At least 786 children in the US died of abuse or neglect at the hands of their parents or care givers, even as child protection agencies were investigating the cases, according to a report by the Associated Press.
The stories behind the statistics are filled with tragedy and despair and involve children – many of them younger than the age of four – who have become the victims of their care givers. To make matters worse, many of the children’s cases were being investigated by child protection agencies, yet they were still victimized.
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Consider the case of Mattisyn Blaz, a 2-month-old infant from
Montana who was killed by her father.
Jennifer Blaz left for work on Aug. 16, 2013, leaving her
husband, Matthew, to care for the girls. For unknown reasons, the
father became agitated and threw the baby, causing fatal
injuries, according to prosecutor Samm Cox.
Six weeks earlier, a child protective services worker showed up
at the Blaz’s home after it was reported that Matthew Blaz had
physically abused his wife. A judge ordered Blaz to enroll in
anger management classes and to stay away from his wife.
According to Jennifer Blaz, the next contact between her and
child protection services came more than six weeks later — the
day of Mattisyn's funeral.
Last month, Matthew Blaz was sentenced to life in prison, without
the possibility of parole.
Another tragic episode of child abuse involved 10-week-old Ethan
Henderson, whose father threw him into a recliner, causing the
infant to die from a fatal brain injury.
Maine children caseworkers had received multiple indications that
Ethan or his siblings were suffering abuse at the hands of their
father. According to AP’s findings, Ethan appeared at his daycare
center with bruises on his arm.
Six days before Ethan died on May 8, 2012, a child welfare
official recorded that the baby appeared "well cared for and
safe in the care of his parents."
A disturbing footnote to the AP investigative report is the
likelihood that the number of children who have been injured or
killed by their care givers over the years is much higher than
reported.
“The data collection system on child deaths is so flawed that
no one can even say with accuracy how many children overall die
from abuse or neglect every year,” AP revealed. “The
federal government estimates an average of about 1,650 deaths
annually in recent years; many believe the actual number is twice
as high.”
The AP report examined data in "50 states, the District of
Columbia and all branches of the military," casting a light
on a system that, in its conclusion, "does a terrible job of
accounting for child deaths."
"Many states struggled to provide numbers. Secrecy often
prevailed."
Finally, the primary purpose of the report was to determine
exactly how so many children died while their cases were being
examined by child welfare officials. That question went
unanswered, but at least the conversation has begun.
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A spokeswoman for the US Department of Health and Human Services, which supervises child abuse prevention programs, said the agency had no immediate comment.
Last year, a judge in Kentucky slapped a $765,000 fine against
the state's Cabinet for Health and Family Services for failing to
release full records on child abuse deaths.
At the same time, however, no state has ever been found guilty of
violating disclosure requirements and federal grants have never
been denied, Catherine Nolan, who directs the Office on Child
Abuse and Neglect, told AP.
In 1974, President Richard Nixon signed the Child Abuse
Prevention and Treatment Act into law in an effort to address the
crisis of child abuse through state-level observation.
However, more than 20 years later, a commission charged with
measuring progress of the legislation issued a harsh report
entitled, "A Nation's Shame: Fatal Child Abuse and Neglect in
the United States."
The report cited "serious gaps in data collection."
''Until we develop more comprehensive and sophisticated data,
our efforts to understand and prevent child maltreatment-related
deaths will be severely handicapped," it said.
Today, it is clear that problems still exist in protecting
children.
Michael Petit, head of the Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse
and Neglect Fatalities, said real change in the system charged
with protecting America’s children will only come about when
Congress demands that states do more to tackle the problem.
"The child safety net in this country is not equal to the
size of the problem that's coming at it," Petit was quoted
by AP as saying. "The system overall is in crisis."