemma?