Click here to subscribe today or Login.
As you gather to celebrate the bonds of faith and family today, do not forget those among us who are considerably less fortunate, particularly those children in Luzerne County who suffer from abuse and neglect at higher rates than across Pennsylvania as a whole.
Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children released its annual report, “State of Child Welfare 2018,” on Thursday, with data for all 67 counties as well as state averages and totals. Luzerne County had higher rates of abuse and neglect reports, higher rates of abuse and neglect substantiations, and higher rates of children under 21 in foster care, as the Times Leader reported. Some highlights:
• The local rate of abuse and neglect reports is 17.8 reports per 1,000 children under 18; the state rate is 15.9 per 1,000.
• Of those reports, 12.6 percent were substantiated in Luzerne County, compared to 10.4 percent for the state.
• Luzerne County also had a higher rate of children under age 21 in foster care: 10.1 percent compared to 7.5 percent statewide.
To put those statistics into context, Luzerne County had 63,237 residents under 18 in 2016, according to the most recently released Pennsylvania Child Protective Services Report. That means there were more than 1,100 reports of child abuse, of which 143 were substantiated.
That’s 143 new cases. It doesn’t count those still working their way through the system. It doesn’t count those that may never get reported, though state officials have said heightened awareness and changes to state and federal law in recent years have led to more cases being reported.
Perhaps the more cynical among us might suggest that 143 abuse cases is a manageable or even acceptable number for a county with more than 320,000 residents. We certainly don’t see it that way.
That’s 143 children who may bear physical and emotional scars for life, whose ability to reach their full potential could be compromised by the cruel and thoughtless actions of others — in most cases their parents, other relatives, or a parent’s lover.
It would be a mistake to treat this as a private, isolated issue, however. Bill Jones, president and CEO of the United Way of Wyoming Valley, in a recent conversation with the Times Leader, pointed out that poverty and drugs increase stress in the home, which leads to more abuse cases.
While state and county organizations work to investigate and adjudicate abuse cases, organizations like the United Way are active at the grassroots level to provide resources for those who may suspect or witness abuse.
One of them is the Pennsylvania Northeast 2-1-1 crisis information resource line. The United Way also works with the Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance to provide information about recognizing, reporting and preventing child abuse, via www.pa-fsa.org, or by calling 1-800-448-4906.
We all have a duty to help, whether through reporting suspected abuse or supporting the efforts of groups such as the United Way. Please keep that in mind while breaking bread with those you love today.