A new federal study was discussed today that documents an unprecedented and dramatic decrease in incidents of seroius child abuse... especially sexual abuse. From 1993 through 2006 the total number of children that suffered from physican, sexual and emotional abuse dropped from 743,000 to 553,000 - a 26% decrease.
According to Linda Spears, Vice President at the Child Welfare Leagure of America (CWLA) - the increased visibility and public awareness, as well as public intolerance has helped fight the nation's battle against child abuse. In addition - there is more information available to help abusers or potential abusers before they act.
It is probably safe to say that better child welfare reporting, improved data collection, new technology and automated processes have helped caseworkers stay in front of critical data and spend more quality time with the families they serve - which is one of the keys to improving outcomes. But there still is a long way to go.
The new study is based on information from omre than 10,700 "sentinels" - such as child welfare workers, police officers, teachers, health care professionals and day care workers - in 122 counties across the country. And if more of these folks could share information easiliy and securely - it would go a long way to further the fight. When cw workers, law enforcement, schools and hospitals can communicate effectively, collaborate within a centralized portal securely or allow different database systems to share information and communicate electronically the chances for success will continue to go up.
An Important Report Comes Quietly With No Fanfare...
One curious aspect of the study was the manner of its release. Although HHS had launched the study in 2004 and invested several million dollars, it was posted a few days ago on the Internet with no fanfare - neither a press release nor a news conference, which was a bit disconcering to some researchers, including professor David Finkelhor of the University of New Hampshire, a leading researcher in the field of child abuse.
You can read the entire article here.