Statistics and Prevalence of Child Abuse Response

Please respond to the 2 classmates. * Compare your findings against the findings of two of your classmates who have selected different states. What were the notable differences or similarities in prevalence? Why do you think they exist (or do not exist)? *Please use course readings as a main source: Gosselin, D. K. (2019). Family and intimate partner violence: Heavy hands. Pearson. My Post: Children of different ages are affected differently and suffer child abuse differently. Therefore, the prevalence of child abuse varies. Additionally, children of different ages face different types of child abuse. In California, the overall child abuse prevalence is 30.9 per 1000 children (Fluke et al., 2019). The prevalence of child abuse in California was highest among children below one year (6.3%) and least among children aged 17 years (3%) (Fluke et al., 2019). In terms of race or ethnicity, child abuse was most witnessed among the Hispanic (57%) and least among the native Hawaiian (0.3%). Child neglect was the number one type of child abuse (93.2%), while medical neglect and sex trafficking were the least experienced abuse by children in California (0.1%).In Los Angeles, the overall child abuse prevalence is 40 per 1000 children. Child neglect and emotional abuse accounted for the highest number of child abuse, while emotional abuse was the least in Los Angeles (Fluke et al., 2019). Additionally, the age group with the highest abuse rate in Los Angeles is 0-3 years and the least among those aged 17-18 years. In Orange County, the overall child abuse prevalence is 27 per 1000 (Fluke et al., 2019). The general neglect accounted for the most cases of child abuse (44.2%), while exploitation accounted for the most minor cases of child abuse (0.3%). Children between 0 and 2 years old were the most affected group (Fluke et al., 2019). 1.Christina Langille posted: I chose to research the state of Florida’s child abuse cases. I decided to include all of the facts I could find. Federal law dictates minimum standards for child abuse, the rest is left to the states to devise their own. “Under CAPTA, child abuse and neglect means any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker that results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation; an act or failure to act that presents an imminent risk of serious harm.” (Gosselin, 2019). Florida law dictates that “Florida prohibits willful or threatened act that harms or is likely to cause harm of physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, abandonment, or emotional/mental injury. Statute contains exemptions for religion, poverty, or corporal punishment. In Florida, the harm must have been inflicted by non-accidental means. This includes intentional acts, actions that were careless, and acts of negligence. Also, the “harm” inflicted upon a child need not be actual but may include “threats” or “risks of imminent harm”. (The Florida Bar). According to the Children's Bureau, An Office of the Administration for Children and Families, in 2022, Florida had a total of 24,505 victims of abuse, that number is down 33.4 percent since 2018. First time victims accounted for 11,046 of the total cases. Children under the age of one were the most susceptible to abuse accounting for 3,813 children. Unborn or unknown ages accounted for 70 children. Boys accounted for 11,587 cases of abuse. Girls came in slightly higher and accounted for 12,745 cases of abuse. White children accounted for 10,415 cases of abuse or neglect. African American children accounted for 7,112 cases. Hispanic children accounted for 4,272 cases. Unknown race accounted for 1,268 cases. At least 888 children suffered medical neglect. The highest instance accounted for was neglect at 14,463 cases, a total of 59 percent. Physical abuse accounted for 2,201 children, making up 9 percent of cases. Sexual abuse was suffered by 2,390 children, which is 9.8 percent of cases. Other forms of abuse came in at 9,350 making up 38.2 percent. Emotional abuse ranked last at 313 children, a total of 1.3 percent of cases. There were 8 child fatalities who had received Family Service intervention within 5 years, 3 of those children had been sent home within the previous 5 years. There were 18,647 perpetrators. The highest percentage of perpetrators was between the ages of 25 and 34 at 7,587 cases. This was followed closely by ages 35 to 44 at 5,869. Men accounted for 47.5 percent of perpetrators. Women accounted for 50.8 percent. Finally, broken down by race, the highest number of perpetrators were White, accounting for 48.8 percent. This was followed by African Americans at 28 percent and Hispanics at 14.7 percent. (Child Maltreatment report 2022, 2024). 2. Alyssa Davis This page automatically marks posts as read as you scroll.Adjust automatic marking as read setting In the year 2020, the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data system reported 618,000 children as victims of child abuse and neglect within the United States (HHS, 2020). Children with the highest rate of victimization tend to be younger than one year old, at 25.1% (HHS, 2020). Maltreatment types include neglect, physically abuse, sexual abuse, and sex trafficking, with the highest prevalence of maltreatment within the neglect category overall, at 76.1% (HHS, 2020). The national averages are a contrast to the Utah state Child Abuse statistics, where sexual abuse tends to be a larger issue, with sexual violence at a 14.3% rate of incidence (UTWomen, 2022). According to the Utah Women and Leadership Project, only Idaho and California have a higher sexual violence rate against children than Utah (UTWomen, 2022). Unfortunately, in the majority of cases, the perpetrators are usually known by the children being abused. Overall, in 2022 there were 9,695 confirmed reports of child abuse and neglect within the state of Utah (Ninthroot, 2023). According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Utah Department of Health’s Baby Watch Early Intervention Program now works with any child 34 months and younger who are supported victims of abuse or neglect, rather than being screened for developmental delays (HHS, 2020). Utah only has one restriction for identifying perpetrators, that they do not identify a perpetrator if they are under the age of ten, (unless in extreme circumstances) nor do they report non-caregiver perpetrators of sex trafficking (HHS, 2020). Without intervention, children who experience abuse can sustain long-term effects. While these can include physical injury immediately after physical or sexual abuse, they can also include high risk health conditions that do not develop until adulthood (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2019). This is because there is a link between child-abuse and improper brain development, auto-immune disorders, and poor physical health (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2019). Other long-term effects include poor cognitive skills, poor mental health, poor emotional health, poor attachment styles, and mental health disorders such as post traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and even substance abuse (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2019).