Family circumstance, unemployment possible factors in predicting abuse

MT. PLEASANT (GTNS) ? Stephen Scott, executive director for Prevent Child Abuse Iowa, wants to do all he can to support families in the hopes of reducing the incidence of child abuse.

?We need diligent people to alert when there is need. We need to support the families who need it now,? said Scott. ?Some families need this help to grow in a self-nurturing way.?

Scott believes the reason child abuse seems higher in Henry County is partly because of demographics.

?If anyone was to look at the data on our website, www.pcaiowa.org, they would see the numbers for child abuse in Henry County are slightly higher than the state average,? Scott explained. ?Henry County is on the negative side of things, which gives us the indication that there is a higher rate of child abuse. Henry County is ranked 25th for child abuse. In 2004, it was ranked second and has, since then, been consecutively in the top highest third of the state.

?Henry County wasn?t chosen for the Federal Home Visit Program like Lee, Muscatine and Des Moines County were,? Scott stated.

Listed below are a few facts from the Prevent Child Abuse Iowa website. These facts state, that in Henry County as of 2012:

? 70.3 of families are husband and wife, while the state average is 73.5 percent.

? 7.6 percent is the unemployment rate, while the state average is only 5.6 percent.

According to Scott, after a discussion with Rep. Dave Heaton (R-Mt. Pleasant), child abuse could be occurring because of the loss of employment opportunities in Henry County. This is just one reason, but the percentages above could be others. There is not just one, clear reason for child abuse in Henry County, Scott stated.

?The loss of jobs could have an impact. Rep. Heaton pays attention to this, because when Henry County was No. 2 in 2004, he spoke with us and wanted to know why. He suggested it could be because of the loss of jobs, which is what it [the reason for child abuse] could be now.

?The south, southeast and central part of Iowa see higher rates,? said Scott. ?There is some clustering if you look at the data, but there is no real reason why. Iowa is higher in child abuse than Illinois; it could be civic involvement. People don?t make reports because of the response of officials. If the officials don?t respond well, the public gets turned off. It?s a concern for us. There needs to be a more thorough approach by the Department of Human Services to child abuse reports.?

Prevent Child Abuse Iowa wants to encourage people to report and work with their local offices in order to help prevent child abuse. Prevention is the key to stopping it for good.

?You can hold meetings on what to do when you report an instance of child abuse, but we want to prevent it before that ever happens. We need greater awareness of families in need so we can prevent the abuse from ever happening in the first place,? Scott said. ?I would prefer if we educated and helped families that are in need, to guide them on a better pathway and to help them cope with the changes so everyone in the family is safe and can grow in a positive way.?

According to the website, there are a few ways to help families that could prevent child abuse from happening.

? Offer a neighbor, friend or family member a break from parenting. Sometimes even a short period away is all a parent needs to be refreshed, engaged and patient.

? Benefit from helpful services near your community, which educate parents about age-appropriate expectations of children and provide positive parenting tips. Many services offer an opportunity to unwind and converse with other parents experiencing the very same frustrations.

? Participate on a board of a local organization, which works to prevent child abuse in your local community.

Healthy Henry County Communities and the ISU extension office are partnering together to create and promote programs that will help families in Henry County to become more aware of this problem. These programs will help families in need, in order to hopefully begin preventing child abuse in Henry County.

?Again, I just want to stress the importance of helping those families who need it right away. If we do that, then we can prevent the child abuse from ever happening,? Scott restated. ?We need to be diligent and we need people to report their families as soon as possible. If we do that, then we can help those families to change and grow.?