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By Wendy
Koch, USA TODAY
More than 10,000 children died from abuse or
neglect in the United States from 2001 through 2007, a report released
today says.
The U.S. death rate is more than double the rate in France, Canada, Japan, Germany, Great Britain and Italy, countries that have less teen pregnancy, violent crime and poverty, according to the report by the Every Child Matters Education Fund, a non-partisan advocacy group.
AID SHRINKS: More
parents 'stuck' for day care
FRUSTRATION: Educating
dads may help protect babies from abuse
"It's heart-wrenching that each day in America, five children will die from abuse and neglect, but what's worse is that the real number is even larger," as much as 50% higher, says Michael Petit, the fund's president. He says the deaths get too little public attention. To highlight the problem, his group is hosting a conference this week in Washington at which federal officials, scholars and social workers will discuss possible remedies. The report, based on data from the Department of Health and Human Services, finds that three-quarters of the children who died from abuse or neglect were younger than 4. The number of child deaths rose from 1,300 in 2001 to 1,720 in 2007, the most recent year for which figures are available. In that period, 10,440 abuse and neglect deaths were reported. "It's an alarming statistic," says David Finkelhor, director of the University of New Hampshire's Crimes Against Children Research Center. He says the real number could be twice as large, but "we don't know" because many deaths from abuse or neglect are attributed to other causes. Finkelhor says it's difficult to know whether the problem is worse or whether states are doing a better job reporting deaths. "It's hard to know for sure, but there's plenty of reason to worry that it's getting worse," given high child-poverty figures, says Olivia Golden, a scholar at the Urban Institute, a liberal social policy think tank, and author of Reforming Child Welfare. The report finds that state spending to address abuse and neglect varies and that states that spend more generally have fewer child deaths. The report "is an exercise in hype and hysteria," says Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, which says too many children are in foster care. He says state reporting varies so widely that the figures are not accurate, and he fears that more concerns about abuse mean more children will be taken from their parents. Petit says, "There's been an erosion in the safety net over the last decade or more," and the recession is making it worse. "I've never seen so many states cutting child welfare services." The report recommends more spending as part of a broad effort to combat child poverty and abuse.
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Comments: (71)
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katocat
(110 friends, send
message) wrote: 5m ago
Another who advocates that the life of a murderer or
rapist is worth more than the life of an innocent unborn
child. ------------------------------------------------ ------------- I didn't say that. I think that you don't understand the problem and I think that you don't want real world solutions that are compassionate and realistic. The chain of abuse can be broken in many cases by early intervention and parenting classes. Its required for many teenage mothers here. And what about the children that die in the name of God because their parents pray instead of taking them to the doctor's? Wouldn't outreach and education help there? I think worrying about the already born takes more effort and compassion and its not easy. 
Meekay
(3 friends, send
message) wrote: 7m ago
framy (6 friends, send message) wrote: 23m ago
Way more then the H1N1 will kill children...but the government is not cracking down on abuse...but making sure every child gets vaccinated. We need tougher laws when it comes to child abuse...we need to protect all our children on every issue. --------- Unfortunately I doubt there is much the government could do to actually prevent this. I would bet that it's rare for then government to even be aware that there is a problem until the child is seriously hurt or dead. I can't think of any way for the government to be more aware of the situation without major infringements on everybodies privacy. I am curious if often potential problems go unreported because people are afraid of the (over)reaction of child services (which may be exaggerated by television, but I've never had to find out personally). It is a sad and difficult problem. And a strange one, too. I can't imagine ever doing anything harmful to my own child.
katocat
(110 friends, send
message) wrote: 10m ago
TheEvilGenius (0 friends, send message) wrote:1h 17m ago As the cost of living forces more families to have both parents work full time jobs and single parents two jobs, these stats will continue to rise. ------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------- I have to agree. I was talking to the father of one of my son's friends and he said that all he wanted was to be able to live on 1 and a half paychecks instead of having to depend on his wife working a full time job with as much overtime as he had to work.
LR45pilot
(4 friends, send
message) wrote: 11m ago
katocat (110 friends, send message) wrote: 3m ago
Sorta like killing an unborn child so the mother can have a choice ------------------------------------------------ --------- Another who advocates that the life of the unborn maybe babies is worth more than the life of the already born real persons. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++= Another who advocates that the life of a murderer or rapist is worth more than the life of an innocent unborn child.
katocat
(110 friends, send
message) wrote: 11m ago
HangingChad (0 friends, send message) wrote:1h 8m ago We need another public awareness campaign. They must be people out there that dont know that this is a bad thing. ------------------------------------------------ ---------------- How about a campaign so that people are aware of the signs that abuse is happening? I know of a family where all 5 children were abused and the children kept slipping through cracks and loopholes. For one thing they were home-schooled so there was no real oversight by professional educators and for another they were seen at a medical clinic instead of having a single doctor to monitor their development so there was no consistent medical supervision. And there were always reasonable excuses - the 3 year old with 2 broken wrists fell through the porch railing... the 10 year old with the back bruises fell onto the log pile, etc. Today they are 5 messed up adults ready to pass on their parenting skills...
srg12345
(4 friends, send
message) wrote: 13m ago
The system to protect these children evidently does
not work! If a parent can not take care of their children they should not
have them and should not have any more
children!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
katocat
(110 friends, send
message) wrote: 16m ago
Sorta like killing an unborn child so the mother can
have a choice ------------------------------------------------ --------- Another who advocates that the life of the unborn maybe babies is worth more than the life of the already born real persons.
LR45pilot
(4 friends, send
message) wrote: 21m ago
kchaffee2 (0 friends, send message) wrote: 14m ago
"Kill a child....death......rape a child....death.......sell a child......death...... abuse a child........public whipping up to death depending on the abuse..This would stop all repeat offenders and might stop the killing altogether" except you would still be killing people in the effort to stop killing, makes me laugh. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++ Sorta like killing an unborn child so the mother can have a choice | ||||||||||||||
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