Study: Child abuse cases decline

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By Todd Dorman | Wednesday, March 7, 2007 1:03 AM CST | () comments

DES MOINES — The number of abused children in Iowa declined during 2006, according to a new state report, but officials aren’t convinced the drop is really the end of a 15-year trend of rising cases.

A total of 13,027 children were abused or neglected in 2006, according to the Iowa Department of Human Services. That’s down 4 percent from 2005, when a record 13,544 children were victims.

The department assesses and investigates thousands of reports of abuse statewide.

“I don’t want to send a flag up and say, ‘Great news, the ship has turned,’” said Kevin Concannon, director of the DHS. “I think it’s too early.”

The overall decline is deceptive, according to officials. Although rates of physical and sexual abuse fell, the number cases involving denial of critical care, also known as neglect, continued to rise.

More than three-quarters of all confirmed cases involve neglect. And overall, half of Iowa’s abused children are age 5 or younger, according to the department.

Concannon said one big reason for pessimism is that major risk factors feeding abuse — such as extreme poverty and drug abuse — are not subsiding in Iowa.

The number of Iowans living in “severe poverty” — a family of four earning less than $9,900 annually — grew by 35 percent between 2000 and 2005, to more than 136,000 Iowans.

Concannon said the number of single-parent households also is growing. He said single-parent births now make up about 33 percent of live births in Iowa, even as teenage pregnancies decline.

Child advocates say the annual report is a wake-up call.

“I always look at these numbers as being a judgment of how well we’re doing as a community with all of the issues that families face and less a judgment of how well the agency is doing,” said Steve Scott of Prevent Child Abuse Iowa.

There are things the agency and state can do, Concannon said.

The Iowa Legislature is currently considering bills that would extend health insurance coverage to poor parents, expand access to accredited preschool programs and beef up efforts to collect child support payments. Concannon said those efforts could help struggling families.

He said the DHS is also focusing more of its resources on young children — who make up half of all abuse cases but receive only 20 percent child welfare resources – and on community-based family support programs.

Todd Dorman can be contacted at (515) 243-0138 or at todd.dorman@lee.net.

Child abuse in Iowa 2006

24,789: Reports of child abuse assessed by state investigators

9,257: Founded or confirmed cases of abuse, down from 9,915 in 2005

13,027: Children abused or neglected in Iowa in 2006, down from 13,544 in 2005

77 percent: Percentage of confirmed cases involving neglect, such as leaving young child unattended

212: Number of DHS workers who assess child abuse reports

447: Number of social workers who handle child welfare cases

$234 million: The amount of state and federal dollars being spent on child welfare in Iowa this year