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 Shay Bilchik
President and CEO
Child Welfare League of America
Media Appearances and Interviews
As President and CEO of the nation's oldest and largest membership-based child welfare organization, Shay Bilchik has emerged as a leading national spokesperson for children's issues and a top advocate for America's children, youth, and families. Since joining CWLA in February 2000, Mr. Bilchik has delivered keynote addresses to national and state organizations, published or been quoted in major national newspapers and magazines, made numerous television appearances and radio addresses, and participated in forums on juvenile justice and child welfare issues--always carrying the League's underlying message that children must be made a top priority in our society. Additionally, Mr. Bilchik's years of experience focusing on children's issues from both a child protection and a public safety perspective, as a prosecutor in Miami and as a U.S. Department of Justice official, further his ability to provide a working knowledge of the most current research, policies, and programs affecting this field. His depth and breadth of knowledge, coupled with his enthusiasm and passion for children's issues, make him an ideal candidate to comment on current topics and news stories. Select examples of Mr. Bilchik's media appearances and interviews include:
Television Appearances:
MSNBC: Lester Holt Live
- June 30, 2004
Mr. Bilchik appeared on MSNBC's Lester Holt Live show concerning the release of convicted child abuser and killer Joel Steinberg from prison. Mr. Bilchik provided engaging commentary on the increased awareness brought by the death of Lisa Steinberg and the progress made by communities and professionals across systems in protecting children from abuse and neglect since the case arose in 1987.
FOX NEWS: The O'Reilly Factor
- May 15, 2003
Mr. Bilchik asked to comment on the failure of the New York State District Attorney Charles Hynes to prosecute Tarajee Davis, a Brooklyn mother who scalded her four-year-old daughter, Djonni, to death in a bathtub.
"What I do know is that we don't do a good enough job in investigating these types of crimes, of setting up our prosecution with enough training and the courtrooms in a way that can make this kind of case work. This is one isolated case, Bill, there are thousands of others like this...we're not doing a good enough job to protect our kids."
- February 12, 2003
Mr. Bilchik interviewed by Bill O'Reilly regarding the controversial decision of Fox News to pay Michael Jackson to air his video rebuttal to British journalist Martin Bashir's documentary. In the documentary, Jackson states plainly that he still allows children to sleep over at his California ranch.
"I wish Fox would spend that money on kids' programs instead...I think it's a sad day when we have to pay...a couple million dollars for (Jackson) to tell a side of a story that shouldn't be such a high-profile matter in America...This is the kind of narcissistic behavior that's too present in our society. It's about the adult and not about the needs of the child."
- January 28, 2003
Mr. Bilchik comments on a Utah child abandonment case where a three-year-old boy was abandoned in a department store.
"He shouldn't be in foster care...What we need right now for this little boy and for all the other children is a lot of leadership in this country."
- April 9, 2002
Mr. Bilchik and Dr. Walter Lambert (Medical Director of the University of Miami Child Protection Program) discuss the reality of child sexual abuse in America. Despite the growing awareness of child sexual abuse as a result of the Church sex abuse scandals, confirmed cases of abuse in the country over the last ten years are down about 30%.
"We as a country haven't taken ownership of this problem. We haven't acknowledged and then done the things we need to do nationally in terms of policy and day-to-day practice in our communities to better protect (our) children."
- July 17, 2000
Mr. Bilchik debates the necessity of the Violence Against Children Act with Bill O'Reilly and Kim Swartz (Director of the Amber Foundation for Missing Children).
"I don't know if we need a new federal act...What we need to do is make sure that the investigation of these cases is immediate, is multi-jurisdictional, local, state, and federal, to make sure we try to apprehend these offenders as soon as possible."
CNN News:
- July 16, 2004
Mr. Bilchik appeared on CNN Financial News: The Flip Side to discuss the release of the 2004 Federal Interagency Forum Report. Since 1997, the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics has published America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, a report that includes detailed information on a set of key indicators of child well-being. This year's report showed a strong gain in some areas for America's children but a decline in several important areas, including child obesity and poverty.
- October 29, 2003
Mr. Bilchik was interviewed about the South New Jersey case where four boys ranging in age from nine to 19 were allegedly being starved to death by their adoptive parents. Caseworkers had made 38 visits to their home over a two-year period.
- June 12, 2002
Mr. Bilchik provides insight into a case of a missing child in Florida for CNN Headline News.
- September 10, 2001
Mr. Bilchik and CNN's Natalie Allen discuss a new report on the sexual exploitation of children. According to the report, just 3% of abuse of children is from strangers. 47% of abuse is from family members.
"We are simply not doing a good enough job in this country taking care of our children."
- August 20, 2001
Mr. Bilchik discusses overnight visits of children with parents as inmates in regards to a Nebraska case.
CBS News:
- The Early Show, March 22, 2001
Mr. Bilchik takes a stance on the benefits of "Adoption Parties". The mission of the foster care system in this country is to get kids adopted, but the older children get, the harder it becomes to place them in permanent homes. Thus, states now sponsor adoption fairs and parties to give foster kids and potential parents a chance to meet in a more relaxed environment.
"You've got to remember where the children are. They're living a life in limbo. They're in foster care. They're desperate to have a family. That's a case if they're going to an individual one-to-one meeting with a prospective parent or a fair. I think the fairs are less stressful for the kids...they're in this kind of social environment, which...if done well, can be a really less stressful way of engaging."
ABC News:
- July 11-12, 2002
Mr. Bilchik is live on ABC 7, as well as WUSA-TV, WJZ-TV, WRC-TV, and WTTG-TV, to discuss the Archdiocese of Washington Child Abuse Panel. Mr. Bilchik was elected to serve as chair of the panel.
- April 27, 2001
Mr. Bilchik appears on ABC News 7 to talk about Children's Memorial Flag Day. Children's Memorial Flag day commemorates the thousands of children who are victims of violence each year in America.
NBC 4 Universal: The Viewpoint
- July 15, 2004
Mr. Bilchik, along with several youth from CWLA member agency the National Center for Children and Families appeared on The Viewpoint to discuss the results of the 2004 Uhlich Teen Report Card on Adults.
Talk Shows:
- John Walsh Show, July 29, 2003
Mr. Bilchik appears on the John Walsh Show to cover the topic Kids in Danger: Lost in the System. He tells viewers how they can help protect and save children who slip through the cracks while in care. He urges the American public to get involved. There are approximately 500,000 children in the foster care system, and every day children are falling through the safety net. Last year alone, 1,100 kids died as a result of abuse or neglect at the hands of adults entrusted to take care of them.
- Montel Williams Show, March 21, 2001
Mr. Bilchik discusses the latest school shooting at Santana High School during which fifteen-year-old Charles Williams opened fire at his high school in Santee, California, killing two students and wounding 13 others.
"We're paying attention to...these shootings. We're not paying attention to the other indicators in our kids' lives in this country...Kids are being victimized more than they're offending."
OTHER APPEARANCES:
- Interview regarding the release of a recent research study on the incidence of sexual harassment and abuse committed against children by school employees
Azteca TV, viewed in 43 US and 300 Mexican television markets, July 2004
- Interview with David Blechman for Bertha Abess Children's Center
PBS Station in Miami, FL, December 2001
- Press Conference to Release Child Welfare Workforce Survey
KUVN-TV, KFWD-TV Dallas, May 9, 2001
- Casey Journalism Center Conference on Child Welfare Legislation
C-SPAN, February 12, 2001
Print/Electronic News
- MSN.com, June 24, 2004
The 2004 Uhlich Teen Report Card on Adults, the subject of two press conferences held on June 22 in Chicago and Washington, DC, was featured on the MSN website. The survey is sponsored by the Uhlich Children's Advantage Network, with data analysis by CWLA's Research Division. MSN.com is the #2-ranked website in the world in terms of pages viewed.
- Web MD Medical News, June 22, 2004
Mr. Bilchik provided key remarks during a press conference to release the results of the 2004 Uhlich Teen Report Card. Todd Zwillich summed up many of the key findings of the report card in an article entitled, "Adults Get Low Grades on Drinking, Drugs Adolescents Say Parents Do Poorly in Preventing Smoking, Alcohol Use."
"Teens from across the country say that their parents often fail to lead by example when it comes to drug use and smoking and that they often fail to really listen to their kids."
- People, November 3, 2003
Mr. Bilchik discusses California's Family Foundations, the innovative lockup in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Fe Springs. Family Foundations is the first of its kind-a detention center where child-rearing is the centerpiece of the state's efforts to rehabilitate non-violent offenders serving short terms for drug and property crimes. Women raise their children behind bars. According to corrections department statistics, former inmates are roughly three times more likely to stay out of trouble than female ex-cons from other prisons.
"At the end, we've got a mother who has benefited from drug treatment and bonded with her child. That's very powerful."
- Associated Press, March 20, 2003
Mr. Bilchik comments on the decision of the Archdiocese of Washington to revise their 17-year-old child protection policy to prevent cases of abuse involving church officials and workers. Mr. Bilchik headed the review panel.
"The cardinal has allowed the board to expand the scope of the policy to protect more children."
- Newsday, March 10, 2003
Mr. Bilchik discusses the results of the newly-released CWLA study that showed that the number of confirmed child abuse and neglect cases in New York State increased by 16% from 1999-2000.
"There is a crisis in how our nation is responding to children who are abused, neglected, exposed to violence, drugs and alcohol."
- The Star-Ledger, Newark, New Jersey, March 5, 2003
Mr. Bilchik comments on a NJ Advisory Panel recommendation to cut DYFS workers' caseloads. The panel was assembled after seven-year-old Faheem Williams was found dead in a plastic storage bin a day after his twin and half-brother were found starved and abused. The boys' caseworker and her supervisor-both juggling larger-than-average caseloads-closed the Williams family file without investigating an abuse complaint.
"In this time of fiscal crises, the federal government must step forward to help states act in the best interests of our nation's future viability. We have the choice now to determine whether more children will die."
- The Orlando Sentinel, February 26, 2003
Mr. Bilchik shares his excitement about a $500,000 grant from Congress to fund an unprecedented study of missing foster children. The issue came to light when Florida officials admitted that five-year-old Rilya Wilson had vanished from her caregiver's Miami home. Her disappearance went unnoticed for 15 months because no caseworker had visited her.
"The League hopes to develop pilot projects nationwide to identify ways to reduce the number of missing foster children."
- The Washington Post, November 3, 2002
Mr. Bilchik outlines the social situation for children in need of adoption.
"Despite the record number of adoptees, more than 100,000 foster-care children are awaiting adoptive homes."
- The Portland Oregonian, August 11, 2002
Mr. Bilchik urges child welfare agencies to speak out about their successes following a Portland-based national conference of state public agency officials.
"It's one of the toughest lessons child welfare agencies have to learn, to market their successes. Otherwise, the first time there is a child death, everything you've done is forgotten."
- Associated Press, July 11, 2002
Mr. Bilchik, chair of the panel set up to help prevent child abuse by priests and other church employees, comments on the need to begin a national dialogue about child sexual abuse and child abuse in general. The panel's primary role will be to look at prevention, training, and education not only for members of the clergy but for parishioners who need to know more about the issue.
"This crisis within the church has to be viewed in the broader context of three million cases of abuse and neglect reported in this country per year."
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 12, 2002
In an article entitled "Children of Convicts Struggle with a Prison of Their Own", Mr. Bilchik informs the public about the devastating impact on children with incarcerated parents.
"By and large, children with parents in prison are an invisible population who tend to suffer in silence...They carry the heavy burden of grieving the loss of a parent while managing feelings of fear, anger, and embarrassment. And they are forced to negotiate these difficulties without the benefit of much social support."
- The Washington Post, October 7, 2001
Mr. Bilchik acknowledges CWLA's wrongful involvement in the Adoption Project, a 1950's/1960's effort to facilitate the adoption of Indian children into white homes for the purpose of "saving" these children from their own culture and language. In the summer of 2001, after a careful analysis of the history of the League's involvement with the Adoption Project, Mr. Bilchik made a public apology on the League's behalf.
"I don't want to be judgmental of the officials who were with (CWLA) at the time. At the same time, I've learned what happened to these kids. In many instances, they were deprived of their culture, their language, connections to their families, their tribe, and in many instances it caused such hurt and sorrow and deprived them of so much happiness in their lives."
- The Fort Worth Star Telegram, Dallas, May 9, 2001
Following a conference held in Dallas to release a CWLA/Alliance for Children joint survey on caseworker turnover, Mr. Bilchik commented that the nationwide extensive turnover among child welfare workers leads to sometimes-fatal mistakes by overworked staff members.
"When the child welfare system is as unstable as the homes the children come from, the children learn they can't count on anyone."
- The Chicago Tribune, May 7, 2001
Mr. Bilchik publicly acknowledges CWLA's former involvement in the Adoption Project.
"What we did may have been well-intentioned, but it was wrong, it was biased, it was hurtful. It is time to tell the truth-that our actions presupposed that Indian children would be better off with white families as opposed to staying in their own communities and tribes-and be reconciled."
- Time Magazine, March 19, 2001
Mr. Bilchik notes the mixed reaction to the sentencing of Lionel Tate, a 12-year-old boy who battered a six-year-old girl to death in South Florida, to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
"More states are looking at the impact of what they did (in scrambling to instate tough-on-juvenile crime bills). They're hearing from their judges, prosecutors, and child advocates that we're giving up on way too many kids."
- The Charleston Gazette, Charleston, West Virginia, September 13, 2000
Mr. Bilchik talks about the need for increased funding for child abuse and neglect preventative services.
"Congress should spend a couple billion dollars of its expected surplus on proven services that prevent child abuse and neglect, which will pay off in lower crime rates and welfare enrollment in a few years.
- The Miami Herald, July 4, 2000
The Miami Herald notes Shay's decision to accept the position of President and CEO for CWLA.
"Both my wife and the attorney general asked if I were drawing up a job, is this what I would be looking for, and I decided it was."
- The Journal-Star, Peoria, Illinois, April 30, 2000
In this op-ed, Mr. Bilchik urges readers to think beyond the hype surrounding the Elian Gonzales case and realize that Elian is not the only child who needs stability and love. Elian Gonzales was a young child who was tragically and suddenly removed from his adoptive family. The case made major news headlines for weeks.
"Too many children in this country have had their lives turned upside down because the adults they count on have not worked together to ensure that they have what all children need-the ability to spend time each and every day with a nurturing and loving parent."
Radio
- National Public Radio (NPR), Morning Edition Returns, June 23, 2004
Mr. Bilchik discussed the results of the 2004 Uhlich Teen Report Card on Adults. In this year's Uhlich Teen Report Card, adolescents give adults a C-minus grade on stopping teens from drinking, leaving home, and joining gangs.
- National Public Radio (NPR), The Connection, February 13, 2003
Mr. Bilchik was featured as a guest on NPR's The Connection, produced in Boston at WBUR and broadcast at 60 other stations nationwide. The Program focus was "Adoption and Safe Families Act: Five Years Later." The show began with a powerful interview of a "graduate" of the child welfare system-an "adult orphan" in her words. Mr. Bilchik provided commentary on ASFA and answered call-in questions.
- National Public Radio (NPR), Morning Edition, April 25, 2000
Mr. Bilchik responds to a budding national dialogue concerning police involvement in child abuse investigations. While he believes there is a role for police, the role should remain limited, as a bigger police role could result in more kids being unnecessarily taken away from their families.
"What we may be seeing, actually, is an overreaction, turning the system upside down reaction, when we really need to take a look at the current system, build a greater capacity in that system to do the job they're charged with doing."
Congressional Testimony
- Testimony before the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the House Committee on Ways on Means: Hearing on Welfare Reform Proposals, April 11, 2002
Mr. Bilchik testifies in behalf of more than 1,175 public and private nonprofit child-serving agencies nationwide on the reauthorization of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF) and reauthorization of the mandatory funding levels in the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF).
- Testimony before the Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary Committee: Subcommittee of the Senate and House Appropriations Committee (1995-1999)
Major Speeches
- Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court Conference, Cleveland, OH, June 2, 2003
Mr. Bilchik delivers a keynote address entitled A Framework for Integrated Services: Facing the Future, Learning from the Past. This is an important speech because it deals with concrete ways that communities can turn the Framework for Community Action's vision for children into a reality.
- Coming Together in Humility: Steps towards Healing, October 6, 2001
At a groundbreaking conference hosted by the First Nations Orphan Association entitled Generation after Generation: We Are Coming Home, Mr. Bilchik makes a formal apology for CWLA's former involvement in the Indian Adoption Project. Between 1958 and 1967, CWLA cooperated with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, under a federal contract, to facilitate an experiment in which 395 Indian children were removed from their tribes and cultures for adoption by non-Indian families.
"We want to walk with you, to honor your stories, to be active in making things right, and to rejoice in your success. We acknowledge the enduring impact of the past on all of your lives, and we are committed to taking a new path, one of respect and humility. In this way we seek to be reconciled, so that the human family might be a little stronger, a little more carefully connected. For we know that unless we can work together to protect and nurture all of America's children, we as a country will never be fully successful...let this be the beginning of a new era for us all."
- Youth Runaway Speech (Operation Runaway Conference, University of Maryland, June 6, 2001
Mr. Bilchik delivers the keynote address at the Operation Runaway Conference, which celebrated the tenth anniversary of Operation Runaway. Operation Runaway is a unique public/private partnership with one of the country's largest suburban police departments.
"Kids who run away are like other kids, with gifts, talents, and contributions that society needs."
- CWLA National Conference 2001: Creating Connected Communities, March 6, 2001
In his opening remarks at CWLA's National Conference 2001, Mr. Bilchik talks about the national, international, intergenerational, interpersonal, and political connections that can help Americans deliver on promises to all children. The conference also marks one of the first time that Mr. Bilchik formally speaks about CWLA's 10-year Strategic Plan and National Framework for Community Action.
"Because children ask the world of us; because they make us want to do our best, and be our best; because they require and deserve our best, we have to do better. Because our children are our children are our best reason to get out of bed every morning, we have to join together in our communities and in our national organizations. We have to bridge regional and professional differences, ethnicities, nations, and generations to create a global community that puts children and families first."
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