1 in 6 abused children still mistreated after Iowa DHS intervention

One in six abused children suffers some new neglect or abuse after intervention by Iowa’s Department of Human Services – a statistic that has worsened since the last time the federal government reviewed Iowa’s child-welfare system, a report released by the state Tuesday shows.

The report, the first prepared by Iowa’s Department of Human Services for federal regulators since 2003, shows Iowa continues to lag tough federal benchmarks in child safety and other key areas. But it also shows social workers are doing a better job in some areas, such as visiting children in foster care, in spite of a spike in new abuse reported last year and significant budget cuts.

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http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100623/NEWS10/6230358/-1/GETPUBLISHED03scripts/1-in-6-abused-children-still-mistreated-after-Iowa-DHS-intervention

MARK COLVIN: On the third anniversary of the Northern Territory Intervention, the Territory’s child protection system has admitted that it can’t deal with the growing number of children needing help.
The intervention was launched in the Northern Territory’s Indigenous communities to protect children from abuse.

A new Federal Government report card shows that since the intervention began reports of child abuse and neglect have more than doubled. It’s a rise that the Government puts down to an increased police presence in the bush and better relations between Aboriginal people and police.

But what happens to the children who are the victims of abuse and neglect?

Sara Everingham reports…

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http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2010/s2932943.htm

Drug abuse, soaring temperatures and a sagging economy are cited as factors in recent child abuse cases in the area.

In the past two weeks, there have been 23 children taken into state custody because of allegations of abuse or neglect in Bowie and Cass counties alone.

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http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/localnews/2010/06/20/heat-drugs-blamed-for-spike-in-child-abu-17.php

Cuyahoga County is not investigating thousands of reports of child abuse and neglect

CLEVELAND, Ohio —  Thousands of reports of child abuse and neglect are not being investigated by the Cuyahoga County child-welfare department now that the agency is screening out a substantial number of complaints to the 696-KIDS hot line.

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http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/06/cuyahoga_county_is_not_investi.html

LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC-TV) – Summer vacation is the time many kids look forward to, but it is also the time of year when child abuse cases in Louisiana rise, according to the state department of social services.

“We depend a whole lot on our school system when kids are in school,” said Sheri Hogg, with Prevent Child Abuse Louisiana. “”So, [summer vacation] could possibly have an impact on maybe neglectful supervision of kids.”

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http://www.kplctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12641500

CHILD abuse and neglect cases in Aboriginal communities uncovered as part of the radical Northern Territory intervention have more than doubled, from 106 in 2007 to 247 last year.

The new figures, released by Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin, also show that the 18 communities which have benefited from additional police account for 84 per cent of the increase in the number of child abuse and neglect reports made to police between 2007 and last year.

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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/northern-territory-intervention-sees-abuse-cases-double/story-e6frg6nf-1225878161011

Allegan County saw a spike in child abuse and neglect cases in 2009—an increase that is linked to the county’s increasing methamphetamine production.

Court administrator Michael Day presented the findings to Allegan County commissioners Thursday, May 20.

Day said the number of child abuse and neglect cases rose from 94 cases in 2008 to 179 cases in 2009, and that there was an approximately 300-percent increase since 2005.

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http://www.allegannews.com/articles/2010/06/03/local_news/1.txt

Child Abuse Underreported in Latin America

Among those who know about physical abuse, 3 in 10 say authorities notified

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Forty million children younger than 15 are victims of violence, abuse, and neglect in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a 2006 UNICEF report. Much of this violence takes place in the home, but Gallup surveys in the region show most adults who know of a child who was beaten or physically mistreated by a family member in the past month say this incident went unreported.

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http://www.gallup.com/poll/139376/Child-Abuse-Underreported-Latin-America.aspx

Why are child abuse statistics on the rise?  There are a myriad of reasons from more reporting, an increasing population, changing definitions to better recording systems.  But the fact remains that national child abuse statistics are rising and that is most disconcerting.

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http://www.childabusecharity.com/2007/September/ChildAbuseStatisticsWhyAreTheNumbersRising.htm

Children severely injured or sexually molested, the helpless victims of child abuse and neglect – the cases still haunt Alex Gardner, the Lane County district attorney. He calls child abuse the biggest local crime problem in Lane County (Eugene, OR).

“I’d say it’s right at the top of our list of concerns,” he said. “Children are our most precious resource and harm done to them early on is harm that tends to be reflected through their lives.”

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http://www.kval.com/news/94775019.html

With mounting cases of parents around the country committing horrendous acts of cruelty against their own children, there is grave concern among psychologists, the authorities, including police and administration officials, and the society, at large.
In the recent past, there have been chilling reports of parents hacking children to death, mothers burning their own offspring’s hands to punish them for theft and not long ago, the heart-rending story of a father who colluded with the perpetrators of the witchcraft fuelled albino killings in the Lake Region to have his own son slaughtered so he could earn some blood money.

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http://thecitizen.co.tz/sunday-citizen/40-sunday-citizen-news/2090-why-this-brutality-against-children.html

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – In 2009 there were 20,649 reports of child abuse, and 41% of those were confirmed cases of child abuse.

In Utah, 69% of abusers are parents.  Another 19% are another member of the child’s family.
The most common victims are young children, newborn to five years old.  They account for 42% of cases.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.abc4.com/content/about_4/links_numbers/story/Child-abuse-in-Utah/O07yKEwM0kGiY8_r_upXJg.cspx