ARIZONA
12 News
Author: Takira Jackson
April 19, 2018
Children are suffering from a hidden epidemic of child abuse, and we are responsible for protecting them. You may be a child’s only advocate at the time you report. Many Arizona residents are not aware of just how prevalent child abuse and neglect are within our state.
According to Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Arizona and the Arizona Child Fatality Review (CFR) Program:
* More than 24,000 calls received by the Arizona Child Abuse Hotline between April and September 2016 met the statutory criteria to prompt a DCS report.
* Approximately 18,000 children were being cared for by the foster care system between April to September 2016 due to some child abuse and neglect.
* In 2015, 87 children died as a result of abuse or neglect, accounting for more than 10 percent of all child fatalities in the state of Arizona.
* In cases of child death due to maltreatment, the perpetrator was the child’s mother or father 79 percent of the time.
* Alcohol, drug, or substance use contributed to more than 60 percent of child maltreatment fatalities in 2015.
Arizona child abuse laws criminalize physical, emotional, or sexual abuse of minors and also require certain third parties with knowledge of the abuse to report it to the authorities.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.