PHOENIX, May 20, 2009
Child Abuse Spikes During Recession
Hospitals Across Country Seeing A Rise In Incidents, Severity Of Abuse Cases
-
Play CBS Video Video The Recession Worries Children Seth Doane reports on the psychological impact of the recession on kids. Jennifer Hartstein explains to Maggie Rodriguez how to explain to kids about money concerns without worrying them.
-
Video Spotlight On Child Abuse Calls to domestic violence hotlines are up 21 percent and, often, children are the victims. In an online survey of law enforcement officials, many cited the recession as the reason. Sandra Hughes reports.
-
An x-ray from the Phoenix's Children's Hospital of an abused child's broken arm. (CBS)
-
E-MAIL US Recession's Impact On Kids Know any children -- perhaps even your own -- suffering from the effects of the economic downturn? Let us know, and we might tell their story as part of the special CBS News initiative, "Children of the Recession."
"We have seen an increase not only in the number of cases we have seen but in the severity of the cases," Terreros said.
Terreros and her team are being overwhelmed by a spike in the number of cases. In the first four months of this year, they've seen abuse cases increase 40 percent over the same time last year, from 45 in 2008 to 63 in 2009, reports CBS News correspondent Sandra Hughes.
"The numbers are going up and some of the families, what they are telling us tells me that the economy is playing a part in it," Terreros said.
The recession has hit especially hard in Phoenix. Housing prices have dropped 50 percent. Foreclosures have left neighborhoods looking like ghost towns.
"Recently two of the cases that I had, it was a father who was normally the one working who all of sudden lost his job and now he was the primary care taker of the child and he had never been in that role and then the children came in with injuries," Terreros said.
"And in that particular case, what was the explanation?" Hughes asked. "He just lost it?"
"There was no explanation," Terreros said. "It's still denial."
When caregivers' explanations don’t match the injuries, Terreros and her team work like detectives, looking at scans and x-rays to tell the child's story. And what they uncover can be upsetting.
"So this poor kid was walking around with a broken arm?" Hughes asked while Terreros was looking at an x-ray of broken bones.
"Well he probably wouldn't have been walking," Terreros said. "Go and look at the next slide. This is the other arm. Look at this new bone here."
"Two broken arms?" Hughes asked.
"Two broken arms," Terreros said. "This is his left leg and you can see here he has an old fracture and also on his right leg he did."
"Two, that almost makes me cry," Hughes said, her voice cracking.
The spike in child abuse cases isn't isolated to Phoenix. At children's hospitals across the country, there is growing alarm.Reporter's Notebook: Recession Puts Children In Harm's Way
At Boston's Children's Hospital the number of cases screened rose 20 percent last year. At Seattle Children's Hospital, a 27 percent increase in confirmed cases. In Beaufort, S.C., a 63 percent increase so far this year. All believe the economy is playing a major role.
These children are among the statistics. And this is their mother.
"Sometimes I have to walk away because I know that if I start to hit one of them, it probably wouldn't stop," said one abuser.
She's a single mother of four who doesn't want to be identified, and says after losing her home to foreclosure, she became abusive and gave her daughter a black eye.
"I went into her room with a spatula and spanked her," she said. "I had to hold her down on the ground to do it and I had to use more force than I've ever had to use on any of my kids."
She's now in counseling to control her anger, despite her financial situation.
Some experts say it's not economic stress leading to an increase in child abuse cases, but better reporting by hospitals.
But there is no denying that vital funding to prevent child abuse is drying up. Several states have proposed or already made cutbacks to programs this year, like the Crisis Nursery in downtown Phoenix, which must now turn away children in families considered to be high risk.
"We have a waiting list of probably 50 to 70 youngsters whose parents want their kids to be here," said Marsha Porter, the executive director of Crisis Nursery.
Eva Estes was awarded temporary custody of her granddaughters after the state separated them from their parents because of drug use and neglect - a claim their mother denies. Estes is worried about the girls going back to live with their mother.
"What's going to happen to my granddaughters when they do go back, if they go back?" Estes asked. "Is anybody from CPS going to check up on them once a week, once a month, if ever?"
She has reason for concern. Budget cuts forced a 15 percent reduction in Child Protective Services staff - that's 159 case workers. Now low-level complaints, often the first sign of abuse, will be ignored.
"No one is going to check out to make sure if those kids are OK?" Hughes asked Gary Arnold, with Arizona's Child Protective Services.
"And believe me it was gut wrenching decision to make, nobody wanted to make that decision, but it was necessary," Arnold said.
Back at the Phoenix Children's Hospital, when they see a child with cuts, they know exactly what those cuts could mean - and they feel powerless.
"A child is left in an unsafe situation and then they come in here, critically ill," Terreros said.
Her team can only heal the immediate wounds. The long-term scars will last far beyond the recession.
Where you can offer help if you're able, or receive help if you need it:
©MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.
More From Children of Recession
Add a Comment See all 36 Comments
- There are no penal codes or statutes, child abuse by a PARENT is not against the law. It comes under the WIC Welfare and Institution Code. The number one law is to REUNITE the abusive parent with the child. I think it is extremely important that the public know this.
signed, child protective services - Reply to this comment
- I am repulsed that you report so strongly against the conservatives and so glowingly for the left. I guess you must agree with others that Pres. Obama is a "god". I cannot condon this and will not be watching your show. I also have taken all of CBS off my watching except for the local news. It is the one that carries storm warnings, so I am stuck with it.
- Reply to this comment
- I love the idiots that blame it all on about "christian repulbicns" but forget that it was the democrapers that deregulated the banking industry and refused to fix a single darn thing that was obvious not to mention that as a congress they have been running the nation before the bubble popped. Both partys are not our buddys at all and anyone that cant see that is a fool or needs a reality pill.
- Reply to this comment
- Homelessness started, on a systemic scale, back in the 1880s when all the land in the USA became legally owned.. From this point on a constant class of people were put out on the streets because to exist in the USA one had to pay an inflated price to exist to those who owned land. Simply put, all land was bottled up and titled as law-made property in direct violation of natural law and the natural rights we possess as human beings. The liberals create Housing Act after Housing Act, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Jobs Programs, ... etc. redistributing income of those who can afford land as compensation. The conservatives see no problem in privatizing land that no human created and say just live in your car or under a bridge if the market price is to high. If you disagree they call you a Communist. Both agendas are wrong.
The solution is to recapture the rental value of land by instituting a fee on the privilege to title land. Land no Human created. This can be accomplished by taxing land values. Shift the property tax off property and put the burden on land value. Thomas Paine and Henry George should be required reading if you want to understand homelessness, not Marx and Rush Limbaugh. - Reply to this comment
- This recession for us begin in the 90' So we're well awerer all BS. The real problem is EDUCATION! People do not understand, get rid of the one is not necesserery. Like motorcycle, boat, etc. AND LEARN TO COOK! You can strach your money, what ever left. Cook at home it's easy, inexpensive & healthy too.
Steve Tamas PO Box 268 Harrisville NY 13648 Tel; 315 543-2919
I can help - Reply to this comment
- So, if the economy and the lack of jobs is what is causing an increase in child abuses cases...then what is the excuse of all of these foster parents who are abusing and killing the children entrusted to their care. They get paid to care for these children. So what is their excuse and why is there never a CBS story on them or the corruption in the Child Protective Services system.
Most parents do not abuse their children...and the ones who do should not have their children, but did you know that children are more likely to be abused, sexually abused, neglected and killed in DSS custody then they are in their own homes.
I say this CBS Story does not look at the whole picture of the CPS system and child abuse, but instead has a very narrow view and ignores what is really happening to our children in this country. - Reply to this comment
- Child Abuse Spikes During Recession ... Since there is no "real" definition of child abuse, this title is meaningless.
Posted by tomanyt at 7:50 AM : May 21, 2009
Umm...what about this?:
Child abuse and neglect are defined by Federal and State laws. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) is the Federal legislation that provides minimum standards that States must incorporate in their statutory definitions of child abuse and neglect. The CAPTA definition of "child abuse and neglect" refers to:
"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"1
http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_policies/statutes/define.cfm - Reply to this comment
- I can not believe how some people are reacting towards this story, it truly breaks my heart to see that some people just do not care, have a conscience, and needless to say a heart. These children are our future if abusive parents do not change their behavior, what kind of future do you think awaits us? A world full of more violence and carelessness. Children are given to us by God as a gift for us to love and protect. They are completely indefenseless and yes they do need us 24/7 Philistine the Art Lover, where did you come from? Weren?t you a baby first and then an adult? Did your parents beat the hell out of you to go to work at 3 years of age? It?s not like abusers have an excuse none are valid, it?s not like they don?t know where a child comes from. If you didn?t want one in the first place why didn?t you use protection????!!!! There?s a lot a ways now days to help prevent a pregnancy from occurring and if you don?t want the child put him/her up for adoption so they can find a loving and deserving family (some one better than you). I hope people out there realize that this is unacceptable and that although you may think you are not being watched I have news for you, you are being watched by GOD and he will give you the punishment you deserve.
- Reply to this comment
- Attention all self-righteous Repbulican "Christians" - the highest rate of poor in America is single women with children. Are you one of them? Have you tried to save money on minimum wage without taking welfare? Do you people every see any gray area in life? Like maybe someone doesn't have the education to "plan for their financial future?"
Schoolmarm - it's very comfortable in your world, isn't it? It's very easy to judge others when you have it all and have it sooo together.
Not all are blessed with the life you have. In addition, your Republican "Christian" president put us into this recession. Considering how much Republican "Christians" hate the poor but love to accuse liberals of "enjoying killing babies." You support war, torture, self-righteousness, pride, ego, lack of empathy and compassion, and you sit talking from a place where the poor do not live.
Of course, bad economies result in child abuse, crime, abortions, and every other evil, yet Republican "Christians" keep voting in their candidates to throw this country into a reccession EVERY SINGLE TIME.
Get the log out of your own eye before you judge others. You need to shut your mouths. You've done enough damage already. - Reply to this comment
- What no one has any comments on this. It's inconceivable that in this day and age people don't recognize the dangerous side effects of stress. It reaches out and touches everyone a stressed individual comes into contact with. It can have far-reaching and traumatic results if not handled properly. No matter what we deal with in life (and it can be frightening) it behooves us to do all we can to survive it in a positive manner. Our life and the lives of our loved ones depend on that. I don't know if the rise in child abuse cases is due to the recession or not. But it doesn't matter - even one case of child abuse is too many.
- Reply to this comment
- schoolmarm22 ... Its nice to know your so perfect.
- Reply to this comment
- As my better-half and I approaching our planned retirement phase, it's the best news that our Number one son and his wife delivered to us last year that we are going to have our First Grand-Child. Sure not fast enough, every time we get the chance to baby-sit little darling - time flies too fast - as we parade her around our house, feed her, change her diapers and comfort her into taking a nap, all of a sudden, daughter-in-law's vehicle pulled into our drive-way - time for little "Querida" to leave with her Mom. How in the world after one has a baby, raise him/her to become productive adult in life would EVER engage in physically or mentally abusing their off-springs is truly beyond me.
- Reply to this comment
- Does the single- parent mother of four receive child support from the father(s) of her children? Did she not pay attention to the news over the last couple of years and make some kind of preparation for this economic down-turn? The only ones I feel sorry for in this story are the children. The parents are supposedly adults and should have made better decisions in regard to their finances. My husband lost his job a year and a half ago, and I'm a teacher, so we're not rolling in dough either. However, we don't beat our kids and blame it on the economy. My husband went to school and got a degree in a field where his job prospects are good and he's actively searching for employment. Since my work is steady and almost recession proof, we have the comfort of a steady paycheck coming in until he finds work. If you have children, your priority should be to protect and nurture them. Thankfully, most parents do take care of their children and make sure that their needs are met.
- Reply to this comment
- Child Abuse Spikes During Recession ... Since there is no "real" definition of child abuse, this title is meaningless.
- Reply to this comment
- Thier neighbors need to catch the parents out away from thier children and beat the h-ll out them. everytime the kid gets hurt so do they . after a whie the dumb pos should recognize a pattern forming. The one thing not tolerated on this indian reservation is the beating of children and woman. If the woman cries wolf and is the isntigator after a while the intervention team will not respond. If a child shows up at school with beat marks ? There is very little said to the child . we go directly to man of the house and have a talk with him in a fahion he will understand. There are no communication problems and the tribal p[olice usually have some thing to check on on theother side og the reservation. primitive as it sounds it works.
- Reply to this comment
- Child Abuse Spikes During Recession
Ain't nothing worse than sitting home unemployed in the double wide as you finish off that last can of Pabst Blue Ribbon and cabin fever begins to sets in. - Reply to this comment
- People need to understand that if it wasn't for children we adults wouldn't have to work as hard to make ends meet.
Children, as young as 3 years old, should out there looking for a job instead of demanding attention 24/7.
But when was the last time you saw a child looking for a job? Never! It's about time the little rascals do something for their parents instead of just sitting on their butts telling everyone about their new toys or sing Sesame Street songs.
I'm glad that people are finally standing up to children.
Posted by PhilistineTheArtLover
============================
Its not their fault, years ago liberals enacted laws forbidding their employment! Gone are those happy days spent in factories for Americas non priveledge youth. I know my families company would gladly brings jobs back here from China if they could only employ children here in America. - Reply to this comment
- Those who are abusing the children certainly are not Christians. We Christians value life unlike liberals who enjy aborting babies.
- Reply to this comment
- tmittelstaed - if your post even partly mirrors your reality, you need effective parent training cuz you just don't have it. You offer a sliding menu of ineffectual disciplinary tools and then blame ADHD and the child rather than lack of consistency, delayed response and nonresponse on the part of the parent. That child has that parent trained. They put the 'd' in dysfunctional.
In the 1950s, corporal punishment was the norm. I had my share of hairbrushes on bare backsides and belts to the leg. We no longer accept this as appropriate. We recognize the complete disparity of power between parent and child.
You raise the child as you want them to go from day one, primarily by example. You ask the child politely to hand you something, you thank the child for offering you something, you refuse to engage an hysterical child and always make time for a mannered child, you treat the child as a person - long before the child can speak his/her first word. You make it clear that timeouts are about THINKING and SEPARATION ('I really don't want to be around you if you are going to behave that way. Sit here and think about it and when you are ready to behave like a person, let me know.) Remember the limitation of the age (a timeout of longer than a minute or two with a toddler is meaningless and cruel.)
Finally, remember always that you are big enough to kill the child - and the child knows it. Do you really want to be the monster of your child's nightmares?
I think ADHD is far and away overdiagnosed. I think much of it is poor or distracted parenting coupled with loneliness and poor diet. Remember: negative attention is preferable to no attention so if the only way you spend time with a child is in correction/ discipline/ anger, then the child will find new and more deviant methods of acquiring that atttention (since, after a bit, each bit of naughtiness gets ignored due to parental ennui.)
As the the parent(s) of the children with broken limbs - eye for an eye time. Tether them in the public square and snap their limbs and leave them untreated. - Reply to this comment
- Bull. This is all a fabrication to suck down money from the federal government (CAPTA) to help balance budgets. It is likely that faith based foster care agencies are paying bribes to doctors to report innocent parents to the child protective apparatus.
- Reply to this comment
Mike Huckabee on GOP "rock stars," 2012, health care reform and more.
