Diane V. Grendell: Time to protect our children

Diane V. Grendell: Time to protect our children
Published: Sunday, April 04, 2010

By Diane V. Grendell



"The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children." Dietrich Bonhoeffer

As a child psychiatric nurse and a judge on Ohio's 11th District Court of Appeals, child maltreatment has been a considerable concern of mine for the past 20 years. I am frequently faced with outrageous and unfathomable cases related to child abuse and neglect. As I researched child abuse and neglect data, I was both shocked and appalled at this country's horrific statistics. I was dismayed that a civilized nation would have such extraordinary child maltreatment rates. This data needs to be publicized to convey the serious problem of child maltreatment in the United States, as well as child abuse and neglect around the world.

Child Abuse and Neglect in the United States

Each week, child protective services agencies throughout the United States receive more than 50,000 reports of suspected child abuse or neglect; a report of child abuse is filed every 10 seconds. Every state has mandatory child abuse and neglect reporting laws that require certain professionals and institutions, including health care providers and facilities, teachers, social workers, police officers, and daycare providers, to report suspected maltreatment of a child. Approximately two thirds of the cases reported provide sufficient information to prompt an assessment or investigation. As a result of these investigations, on average, 2,500 children per day are found to be victims of abuse or neglect throughout the country. Statistics indicate that one third of abused and neglected children later abuse their own children, thus, continuing the cycle of abuse.

The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System is a federally sponsored effort that collects and analyzes annual data on child abuse and neglect. The data is submitted voluntarily by each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

According to Child Maltreatment 2007, the most recent report of data from the NCANDS, approximately 794,000 children were found to be victims of child abuse or neglect in 2007. Of this number, 59 percent suffered neglect, 10.8 percent were physically abused, 7.6 percent were sexually abused, 4.2 percent were emotionally or psychologically maltreated, and 1.2 percent were medically neglected. Moreover, nearly 15 percent of victims experienced other types of maltreatment such as abandonment, threats of harm to the child and congenital drug addiction.

Furthermore, 3.2 million referrals, involving approximately 5.8 million children, were made to Child Protective Services agencies in 2008. Nearly three quarters of the children had no history of prior victimization. Nearly 62 percent of those allegations reached the report stage and either were investigated or received an alternative response. Approximately 25.2 percent of the investigations that reached the report stage determined that at least one child was a victim of child abuse or neglect.

Of the victims reported, nearly 80 percent were abused by a parent, acting alone or with another person. Statistics show 38.7 percent of child victims were maltreated by their mothers acting alone. Victims abused by a non-parent, such as an unmarried partner of a parent, legal guardian or foster parent, accounted for nearly 10 percent of the total.

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University estimates that substance abuse is a factor in at least 70 percent of all reported cases of child maltreatment. A comprehensive national survey of child maltreatment found that 14 percent of children in the United States experience some form of maltreatment during their childhood.

The fatalities

There were an estimated 1,760 child fatalities in the United States last year; at least four children died from abuse or neglect per day. Research indicates very young children (ages 3 and under) are the most frequent victims of child fatalities; children younger than 1 year of age accounted for 44.2 percent of the fatalities. Fatal child abuse may involve repeated abuse over a period of time or a single, impulsive incident. In cases of fatal neglect, the child's death results not from anything the caregiver does, but from a caregiver's failure to act. The neglect may be chronic (such as extended malnourishment) or acute (such as an infant who drowns after being left unsupervised in the bathtub). In 2008, nearly 35 percent of child maltreatment fatalities were associated with neglect alone. Physical abuse alone was cited in more than a quarter of the reported fatalities. Furthermore, more than 35 percent of fatalities were the result of multiple maltreatment types.

The response to the problem of child abuse and neglect fatalities is often hindered by inconsistencies, including: underreporting of the number of children who die each year as a result of abuse and neglect; lack of consistent standards for child autopsies or death investigations; the varying roles of child protective services agencies in different jurisdictions; uncoordinated, non-multidisciplinary investigations; and medical examiners or elected coroners who do not have specific child abuse and neglect training.

Consequences

There are obvious physical consequences of abuse and neglect, such as changes in the development of the brain, injuries, bruises and fractures. A child can also suffer consequences such as social and behavioral problems; cognitive dysfunction; high risk behavior; and emotional health problems. Of young adults that had been abused as children, at the age of 21, 80 percent met the diagnostic criteria for at least one psychiatric disorder, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders and post traumatic stress disorder. Abused children are 25 percent more likely to experience teen pregnancy. Additionally, abused school-age children consistently perform lower on standardized tests of reading and math skills, are 2.5 times more likely to repeat at least one grade, and two times more likely to require special educational services.

There is a definite link between child abuse and neglect and future criminal behavior. Children who experience child abuse and neglect are 59 percent more likely to be arrested as a juvenile, 28 percent more likely to be arrested as an adult, and 30 percent more likely to commit violent crime. Statistics indicate about 14.4 percent of all men in prison in the United States were abused as children, and 36.7 percent of all women in prison were abused as children.

Moreover, there is a connection between childhood abuse and neglect and substance abuse. Children who have been sexually abused are 2.5 times more likely to develop alcohol abuse and nearly four times more likely to develop drug addictions. In addition, nearly two-thirds of the people in treatment for drug abuse reported being abused as children.

There are also costs to society associated with neglected and abused children. These costs are related to the immediate needs of children, as well as the indirect costs, such as the costs connected with the long-term and/or secondary effects of the abuse and neglect.

Based on a study conducted in 2007, the estimated annual cost of child abuse and neglect in the United States was $103.8 billion for 2007. The study concluded that the direct costs amounted from hospitalization, mental health care, child welfare services, and law enforcement costs. The study assumed that 50 percent of the seriously injured children needed hospitalization and 25-50 percent needed some form of mental health.

The study further concluded that 22 percent of maltreated children have learning disorders and required special education, which costs nearly $6,000 per pupil. Also, the cost of caring for a juvenile offender in a residential facility must also be factored in, since it is estimated that 27 percent of abused or neglected children become delinquents. In addition, the costs associated from the adult criminal justice system must be accounted for as well.

Finally, the study indicated abused and neglected children would cause a loss in productivity to society, which must be allotted for when estimating the cost of child abuse and neglect. The study recognized that although the economic costs are substantial, it is essential to recognize that it is impossible to calculate the impact of the pain, suffering, and reduced quality of life that victims of abuse and neglect experience. The study suggested that intangible losses may represent the largest cost component of violence against children.

Another study concluded that the United States annually spends an estimated $258 million on foster care, incarceration, and other societal costs because of the abuse and neglect of children, which amounts to $1,460 per family, per year.

Ohio children

Last year, there were more than 100,000 reported cases of child abuse or neglect in Ohio. Nearly half of the reported cases confirmed the child was a victim of abuse or neglect.

From 2002 through 2007, one study reports that of the 234 children who died due to abuse or neglect in Ohio, one third of the children died after Children Services became involved in their case. A study through the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported a larger number of child abuse and neglect deaths. ODJFS reported 358 such deaths from 2002 to 2006, and Children Services offices were involved in 92 of those children (26 percent). The percentage is more than two times the national average of 12 percent.

Examination of several cases, where a child died as the result of abuse or neglect, showed that the caseworkers failed to assess the safety of the children, did not check the background of adults in abusive homes and/or improperly closed cases when children were still at risk. A horrific example of the failure of the system is the case of 20-month-old Charmarla Drake. The child spent the first 18 months of her life in foster care and was later returned to her teenage mother, Sharnese Brock, who subsequently beat the child to death. Brock said she repeatedly asked to return the baby to child services prior to her death, reasoning that she could not cope. However, in reports, child services officials stated that Brock wanted the baby and was working on her parenting skills.

Another shocking example is the case of Jaquelyn Mae Cooper. Had child services officials checked the background of the caregiver, Daniel Duffield, before he beat Jacquelyn to death, they would have discovered he had previously served two years in prison for abusing another child.

There are also instances of foster-care placement agencies licensed by the state that have failed to screen or run background checks on foster parents. One of these failures resulted in the death of a 3-year-old Cincinnati boy after he was bound and stuffed in a closet.

Connre Dixon's death is another illustration of the fatal results from the failure to check the background of the caretaker. The 11-year-old from Huron County was placed with a foster family, even though child services officials knew of child abuse allegations against the foster father, Paul Efaw. After an argument with the child, Efaw stabbed her in the chest several times with a hunting knife. He served three years for voluntary manslaughter. A jury awarded the girl's estate $600,000 in damages after a wrongful death lawsuit against the county child services agency.

County agencies received more than 70,000 reports of child abuse and neglect last year. About 4 percent of the complaints led to the removal of children from abusive homes and placement in foster care. Ohio law exempts the identities of foster parents from open-records laws; sadly, as a result, Ohioans cannot independently check on the suitability of foster parents.

International problem

In 2006, the United Nations released the first U.N. Secretary General's Study on Violence Against Children, which confirms that such violence exists in every country of the world, cutting across culture, class, education, income and ethnic origin. In certain regions, violence against children is socially approved, and is frequently legal and state-authorized; it is sometimes accepted as "tradition" or disguised as "discipline."

The study revealed that growing income inequality, globalization, migration, urbanization, health threats, in particular the HIV/AIDS pandemic, technological advances and armed conflict, affected how children were treated.

The study painted a detailed picture of the nature, extent and causes of violence against children and proposed recommendations on how to prevent and respond to it. The study recommended that all states develop a multifaceted and systematic framework to respond to violence against children. The study also suggested that a national strategy, policy or plan of action on violence against children with realistic and time-bound targets, coordinated by an agency with the capacity to involve multiple sectors in a broad-based implementation strategy, should be also formulated.

Improving safety

Many of Ohio's children services agencies, particularly in smaller, rural counties without local tax levies, are underfunded by the state. Increased funding would certainly improve child protective services agencies. Computerized tools may also be the key to improving case evaluation and the safety of abused children.

As of Dec. 18, 2008, all 88 Ohio counties are linked to the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System. This Web-based system will be used by all of Ohio's child welfare workers to determine eligibility, conduct case management, and administer adoption, foster care, and child protection services.

The project's mission is "to provide automated technology solutions to Ohio's state and local child welfare agencies that support service delivery and practice for the safety, permanency and well-being of children and families." The system gives caseworkers immediate access to information about the backgrounds of at-risk children and adults with whom they could be placed. Cuyahoga County was the last county to connect to the network that began with Muskingum County in August 2006. The system will connect all of Ohio's child welfare agencies with agencies in 26 other states that are already using the system. The SACWIS allows a caseworker to track a child across county lines and is accessible to more than 6,000 county caseworkers as they work to support and improve the safety, permanency and well-being of Ohio's children and families. In addition, the system, which supports cases from intake to closure, is accessible to workers anywhere Internet access is available and includes alerts and reminders which will help in day-to-day case management.

While the exact number of children affected is uncertain, child injuries and fatalities due to abuse and neglect remain a serious problem in the United States and around the world. Mahatma Gandhi once said "(a) nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." Although states like Ohio are improving in some areas with regard to achieving positive outcomes for children who come into contact with state child welfare systems, many challenges remain. As data from sources like NCANDS become more detailed and available, they can help professionals and others understand the problem of child maltreatment more completely. Unfortunately, data alone cannot solve the problem of child abuse and neglect.

Diane V. Grendell of Chester Township serves as a judge on Ohio's 11th District Court of Appeals.

Please comment on this article and let this Judge know how it really is!

http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2010/04/04/opinion/nh2303426.txt#blogcomments