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Child Abuse Information |
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The Protective Factors |
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The Protective Factors
There are specific research-informed protective factors that help to prevent the occurrence of child neglect and abuse. In Minnesota, we are working to create community environments and public policies that promote these protective factors.
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Nurturing and attachment. Small acts of kindness, protection, and caring – a hug, a smile, or loving words – make a big difference to children.
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Knowledge of parenting and of child and youth development. Parents learn what to look for at each age and how to help their children reach their full potential within their own cultural identity.
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Parental resilience. Recognizing the signs of stress and enhancing problem-solving skills can help parents continue to have courage during and after a crisis.
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Social connections. Parents with family, friends, and neighbors to depend on have better support in times of need.
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Concrete supports for parents. Caregivers with access to financial, housing, and other concrete resources and services that help them meet their basic needs can better attend to their role as parents.
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Social and emotional competence of children. A child’s ability to interact positively with others and communicate his or her emotions effectively helps parents be more responsive to their needs.
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What is Child Abuse |
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Child abuse is any maltreatment of a child that results in harm or injury.
PHYSICAL abuse – an injury to a child that is not an accident; for example, hurting a child by hitting, burning, biting, or shaking.
SEXUAL abuse – any sexual contact with a child, including exhibitionism, photographs or films, or prostitution.
NEGLECT – failure to give the child food, clothing, medical care, shelter, or supervision.
EMOTIONAL abuse and neglect – an abusive parent may scare a child by threatening to leave him or her, or may be severely critical. A neglectful parent may not spend any time with the child or may never show the child any affection.
Call 1-800-CHILDREN for more information or referrals.
Good information (including a cost analysis of the effects of child abuse) is also available on the PCAA website by following this LINK. There is also good information at the Center for Disease Control website. Follow this link to visit their site.
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Know the Warning Signs of Child Abuse |
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Children who are abused may show physical and behavioral signs. Please pay attention to the treatment of children around you. You may be a child’s only lifeline to safety. Child abuse is everyone’s business.
GENERAL SIGNS are present in children who seem:
• Nervous around adults or afraid of certain adults
• Reluctant to go home (for example, coming to school early or staying late)
• Very passive and withdrawn – or aggressive and disruptive
• Tired a lot or complaining of nightmares or insomnia
• Fearful and anxious
• To show sudden changes in behavior or school performance
SOME SIGNS OF PHYSICAL ABUSE
• Unexplained burns, bruises, black eyes, and other injuries
• Apparent fear of a parent or caretaker
• Faded bruises or healing injuries after missing school SOME SIGNS OF
SEXUAL ABUSE
• Difficulty walking or sitting, or other indications of injury in the genital area
• Sexual knowledge or behavior beyond what is normal for age
• Running away from home
SOME SIGNS OF PHYSICAL NEGLECT
• Missing school a lot
• Begging/stealing money or food
• Lacking needed medical or dental care
• Being frequently dirty
• Using alcohol or other drugs
• Saying there is no one at home to take care of them
SOME SIGNS OF EMOTIONAL ABUSE AND NEGLECT
• Acting overly mature or immature for age
• Extreme changes in behavior
• Delays in physical or emotional development
• Attempted suicide
• Lack of emotional attachment to the parent Also, know the
SIGNS OF AN ABUSIVE ADULT
Consider the possibility of abuse if a parent or caretaker:
• Seems unconcerned about the child’s welfare at school or at home
• Denies problems at school or at home, or blames the child for them
• Sees the child as worthless or as a burden
• Avoids discussing the child’s injuries or gives conflicting explanations for them
• Seems isolated from other parents, and school and community activities
• Uses harsh physical discipline or asks other caretakers to use it
• Depends on the child for emotional support
• Abuses alcohol or other drugs
• Seems indifferent to the child
• Seems secretive or tries to isolate the children from other children
• Frequently blames, belittles, or insults the child These signs don’t prove that a child is being abused. But they could be a signal that the child and his or her family need help.
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Child Abuse Statistics |
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The Facts
There are statistics, and there are facts. The fact is that when all children don’t have an equal opportunity for healthy growth and development, we put our future at risk. Since the average age of children reported as neglected or abused is less than six years of age, we are focusing on innovative programs that either prevent or intervene early on. These programs help lay strong foundations for children’s growth and development, reducing the possibility of more serious (and expensive) problems later.
Minnesota Statistics
Minnesota children are abused and neglected each year.
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In 2010, Minnesota had 55,888 total referrals for child abuse and neglect. Of those, 6,229 reports were referred for investigation.
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In 2010, 4,668 children were victims of abuse or neglect in Minnesota, a rate of 3.7 per 1,000 children, representing a 5.9% decrease from 2009. Of these children, 72.2% were neglected, 20.4% were physically abused, and 18.5% were sexually abused.
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The number of child victims has decreased 38.8% in comparison to the number of victims in 2006.1
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Minnesota responds to lower risk, higher safety reports through alternative response services to address family issues. 11,574 reports were responded to in this way in 2010.
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In 2010, 14 children in Minnesota died as a result of abuse or neglect.
National Statistics on Child Abuse and Neglect
Who were the child victims?
All 52 States submitted data to NCANDS about the dispositions of children who received one or more CPS responses. For FFY 2011, more than 3.7 million (duplicate count) children were the subjects of at least one report. One fifth of these children were found to be victims with dispositions of substantiated (18.5%), indicated (1.0%), and alternative response victim (0.5%). The remaining four fifths of the children were found to be non-victims of maltreatment. The duplicate count of child victims tallies a child each time he or she was found to be a victim. The unique count of child victims counts a child only once regardless of the number of times he or she was found to be victim during the reporting year.
For FFY 2011, 51 States reported (unique count) 676,569 victims of child abuse and neglect. The unique victim rate was 9.1 victims per 1,000 children in the population. Using this rate, the national estimate of unique victims for FFY 2011 was 681,000. Comparing 2011 (unique count) victim data to 2010 data, 42 States reported a decreased number of victims. Other victim demographics include:
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Victims in the age group of birth to 1 year had the highest rate of victimization at 21.2 per 1,000 children of the same age group in the national population.
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Victimization was split between the sexes with boys accounting for 48.6 percent and girls accounting for 51.1 percent. Fewer than 1 percent of victims were of unknown sex.
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Eighty seven percent of (unique count) victims were comprised of three races or ethnicities— African American (21.5%), Hispanic (22.1%), and White (43.9%).
What were the most common types of maltreatment?
As in prior years, the greatest percentage of children suffered from neglect. A child may have suffered from multiple forms of maltreatment and was counted once for each maltreatment type. CPS investigations or assessments determined that for unique victims:
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more than 75 percent (78.5%) suffered neglect
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more than 15 percent (17.6%) suffered physical abuse
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less than 10 percent (9.1%) suffered sexual abuse
How many children died from abuse or neglect?
Child fatalities are the most tragic consequence of maltreatment. For FFY 2011, 51 States reported a total of 1,545 fatalities. Based on these data, a nationally estimated 1,570 children died from abuse and neglect. Analyses are performed on the number of child fatalities for whom case level data were obtained:
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The overall rate of child fatalities was 2.10 deaths per 100,000 children.
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Four fifths (81.6%) of all child fatalities were younger than 4 years old.
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Boys had a higher child fatality rate than girls at 2.47 boys per 100,000 boys in the population. Girls died of abuse and neglect at a rate of 1.77 per 100,000 girls in the population.
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Nearly 90 percent (86.5%) of child fatalities were comprised of African American (28.2%), Hispanic (17.8%), and White (40.5%) victims.
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Four fifths (78.3%) of child fatalities were caused by one or more parents.
Who abused and neglected children?
A perpetrator is the person who is responsible for the abuse or neglect of a child. Fifty States reported case level data about perpetrators using unique identifiers. In these States, the total duplicated count of perpetrators was 885,003 and the total unique count of perpetrators was 508,849. For 2011:
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Four fifths (84.6%) of unique perpetrators were between the ages of 20 and 49 years.
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More than one half (53.6%) of perpetrators were women, 45.1 percent of perpetrators were men, and 1.3 percent were of unknown sex.
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Four fifths (80.8%) of duplicated perpetrators were parents.
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Of the duplicated perpetrators who were parents, 87.6 percent were the biological parents.
Who received services?
CPS agencies provide services to children and their families, both in their homes and in foster care. Reasons for the provision of services may include 1) preventing future instances of child maltreatment and 2) remedying conditions that brought the children and their family to the attention of the agency. During 2011, for the duplicate count of children:
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Forty six States reported approximately 3.3 million children received prevention services.
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Based on data from 40 States, 1,046,947 duplicate children received post response services from a CPS agency.
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Three fifths (61.2%) of duplicate victims and nearly one third (30.1%) of duplicate non-victims received post response services.
Another good resource for information is the Center for Disease Control website. Visit their site by following this link.
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Preventing Child Abuse in a Public Place |
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If you see a child being abused in public, do what you can to help:
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Divert the adult’s attention.
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Start a conversation with the adult. Offer sympathy. For example, you could say, “Shopping with children can really try your patience, can’t it?” Talk to the child.
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If the child is acting out or misbehaving, start a friendly conversation to distract him or her. Praise the parent or child.
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Find something positive to say about the child or the parent. For example, “That’s a pretty dress your daughter is wearing. Where did you get it?” Offer to help.
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For example, if a child has been left unattended in a grocery cart, stay near him or her until a caretaker returns. Avoid negative looks or comments.
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This may only increase the adult’s anger, making things worse for the child.
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Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect |
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If you suspect a child is being abused or neglected, call child protection services in your Minnesota County or call 1-800-CHILDREN to speak with someone at Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota. The LINK will give you telephone numbers for the Child Protection Services in all Minnesota counties.
Go here for Minnesota's Mandated Reporting Law.
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709 University Avenue, Suite 234, Saint Paul, MN 55104
(651) 523-0099 phone (651) 523-0380 fax (800) 621-6322 toll free Email: pcamn@pcamn.org
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Copyright © 2011 - Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota - Site development by Jenofenology
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