Texas ranks sixth in the country for child abuse-rated deaths, yet few people ever hear about them, according to a new report by the National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths.
The U.S. government tracks some 1,800 child abuse-related deaths each year — that’s nearly four times the annual number of combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. Exports say flaws in the abuse and neglect reporting system obscure the real total, which could be as high as 2,500.
“The plain truth here is that our nation is suffering from what is nothing short of an epidemic of child abuse and neglect deaths and the U.S. media is turning a blind eye to this problem,” said Michael Petit, president of Every Child Matters Education Fund, in a press statement last month.
The National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths outlined a seven-point strategy to decrease child abuse deaths. It calls on the federal government to develop a comprehensive national strategy to stop child maltreatment deaths, including an additional $3-5 billion to train and decrease the caseloads of child-protective workers and other “front-line personnel”. The group also calls for changes in confidentiality laws to allow sharing of information between jurisdictions, as well as a massive public education campaign to encourage reporting child abuse.
To listen to the organization’s press conference and its proposals to curtail child abuse deaths, log onto www.endchildabusedeaths.org.
Post new comment