Top Police Chiefs Warn Child Abuse, Neglect Could Spike Due To Economic Crisis
Mar 27th 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- An overwhelming majority (88%) of law enforcement leaders nationwide agree that increasing anxiety and stress in families stemming from the current economic crisis has led or will lead to greater incidence of child abuse and neglect according to a new poll conducted by the independent polling firm Mason-Dixon Polling and Research, Inc. As a matter of fact, more than one-in-ten (14%) chiefs of police, sheriffs and prosecutors say that they have already seen an increase. The survey also documents strong support for Head Start (78%), home visiting parental coaching programs (79%) and after-school programs (97%) as critical youth violence and crime prevention strategies.
Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis, Milwaukee Police Chief Edward A. Flynn and Miami Police Chief John Timoney and Hassan Johnson of HBO's The Wire released the poll of police chiefs, sheriffs and prosecutors and urged Congress to pass a budget that increases federal support for programs proven to prevent abuse and neglect and later crime. They were joined by David S. Kass, president of FIGHT CRIME: INVEST IN KIDS, the national anti-crime organization that commissioned the poll.
As more families fall into poverty with the deepening recession, more children may be at risk, since poverty is closely linked to abuse and neglect. The police chiefs said that many cases of abuse and neglect could be prevented with the help of quality, voluntary home-visiting programs that provide support to expectant mothers and new parents. The Mason-Dixon poll found that 80 percent of law enforcement leader respondents agreed that expanding such programs would prevent child abuse and neglect and greatly reduce youth crime and violence.
"Those of us on the front lines of law enforcement know that there is a correlation between economic distress and increased child abuse and neglect. We have to get in front of this problem now, and immediately put more parent coaching programs in place to protect our most vulnerable kids and provide more support to struggling parents," Bratton said.
Home-visiting services such as the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) send trained professionals to help parents learn about the health and development needs of babies and young children and make their homes child-safe.
A study of NFP, which employs nurses, found that high-risk families who received the visits were half as likely to abuse or neglect their children than similar parents who did not participate. The randomized control study also found that mothers and children who received the visits were 60 percent less likely to be arrested by the time the child reached age 15.
Davis said that law enforcement leaders strongly support parent-coaching programs to prevent child abuse and neglect because children who experience maltreatment are significantly more likely to commit crimes as adults.
"Violence breeds violence. If a kid is kicked, beaten, or neglected, how do you think he's going to live his life? How do you think he's going to treat his kids? If we know that quality home-visiting programs can break this vicious cycle of violence, then we need to prioritize and find the money in the budget to support them," Davis said.
In the presidential budget released last month, the administration called for a new funding stream to support voluntary home visiting. The law enforcement leaders urged Congressional leaders to pass a federal budget that includes funding for evidence-based home-visiting programs that prevent abuse and neglect.
The group also called on Congress to support the new early learning initiative proposed in the budget, which would provide grants to states to support high-quality early learning programs. High-quality early learning programs for at-risk children include voluntary parent coaching services to parents who enroll their kids.
A study of Chicago's Child-Parent Centers, which offers parent coaching along with preschool classes, found that the program cut cases of abuse as well as foster care placements among children in participating families.
"Once law enforcement gets involved with a case of abuse or neglect, the damage is already done," Flynn said. "We need to focus our resources on prevention so that this economic downturn doesn't lead to increased abuse and crime, and our kids have a better future."
Bratton, Davis, Flynn and Timoney are members of FIGHT CRIME: INVEST IN KIDS, a national anti-crime organization of 5,000 chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors and violence survivors.
"Because child abuse and neglect data aren't reported nationally until more than a year later, it will be some time before we have accurate nationwide data on the impact of the recession since last fall," said David Kass, president of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. "There are already disturbing reports of 30 percent more children showing up at hospitals in Seattle and Boston because of abuse or neglect, and a national child abuse and neglect hotline has reported a 6 percent increase in calls from 2007 to 2008."
A total of 607 Sheriffs, District Attorneys, and Chiefs of Police of police departments with 10 or more officers in the ranks responded to the survey. Of the 607 interviews, 97% were collected online and 3% by fax. The total estimated universe of these cohorts of national law enforcement leaders is approximately 22,000.
Visit www.fightcrime.org to view the complete poll results.
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