|
Child Abuse
No child should live in fear of, or face, physical or mental harm. Florida seeks to deploy its resources and work cooperatively with other federal, state, and local government entities – as well as private groups, to ensure that children are protected from abusers.
Why Is This Important?
In 2004, an estimated three million referrals concerning the welfare of approximately 5.5 million children were made to Child Protective Services agencies throughout the United States. Of these, approximately 63 percent were accepted for investigation or assessment. Since 2001, the rate and number of children who received an investigation has been increasing. For 2001, the rate was 43.2 children per 100,000 nationwide, resulting in an estimated 3,136,000 children who received an investigation. In 2004, the rate was 47.8, resulting in an estimated 3,503,000 children who received an investigation (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, 2005 Child Maltreatment Report, 2007) .
Nationally, more than one-half (56 percent) of all reports of alleged child abuse or neglect were made by professionals such as educators, law enforcement and legal personnel, social services personnel, medical personnel, mental health personnel, child daycare providers, and foster care providers. Friends, neighbors, relatives, and other nonprofessionals submitted approximately 44 percent of reports.
Approximately 30 percent of the reports that were investigated included at least one child who was found to be a victim of abuse or neglect. About 60 percent of the reports were found to be unsubstantiated (including those that were intentionally false); the remaining reports were closed for additional reasons (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, 2005 Child Maltreatment Report, 2007).
The Florida Department of Children and Families is one of the state agencies charged with assisting abused and neglected children. The Department meets this charge by: maintaining Florida's State Plan for the Prevention of Child Abuse, Abandonment and Neglect; manning the Florida Child Abuse Hotline; investigating reports of child abuse or neglect; and maintaining a community-based system of care that provides in-home and out-of-home care services.
As per Florida's State Plan for the Prevention of Child Abuse, Abandonment and Neglect, Florida's child abuse and re-abuse rates are rising. Communities and service providers are using proven and innovative strategies to intervene and have an impact on these rates. Short-term effects of child abuse and neglect include the physical and emotional harm abuse causes for the child, the disruption to family life and cohesion; and the strain on scarce community resources resulting from the response to reports of abuse. Long-term consequences are the most costly in both human and monetary terms. Children who are abused are more likely to abuse their own children; experience lifelong chronic health and medical problems (such as obesity, drug abuse and heart disease); form broken and dysfunctional families; and draw on community resources for law enforcement, unemployment, social services and health care. It is far less expensive to empower families to provide healthy, safe, stable and nurturing environments than to bear the expense of the consequences of abuse and neglect.
There is evidence that overall conditions are improving in Florida. The 2007 Kids Count Data Book, provided by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, provides a ranking of states on ten measures of child well-being and shows Florida as ranking 32nd in 2004-2005 compared to 35th in 2001-2002 and 2002-2003.
How Is Florida Doing?
• In June 2007, there were approximately 47,000 children under the care and supervision of the department on any given day. This number includes children receiving in-home and out-of-home care service.
• As of June 30, 2007, there were 8,072 children placed in foster homes and 2,387 children in residential group care. Despite this, there are several reasons why, combined, Florida's child abuse rate is decreasing.
• Florida has developed a statewide and local Child Abuse, Abandonment and Neglect Prevention Plans.
• Local funding is being utilized in some areas of the state to place health professionals in public schools.
• The Family Team Conferencing model is used to strengthen families and meet their needs before they enter the child welfare system.
• Child Protection Teams, through the Florida Department of Health, provide medical, psychological and psychosocial assessments to assist protective investigators in developing safety plans and in identifying long-term risk factors.
In addition, the department partners with The Ounce of Prevention Fund of Florida (The Ounce). The Ounce is a public and private partnership with a mission to identify, fund, support and evaluate innovative prevention and early intervention programs that improve the health, education and life outcomes of Florida's at-risk children and families. The Ounce has programs serving in 56 counties across Florida that focus on improving educational achievement, facilitating economic independence, building strong families and making communities drug-free. In partnership with community-based organizations and coalitions, programs offer home visitation, education and support groups, promote access to health care and provide services through schools and community-based centers. Some of the programs include Healthy Families Florida, Fatherhood Programs, and Circle of Parents.
• The Florida Marriage and Family Research Institute Project, providing individual and group counseling to couples and families, pre-marital counseling, and training to social services staff.
• The Big Bend Strengthening Marriages & Relationships Project, providing in-home support, counseling and referral services to participating families.
• The Building Local Capacity for Healthy Marriage and Family Formation Project, expanding the capacity of department and community-based care providers to work with couples in promoting healthy family formation and marriage using PAIRS curriculum.
Scorecard
What Influences Child Abuse?
Federal legislation provides a foundation for states by identifying a minimum set of acts or behaviors that define child abuse and neglect. The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), (42 U.S.C.A. §5106g), as amended by the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003, defines child abuse and neglect as, at minimum:
• Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation; or
• An act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm.
As described in Chapters 39 and 415, Florida Statutes, the Florida Department of Children and Families is charged with providing comprehensive protective services for children who are abused, neglected or at threat of harm and vulnerable adults who are abuse, neglected or exploited in the state by requiring that reports of abuse, neglect, threatened harm, or exploitation be made to the Florida Abuse Hotline. In taking action to prevent further harm to the child, any other children living in the home, or a vulnerable adult the Department of Children & Families must preserve the family life of the parents, children, and vulnerable adults to the maximum extent possible. Law enforcement is to take the lead in all criminal investigations and prosecution.
In Florida, abuse refers to any willful or threatened act or omission that results in any physical, mental, or sexual injury or harm that causes or is likely to cause the child's physical, mental, or emotional health to be significantly impaired. Neglect includes any act or omission where a child is deprived of, or allowed to be deprived of, necessary supervision, food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment, or a child is permitted to live in an environment when such deprivation or environment causes the child's physical, mental, or emotional health to be significantly impaired or to be in danger of being significantly impaired. The foregoing circumstances shall not be considered neglect if caused primarily by financial inability unless actual services for relief have been offered to and rejected by the caretaker responsible. Threatened harm includes a situation, circumstances or behavior which leads a prudent person to have reasonable cause to suspect abuse or neglect has occurred or may occur in the immediate future if no intervention is provided.
Several factors in a person's life may combine to cause them to abuse a child:
• Stress (including the stress of caring for children)
• Sickness or disability of the caregiver
• Lack of parenting skills (many parents who abuse their children are young)
• Personal history of being abused
• Poverty
• Physical or mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety
• Alcohol or drug abuse
• Divorce or marital problems
• Unemployment or financial difficulties
What Is the State's Role?
Nationwide, more than 1 million children are victims of child abuse and neglect each year, according to state child protective service agencies. Many victims don't receive help because they are not reported to the system. These abused and neglected children span all ages, races, religions and socio-economic backgrounds. Child maltreatment includes actions that result in imminent risk of serious harm, death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation of a child under age 18 by a parent or caretaker.
When parents can't, don't or won't protect their children, the Department of Children and Families steps in to help, providing a full spectrum of services, from parenting classes and respite care to transportation and child care. The goal of the Department is to keep children safe in their own families when possible and to find them permanent, loving homes when they cannot be safely returned home.
Whenever there is family instability, an increased risk of problems for children is almost sure to follow. The loss of income, substance abuse, catastrophic illness, divorce, incarceration, etc., can cause disruptions in the quality of life for most families. The odds for tipping the scales out of balance for fragile and at-risk families are even greater. Whether disruption leads to poverty, abuse or neglect, research clearly shows the best chance a child has of avoiding these problems is to grow up with their mom and dad in a stable, healthy family. Such children are more likely to have better physical health, stay drug-free, have higher educational aspirations, and remain socially and emotionally healthy.
A University of Florida (2003) survey of attitudes, beliefs, and demographics related to family formation and marriage showed most Floridians believe government programs to strengthen marriages and reduce divorce are a good or very good idea (67 percent). They also believe: a happy, healthy marriage is one of the most important things in life (92percent), and children do better when their parents are married (80 percent). When families disintegrate, become unstable or end in divorce, they impact social service organizations, communities and government in myriad ways at great cost both economically and socially. The Department's Strengthening Families initiative works to assist families before they begin to falter, serving to temper demand for more costly interventions later.
For More Information
|
