http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/01/27/381636056/child-abuse-and-neglect-laws-arent-being-enforced-report-finds
Laws that are intended to protect children from abuse and neglect are not being properly enforced, and the federal government is to blame. According to a study conducted by the Children's Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego School of Law, states that children are suffering as a result. Almost 680,000 children in the United States were the victims of abuse and neglect in 2013 and more than 1,500 of them died.
Federal officials say that the numbers are lower than they were in 2012, but children's advocates say abuse is so often not reported that it's impossible to know if there's really been a decline.
Why is child abuse and neglect not being reported? I would like to think that people are just unaware of the signs of abuse and neglect or what they should report. Therefore, I don't want to say a simple fix to this problem will be educating child care givers on signs of abuse and what they should look for and report will fix this problem, but I do think it will help. Having intense trainings on child abuse and neglect for teachers, school social workers, and any other professional that provides care to children under 18 will be beneficial to decreasing the number of unreported incidents.
I wonder why abuse and neglect isn't being reported as well. Maybe it requires more education to society including the knowledge that they can remain anonymous when reporting. Maybe it's a lack of staffing. I hope that isn't the case but if it is, we've got to buckle down on getting what is needed to save and keep our youth safe.
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