Abuse, neglect reports involving Kansas children are down. Why that’s not a good thing
In April, as statewide coronavirus shutdowns were in full swing, Kansas’ child welfare agency received fewer reports about suspected abuse and neglect than it did in any other single month over at least the past 10 years.
April’s numbers even dipped below call volumes for summertime months when the extended school break keeps kids away from educators, who typically make the lion’s share of welfare reports.
The Kansas Department for Children and Families recorded a total of 3,250 child protective services intake reports statewide, a 59.9% decrease from the 8,100 reports it received in April 2019.
Sedgwick County saw a more dramatic decline — 586 intakes last month, compared with 1,788 the year before, according to a report the agency regularly updates online.
Reports to Wichita police about violence against children also have quietly dropped off.
The decrease may seem positive at first.
But the double-digit drops aren’t reassuring to advocates and authorities who say abusers aren’t lashing out less as the pandemic shut down schools and businesses, led to layoffs and forced families already on shaky ground to spend more time together at home.
Reports have declined, they say, because victims — more isolated than before — have lost access to their safety nets.
“All of the normal mechanisms by which these types of crimes come to light are effectively and significantly limited right now,” said Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett, whose office will presumably prosecute some of the abuse cases in the Wichita area if and when they surface.
“For crimes that take place behind closed doors, the burglar alarm is not going to go off when they happen. Someone is going to have to bring them to the attention of law enforcement.”
For adults in abusive relationships a cry for help often takes the form of a call to a domestic violence hotline or confiding in a friend.
But where children are concerned, an escape is trickier — frequently coming through teachers and other school staff, who make an estimated 1 in 5 reports about suspected abuse or neglect, more than any other reporting group.
With Kansas school buildings closed, many abused and neglected children have nowhere to turn until in-person classes resume.
If that happens in August as hoped, kids will have been away for five months — twice as long as summer break.
“Our biggest concern is that we have kids without mandatory reporter eyes on them,” said Diana Schunn, executive director of the Child Advocacy Center of Sedgwick County, a multi-agency center that offers services to abused children under one roof.
“The largest majority of our offenders are living in the home. That increases risk.”
‘Isolation doesn’t seem that unusual’
Social isolation, while effective at slowing infectious disease, has an unintended consequence that can prove harmful for victims in volatile relationships: It traps them with their aggressors for longer stretches of time, with little or no opportunity to seek help.
According to the National Children’s Alliance, the national association and accrediting body for children’s advocacy centers, nearly 700,000 children are abused in the U.S. annually, with neglect being the most common problem. Eighty-seven percent of abuse happens within a family. Parents are most often the perpetrators, at 77.5% of the time.
“Kids are at greater risk at home than anywhere else,” the alliance says.
Just as domestic violence advocates have warned that attacks have worsened with the coronavirus lockdowns — there have been more black eyes, broken noses and strangulation reported than usual, several told The Eagle in recent interviews — so, too, is there concern that children are befalling increased harm.
“Oftentimes in the past when children were isolated, we had to be more concerned” about abuse, Schunn said.
But in the age of COVID-19, where many people are venturing out less to avoid virus exposure, “isolation doesn’t seem that unusual.”
The Wichita Police Department in April announced double-digit increases in the some of the most physically violent attacks between household and intimate partners — aggravated domestic assaults and batteries — for the first three weeks after Sedgwick County initiated its coronavirus shutdown, compared with the prior three years’ average.
“Even before the pandemic, we were seeing the effects of the job losses (aviation layoffs) in the community” having an impact on family violence, said Amanda Meyers, executive director of Wichita Family Crisis Center, a local emergency domestic violence shelter.
Coronavirus-driven job insecurity, financial stress, health scares and the inability of victims to connect with their support network only heightens the danger, she said.
But felony crimes against children dropped off as dramatically.
From March 25 to May 12, Wichita police received:
- Half as many child rape reports as it did for the same time period last year (8 compared to 16)
- Less than a third of the aggravated indecent liberties reports (20 compared to 63)
- 82.3% fewer indecent liberties reports (3 compared to 17)
- 62.9% fewer child abuse reports (20 compared to 54)
In online literature, the National Children’s Alliance refers to the COVID-19 pandemic as “a ‘perfect storm’ for child abuse.”
A decrease in reports of violent crimes against children doesn’t mean the assaults aren’t happening, Wichita police Chief Gordon Ramsay said in a statement that encouraged people to report suspected neglect and abuse.
“WPD Exploited and Missing Children Unit (EMCU) investigators have expressed concerns as children are not in school and not regularly interacting with teachers, counselors, and school administrators. Families are also visiting health professionals less.
“The lack of interaction with professionals that are mandatory reporters is likely the reason for the declining numbers.”
Missed signs of abuse
So far the dip in abuse and neglect reports DCF received in April mimics the declines typical of holiday and summer breaks when kids are at home, away from teachers, health care providers and other mandatory reporters required by state law to disclose any suspected neglect or abuse.
“We do believe that kids being away from school is the primary reason for the drop in numbers,” DCF spokesman Mike Deines said by email.
Under normal circumstances, cases come to light when an abused child who fears a sibling will be next tells. Or a child talks about being hurt to a friend on the playground who then tells their parents. Or a family member who’s not involved notices, said Bennett, the district attorney.
Or it’s a teacher or other school staffer who sees or senses something is wrong “and digs a little deeper.”
“Children are not going to call the cops themselves and say, ‘Mom’s not feeding me,’” he said.
Since school buildings have closed, districts have shifted to varying forms of distance learning, much of which relies on online instruction and email or phone contact with parents. In some cases, the maintained contact has helped to keep kids safe — like when a teacher last month asked Wichita police to check on a teenage student she worried was suicidal.
But because the digital format allows only limited and perhaps heavily controlled glimpses into a child’s home life, advocates worry it could lead to missed signs of abuse.
Nationwide, educators make the most child abuse and neglect reports (20%), followed by law enforcement and legal personnel (19%), medical and mental health professionals (17%), anonymous sources (7.7%) and relatives who aren’t parents (6%), according to the National Children’s Alliance. Friends and neighbors make the fewest reports, at about 3.8%.
In Kansas, educator reporting is higher, usually accounting for around a third of all child abuse and neglect reports received by DCF, Deines said.
How has the Wichita Public Schools monitored students’ welfare from afar?
District spokeswoman Susan Arensman said teachers were instructed to “pay attention as they are connecting … either virtually or by phone” and report any suspicions. Parents also were sent a document with tips and resources for coping with stress and depression that includes a short section about reporting abuse and neglect, she said.
The district said Monday that 16.3% of high school students, 15% of middle school students and 8.1% of elementary students had no contact with teachers since departing for Spring Break in mid-March. The numbers do not measure the level of engagement or frequency of contact the teacher had with the student. According to a presentation given to the school board, the data “reflects some form of interactive/reciprocal communication, at least one time, during the course of the fourth quarter.”
Wichita has the state’s largest public school district, serving nearly 50,000 students at 90 campuses.
Schunn worries the longer break from in-person classes this year will drive up reports more than usual in the fall.
“Without a doubt those numbers will definitely increase,” she said, adding that her organization is already having conversations about how to handle the expected influx.
“Adding the pandemic into that mix, we just don’t necessarily know what that might mean.”
How to report suspected child abuse or neglect
Authorities and advocates say it’s important for community members to watch for signals that a child might be experiencing harm at home. Signs of abuse and neglect include isolation, bruises and marks or other unexplained injuries, behavioral changes, changes in eating or sleeping habits, inappropriate or risk-taking behaviors, poor hygiene or physical growth, ill-fitting or filthy clothing, and fear of being at home.
Abuse can be physical, emotional, verbal, mental or sexual in nature. Neglect includes failing to provide for a child’s basic needs such as providing food, age-appropriate supervision and medical care.
Anyone who thinks a child is in immediate danger is urged to call 911. You can also report suspected child neglect and abuse to the Kansas Protection Reporting Center at 800-922-5330 or to the local Exploited and Missing Child Unit detectives at 316-660-9478.
This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 11:01 AM.
