Winchester mayor calls for support

To the editor:

Many employers, and now our schools, tell me about the lack of soft-skills the emergent workforce possesses.

At the local level, these conversations are happening and solutions are being worked through. Soft skills are learned behaviors mostly from the home, and the lack thereof is part of a cycle that will perpetuate if we don’t recognize it and work together to break it. 

I am writing to express my expectations that this year’s Indiana legislature put as much effort into funding and fixing the Department of Child Services that protects our vulnerable children, as they do toward our state’s business climate. They are in fact, intertwined and dependent upon one another. 

As mayor of the City of Winchester, I have seen the effects of drug abuse first-hand. I’ve consoled sobbing grandparents in my office when their own sons and daughters have been incarcerated or have been buried because of drugs, all while their children are now being raised by those grieving grandparents.

Before I was mayor, I was a teacher. I have met and formed relationships with children who I knew went home in the afternoons knowing the uncertainty of the evening ahead. As mayor, I am challenged daily to bring jobs to my community, but I know we must support those jobs currently here by investing in our workforce. And that means to educate, prevent and rehabilitate those who suffer from drug addiction for many reasons.

This is not an issue that will go away by just doing enough to keep the headlines that all is well in the Hoosier state. While I will be the first to applaud our state leaders on their actions so far toward the drug crisis we all face in this state, we must not rest until every child is safe. While our Hoosier state recognizes the need for workforce development, we must also think about and act upon the realization that dangerous generational cycles are forming that not only affect the individual and the family but also our economy.

Without immediate and proper funding for the Department of Child Services, and proper and decent funding to retain our state’s teachers (because our teachers do so much more than just teach science or physical education, many times it’s our teachers who have built the relationships with children), we — including the elected officials voting in Indianapolis — will own the devastating cycle of addiction and its horrific consequences on our children and beyond.

Fully fund the Department of Child Services and help those of us out here on the front lines in our communities who feel the pain of the children we teach, mentor, help plan futures for and care about as if they are our own.

Help us make sure the Indiana Legislature hears our concerns and together we can break the dangerous generational cycles of abuse, neglect, addiction, and a diminishing productive workforce. 

Sincerely,

Mayor Shon Byrum

Winchester