Our children’s health and safety should be, and must be, a community’s number one priority no matter the circumstances. Sullivan County’s intense opioid use and other illegal substance related crime has created a reality in which 16-month-old Akasha Luvert lost her life as a result of this violence and negligence. 

Although there have been brief discussions following this tragic loss of life, including the formation of Family Assessment Response (FAR) Team within the Child Protective Services Department and talks by the Village of Monticello’s board on improving the community for our youth, Sullivan County still has children at-risk of being in close proximity to these illegal substances at any given point in time.

In the argument over which agency should lead the CPS in the county following this death – the County Attorney’s Office or the District Attorney’s – the work still needs to be done and at the highest level of security and skill.

We cannot let this conversation fall back into murmurs and whispers. What is going to happen with CPS? Who will best protect our children? This is not about pride or keeping up tradition, as we wade through dark and troubling, and most notably, unprecedented, waters. This is about the health and safety of our most vulnerable.

Whichever agency should hold authority of the CPS services in the county, we must hold them accountable for each life that goes affected by the criminal evil that haunts our Main Streets, our schools, and our homes. It is up to our elected and appointed government represenatives, who have the capabilities to protect and make rational decisions in a civil manner.

And it goes without saying that the loss of such an innocent soul is not on the hands of one department, agency, or authoritative figure, but on all of us as a community. 

A clear and concise accounting of what happened in Akasha Luvert’s case and how it slipped through the cracks needs to be made public.

 As does a clear and concise plan of action moving forward. God knows, it is vitally important to protect those who cannot protect themselves.