By Crystal Tatum, newtoncitizen.com, March 24, 2010
COVINGTON — April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and a local organization dedicated to that cause year-round is making an extra push to raise awareness.
Prevent Child Abuse Newton will place 932 pinwheels — representing each case of child abuse or neglect reported in 2009 — at several locations Wednesday, such as the downtown square, Newton Federal Bank, the Department of Family and Children Services and the Church at Covington. In addition, a giant pinwheel will be placed at each school in the county.
The pinwheels are meant to serve as a reminder that child abuse exists in the community. But the good news is the number of cases in Newton County is decreasing, said Prevent Child Abuse Director Sheena Berry. Reported cases of child abuse and neglect have been as high as 1,400; in 2008, the number had dropped to 1,179. This year, the number decreased by nearly 250, to 932.
“I definitely give credit to the community, to all the organizations that work with the families, and I’d like to put Prevent Child Abuse Newton in there,” Berry said. “We’ve worked with hundreds of families over the last five years, and I’d like to believe we’ve been a part of helping to educate and give parents other resources that have, in turn, helped to reduce some of those cases.”
To further those efforts, Prevent Child Abuse Newton is hosting a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. April 1 at Eastside High School with a focus on positive parenting.
Parents will be able to ask questions of a panel of eight experts in various fields, such as public safety members who will address gangs and other issues, counselors and prevent child abuse specialists.
“Any parent and all parents,” are invited to attend, Berry said, “whether you’re having problems, whether you’re a grandparent or educator or day care worker or anyone that comes in contact with children and you have questions about what to look for with child abuse and neglect and how to handle different discipline situations, or even how to work with difficult parents as a professional.”
The event is free. The doors will open at 6 p.m. for attendees to peruse information that will be provided by various local nonprofit organizations.
On April 17, Prevent Child Abuse Newton is holding a motorcycle ride and family festival. The motorcycle ride will begin at 10 a.m. at the old Wal-Mart on U.S. Highway 278 and will take an hour-long route through the county.
The cost is $20 per rider and $10 for passengers. Funds raised will help pay for Prevent Child Abuse Newton operation costs. To register, call Prevent Child Abuse Newton at 678-342-4004.
Afterward, a family festival will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The Church at Covington on Ga. Highway 142 in Oxford. The festival will include music, dramatic performances, food and games, as well as information booths from Prevent Child Abuse and other local organizations.
“Every year it gets a little bigger and a little more informative, I think,” Berry said. “We’re putting information out there that child abuse and neglect are everyone’s issues. Protecting our children is everyone’s issue, not just DFCS, Juvenile Court and the police department. We all have to play a part.”
For more information on Prevent Child Abuse Newton, visit www.pcanewton.org.
Reporter's Email Address: crystal.tatum@newtoncitizen.com
Friday, March 26, 2010
Prevent Child Abuse to hold events next month
Blue ribbon ceremony to raise awareness for child abuse
By Special to the E-E, Examiner-Enterprise.com, March 24, 2010
Child abuse prevention advocates at 11 a.m. Saturday in Earl Sears Park at Adams and Cherokee will dedicate a tree featuring 115 blue ribbons to symbolize the number of abused children in Washington County served by Ray of Hope Advocacy Center in 2009.
Sen. John Ford and State Reps. Steve Martin and Earl Sears will be in attendance in support of child abuse prevention and advocacy.
Mayor Ron Nikkel will declare a city proclamation on April 5 recognizing April as Child Abuse Prevention month for the city of Bartlesville
“Oklahoma has more than its share of child abuse and neglect cases,” said Rhonda Hudson, director of Ray of Hope Advocacy Center. “By educating our community, we hope to change those statistics.”
Child abuse crosses ethnic, socioeconomic and religious lines, according to Hudson.
“Child abuse statistics show 65 percent of children growing up in the United States and Puerto Rico have been victims of child abuse,” Hudson said. “Child abuse statistics state four children in the U.S. die every day as a result of child abuse. Three out of four were under the age of 4. Child abuse statistics also indicate a report of child abuse is made every 10 seconds.”
Hudson said that according to a recent Geography Matters: Child Well-Being in the States report, from the Every Child Matters Education Fund, Oklahoma ranks 48 on the list and its children are 6.7 times more likely to die from abuse and neglect. In comparison, Oklahoma’s children are 13 times more likely to die from child abuse or neglect than children in Maine, she said.
To help raise awareness of child abuse prevention and promote family togetherness, Ray of Hope Advocacy Center will host its annual “h’ART of a Child” event from noon to 4 p.m. on April 18, from at the Richard Kane YMCA in Bartlesville. The free event consists of a variety of age-appropriate art stations including shoebox art, self portraits, decorative bowls, origami hats and a yummy ice cream and cookie decoration station, Hudson said. In addition to the art stations, there will be a silent auction with handmade jewelry, paintings, family entertainment baskets and kids’ art baskets.
Hudson said Ray of Hope Advocacy Center’s mission is to minimize the trauma to child victims during the investigation and prosecution of cases, and to improve the system’s response to child abuse and neglect by uniting the efforts of public agencies and enlisting community support. For more information, visit www.rayofhopeac.org.
To comment on this story, go to www.examiner-enterprise.com.
CAC gears up for child abuse prevention
By Jaine Treadwell, Troy Messenger, March 23, 2010
The Pike Regional Child Advocacy Center opened in May 2005. On Monday, March 22, 2010, the CAC opened its 933rd alleged child abuse case.
That number alone is staggering but it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Mona Watson, CAC director, said there is no way to know how many incidents of child abuse are never reported or never acknowledged.
“But the numbers are being greatly reduced because the word is out that child abusers are not getting away with it,” Watson said. “Children are learning that it’s all right to tell and they are telling. And, adults are not getting away with abusing children. They are being punished.”
The Pike Regional CAC has programs in place to make children aware of child abuse.
“We go into the schools with our ‘Good Touch Bad Touch’ program for the second, fifth and seventh grades,” Watson said. “We also have a program for ‘at risk’ students who display social or emotional problems or need some form of anger management. We have a program for young parents designed to help them be good parents. These programs help head off problems before they start.”
Watson said the key to stopping child abuse before it happens is awareness.
“By bringing awareness to child abuse, we can prevent it,” she said. “And that’s what we are working so hard to do. Right now, we are gearing up for Child Abuse Prevention Month. April is considered child abuse prevention month and, all across the United States, people are joining hands against child abuse.”
Raising awareness also means raising funds because the Pike Regional CAC receives no funding for prevention.
“The Pike Regional CAC is a non-profit organization,” Watson said. “There are some funds available for intervention but non for prevention. So fundraising is huge.”
Child Abuse Prevention Month is a prime time for awareness activities and fundraisers.
April 5 has been designated Proclamation Day. The mayors of the four county municipalities will join together in encouraging the Pike County community to participate in activities that raise awareness about the horrible problems associated with the abuse of children.
The Pike Regional CAC has several fundraisers planned for the month. The blue ribbons that are being displayed at area businesses and private homes are visible signs of the community’s support of Child Abuse Prevention Month.
“We have a few blue ribbons still available for a donation of $10,” Watson said. “We also have available our ‘It Should Not Hurt to be a Child’ yellow tee shirts with the blue PRCAC logo. The tee shirts are also $10 each.”
The ribbons and tee shirts may be purchased by calling the Pike Regional CAC at 670-0487.
“This year, we are also having a Boston butt/rib sale and the response so far has been really good,” Watson said. “The Boston butts are $20 each and a smoked rack of ribs is $15. Both must be preordered by April 1 for pickup on April 8 and 9.”
The school children of Pike County have an opportunity to participate in the fundraising efforts of the CAC.
“We place coin collection canisters in the Pike County and Troy City schools and the classes that donate the most money are treated with a pizza party,” Watson said. “We also have a poster contest for the school children and the winners receive a basket of goodies. All of this is geared toward raising awareness about child abuse and preventing it before it happens. With all of us working together, we can stop child abuse because it really shouldn’t hurt to be a child.”
For more information or to have someone speak to a club or organization about the Pike Regional CAC, contact Mona Watson at 670-0487.
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Monday, November 30, 2009
Cries for help to DCF hot line go unheeded by design
Thousands of abuse reports to a DCF hot line go unheeded every month because of a new screening process intended to keep the strained system functioning.
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER, MiamiHerald.com, Nov. 28, 2009
Sept. 16, 2:02 p.m.: A Broward sheriff's deputy calls the Florida child-abuse hot line to report that a 4-year-old had been molested by a babysitter as the sitter's boyfriend videotaped the assault. A hot-line counselor declines to forward the report to an investigator.
Oct. 6, 10:15 a.m.: A school guidance counselor reports a mother who had repeatedly missed doctor's appointments for her daughter, whose sickle-cell disease is so severe she is losing her hearing and needs a new liver. The report is rejected.
Nov. 16, time unknown: A father is attempting to break into his estranged wife's home. He says he will kill his children. That call, too, is not accepted for investigation.
These decisions, and thousands more, are the result of a little-known -- but potentially dangerous -- practice by the Department of Children & Families: Beginning last year, DCF dramatically increased the number of abuse calls considered unworthy of investigation.
In an effort to reduce workload -- and the system-wide stress that high case loads generate -- intake workers at the Tallahassee-based hot line have been screening out tens of thousands of calls.
Among the screened-out allegations: reports of kidnapping, rape, aggravated child abuse, medical neglect, malnutrition, kids roaming the streets unsupervised and domestic violence that threatens to harm the children.
Among the callers being turned away: school counselors, grandparents, circuit court judges, hospital social workers, day-care workers and juvenile-justice staffers.
The hot line rejected a call from one of the agency's own child-abuse investigators: On Oct. 15, a state child protective investigator filed a report on behalf of an infant whose babysitters' own 4-month-old suffered ``significant head injuries.''
Details of the screenings have come to light as part of a review of procedures by child-welfare managers in Broward County.
DCF administrators say the policy is a necessary triage that allows investigators to concentrate their energies on children who are most at risk.
Last year, DCF Secretary George Sheldon complained at a meeting of an avalanche of frivolous complaints, including a report from a teacher that a child came to school in mismatched sneakers and a report from another teacher about a boy whose underwear was on backward.
``I think this is still a work in progress,'' Sheldon told The Miami Herald last week. ``I think we've got to continue to refine our risk assesment, both at the hot line and in the field.''
``I think we have started this ship turning. But it ain't there yet.''
BEHIND THE SCENES
In Florida, hot-line counselors come from all walks of life. Before being allowed to answer calls -- which number about 190,000 each year -- counselors are given seven weeks of training followed by a two-week supervised ``practicum,'' said Edward Cotton, a child-welfare consultant who is helping the state revise the program.
Counselors screen calls based on detailed definitions of abuse, neglect and abandonment as spelled out in Florida statutes and a host of internal policies and procedures.
In the past year, records show, DCF has been accepting fewer child-abuse calls to the hot line for investigation.
In January 2009, DCF accepted 14,930 child-abuse reports, down from 17,999 the previous year. In February 2009, DCF accepted 14,724 reports, down from 18,427 in 2008. In September 2009, DCF accepted 14,553 reports, down from 17,709 the year before. And in October 2009, the agency generated 13,188 investigations, down from 17,345 in 2008.
Children are not the only Floridians who may be left in harm's way. The hot line is also screening reports about disabled adults and elders, including an Oct. 12 complaint that a disabled woman had been raped by another resident at a home for people with disabilities.
A source with knowledge of the new policies says DCF has revised internal guidelines on what constitutes abuse, including a new protocol to reject complaints about children who have suffered bruises or welts from beatings -- unless such beatings result in a trip to the doctor or hospital, or ``permanent disfigurement.''
And a December 2008 DCF report shows the agency is considering revising the definition of ``inadequate supervision'' so narrowly that, for example, the hot line would screen out calls where ``a parent allows [a] 3-year-old to play with a loaded gun while they are in the room supervising them.
``The hot line would only accept an intake if the 3-year-old shot themselves with the loaded gun the parent allowed them to play with,'' says the report, part of a review of several potential policy changes.
DCF's top child welfare administrator, Alan Abramowitz, said the state will not implement that particular protocol. ``It's not going to happen,'' Abramowitz said. ``I don't even think the NRA would agree with that.''
Mark Riordan, a DCF spokesman, said the agency's senior management had not yet reviewed the proposed revisions and that it is unlikely some of the new definitions will be approved.
Cotton, the consultant, who worked two decades in the Illinois child-protection system and was director of New Jersey's Department of Youth and Family Services, said Florida does not appear to screen out a higher percentage of calls than other states, though differing hot-line designs make comparisons difficult.
``There is really no national standard for what is screened and what is not,'' Cotton said.
As a safety value, Sheldon and Abramowitz said, the agency has asked its ``quality assurance'' team to randomly review thousands of screened-out calls to ensure proper decision-making.
Child advocates say stepped-up screening is a dangerous shortcut that will claim children's lives. And, in fact, it may already have.
In July, 1-year-old Bryce Barros was beaten to death after a Broward County domestic violence judge, Eileen O'Connor, sent three faxes to the hot line requesting an investigation into Bryce's safety in the wake of ongoing family violence by his parents.
``The court is deeply concerned about the welfare of the minor child,'' O'Connor wrote in the three faxes she titled ``court orders.''
O'Connor's appeals were ignored.
``Hot-line calls are cries for help on behalf of a child,'' said Howard Talenfeld, the Fort Lauderdale-based chairman of Florida's Children First, an advocacy group. ``Any call that is screened out is a cry that falls on deaf ears.''
This fall, the head of the Broward Sheriff's Office's child-protection unit teamed with a DCF administrator to study about three months' worth of reports that were rejected by the hot line but then referred to a prevention program in Broward administered by BSO.
About one in four of the screened calls result in such prevention referrals in Broward. In each case, parents are sent form letters suggesting they seek help. No one follows up with the families to determine whether the services were accepted.
A finding of the joint review: About 46 percent of the cases studied by the two administrators -- BSO's James Walker and DCF's Kimberly Welles -- ultimately were phoned back to the hot line by BSO investigators who concluded the children remained at risk, said Riordan, a DCF spokesman in Broward.
Statewide, Abramowitz said, about 6 percent of prevention referrals are phoned back to the hot line.
Among the screened calls: On Oct. 21, someone alleged that a woman and her five children were living in a car because her husband kicked her out and changed the locks.
Two of the kids were disabled: an autistic 3-year-old and a 6-year-old sibling who is developmentally disabled, failing to thrive, and required 24-hour nursing care to maintain a feeding tube. Local homeless shelters refused to help the family because they wouldn't accept disabled children.
But DCF turned her away, too.
``So, a child requiring a feeding tube, along with an autistic child, was forced out of the home by the father -- thereby . . . forcing his [children] with handicaps into the streets. Isn't that harm?'' Walker wrote in his review of the Broward prevention referrals.
The push to reduce the number of full-fledged investigations began in June 2008, well into the economic downturn. ``The Child Protective System is experiencing significant stress due to the high number of reports that [the agency has] been receiving since Oct. 2006,'' Sheldon wrote in a June 10, 2008 e-mail, when he was still assistant secretary.
From fall 2007 to fall 2008, the hot line was receiving about 1,320 more calls per month, Steve Holmes, a strategic planning director, wrote nine days later.
``The more reports a child protective investigator receives,'' he wrote, ``the less time he or she has to conduct a thorough investigation.
``Less time spent on investigations may place an increased risk to the safety of children,'' Holmes added. Adding to the strain: For budget year 2008, Florida lawmakers reduced funding to the four sheriff's departments, including Broward, that conduct abuse investigations under contract with DCF by $2.9 million, or almost 6 percent.
STRAIN ON SYSTEM
Sheldon said he had been told by so-called ``professional reporters'' -- educators, coaches, ministers, pediatricians and judges -- that a 1998 law setting penalties for failing to report suspected maltreatment left them little choice but to phone the hot line even with frivolous complaints.
From 2006 through 2008, reports from school professionals, for example, jumped 132 percent while reports from social workers increased 51 percent, a DCF report says.
``I don't believe it's abuse, but my sergeant told me I should report it,'' was a common refrain from frustrated police officers, Sheldon said.
At about the same time DCF administrators ramped up their screening of hot-line calls, they also expanded a program that allows caseworkers to offer an array of services -- such as subsidized child care, rent and utilities assistance, parenting classes, and domestic-violence intervention -- to struggling families that are not under investigation.
Abramowitz called the ``prevention referrals'' a safety net for parents whose troubles do not require a full investigation but who might benefit from a helping hand.
``We created a mechanism to review screened-out calls,'' Abramowitz said. ``It's a safeguard. . . . We want to make sure we have engaged families so that we make sure we help them.''
But some child-welfare experts question whether the prevention program can take the place of a quality investigation.
Consultant Norma Harris, who directs the Social Research Institute at the University of Utah and has reviewed Miami's foster-care system, said children remain at risk if caseworkers don't ensure that parents accept the services that are offered. Simply sending letters or brochures does not protect children, she said.
And Cheleene B. Schembera, a 27-year DCF child-welfare administrator and inspector general who now works as a consultant, said she has never approved of screening out hot-line calls, because even fairly innocuous allegations, once investigated, can uncover serious threats to children.
``That isn't child protection,'' Schembera said.
cmarbin@MiamiHerald.com
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Thursday, October 15, 2009
Group Says More Support For NC Families Is Needed In Light Of Homicide Numbers
witn.com, Oct. 7, 2009
The N.C. Child Fatality Prevention Team has released new numbers about child homicides. The Prevent Child Abuse organization says the numbers show the need for family support.
The N.C. Child Fatality Prevention Team has released new numbers about child homicides.
Statistics show in 2008, 33 North Carolina children died at the hand of a parent or caregiver.
The Prevent Child Abuse organization says the newly released numbers "illustrate the need for North Carolina communities to continue providing broad-based support for families through increasingly stressful times."
“We know from research that when families in our communities face greater stress – including our increasingly difficult economic times, military deployments, lack of access to mental and physical health services and fewer community supports – children are at a greater risk of being abused,” said Prevent Child Abuse CEO and President Rosemarie “Rosie” Allen. “Add these stressors to the everyday work of parenting, and children are likely to suffer.”
The abuse prevention organization says high levels of stress in the home affect both children and parents, and stress can change the way that parents interact with their children, making them more likely to lash out in frustration.
The organization reports "new scientific research shows that high levels of stress – called toxic stress – cause children to have lifelong physical and mental health problems. While some stress is good and helps a child grow and learn, toxic levels of stress damage the architecture of a child’s developing brain leading to problems like mental illness, obesity, social and behavioral problems. Toxic stress can be caused by abuse and neglect as well as by exposure to conditions like extreme economic hardship."
“Child abuse is absolutely preventable,” says Allen. “By making sure that our communities are equipped to support families – especially in hard times – we can save children from serious injury and from the lifelong scars of abuse.”
Friday, August 21, 2009
The National Library of Medicine's authoritative and current database of information on child abuse
MedlinePlus
A service of the U.S. Library Of Medicine & the National Institutes Of Health
Child abuse is doing something or failing to do something that results in harm to a child or puts a child at risk of harm. Child abuse can be physical, sexual or emotional. Neglect, or not providing for a child's needs, is also a form of abuse.
Most abused children suffer greater emotional than physical damage. An abused child may become depressed. He or she may withdraw, think of suicide or become violent. An older child may use drugs or alcohol, try to run away or abuse others.
Child abuse is a serious problem. If you suspect a child is being abused or neglected, call the police or your local child welfare agency.
Click here to go to the MedlinePlus website on Child Abuse & access their wealth of information
SC man charged with killing 5-month-old daughter
AP, newsday.com, Aug. 21, 2009
SENECA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man has been arrested in the death of his 5-month-old daughter earlier this week.
Multiple media outlets reported that 22-year-old Matthew Taylor Hinton of Seneca was arrested Thursday afternoon and charged with homicide by child abuse.
Oconee County Coroner Karl Addis says Brianna R. Bright of Seneca died Tuesday afternoon at a Greenville hospital from a head injury.
Emergency personnel were called when the girl was found unresponsive Sunday. She was treated at Oconee Medical Center and transferred to Greenville Memorial Hospital.
It was unclear if Hinton had a lawyer.
The maximum penalty for homicide by child abuse is life in prison.
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