Increasing public awareness of the need to ensure the safety and welfare of children led to the passage of the first Federal child protection legislation in 1974. Although the original act has been amended many times over the years, the purpose remains intact. In the early 1980’s, Congress made a further commitment to identifying and implementing solutions to end child abuse. In 1982, members of Congress requested the President issue a proclamation calling upon government agencies and the public to observe June 6-12 as National Child Abuse Prevention Week. The following year, in 1983, April was proclaimed as National Child Abuse Prevention Month. As a result, child abuse and neglect awareness activities are promoted across the country during April of each year.
NATIONAL
“Over the past 10 years, more than 20,000 U.S. Children are believed to have been killed in their own homes by family members. That is nearly four times the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The child abuse and neglect death rate in the US is triple Canada’s and 11 times that of Italy. Millions of children are reported as abused and neglected every year.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15193530
The most recent figures from the 2014 Children’s Defense Fund’s Annual State of America’s Children report that 1,825 children are abused or neglected each day in the United States. National estimates of child deaths from abuse and neglect in the U.S. totaled 1,640 for 2012 (although this number is likely much higher due to varying definitions and underreporting by states.) This amounts to at least four child fatalities per day.
? Every hour, 77 cases of child abuse are reported.
? Each year, there are 679,100 child victims of abuse and neglect.
? It is estimated that between 50-60% of child fatalities due to abuse and neglect are not recorded as such on death certificates.
? 7639% of all child fatalities where younger than 3 years of age.
STATE
SC Department of Social Services reported that it completed 29,917 intakes of child abuse and neglect in FY14. Of that number, DSS reported that 15,384 cases were founded for abuse and/or neglect.
PEE DEE REGION
SC DSS has reported a total of 3,766 intakes with 775 cases founded for abuse and/or neglect. During that same time period, Durant Children’s Center has assisted a total of 353 child victims.
“Over the past 10 years, more than 20,000 U.S. Children are believed to have been killed in their own homes by family members. That is nearly four times the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The child abuse and neglect death rate in the US is triple Canada’s and 11 times that of Italy. Millions of children are reported as abused and neglected every year.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15193530
The most recent figures from the 2014 Children’s Defense Fund’s Annual State of America’s Children report that 1,825 children are abused or neglected each day in the United States. National estimates of child deaths from abuse and neglect in the U.S. totaled 1,640 for 2012 (although this number is likely much higher due to varying definitions and underreporting by states.) This amounts to at least four child fatalities per day.
? Every hour, 77 cases of child abuse are reported.
? Each year, there are 679,100 child victims of abuse and neglect.
? It is estimated that between 50-60% of child fatalities due to abuse and neglect are not recorded as such on death certificates.
? 7639% of all child fatalities where younger than 3 years of age.
STATE
SC Department of Social Services reported that it completed 29,917 intakes of child abuse and neglect in FY14. Of that number, DSS reported that 15,384 cases were founded for abuse and/or neglect.
PEE DEE REGION
SC DSS has reported a total of 3,766 intakes with 775 cases founded for abuse and/or neglect. During that same time period, Durant Children’s Center has assisted a total of 353 child victims.
ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES
The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study assesses the effects of child abuse and related adverse childhood experiences as a public health problem and the results clearly show “Why Prevention Matters.” The Study is an ongoing collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente. Begun in 1994, the Study was led by Dr. Robert Anda and included 17,337 adults who were enrolled in the Kaiser HMO in San Diego. Fully two-thirds of the study participants reported at least one ACE such as abuse or neglect, with most reporting more than one. By bringing understanding of the childhood origins of myriad health and social problems across the lifespan, this study shows that prevention of ACEs, such as abuse and neglect, can have enormous impact on the health of our society.
After the patients visited a primary care facility, they voluntarily filled out a standard medical questionnaire that included questions about their childhood. The questionnaire asked them about 10 types of childhood trauma: three types of abuse (sexual, physical, and emotional); two types of neglect (physical and emotional) and five types of family dysfunction (having a mother who was treated violently, a household member who was an alcoholic or drug user, who’s been imprisoned, or diagnosed with mental illness, or parents who were separated or divorced.
ACEs are common – 64% of the study participants had experienced one or more categories of adverse childhood experiences. More than 50 research papers have been published since 1998 and the results are startling. Overall, there is a strong link between adverse childhood experiences and adult onset of chronic illness – those with ACE scores of four or more had significantly higher rates of heart disease and diabetes than those with ACE scores of zero.
? Chronic pulmonary lung disease increased 390%
? Hepatitis increased 240%
? Depression increased 460%
? Suicide increased 1,220%
People with six or more ACEs died nearly 20 years earlier on average that those without ACEs:
60.6 years vs 79.1 years
Child Maltreatment has long-term impacts – those who had experienced child maltreatment were more likely to engage in risky health-related behaviors during childhood and adolescence:
? Early initiation of smoking
? Sexual activity
? Illicit drug use
? Adolescent pregnancies
? Suicide attempts
Childhood trauma isn’t something you just get over as you grow up. Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris explains that the repeated stress of abuse, neglect and parents struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues has real, tangible effects on the development of the brain. This unfolds across a lifetime, to the point where those who’ve experienced high levels of trauma are at triple the risk for heart disease and lung cancer. When she was first presented with the data and the evidence, she expected there to be a movement to address the problem – pediatricians would screen for ACEs and form multidisciplinary teams to address child’s trauma and intervene so as to protect their long-term health. But she was wrong. Childhood trauma isn’t something to just get over as you grow up. The impact of childhood trauma goes with us – the higher your ACEs score, the worse your adult health. She pointed out that 70% of the original participants in the study were college-educated Caucasian patients. So the problem is not about “those people over there” – it is our problem. Dr. Robert Block, former president of the American Academy of Pediatrics said that unaddressed ACEs are the single greatest public health threat facing our nation today. “This is treatable. This is beatable,” said Burke Harris. “The single most important thing we need is the courage to look this problem in the face and say ‘we’ means all of us. We are the movement.”
The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study assesses the effects of child abuse and related adverse childhood experiences as a public health problem and the results clearly show “Why Prevention Matters.” The Study is an ongoing collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente. Begun in 1994, the Study was led by Dr. Robert Anda and included 17,337 adults who were enrolled in the Kaiser HMO in San Diego. Fully two-thirds of the study participants reported at least one ACE such as abuse or neglect, with most reporting more than one. By bringing understanding of the childhood origins of myriad health and social problems across the lifespan, this study shows that prevention of ACEs, such as abuse and neglect, can have enormous impact on the health of our society.
After the patients visited a primary care facility, they voluntarily filled out a standard medical questionnaire that included questions about their childhood. The questionnaire asked them about 10 types of childhood trauma: three types of abuse (sexual, physical, and emotional); two types of neglect (physical and emotional) and five types of family dysfunction (having a mother who was treated violently, a household member who was an alcoholic or drug user, who’s been imprisoned, or diagnosed with mental illness, or parents who were separated or divorced.
ACEs are common – 64% of the study participants had experienced one or more categories of adverse childhood experiences. More than 50 research papers have been published since 1998 and the results are startling. Overall, there is a strong link between adverse childhood experiences and adult onset of chronic illness – those with ACE scores of four or more had significantly higher rates of heart disease and diabetes than those with ACE scores of zero.
? Chronic pulmonary lung disease increased 390%
? Hepatitis increased 240%
? Depression increased 460%
? Suicide increased 1,220%
People with six or more ACEs died nearly 20 years earlier on average that those without ACEs:
60.6 years vs 79.1 years
Child Maltreatment has long-term impacts – those who had experienced child maltreatment were more likely to engage in risky health-related behaviors during childhood and adolescence:
? Early initiation of smoking
? Sexual activity
? Illicit drug use
? Adolescent pregnancies
? Suicide attempts
Childhood trauma isn’t something you just get over as you grow up. Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris explains that the repeated stress of abuse, neglect and parents struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues has real, tangible effects on the development of the brain. This unfolds across a lifetime, to the point where those who’ve experienced high levels of trauma are at triple the risk for heart disease and lung cancer. When she was first presented with the data and the evidence, she expected there to be a movement to address the problem – pediatricians would screen for ACEs and form multidisciplinary teams to address child’s trauma and intervene so as to protect their long-term health. But she was wrong. Childhood trauma isn’t something to just get over as you grow up. The impact of childhood trauma goes with us – the higher your ACEs score, the worse your adult health. She pointed out that 70% of the original participants in the study were college-educated Caucasian patients. So the problem is not about “those people over there” – it is our problem. Dr. Robert Block, former president of the American Academy of Pediatrics said that unaddressed ACEs are the single greatest public health threat facing our nation today. “This is treatable. This is beatable,” said Burke Harris. “The single most important thing we need is the courage to look this problem in the face and say ‘we’ means all of us. We are the movement.”