The Need – Part 1

Hello,

My name is Elaine Carroll, President and CEO of Mending Me™, LLC.  I launched this company to provide tools and methods to help heal children and adults to who have suffered trauma in their lives.  I have my own story of trauma and healing that serves as a foundation for my commitment to this work.  It is an on-going journey for all of us, and I look forward to walking the path to healing with you.

The NEED

There are approximately 3.6 million children per year in need of healing treatment to recover from abuse, with major repercussions that reach into adulthood.

Statistical Reporting

Sadly, this is a market that is self perpetuating. In many cases, victims of abuse grow up to be abusers themselves. Additionally, poor economic conditions increase abuse due to low self esteem from job loss, inability to provide for ones young, and often side effects such as drug and alcohol abuse that result in child abuse. It is generally accepted by industry experts that though over 3 million incidents are reported in the US annually, the actual number of incidents is probably 3 times that number and is growing. “Experts cannot agree on a single reason for this increase, but most attribute it to both a population increase and an increase in reporting.”

• Children ages 0-3 are the most likely to experience abuse. About 1 in 50 U.S. infants are victims of nonfatal child abuse or neglect in a year, according to the first national study of the problem in that age group done by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention along with The Federal Administration for Children and Families.1
• 1,500 children die every year from child abuse and neglect. That is just over 4 fatalities every day.
• 79% of the children killed are younger than 4.
• 1/3 of abused and neglected children will eventually victimize their own children
• One child is abused every thirty seconds.

Statistics from National Child Abuse Statistics, ChildHelp Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse
http://www.childhelp.org/resources/learning-center/statistics

Maltreatment Statistics

During FFY 2006, an estimated 3.6 million referrals, involving approximately 6.0 million children, were made to CPS agencies. The national rate was47.8 referrals per 1,000 children for FFY 2006 compared with 43.9 referrals per 1,000 children for FFY 2005. The rate of all children who received an investigation or assessment increased from 43.8 per 1,000 children for 2002 to 47.8 per 1,000 children for FFY 2006. For FFY 2006, 1,907,264investigations received a disposition. Over a quarter (25.2%) of the investigations that reached the report stage determined that at least one child was a victim of child abuse or neglect. An estimated 905,000 children were victims of maltreatment. The rate of victimization was 12.1 per 1,000 children in the population.
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm06/chapter3.htm#subjects

Types of Maltreatment

During FFY 2006, 64.1% of victims experienced neglect,

• 16.0% were physically abused, 8.8% were sexually abused,
• 6.6% were psychologically maltreated, and
• 2.2% were medically neglected.
• In addition, 15.1% of victims experienced such “other” types of maltreatment as “abandonment,” “threats of harm to the child,” or “congenital drug addiction.”  States may code any condition that does not fall into one of the main categories—physical abuse, neglect, medical neglect, sexual abuse, and psychological or emotional maltreatment—as “other.” These maltreatment type percentages total more than 100 % because children who were victims of more than one type of maltreatment were counted for each maltreatment.*

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm06/chapter3.htm

Sex and Age of Victims

• For FFY 2006, 48.2% of child victims were boys, and 51.5% of the victims were girls.
• The youngest children had the highest rate of victimization. The rate of child victimization of the age group of birth to 1 year was 24.4 per 1,000 in the same age group. T
• The rate of child victimization of the age group of 1 year to 3 years was 14.2 per 1,000 children of the same age group.
• The victimization rate of children in the age group of 4-7 years was 13.5 per 1,000 children in the same age group.
• The victimization rate of children in the age group of 8-11 years was 10.8 per 1,000 children in the same age group.
• The victimization rate of children in the age group of 12-15 years was 10.2 per 1,000 children in the same age group.
• The victimization rate of children in the age group of 16-17 years was 6.3 per 1,000 children in the same age group.
• Nearly three-quarters of child victims (72.2%) ages birth to 1 year and age group of 1–3 (72.9%) were neglected.

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm06/chapter3.htm#noteseven

As you can see, it is critical that multiple solutions/tools be provided so that physicians, psychologists, therapists and counselors, shelters, caseworkers, child facilitators, teachers, etc. can provide therapeutic interventions for these children.

Stay tuned for my next article.