The creation of a new child-abuse pediatrics subspecialty that has its roots in Tulsa is expected to improve treatment for abused children across the country.
Dr. Robert Block, chairman of the pediatrics department at the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa, led the effort to get the subspecialty recognized by the American Board of Pediatrics. In November, about 200 physicians will sit for the first board examination in the field. By January, the U.S. will see its first diplomates of child-abuse pediatrics. Eventually, Block said, he expects to see three-year fellowships in the field.
"There is a whole epidemic of child abuse and neglect," he said.
Last year, Block estimated the annual cost of child abuse and neglect in Oklahoma at more than $270 million, which includes foster care, hospitalization and mental- and chronic-health services for about 13,000 children. By making child-abuse pediatrics a medical subspecialty, more organized clinical research in the field will be conducted to support pediatricians and others who testify in court during child-abuse cases.
"We're hoping to bring a higher level of correct science in the judicial system," Block said.
Block is nationally renowned for his work to stop child abuse and neglect. He is chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics' committee on child abuse and neglect and is Oklahoma's chief child-abuse examiner. He serves on the state Child Death Review Board and the Board of Child Abuse Examination and founded the Tulsa Children's Justice Center, a multidisciplinary child-abuse evaluation center.
The program also is aimed at providing support to pediatricians and emergency room physicians who typically make the first contact with abused children, Block said.
He said the research will provide information to these front-line physicians that will help them more easily determine "what might look like abuse but may not be."
In the U.S., some 3.2 million reports of child abuse are made each year, typically involving nearly 6 million children, according to ChildHelp, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children who have been abused or neglected.
Children who are abused and neglected are nearly 60 percent more likely to be arrested as juveniles and about 30 percent more likely to be arrested as adults.
Thirty percent of them are more likely to commit a violent crime, the group reports.
More knowledge about child abuse can spur greater advocacy for the nation's children and justice for those who perpetrate crimes against them, Block said.
"We want this to translate into public policy to get the proper focus on prevention," he said. "These kids suffer lifelong health problems because of abuse and violence, believe me."
Child-abuse statistics
* Nearly five U.S. children die from child abuse each day. At least 75 percent are younger than 4.Source: ChildHelp
* An estimated 60 percent to 85 percent of child deaths resulting from maltreatment are not recorded as such on death certificates.
* A report of child abuse is made every 10 seconds.
* Some 90 percent of child sexual-abuse victims know the perpetrator; 68 percent are abused by family members.
* Child abuse occurs at every socioeconomic level, across ethnic and cultural lines, within all religions and at all levels of education.
* More than 30 percent of women in prison in the U.S. were abused as children.
* More than 60 percent of people in drug rehabilitation centers report having been abused or neglected as children.
* About 30 percent of abused and neglected children are predicted to abuse their own children.
* About 80 percent of 21-year-olds who were abused as children met criteria for at least one psychological disorder.
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