Indiana 18th in cases of child neglect, abuse

CHILD ABUSE: Local counties below state average for 2003

Since 1996, an average of one Hoosier child a week has died from some form of mistreatment, typically at the hands of an abusive parent.

Compared to other states, Indiana has the 18th highest rate of substantiated cases of child maltreatment, with 12,308 cases of child neglect and 8,060 cases of child abuse.

Worse yet, abusers in this state are rarely prosecuted, with less than one in five victims seeking relief in court.

These findings come from a state watchdog group's latest report, "Child Maltreatment in Indiana: From Silence to Solutions," which also includes recommendations to boost child welfare efforts.

"Parents, communities and policy makers need to step up to the plate before the courts intervene and force us to overhaul our child welfare systems," said group president Bill Stanczykiewicz, of the Indiana Youth Institute.

Cindy Collier, spokeswoman for Indiana's Family and Social Services Administration, said the state already is taking steps to correct long-standing problems.

The fairest way to compare counties is by the per capita rate of abuse and neglect, per 1,000 children younger than 18, she said.

Last year, Lake County had a rate of 6.7 percent, and Porter County had a rate of 11.5, both below the state average of 12.8. But those rates shield the sheer number of cases, critics say.

In Lake County, there were 384 cases of abuse and 577 cases of neglect last year. In Porter County, the numbers were 69 and 392, respectively. And these figures reflect only substantiated cases, not the number reported by the public, Collier said.

In Illinois, Cook County's child abuse rate in 2002 was 5.7 percent, a 42 percent drop from 1997. Will County showed a 3.8 percent rate in 2002, slightly up from 1997.

The difference between the two states' figures is why "Indiana urgently needs to take action," Stanczykiewicz said.

His group suggests Indiana model itself after successful programs from other states, including Illinois. Two counties there, Rock Island and Mercer, use a program called QUEST to create teams of family members, friends and community-based workers to implement action plans to help victims.

Also, New York has created the first civil services positions designed specifically for child welfare workers, with tougher eligibility standards, higher salaries and a focus on education, he said.

Collier said the Youth Institute's suggestions are "almost exactly" what her agency already is doing. Those suggestions include:

* Adding 100 more caseworkers across the state.

* Increasing training requirements and the number of trainers.

* Introducing family case planning.

"We are also one of only two states in the country to have a credentialed Healthy Families child abuse prevention program certified by Prevent Child Abuse America," she said.

These planned changes will affect every Indiana county, Collier said, but she couldn't say how many more caseworkers will be assigned to Northwest Indiana.

"It will depend on caseload increases," she said. "Those (counties) that need them most will get them."

All new caseworkers will have more training before they are given caseloads and access to classes quicker since FSSA is also adding new trainers, she said.

Teonna Vicari, president of Prevent Child Abuse Lake County, said negative publicity against prevention efforts at the state level shouldn't overshadow the hard work by local agencies.

Her group offers several services to professionals and the public, including free workshops to prevent, identify and report child maltreatment, and home-based programs for parenting, therapy and support for new mothers and fathers.

Information to know
* To report child abuse or neglect, call (800) 800-5556.
* Free copies of the Indiana Youth Institute's "Child Maltreatment in Indiana: From Silence to Solutions" are available by calling (800) 343-7060, or by visiting the group's Web site at www.iyi.org.

Other findings from the IYI report:
* Kids younger than 4 are more likely to be victims of neglect than any other age group.
* Kids between ages 7 and 12 account for more than one-third of all the child physical abuse and sexual abuse cases and nearly 30 percent of the neglect victims last year.
* Six primary factors contribute to an environment putting kids at risk -- unemployment, poverty, births to mothers younger than 20, births to unwed mothers, low birthweight and premature birth.
* A report issued last summer by a state task force on child abuse contained 32 recommendations to overhaul Indiana's child welfare system. Top priorities included cutting in half the workload of children's caseworkers and providing training prior to receiving cases.

This story ran on nwitimes.com on Monday, December 13, 2004. Story by BY JERRY DAVICH, jdavich@nwitimes.com. Reprinted with permission from The Times.