Written by: Serenity Henderson April 5, 2021
Happy Monday everyone I hope you all enjoyed your easter! As you all know it is still Child Abuse Prevention month and as we continue to spread light on this awareness. I thought i’d share with you all some stats on child abuse right now.
- Every year more than 3.6 million referrals are made to child protection agencies involving more than 6.6 million children
- The United States has one of the worst records among industrialized nations – losing on average between four and seven children every day to child abuse and neglect.
- A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds.
- Individuals who reported six or more adverse childhood experiences had an average life expectancy two decades shorter than those who reported none.
- In one study, 80% of 21-year-olds who reported childhood abuse met the criteria for at least one psychological disorder.
- 14% of all men in prison and 36% of women in prison in the USA were abused as children
- As many as two-thirds of the people in treatment for drug abuse reported being abused or neglected as children.
Mental Health Disorders, Addictions, & Related Issues
- Risk for intimate partner violence
- Alcoholism and alcohol abuse
- Illicit drug abuse
- Smoking & drinking at an early age
- Depression
- Suicide attempts
Sexual & Reproductive Health Issues and Risk Factors
- Multiple sexual partners
- Sexually transmitted diseases
- Unintended pregnancies
- Early initiation of sexual activity
- Adolescent pregnancy and Fetal death
It’s a widespread war against our children that we have the power to stop, and understanding the issue is the first step. This is why fostering agencies have trainings and contracts on how you should discipline your child. No child deserves to be abused because of an adult who has no patients. Children are meant to be taught, not fought. Adoption and fostering can significantly change these statistics. There is a great chance you could be places with a child who could have already suffered from, or seen another child get physically/verbally abused. However because children are constantly growing, you have the power to shift that dynamic and teach them love. Although those mental and/or physical wounds may never go away. They will grow up understanding that yes that was something traumatic in their life that they went through early on, but at least someone cared enough to teach them the right way.
Each child needs and has the right to grow up protected from misuse and disregard, and caring foster parents offer kids support and dependability when they need it most. At Family Services of America, we spend a significant amount of time in personalizing plans for all children admitted into our services to get them ready for their next transition. We cooperate with our foster parents to provide services, including therapeutic foster care, adoption and outpatient Services. Quality care and services you can trust. Contact us today on how you can become a foster parent. https://www.familiesofusa.com
Sources
https://www.childhelp.org/child-abuse-statistics/ http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/#1
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/resource/child-maltreatment-2014 http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/6220-children-who-are-subject-to-an-investigated-report?loc=1&loct=2#detailed/1/any/false/867,133,38,35,18/any/12940,12955 http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/ http://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797%2809%2900506-6/abstract http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8866117 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14754944?dopt=Abstract http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0145213411003140 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8528813 http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-599 http://archives.drugabuse.gov/NIDA_Notes/NN98index.html http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=837
