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Child Maltreatment in Mecklenburg County: 2014 Report by The Council For Children's Rights
Child Maltreatment in Mecklenburg County: 2014 Report by The Council For Children's Rights
April 2014
Points of Interest:
The number of children reported abused or neglected has increased 41.9% , or 4,210 children, since 2004-05. Children under age 6 accounted for nearly 40% of child abuse and neglect reports. More than 59% of child abuse and neglect reports involved African American children despite the fact that they make up less than 32% of the child population. The number of children in foster care has declined more than 38% since 2004 -05. In 2012-13, DSS received reports of possible abuse and neglect for 14,259 children, up from 13,991 in 2011-12. Of those 14,259 reports, 2,238 were considered substantiated. In 2012-13, 48% (6,848) of reports involved children who were reported maltreated for a second, third, or more times.
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In understanding these numbers, it is useful to distinguish between first time reports and re-reports. In 2012-13, 52%, or 7,411, of reports involved first time reports. The remaining 48%, or 6,848, involved children who were reported as maltreated for a second, third, or more times. Since 2004-05, the percent of children who were re-reported as victims accounted for between 40% and 48% of all abuse reports.3
This report was created in collaboration with UNC Charlottes Urban Institute.
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UNC Chapel Hill Jordan Institute for Families US Census ACS 1-Year Estimates Table B01001 US Census ACS 1-Year Estimates Table B01001 B, D, G, F, H, I
Youth demographics in Mecklenburg County are racially diverse. In 2012, 37.1% of youth under age 18 were identified as white, 31.4% were identified as African American, 16.9% were identified as Latino, 4.6% of were identified as Asian, and the remaining children were identified as multiple races (5.4%), or as other races (4.6%).8
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In Mecklenburg County, 39.4% of children under age 18 were identified as white in 2012. In the same year, white children accounted for 15.4% of children reported abuse or neglected in fiscal year 2012-13. With the majority of children reported abused or neglected identifying as African American, a disparity among youth in our community is apparent considering African American children account for 33.3% of the total child population in 2012.10 At the state level, the racial breakdown of child abuse and neglect reports paints a different picture. In 2012-13, white children accounted 53.4%, African American children accounted for 34.9%, and other minority children accounted 11.6% of reports.11
In North Carolina, the percent of reported victims who were males and females was roughly 50.9% and 49.1% respectively.
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UNC Chapel Hill Jordan Institute for Families US Census ACS 1-Year Estimates Table B01001 B, D, G, F, H, I 12 UNC Chapel Hill Jordan Institute for Families
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Foster Care
Foster care is a temporary living arrangement for abused, neglected, or dependent children in need of a safe place to reside while their parents or relatives are unable to care and provide for them. When the Department of Social Services (DSS) believes a child is not safe and a judge has agreed, DSS takes custody of the child and places him or her in a temporary foster home. In 2012-13, 967 children were placed in foster care custody in Mecklenburg County. From 2004-05 to 2006-07, the number of children in foster care increased from year-to-year. Since 2007, the number of children in DSS custody has steadily declined. The current number of children in foster care is 38.5% lower than it was 2004-05.12 The steady decline in the number of children taken into custody is reflective of a 2008 change in the federal law requiring DSS to invest funding into families to address abuse, neglect, and dependency through community-based services and interventions prior to removal; the efforts to place children into kinship care, guardianship, or adoption and not into the foster care system; and the aging out of a number of children placed into custody in prior years. The adjacent graph demonstrates that in fiscal year 2012-13, 66.4% of children in foster care were identified as African American, while 17.1% were identified as an other race, and 16.5% were white. Hispanic children accounted for 13.3% of children in care and the rest were identified as non-Hispanic. The incidence of children in foster care did not vary much by biological sex; males accounted for 51% of children in foster care in 2012-13. North Carolina findings by sex were similar.13 Children is Foster Care Custody Children is Foster Care Custody
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About
The purpose of this document is to compile publically-available data on child maltreatment to inform concerned stakeholders. It is produced annually in April for Child Abuse Awareness & Prevention Month. In the future, Council for Childrens Rights will en deavor to include additional data points, diversify data sources, and interrogate the data more critically. Beginning in 1983, April was nationally designated as Child Abuse Awareness & Prevention Month. Council for Childrens Rights chairs the Mecklenburg County Child Abuse Awareness Month Committee. This collaborative committee is spearheading a public awareness campaign to educate the community about mandatory reporting and implementing a school-based initiative to protect the physical and mental health of our children. Part of this campaign involves planting Pinwheel for Prevention gardens aroun d the community to ensure that people notice and stand-up for children. As the numbers throughout indicate, the majority of child abuse reports come from individuals working directly with children. However, it fails to capture every child in jeopardy as abuse and neglect is largely underreported. Our organization and the committee understand that, to ensure every childs safety, the community must be educated on the definitions of child abuse, the signs exhibited by a child who is abused, and the ways that they can intervene to potentially save the life of an abused child. Protecting children is the responsibility of every adult. If you have a concern, please report to Youth Family Services at 704.336.CARE (2273).