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Child
Abuse
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Reduce
the rate of repeat substantiated maltreatment (abuse and neglect)
of children.
Developmental
Objective, baseline data to be collected and analyzed
in 2001.
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Child abuse is increasing in North Carolina.
From 1989 to 1998, the number of child abuse reports in North Carolina
increased from 44,000 to 114,000. Of the 114,000 reports, almost 35,000
were substantiated. Eighty-five percent of the reports were for child
neglect, nine percent for child abuse, and six percent for abuse and
neglect. In 1996, 77 children died from causes such as fire, drowning,
and gun shot wounds. In 1998, the Medical Examiner determined that
23 children in North Carolina died from child abuse. These deaths
may have been preventable by age-appropriate care, supervision, and
safety standards. In North Carolina, the definition of child abuse
pertains only to the abusive actions of a biological parent, boyfriend/girlfriend,
or caretaker. Children abused or neglected by others are not counted
as abused/neglected; these children would be listed as assault victims.
The costs of child abuse and neglect intervention
and treatment are $10,000/year/child, plus court costs to investigate
a case resulting in foster care. Child abuse often leads to juvenile
delinquency and/or mental illness. It costs $50,000/year to detain
a young person in a public training school facility and $80,000/year
to maintain a seriously troubled child in a residential treatment
center.
Effects of child abuse and neglect last
over a lifetime and are often passed on to the next generation.
One-third of abused children grow up to continue the pattern of
seriously inept, neglectful, or abusive parenting. A forty-year
study of abused and neglected children found that half of these
children had been convicted of serious crimes, were mentally ill,
had substance abuse problems, or died at an early age. Child abuse
increases an individual’s chances of delinquency and adult
criminality (including violent crimes) by over 40 percent.
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Disparities
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Men
who abuse their partners may also abuse their children. Abused women
are more likely to abuse their children than non-abused women. Children
living in homes where there are economic hardships, lack of employment,
poverty, discrimination, and lack of education are at risk for abuse
and/or neglect. Children who are disabled and developmentally challenged
have a higher incidence of abuse and neglect. Studies suggest that
younger children, girls, premature infants, and children with more
irritable temperaments are more vulnerable to abuse and neglect. Also,
children who are medically fragile are at risk. Child maltreatment
is three times as likely in alcohol abusing families compared with
non-alcohol abusing families. Children from families with annual incomes
below $15,000, as compared to children from families with annual incomes
above $30,000 per year, were over 22 times more likely to experience
some form of maltreatment. |
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Determinants/Risks
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Children under age 12, especially younger children
ages (0-6 years old), and premature infants; disabled and developmentally-challenged
children; girls; children with more irritable temperaments; children
who are medically fragile; children in the care of adults who abuse
alcohol and drugs; children in low-income homes |
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NC Data
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Injury - Child Abuse |
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