Finally some good news for a change! According to a congressionally mandated study, child abuse has significantly declined since the early 1990s.

How much of a decline are we looking at? Physical, sexual and emotional abuse combined dropped 26 percent between 1993 and 2006, and when you look at sexual abuse alone, the drop was significant: 38%.

As Ellen Friedrichs, the author of the piece points out that the data for the study does not cover the our recent economic downturn.

Here’s a link to the complete study (pdf format).

Fourteen-year-old Nichelle McKinney couldn’t believe her eyes.

She and a friend had just stepped into the darkened Avalon Theatre in Southeast Portland on Feb. 14 when she saw a man in the back row touching a 6-year-old girl who was on his lap.

“I thought I was imagining things,” said McKinney. “That’s why I sat so close to him.”

McKinney and her friend, Shai’Onna Jackson-Justice, 14, took a seat in the row in front of the man, and McKinney kept turning back to see what was happening — even though Jackson-Justice told her to stop looking. She said it was none of their business.

But McKinney knew something was wrong. The man had the girl’s shirt pulled up and was rubbing her chest. Jackson-Justice texted her grandma. When they didn’t hear back, McKinney tapped the shoulder of a woman sitting in front of her.

Christine Bemrose and her daughter, Erin Nolan, 12, were watching “The Tale of Despereaux,” the adventures of a cartoon mouse, Feb. 14 in the Avalon Theatre when a girl behind them told her she saw a man molesting a young girl.That set into motion a call to 9-1-1, an arrest, an investigation and — this week — a 15-year prison sentence for the man, a child molester who police say could have gone undetected for years if not for McKinney’s persistence. Investigators also credit Christine Bemrose, the 34-year-old woman who happened to be sitting in front of McKinney, and Jackson-Justice for helping catch a predator.

Link to the complete story

24th ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON PREVENTION OF CHILD ABUSE

When: FEBRUARY 22-23, 2010

Where: SHERATON HOTEL, DALLAS, TX

“Make Prevention Your Priority”

presented by

PREVENT CHILD ABUSE TEXAS

A statewide Conference designed to offer quality training and information on topics and model programs of interest to leaders in child abuse prevention: social workers, counselors, educators, child care and youth workers, law enforcement personnel, medical & legal professionals, foster parents, child welfare board volunteers, elected officials, and other interested child advocates. Participants may attend their choice of a variety of workshops on child abuse and neglect prevention and educational programs or may select workshops for specialized training credits and professional development.
Featured Speakers

Bruce Perry, MD, Ph.D.

Dr. Perry is the Senior Fellow of the Child Trauma Academy, a not-for-profit organization which promotes innovations in service, research and education in child maltreatment and childhood trauma. Dr. Perry has been an active teacher, clinician and researcher in children’s mental health and the neurosciences holding a variety of academic positions. A focus of his work has been the development of innovative clinical and systemic programs and practices based upon emerging concepts regarding child development and neurodevelopment. These programs are in partnership with multiple sectors of the community and in context of public-private partnerships which help catalyze systemic change within the primary institutions that work with high-risk children such as child protective services, mental health, public education and juvenile justice.

Angelo Giardino, MD, PhD, MPH

Dr. Giardino is the medical director of Texas Children’s Health Plan, a clinical associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, and an attending physician for the Texas Children’s Hospital’s forensic pediatrics service at the Children’s Assessment Center in Houston, Texas. He graduated summa cum laude from Temple University and earned his MD and PhD at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Giardino completed his residency and fellowship training in pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Giardino co-authored ” Child Abuse, a Quick Reference for Healthcare, Social Service, and Law Enforcement Professionals”.

Sgt. Bill Davis (Ret.)

Bill Davis is a 36-year veteran of the Beaumont Police Department. During his tenure he spent twenty years with the Juvenile Division and the Sex Crimes Unit, specializing in child abuse in child abuse and sex crimes investigation. He has investigated over 7000 child abuse and sex crimes incidents. As a lecturer he has presented to over 170,000 people and published in state and national publications. Sgt Davis has been involved with preventing child abuse and the PCAT Conferences for over twenty years. He also authored the book ” So Innocent yet So Dead”.

For more information on the conference, please click here.

As always, please feel free to alert us about upcoming conferences

Here are some of the findings:

Child deaths attributed to abuse or neglect vary significantly by state.

Kentucky had the highest rate of death due to child abuse and neglect in 2007 – 41 deaths, or a rate of 4.09 per 100,000 children in the state. Other states topping the list include South Dakota (4.08), Florida (3.79), Nebraska (3.59) and Missouri (3.51). States with the lowest rate of child death from abuse or neglect in 2007 are Delaware Rhode Island, Idaho, Maine and Montana.

“About half of all children who die from abuse and neglect were previously brought to the attention of authorities – either by another family member, a teacher, physician, neighbor or someone else who cared about their safety and well-being,” said Teresa Huizar, executive director, National Children’s Alliance. “But case workers are routinely stretched too thin, and funding levels are too low. The result is often too little action that is taken too late, and kids die as a result.”

There is nearly a 13-fold difference in the amount that states spend per person to address abuse and neglect.

While there is no funding level or formula that guarantees a reduction in child deaths, states that invest in a strong social safety net for children – including health, social services, education, plus child protection – experience fewer child abuse/neglect deaths, on average. Experts suggest that this is because fewer families experience difficulties in the first place, and that if child abuse does occur, case workers can investigate more cases more thoroughly, thus protecting more children from potential harm.

The report finds that Rhode Island spends the most per capita – spending $181.34 per person to protect children. Other states that make significant investments in comparison with their counterparts include Pennsylvania ($137.89), Alaska ($129.02), Vermont ($126.31), and California ($121.16). The five states spending the lowest amount on child protection per person include South Carolina ($14.72), Mississippi ($28.82), Maine ($31.88), Nevada ($34.02) and Arkansas ($35.99).

“We need a bigger investment in case workers, whether it is number of staff or additional training,” said Rebecca Myers, L.S.W., director, external relations at the National Association of Social Workers. “Child protection workers are often the first line of defense in protecting children living in high-risk situations, but caseloads in some jurisdictions are as high as 60 or more, even though national standards recommend 12 or fewer cases per worker.”

Poverty is closely associated with child abuse and neglect.

Experts say stopping deaths due to child abuse and neglect requires addressing poverty, particularly during challenging economic times. While no level of household income or educational level makes a family immune to this issue, a child living in poverty is 22 times more likely to be abused than children living in families with an annual income of $30,000 or more.

Recent Census figures show that states with the highest levels of children living in poverty are Arizona (26%), New Mexico (26%), Kentucky (24%), Alabama (24%) and Mississippi (24%). States with the lowest levels of child poverty are New Hampshire (9%), Utah (9%), Alaska (10%), Vermont (10%), Maryland (10%) and Connecticut (10%).

The report comes as Congress works to reauthorize the Child Abuse and Treatment Act. Let’s hope they do the right thing and increase funding for this very important program.

From the office announment:

Washington, DC – Vice President Biden, the author of the landmark Violence Against Women Act, announced today the appointment of Lynn Rosenthal as the new White House Advisor on Violence Against Women. Ms. Rosenthal is one of the nation’s foremost experts in domestic violence policy, and has worked at the local, state and national levels to create an environment where violence against women is not ignored and perpetrators are held accountable. This is a newly created position at the White House, dedicated specifically to advising the President and Vice President on domestic violence and sexual assault issues.

“My proudest legislative achievement in the Senate was passing the Violence Against Women Act. We’ve made great strides since its passage – shining a light on an all too silent issue and reducing violence against women in significant numbers. But we have to do more,” said Vice President Biden. “That’s why we’re here today – to do more. It’s an honor to announce the first ever White House Advisor on Violence Against Women, Lynn Rosenthal. Lynn is passionate about these issues and knows them backwards and forwards. And as a former director of a shelter, she’s also seen the human face of this tragic problem. She will be a leader in this White House in stopping the violence and sexual assault of women and will be an integral part of this Administration.”

“Lynn Rosenthal has been a life-long advocate for women and she has been a real leader in developing effective policies to combat domestic violence,” said Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Engagement. “She will be a tremendous asset to the President, Vice President and the entire Administration as we continue the battle against domestic violence and sexual assault.”

Click here for complete text of the announcement

Violence and abuse leads to as much as a 250 percent increase in healthcare utilization in adults who’ve been victimized at some time in their lives, resulting in increased healthcare expenditures of up to $750 billion annually or 37.5 percent of all healthcare costs.

Link to the PDF Report

Introduced in Congress by Representative Barbara Lee (CA) and Senator Frank Lautenberg (NJ), The Responsible Education About Life Act authorizes federal funding for comprehensive, medically accurate sex education for teens.

In Wisconsin. there is proposed legislation that grants judges the discretion to order GPS monitoring on high-risk individuals who have protective orders placed against them.

Via Newsday: In New York State, a proposed bill gives survivors of child sexual abuse the ability to seek civil damages beyond the normal seven-year statute of limitations.

In the last three months we have twice as many severe inflicted injury cases as we did in the three months the previous year,” said Allison Scobie, program director of the Child Protection Team at Boston’s Children’s Hospital.

Typically, her hospital handles about 1,500 such cases a year. That rose to 1,800 last year.

“We’re finding that it is directly attributable to what is happening economically,” she said. “Many of the hospitals around here report an increase of 20 to 30 percent of requests for consultation regarding suspected child maltreatment.”